Ebola epidemic unlikely to spread beyond Africa

  Ebola epidemic unlikely to spread beyond Africa

 
The recent, deadliest outbreak ever of Ebola, the killer virus that causes internal and external hemorrhaging, is raising new concerns about the disease's spread.
Doctors Without Borders, the only aid organization that is treating infected people in West Africa, says, "The scale of the current Ebola epidemic is unprecedented in terms of geographical distribution, people infected and deaths."
According to the World Health Organization, this is the first time Ebola has been epidemic in urban areas since it was initially recognized in Zaire in 1976. That increases the likelihood that someone carrying the virus could travel to other parts of the world.
The current outbreak, which began in March and affects Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, is also the first in all three countries. Doctors without Borders is warning of a real risk that the epidemic will spread beyond the 60 locations in which patients have already been identified.
Nevertheless, Canadians need not be concerned about Ebola spreading to Canada, Dr. Tim Jagatic says.
Jagatic, from Windsor, Ont., treated Ebola patients in Guinea this spring as part of the international group Doctors Without Borders, and returns there next week.
Tom Geisbert, a microbiologist at the University of Texas, agrees that the risk of somebody coming from the affected area and causing a huge outbreak in North America or Europe is extremely low. Geisbert has authored or co-authored about one hundred studies on Ebola and related viruses.

Source:  cbc.ca