Ebola Outbreak - International Public Health Emergency
The World Health Organisation has declared the Ebola outbreak an international public health emergency, but it is not recommending general bans on travel or trade. Director general Margaret Chan says west African countries' health systems need international help to manage infection.
Since Ebola was first identified in 1976, there have been more than 20 outbreaks in central and eastern Africa; this is the first to affect West Africa. The virus causes symptoms including fever, vomiting, muscle pain and bleeding. It is spread by direct contact with bodily fluids like blood, sweat, urine, saliva and diarrhea.
An experimental serum given to Christian aid workers infected with the deadly Ebola virus was manufactured by a San Diego pharmaceutical firm using plants, the company and U.S. health authorities disclosed. The drug, which was produced by Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc., is called ZMapp and has not been evaluated for safety in humans, according to a company statement.
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