Ebola: We never had outbreaks in capital cities before

The atmosphere in Sierra Leone where the deadly ebola virus has so far claimed almost 300 lives is not so much one of panic as one of grave concern, according to Clare native and Concern worker, Fiona McLysaght.

Ms McLysaght, who is Concern Worldwides head of operations in the stricken country, said while the news reports filtering out tended towards a doomsday scenario, the good news was there were survivors too.

Since the first case was confirmed on May 26, we are now at 591 confirmed cases. Of that figure, 214 people have died [as of last Wednesday] but there are also patients who have recovered.

In fact to date, 161 patients have recovered from a disease for which there is no vaccine, no treatment, and no cure, Ms McLysaght said. Those who recover are followed up for three months afterwards to make sure the virus is gone.

Those with the best chance of recovery were patients who sought treatment early, she said.

Sometimes they respond to symptomatic treatments, in other words they respond to treatment given to them for symptoms such as high temperature, fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, and if they have a healthy immune system. So people do survive, she said.

However, those who left treatment late were facing the likelihood of organ failure. She described the ebola outbreak as a frightening experience for the people of Sierra Leone, especially given the nature of the disease which meant victims had to be isolated from families. The most alarming aspect was that cases were still jumping on a day-to-day basis.

We still havent got to the stage where its levelling off, she said.

This ongoing increase in the numbers infected distinguished the outbreak from others that preceded it, Ms McLysaght said.

Weve had outbreaks of ebola in Africa since 1976 in places such as the Democratic Republic of Congo. But the difference is they usually burnt themselves out. They were localised. This outbreak is not. We have never had outbreaks in capital cities before but this time we have.

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Ebola: We never had outbreaks in capital cities before