Ebola is spreading exponentially in Liberia, with thousands
of new cases expected in the next three weeks, the World Health Organization
(WHO) says.
Conventional methods to control the outbreak were "not
having an adequate impact", the UN's health agency added.
At least 2,100 people infected with Ebola have died so far
in the West African states of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria this
year.
The WHO says 79 health workers have been killed by the
virus.
Organisations combating the outbreak needed to scale-up
efforts "three-to-four fold", the WHO said.
It highlighted Liberia's Montserrado county, where 1,000
beds were needed for infected Ebola patients but only 240 were available,
leading to people being turned away from treatment centres.
Transmission of the virus in Liberia was "already
intense", and taxis being used to transport infected patients appeared to
be "a hot source of potential virus transmission", the WHO said.
When a treatment facility is opened, it immediately fills to
overflowing with patients, pointing to a large but previously invisible
caseload," it added.
"When patients are turned away... they have no choice
but to return to their communities and homes, where they inevitably infect
others."
Three countries - Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia - are at
the heart of the Ebola outbreak, but Liberia is suffering the most by far. Why
this is the case is not completely understood. Finding the answer will be a
critical part of tackling the outbreak.
Variations in burial practice - which can include touching
the body and eating a meal near it - are being investigated.
There are also questions about trust in the authorities and
how the risk of Ebola is being communicated. Riots erupted in the West Point
slum, with some reports suggesting protesters believed Ebola was a hoax.
Another aspect is the state of the healthcare system, which
was left in ruin by the civil war. Liberia had one doctor per 100,000 people
before Ebola killed several staff.
The response has also been lacking. In the capital Monrovia
there are 240 beds, but experts say they need more than 1,000. Patients without
a bed have no choice but to go back home, where they may spread the virus.
The Ebola disease spreads between humans by direct contact
with infected blood, bodily fluids or organs, or indirectly through contact
with contaminated environments.
Conventional means of controlling the outbreak, which
include avoiding close physical contact with those infected and wearing
personal protective equipment, were not working well in Liberia, the WHO said.
Local communities, especially those in rural areas, had been
able to slow the transmission when they put in place their own protective
measures, the WHO statement said.
Also on Monday, the African Union urged its member states to
lift travel bans imposed to contain the virus, saying that the bans could hurt
the region's economy.
"We must be careful not to introduce measures that may
have more... social and economic impact than the disease itself,"
commission chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said in quotes carried by AFP news
agency.
The current outbreak has mortality rate of about 55%.
Liberia has the highest number of reported cases and deaths,
with more than 1,000 casualties so far.
Hundreds have also died of the virus in Guinea and Sierra
Leone.
There have been at least eight deaths in Nigeria. One case
has also been confirmed in Senegal but there have been no deaths so far.
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