Even with extreme precautions doctor contracted Ebola – what will ordinary citizens do if virus goes pandemic?

July 2014 – AFRICA - Since March of this year, Liberia and its partners have been working assiduously to contain one of the world’s deadly viruses, Ebola, but to no avail, as it effects have now reached an alarming proportion, putting the country in an undeniable squeeze. Having been criticized in the initial stage of the emergence of the virus and in view of the growing number of deaths as a result of the virus, the Liberian government has intensified life-saving measures including the declaration of national emergency, the setting up of a national task force, the closure of entry border points and other noteworthy. The taking of these actions, according to analysts, shows how risky the nation has become to the plague of the Ebola virus, and also means that it is at ‘war.’ The virus which emerged here in March of this year, having decimated a huge chunk of the population of Guinea, is tearing the nation apart, destroying every life in its reach and path. Regrettably, according to analysts, all of this is occurring after an experience of years of fratricidal bush war that pulverized the nation almost beyond reach and recognition. In spite of national and international fusion of efforts to combat its threat, it is proving difficult to contain, thus sending deep-seated apprehension down the spines of all Liberians. The emergence of Ebola in Liberia having caused unbearable toll on a good portion of the population of Guinea, the virus surfaced in Lofa County and then started to cascade downward Montserrado and Margibi Counties through human contacts.

A woman who interacted with her sister killed by Ebola also fell ill and unknowingly brought to Monrovia via a taxi cab and landed in Chicken Soup Factory, on the outskirt of Monrovia. Because of their late arrival in Monrovia, driver of the Taxi cab lodged the woman in a house of plenty occupants. At the break of dawn, her husband who works at Firestone picked her up and took her to Firestone where she was admitted at a local hospital there. That was the beginning of the spread of the virus which has now become a pandemic. An American doctor is in grave condition after contracting the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa. Dr. Kent Brantly, 33, who works with Ebola patients is now fighting for his own survival in an isolation unit on the outskirts of Monrovia, Liberia. “I’m praying fervently that God will help me survive this disease,” Brantly said in an email Monday. Brantly’s prognosis is grave and efforts to evacuate him to Europe for treatment have been thwarted as Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has closed border crossings. A second American aid worker, Nancy Writebol, tested positive for the Ebola virus at the same hospital, a relief group official said Sunday. Brantly also asked that prayers be extended for Writebol, who worked as the personnel coordinator for Serving in Mission, or SIM, in Monrovia, CNN reports. She is reportedly in stable and serious condition. There is no treatment, cure, or vaccine for Ebola. The virus is now out of control and is now a serious threat to Africa’s largest city, Lagos Nigeria.

To date, according to a health ministry daily statistics, over 126 Liberians and foreign nationals have lost their lives to the virus which has stretched its tentacles beyond other borders. Worst of all, it is not sparing anyone, not even the doctors and nurses that are attending to people affected by the virus, which to date does not have any cure. Besides the number of people already killed, there are 249 cases with most of them completely quarantined. The number of deaths and those affected is likely to soar as more and more Liberians are falling prey to the virus. The threat of the virus is such that even foreign medical practitioners that have been reaching out to victims of the virus are themselves being victimized. About two weeks ago, a Ugandan Dr. Sam Mutooro Muhumuza assigned by the Redemption Hospital lost his life, having contracted the virus from an affected nurse whose life he attempted saving. –All Africa