Health Officials Face Multiple Challenges In Stemming Ebola Outbreak In Africa

News outlets report on the challenges health officials face in stemming the spread of Ebola in West Africa.

Associated Press: New fears about Ebola spread after plane scare
“No one knows for sure just how many people Patrick Sawyer came into contact with the day he boarded a flight in Liberia, had a stopover in Ghana, changed planes in Togo, and then arrived in Nigeria, where authorities say he died days later from Ebola, one of the deadliest diseases known to man…” (Larson/Cheng, 7/28).

Financial Times: Borders closed to tackle Ebola outbreak
“West African nations have imposed travel restrictions in a last-ditch attempt to stop the worst ever outbreak of Ebola, a disease with a mortality rate of up to 90 percent that has already killed nearly 700 people in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea…” (Blas, 7/28).

Financial Times: Q&A: Why the Ebola outbreak is causing such concern
“West Africa is grappling with the worst-ever outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus. Once confined to rural villages, it is now appearing in urban areas, raising concerns of a wider outbreak…” (Blas/Cookson, 7/28).

New York Times: Short Staff Tries to Cope With Ebola
“Early this month at a hospital in Sierra Leone, Dr. Daniel Bausch and another physician found themselves alone in a ward with 55 patients infected with the deadly Ebola virus. The nurses had walked out in a dispute over extra pay to take care of the Ebola patients, and some were also staying away for fear of contracting the disease, which has killed health workers…” (Grady, 7/28).

Reuters: Sierra Leone president visits Ebola center
“Sierra Leone’s president visited the center of an Ebola outbreak on Monday as West African leaders stepped up efforts to contain the spread of the deadly virus…” (Fofana/Felix, 7/28).

Reuters: Nigeria isolates hospital in Lagos as Obama briefed on Ebola outbreak
“The Nigerian city of Lagos shut and quarantined a hospital on Monday where a Liberian man died of the Ebola virus, the first recorded case of the highly infectious disease in Africa’s most populous country…” (Cocks, 7/28).

The KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report summarized news and information on global health policy from hundreds of sources, from May 2009 through December 2020. All summaries are archived and available via search.

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