Categories: News

U.S. Sending Health Experts To Combat West Africa Ebola Outbreak

In this undated photo released by the Center for Disease Control, a Aeromedical Biological Containment System which looks like a sealed isolation tent for Ebola air transportation is shown. On Thursday afternoon July 31, 2014, officials at Atlanta’s Emory University Hospital said they expected one of the Americans to be transferred there “within the next several days.” The hospital declined to identify which aid worker, citing privacy laws.

The spread of Ebola across West Africa has the world on notice; consequently, the United States aims to send around 50 public health experts to the region to combat the disease. So far, two American health workers have become ill with Ebola and are currently being treated using extreme precautionary measures.

RELATED: All You Need to Know About the Ebola Virus

Keep Up With Face2Face Africa On Facebook!

Dr. Kent Brantly is one of two American aid workers that have tested positive for the Ebola virus while working to combat an outbreak of the deadly disease at a hospital in Liberia.

A top U.S. health official says that the Ebola outbreak can be contained and stopped but acknowledges it is out of control. Dr. Kent

Brantly, the first of the workers to be reported stricken with Ebola, arrived in the United States on Saturday at a military base before heading to Emory University Hospital. His condition is already said to be improving.

From the BBC:

Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announced the new U.S. measures in an interview with ABC’s “This Week.”

“We do know how to stop Ebola. It’s old-fashioned plain and simple public health: find the patients, make sure they get treated, find their contacts, track them, educate people, do infection control in hospitals.”

The experts would arrive in West Africa within 30 days to fight what he called the “scary” disease.

Aid worker Nancy Writebol will soon arrive in the States after she was also diagnosed with the disease. The infected are transported from West Africa to the United States in a special airplane outfitted with a tent to contain their infection. The plane can only carry one passenger at a time. Writebol is set to come back home at an unknown time.

Thus far, more than 728 lives in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia have been claimed at the hands of Ebola. When untreated, the disease causes severe flu-like symptoms, which then lead to hemorrhaging from orifices and internally.

The National Institutes of Health have a test vaccine for the deadly virus coming this September.

RELATED: HEALTH ALERT: Ebola Spreads to Nigeria

D.L. Chandler

D.L. Chandler is a veteran of the Washington D.C. Metro writing scene, working as a journalist, reporter and culture critic. Getting his start in the late 1990s in print, D.L. joined the growing field of online reporting in 1998. His first big break came with the now-defunct Politically Black in 1999, the nation's first Black political news portal. D.L. has worked in the past for OkayPlayer, MTV News, Metro Connection and several other publications and magazines. D.L., a native Washingtonian, resides in the Greater Washington area.

Recent Posts

‘It felt really scary’ – 14-year-old Nigerian ballet sensation on learning he’s largely blind in one eye

Anthony Madu, the 14-year-old Nigerian dancer from Lagos who gained admission to a prestigious ballet…

2 days ago

‘I remember the day when 56 dollars would change my life’: Wayne Brady reveals humble beginnings

Actor-host Wayne Brady recently opened up about his early financial struggles in his now thriving…

2 days ago

This 1-year-old loves to greet people at Target, so the store hired him as its youngest employee

Mia Arianna, also known as @mia.ariannaa on TikTok, helped her son become an honorary team…

2 days ago

Postman drives 379 miles at his own expense to deliver lost World War II letters to a family

Alvin Gauthier, a Grand Prairie USPS postman, recently went above and beyond to brighten a…

2 days ago

Maj. Gen. Fatuma Gaiti Ahmed becomes Kenya’s first-ever female air force head

Maj. Gen. Fatuma Gaiti Ahmed is the first female commander of the air force and…

2 days ago

All Benjamin E. Mays High School seniors gain admission to HBCU Morris Brown College in surprise announcement

Benjamin E. Mays High School brought together its 272 senior class members for a meeting…

2 days ago

Meet the formerly incarcerated single mom who has gone viral for passing bar exam on first try

Afrika Owes' emotional response to learning that she had passed the bar exam on her…

2 days ago

New York attorney accused of hiring hitman to kill Zimbabwean ex-wife sentenced

A 49-year-old New York attorney was on April 26 sentenced to 10 years in federal…

2 days ago

Cher, 77, who is dating 38-year-old Alexander Edwards, explains why she dates younger men

During an appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show on Wednesday, pop legend Cher opened up…

2 days ago

11-year-old accidentally shot to death by 14-year-old brother with stolen gun

Authorities in Florida said an 11-year-old boy was accidentally shot and killed by his 14-year-old…

2 days ago

16-year-old Ethiopian Hana Taylor Schlitz breaks sister’s record to become the youngest graduate from TWU

The famous Taylor Schlitz family is making headlines once more as the youngest of the…

3 days ago

Tahra Grant is reportedly the first Black woman to be Chief Comms Officer at a major Hollywood studio

Sony Pictures Entertainment has appointed Tahra Grant as its Chief Communications Officer. She replaces Robert…

3 days ago

How Ashley Fox quit her Wall Street job and built a startup to financially empower those Wall Street would never talk to

Meet Ashley M. Fox, the founder of Empify and the first in her family to…

3 days ago

‘It wasn’t worth it’ – Tyra Banks says the first time she drank alcohol was when she was 50

Tyra Banks, the iconic former host of Dancing With the Stars, has made a delightful…

3 days ago

Brazilian woman who wheeled dead uncle to bank to withdraw his money is being investigated for manslaughter

A Brazilian woman named Érika de Souza, 42, is under investigation for manslaughter after authorities…

3 days ago