Ebola Virus Death Toll Rises to 887, New Outbreak Cases Appear

The Ebola virus outbreak has now risen to 887 in West Africa, with three new cases being reported in Nigeria. The virus that started in the forests of Guinea has now spread to Liberia and Sierre Leone.

The Ebola virus has already affected two American missionaries with group Samaritan’s Purse, Dr. Kent Brantly and North Carolina missionary Nancy Writebol. Dr. Brantly was transported to a special isolation unit at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Nancy Writebol is scheduled for transportation to Emory University Hospital by midday Tuesday. Dr. Brantly was able to walk by himself, as he climbed out of the transportation van used to carry him to the hospital. Sources say that Nancy Writebol is not doing as well as Dr. Brantly, who is still in serious condition at Emory University Hospital.

The situation in Monrovia, the Liberian capital, is serious. Sixty doctors have died while treating Ebola patients, and clinics have closed their doors and refused to treat patients who think they too, may have the virus. A number of communities are now panicking due to additional outbreaks, and many are resorting to violence as a way to handle the Ebola virus – a virus that is showing itself to be uncontainable for the time being. Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF), a group devoted to treating individuals with Ebola, has its only team in Liberia and is unable to increase the team number at this time.

With the rising death toll to 887, a number of officials are seeking to bury the dead. At a burial site in Monrovia, those who sought to bury the Ebola victims were attacked, bringing 25 soldiers to guard the site and the burial procedures.

As for the World Health Organization, it is seeking to raise $100 million to help stop the spread of Ebola. WHO says that it is having trouble containing the Ebola virus and that the international scene must pledge to help with the virus.

Ebola starts off with symptoms that mimic the flu, but the symptoms take a turn for the worst as individuals began to experience internal and external bleeding in the final stages of Ebola.

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