A US official touring the West African countries worst hit by the deadly Ebola virus expressed optimism today that the right strategies to fight the disease are in place, even as warnings mount over the deteriorating situation.
The World Health Organisation warned that new cases are appearing at a rapid rate in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, though Nigeria and Senegal, which saw just a handful of cases are on the verge of being declared Ebola free.
The leaders of the affected countries are clearly committed to fighting the disease and with international help are taking the right approaches to stop the transmission of the virus, said the head of the US Agency for International Development Rajiv Shah.
"The thing I learned is that the strategy is clear, the partners are aligned and now we have to focus on accelerating implementation and every day is a race to do more and get on top of the transmission," he told The Associated Press from the airport as he was leaving Sierra Leone and heading to Guinea.
The struggle against the deadly virus which is transmitted by bodily fluids and has infected nearly 9,000 people killing almost 4,500 is largely a matter of having adequate care in place to treat the sick and dispose of the bodies.
Hundreds of millions of dollars have been pledged by the international community in recent weeks to build the treatment centers and put in place the burial and sanitation teams to stop the disease which is transmitted by bodily fluids, said Shah.
During his trip he announced an additional USD 142 million from the US to build and staff treatment centers.
The crisis of these impoverished countries' overstretched health care systems was thrown into sharp relief by an appeal late Tuesday from Guinean President Alpha Conde to retired doctors in the country to join the fight against the disease.
While not dealing with as many cases as its neighbors, the disease has started to spread rapidly in recent days in Guinea according to the WHO, citing a spike in new cases in the capital Conakry and the nearby district of Coyah.
Ebola has already infected 76 doctors there, killing 37 of them and striking fear into the heart of the profession.
