Red Cross: Ebola Outbreak Could be Contained in 4 to 6 Months

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2014-10-22

killed more than 4,500 people in West Africa could be contained within four to six months if the right steps are followed.

Elhadj As Sy told reporters Wednesday in China that the time frame is possible with good isolation and treatment for those with confirmed cases of Ebola, along with proper burials for those who died from the virus.

His comments come as the World Health Organization convenes a meeting of its Emergency Committee on Ebola to discuss the latest developments in the outbreak and whether to alter its recommendations.

The talks are expected to take one or two days, after which the WHO will give a briefing with the results.

The U.N. body said Tuesday that an experimental Ebola vaccine could be in use by January.

WHO assistant director Dr. Marie Paule Kieny said clinical trials of Ebola vaccines are underway or planned in Europe, the United States and Africa. She said that if the vaccines are deemed safe there could be a West African trial in January, using tens of thousands of doses.

She did not say when an Ebola vaccine might be widely available.

Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone have been the hardest hit by the Ebola outbreak, with more than 9,100 cases.

U.S. Homeland Security officials are requiring all travelers from those three countries to fly to the U.S. through one of five airports with enhanced Ebola screening.

The airports are in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Washington, and Newark, New Jersey.

Ninety-four percent of travelers coming to the U.S. from those three countries arrive at these airports even during normal conditions.

Source: Voice of America

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