AFRICA
New Ebola Cases Result in Measures Taken to Improve Alerts
Recent Ebola outbreaks have shown that such measures must be taken into disaster risk plans to ensure utmost safety. These recent cases have proven that quick reaction and appropriate measures are to be put in place in order to contain disasters.
Reported from Cancun, Mexico, “This is very different from what we experienced in Liberia, Senegal and Guinea, where the outbreak was happening for the first time ever.” The World Health Organization has confirmed that two cases of the Ebola virus have been found in Congo’s Bas-Uele province in early May. From this, four have died and an additional 43 have been suspected of carrying the virus.
The secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in an interview that with improved alert systems and emergency teams, “hopefully we will not get into a full-blown outbreak like it was a few years before.”
The last Ebola outbreak reportedly killed more than 11,300 between 2014 and 2016. Elhadj As Sy says that the Ebola virus is “quasi-quarantining itself” in a remote location within the Congo. Having eight outbreaks so far, the Congo leads in the number out of any country.
At a United Nations conference on disasters, Sy says that, “vulnerable people in areas plagued by conflict and natural disasters such as Somalia and South Sudan need measures to reduce exposure to risk and increase their resilience.” Such measures include limiting damage to infrastructure and disruption to basic services, as well as widely broadcasting early warnings within public news systems.
With such measures, taken, it is important to treat all procedures seriously in order that the safety and well-being of the public is guaranteed—with countries that suffer from third-world conditions, citizens cannot afford to die from diseases due to lack of resources and organization.