Ebola outbreak 'out of control', warns MSF

Ebola epidemic is out of control, says Doctors Without Borders
A number of countries are on alert after the worst outbreak of the disease on record.



Doctors Without Borders says the Ebola epidemic in West Africa is unprecedented and out of control.

The charity’s director of operations, Bart Janssens, said there was no overarching vision as to how to tackle the outbreak in an interview with Belgium’s La Libre Belgique newspaper, calling it an “epidemic” that was “without precedent” and “absolutely out of control.”

The outbreak began in southeastern Guinea in March. Since then, the virus has spread to neighbouring Sierra Leone and Liberia, with 814 confirmed cases across the three countries, according to the World Health Organization.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf closed most of the country’s border crossings over the weekend in an effort to stop the virus from spreading further.

The Ebola virus is transmitted through bodily fluids via oral and nasal exposure and through the conjunctiva. The virus infects and replicates in immune cells, which further disseminate the virus through the circulation. It eventually dysregulates host immune response, causes coagulation abnormalities and impairs vascular system, which leads to shock and systemic organ failure.