Who: Number of Ebola Linked Cases Passes 10,000
World Health Organization (WHO) reports a sharp increase in the number of Ebola cases in West Africa. According to WHO, over ten thousand people have been infected. The spread of the current infection is increasing at an uncontrollable rate (DiLorenzo, 2014). The most current WHO statistics indicate that over 50 percent of those infected have succumbed to the disease. Most importantly, the disease continues to spread in other West African countries apart from Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, which forms the epicenter of infection (DiLorenzo, 2014). Containing the disease has remained a challenge for most organizations and governments. The most recent reported case in Mali is an example of how the disease can easily spread across borders.
Besides the continuous need to raise awareness, restrict the movement of people, and reduce body contacts, the medical and behavioral challenges still undermine various organizations’ efforts to contain the spread of the disease. Reasonable numbers of people in the hardest-hit countries are still withdrawn from medical attention (DiLorenzo, 2014). Besides, the hardest-hit countries lack adequate medical facilities that can efficiently handle the cases. The lack of technical laboratories that can potentially manage the contaminated blood samples has greatly undermined the efforts to contain the spread of the disease.
Countries in West Africa are keenly tracking the spread of the disease while limiting cross-border migrations. Even though countries like Ghana have been cleared free from the Ebola virus, various concerns such as the health care workers’ strike leave the country exposed to infections. The WHO, US government, and other associated organizations have put every effort to ensure that the spread of the disease is contained through the provision of medical and food supplies as well as through the construction of urgently required treatment centers (DiLorenzo, 2014).
Polio in Syria
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that those visiting Syria and neighboring countries should be vaccinated against the poliovirus. The recommendation follows a warning from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) that the polio cases in Syria are on the rise. The GPEI observed that the country has reported over 30 cases between 2013 and 2014. The country is suffering from a widespread poliovirus due to increased conflicts, which has reduced the possibility of immunization (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). Besides, the spread of the virus is increasingly spreading in neighboring countries including Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, and Iraq that are currently experiencing a huge influx of refugees from Syria (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2014).
CDC recommends that people traveling in and out of these countries should be vaccinated against the virus due to higher possibilities of being contaminated. Humanitarian aid workers, health care workers, and journalists working in these countries have a greater risk of being contaminated with the virus particularly from infected people. CDC advises that even adults who had been vaccinated should receive a back-up vaccine before engaging in various duties in these countries particularly Syria. Besides, it is recommended that people of all ages residing in the country for at least four weeks should indicate a polio vaccination proof before leaving the country (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). Furthermore, it is a requirement that the vaccination is conducted between four weeks and one year before leaving Syria. The vaccination must be documented (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014).
Polio is a contagious viral disease that affects the nervous system. The disease spread through contacts (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). Besides, the disease spread through contaminated food and drinking water. Polio causes paralysis of the limbs due to muscle dysfunction on minimal occasions. Death occurs when the virus affects the nervous system that controls breathing muscles and cardiac movements.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2014). Polio in Syria.Web.
DiLorenzo, S. (2014). Who: number of Ebola linked cases passes 10,000. Associated Press. Web.
Kaiser Family Foundation (2014). Polio spreads to Iraq from Syria.New York Times. Web.