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Ebola virus epidemic in Liberia is about the spread of the Ebola virus disease(EVD) through the West African country of Liberia. Liberia is part of the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa along with Guinea and Sierra Leone.

The disease was discovered in in late March 2014. Ebola is biosafety level four pathogen, a RNA virus first discovered in 1976.

On 25 September Liberia's chief medical official went on a self enforced quarantine after she was potentially exposed to the Ebola virus. By the 29th of September 2014, it was announced she tested negative for Ebola, but government officials praised her for following the self quarantine rules.

In late September 2014 Ivory Coast resumed flights to Liberia which had been suspended since 11 August 2014.

Before the Ebola epidemic Liberia had 50 Doctors for its population of 4.3 million, weakened from a Civil war that ended in 2003.

Ebola's spread

Transmission is believed to be by contact with the blood and body fluids of those infected with the virus, as well as by handling raw bushmeat such as bats and monkeys, which are important sources of protein in West Africa. Infectious body fluids include blood, sweat, semen, breast milk, salavia, tears, feces, urine, vaginal secretions, vomit, and diarrhea. Even after a successful recovery from an ebola infection, semen may contain the virus for at least two months. Breast milk may contain the virus for two week after recovery, and transmission of the disease to a consumer of the breast milk may be possible. Dogs may contract the Ebola virus but do not get the human symptoms of the disease.

The corpses are highly contagious immediately after death, so precautions such as hazmat suits are needed. In this region the practice of kissing and touching the dead has been implicated in helping to spread Ebola. However, two U.S. doctors who "followed all CDC and WHO protocols to the letter" still managed to contract the disease and it is not clear how they got the disease.

Ebola virus has not been shown to be airborne among humans, but it can be transmitted through aerosolization of body fluids, such as when an infected individual sneezes, vomits, or flushes a toilet after use. Ebola virus has been shown to be airborne in pig infections. In many cases care-givers are infected as they take care of the sick in their own homes.

September

As of 29 September 2014, there was 3458 cases reported, 1830 total deaths, and 914 lab confirmed cases. For comparison, lassa fever is estimated to kill about 10,000 people a year in West Africa.

On 30 September 2014 a person was discovered in a Texas hospital who contracted Ebola in Liberia and traveled to the United States. (see 2014 Ebola virus case in the United States)

October

In early October, the president continued to ask for more aid to fight again Ebola. Liberia also enacted restrictions on journalistic coverage.

In early October a U.S. television network's cameraman was diagnosed with Ebola.

Monrovia

The disease has been noted to be spreading in Monrovia, the nation's capital. There is about 1 million people in the city.

West Point quarantine (Aug 19-30)

On 18 August, a mob of residents from West Point, an impoverished area of Monrovia, descended upon a local Ebola clinic to protest its presence. The protesters turned violent, threatening the caretakers, removing the infected patients, and looting the clinic of its supplies, including blood-stained bed sheets and mattresses. Police and aid workers expressed fear that this would lead to mass infections of Ebola in West Point. On 19 August, the Liberian government quarantined the entirety of West Point and issued a curfew state-wide. Violence again broke out on 22 August after the military fired on protesting crowds. The quarantine blockade of the West Point area was lifted on 30 August. The Information Minister, Lewis Brown, said that this step was taken to ease efforts to screen, test, and treat residents.

Treatment

By late September there were three clinics in Monrovia, but it was an increasingly common occurrence to have patients waiting and even passing away outside because the clinics had run out of space. If patients cannot get a bed in the clinic they sometimes wait in holding centers until a bed opens up.

There are additional cases in Monrovia where the bodies are dumped into the river. City inhabitants have tried to spread knowledge about Ebola, especially the importance of not touching those that are sick or dead from ebola. (this is the first outbreak in Liberia) Sanitation is struggle in some parts of the city, with the estimates that there are four public toilets in West Point, Monrovia. The beach surrounding West Point is often used as a lavatory, but it is also a source for drinking water, and the fish from the water are taken for food.

Island Clinic

On 20 September, Liberia opened a new 150 bed treatment unit clinic in Monrovia. At the opening ceremony of the Old Island Clinic on Bushrod Island six ambulances were already waiting with potential patients. More patients were waiting by the clinic after making their way on foot with the help of relatives. Two days later 112 beds were already filled with 46 patients testing positive for Ebola, while the rest were admitted for observation. This expanded the number of bed's in the city beyond 240. 100 construction workers worked multiple shift for three weeks to get the clinic open, but its capacity was exceeded in 24 hours. The term bed here is not just a bed, but implies the staff and logistics to take care of a patient with right precautions.

One source says it opened on 21 September 2014 with a 100-bed capacity.

One of the other clinics in Monrovia is a 160 bed facility by Doctors Without Borders.

JFK is another treatment center, and could hold 35-beds but expanded to 75 because of the demand.

List of counties effected by EVD

Counties with EVD cases as of 29 September 2014: By early September there were cases in 14 of 15 of Liberia's counties.

• Bomi
• Bong
• Gbarpolu
• Grand Bassa
• Grand Cape Mount
• Lofa
• Margibi County
• Montserrado
• Nimba
• River Cess
• River Gee
• Sinoe

Evacuations

On 5 August 2014, the Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God confirmed that Brother Miguel Pajares had been infected. He was volunteering in Liberia. The Spanish military helped with his transfer on 6 August 2014. Authorities stated he would be treated in the 'Carlos III' hospital in Madrid. This attracted controversy, amid questions as to the authorities' ability to guarantee no risk of transmission. Brother Pajares died from the virus on 12 August.

Kent Brantly, a physician and medical director in Liberia for the aid group Samaritan’s Purse, and co-worker Nancy Writebol were infected while working in Monrovia. Both were flown to the United States at the beginning of August for further treatment. On 21 August, Brantly and Writebol recovered and were discharged.

A French volunteer health worker, working for MSF in Liberia, contracted EVD and was flown to France on 18 September 2014. She is being treated at a military hospital. Health Minister Marisol Touraine stated the nurse will receive an experimental drug.

References

1. "2 of 5 Test Positive for Ebola in Liberia", Liberian Observer, 31 March 2014, retrieved 6 July 2014
2. statement (26 September 2014). "http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/ebola/26-september-2014/en/". WHO. Retrieved 28 September 2014. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help); External link in |title= (help)
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See also

• Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa
• Ebola virus epidemic in Guinea
• Ebola virus epidemic in Sierra Leone

External links

• CDC - Liberia
• Liberia compared to Bulgaria in area

• Health in Liberia
• Disasters in Liberia
• 2014 in Liberia
• 2014 Ebola outbreaks