{"id":55608,"date":"2014-10-12T10:14:37","date_gmt":"2014-10-12T10:14:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=55608"},"modified":"2014-10-12T10:14:37","modified_gmt":"2014-10-12T10:14:37","slug":"un-ebola-outbreak-could-be-controlled-in-three-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/10\/un-ebola-outbreak-could-be-controlled-in-three-months\/","title":{"rendered":"UN: Ebola outbreak could be controlled in three months"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UN special envoy on Ebola says he hopes that the outbreak can be brought under control within three months.<\/p>\n

David Nabarro\u00a0told the BBC<\/a>\u00a0the number of Ebola cases was currently increasing exponentially, but greater community awareness would help contain the virus.<\/p>\n

People were becoming aware that isolating those infected was the best way to prevent transmission, he added.<\/p>\n

So far, there have been\u00a0more than 8,300<\/a>\u00a0confirmed and suspected cases of Ebola, and at least 4,033 deaths.<\/p>\n

‘Quite frightening’<\/p>\n

Most fatalities – 4,024 – have occurred in the west African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Cases have also been reported in Nigeria, Senegal, Spain and the US.<\/p>\n

Mr Nabarro said that the number of new cases was “quite frightening”, as the spread of the disease was currently accelerating.<\/p>\n

At the beginning, many west African communities did not understand that the outbreak was an infectious disease, he said.<\/p>\n

“I think we’ve got much better community involvement [now] which leads me to believe that getting it under control within the next three months is a reasonable target,” he said.<\/p>\n

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Tulip Mazumdar describes the protective measures taken by journalists covering the Ebola crisis<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

“By under control I mean… the numbers of new cases each week diminishes compared with the previous week to the point where there is no new transmission.”<\/p>\n

The Ebola virus is spread by direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or animal.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, New York’s JFK airport began screening passengers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea for the Ebola virus on Saturday, in an attempt to stem the outbreak.<\/p>\n

Passengers from those countries will have their temperatures taken and have to answer a series of questions.<\/p>\n

Checks at O’Hare in Chicago, Newark, Washington’s Dulles and Atlanta’s airport will begin in the coming days.<\/p>\n

The screening system is being introduced after the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the US died in Texas on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

In other developments:<\/p>\n