More than one million people affected by Ebola outbreak: WHO

United Nations With more than one million people affected by the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa the WHO has warned that there is no early end in sight to the severe health crisis and called for extraordinary measures to stop the transmission of the diseaseAccording to the latest update issued by the World Health Organisation WHO 128 new cases of Ebola virus disease as well as 56 deaths were reported from Guinea Liberia Nigeria and Sierra Leone between August 10 and 11 bringing the total number of cases to 1975 and deaths to 1069WHO DirectorGeneral Margaret Chan said more than one million people are affected by the disease and these people need daily material support including food The infected people are in the hot zone of disease transmission on the borders of the three countries most impacted by the diseaseThere is no early end to the outbreak in sight This is an extraordinary outbreak that requires extraordinary measures for containment This is a severe health crisis and it can rapidly become a humanitarian crisis if we do not do more to stop transmission Chan said during a briefing in Geneva yesterdayUN SecretaryGeneral Ban Kimoon chaired a UN systemwide coordination on Ebola and stressed the need for the entire UN system to support the WHOs efforts in combatting the outbreak Chan said the outbreak has placed every city with an international airport at risk of an imported caseDecisions to seal off the hot zone of disease transmission that is the area where the borders of Guinea Liberia and Sierra Leone intersect are critical for stopping the reinfection of areas via the crossborder movement of people she saidChan said that the isolation of the zone most affected by the outbreak has made it even more difficult for agencies like MSF Doctors without Borders to bring in staff and suppliesThe outbreak is unprecedented in its size severity and complexity Cases are occurring in remote rural areas that are difficult to access but also in capital cities she said She also expressed concern over the unprecedented number of healthcare workers who have been infected by the virus So far nearly 170 healthcare workers have been infected and more than 80 have diedThe outbreak is also having serious economic consequences on the countries in the region threatening to push these countries backwards as airlines are cancelling flights and companies are moving their staff out of the regionSix months into the outbreak fear is proving to be the most difficult barrier to overcome Fear and the hostility it can provoke have threatened the security of national and international response teams Chan said Ban appointed David Nabarro as Senior United Nations System Coordinator for Ebola in support of the work done by Chan and her team to counter the outbreak which the agency has designated a public health emergency of international concernNabarro would be responsible for ensuring that the UN system makes an effective and coordinated contribution to the global effort to control the outbreak Meanwhile a 12member ethics panel convened by WHO said it is ethical to treat Ebola patients with experimental drugs to counter the largest most severe and most complex outbreak of the disease in historyOn the operational side WHO said it is finalising its strategic operations response plan and expects to share it with countries and partners in the coming days The UN health agency said that standard measures like early detection and isolation of cases contact tracing and monitoring and rigorous procedures for infection control have stopped previous Ebola outbreaks including those in Uganda the Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as GabonThe Ebola virus is highly contagious but is not airborne Transmission requires close contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person as can occur during healthcare procedures home care or traditional burial practices which involve the close contact of family members and friends with bodies