The number of Ebola deaths are continuing to rise with over 4,546 deaths and counting. More alarming still are scientists’ predictions that the deadly Ebola virus that has spread rapidly across West Africa since March could jump continents and spread across Europe. World Health Organization (WHO) scientists are working to contain the disease, especially through international flights into Europe, however the effectiveness of this is questionable, bearing in mind that the virus as a two-to-three-week incubation period.
British Prime Minister David Cameron wrote to European Council president Herman Van Rompuy and other prime ministers calling on leaders to agree to an “ambitious package of measures at the upcoming EU leaders summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday. He wants EU funds to be dubled to 1 billion euros and for 2,000 workers to travel to the region, including 1,000 clinical staff. He wrote: “If we do not significantly step up our collective response now, the loss of life and damage to the political, economic and social fabric of the region will be substantial and the threat posed to our citizens will also grow.”
The Ebola crisis is expected to top the EU Foreign Affairs Council taking place at Luxembourg on Monday.
EU health ministers held a meeting in Brussels last week and they agreed to increased co-ordination between member states on passenger screening however only Britain, France, the US and Canada have introduced passenger screening at airports since the outbreak.
Nurse in Spain
44-year-old Teresa Romero, the Spanish nurse who contracted Ebola while caring for two infected patients, was treated with a drip of human serum containing antibodies from Ebola sufferers who had survived the disease and other drugs that a Spanish government spokeswoman refused to name. A blood test on Sunday revealed that her immune system had eliminated the virus and was clear of all traces of the disease two weeks after her hospitalization. A second test is due to confirm her recovery.
Ebola vaccination
The race is on for labs around the world to develop a vaccine against the disease. British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline says that the vaccine will be available towards the end of 2015 with preliminary data from trails expected by the end of 2014. Meanwhile, the WHO warns that at this rate, the virus could claim 10,000 lives by December.
