Oregon health officials monitor four people for Ebola amid fears they contracted it in West Africa


Four people in Oregon are being monitored for the Ebola virus after returning to the US from West Africa, the Oregon Health Authority said on Thursday.

The individuals had returned from Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where small outbreaks of Ebola have been recorded. 

The state health authority said the four people, who returned to the US in early March, had been in contact with state and local public health departments. 

Health officials say the risk any of the four has contracted the virus is low.

But they will still be monitored to determine any risk factor of exposure and to ensure their safety, as well as the safety of their families and the community.  

Four people in Oregon are being monitored for the Ebola virus after returning to the US from West Africa, the Oregon Health Authority said on Thursday (pictured, health workers attended to an Ebola patient in July 2019)

Four people in Oregon are being monitored for the Ebola virus after returning to the US from West Africa, the Oregon Health Authority said on Thursday (pictured, health workers attended to an Ebola patient in July 2019)

Symptoms can appear anywhere between two and 21 days after contact with an infected person or animal, but are most likely to appear between eight to ten days after contact (pictured, Guinean health workers prepare to administer Ebola vaccines following an outbreak)

Symptoms can appear anywhere between two and 21 days after contact with an infected person or animal, but are most likely to appear between eight to ten days after contact (pictured, Guinean health workers prepare to administer Ebola vaccines following an outbreak)

Chief Medical Officer for Health Security, Preparedness and Response at the OHA Public Health Division Richard Leman said: ‘We want to make sure these individuals have the support they need to monitor their health, stay in contact with public health officials and safely get help with medical services if it comes to that’. 

Ebola can be contracted through blood or bodily fluid exchange in direct, intimate contact. 

Symptoms can appear anywhere between two and 21 days after contact with an infected person or animal, but are most likely to appear between eight to ten days after contact.

Initial symptoms, known as ‘dry’ symptoms, include fever, aches, pains, and fatigue. 

‘Wet’ symptoms, including diarrhoea and vomiting, develop later, as the person gets more unwell. 

A person would have to be symptomatic, with a high fever for example, to transmit it. 

The 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak claimed more than 11,000 lives as it swept across West Africa (pictured, Libera pays tribute to those who died from Ebola in the 2014 outbreak)

The 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak claimed more than 11,000 lives as it swept across West Africa (pictured, Libera pays tribute to those who died from Ebola in the 2014 outbreak)

Health officials say the risk any of the four has contracted the virus is low. But they will still be monitored to determine any risk factor of exposure and to ensure their safety, as well as the safety of their families and the community

Health officials say the risk any of the four has contracted the virus is low. But they will still be monitored to determine any risk factor of exposure and to ensure their safety, as well as the safety of their families and the community 

Health officials believe the outbreak stems from a survivor of the 2014 West Africa Ebola epidemic.

The six-year incubation possibly marks the longest time a virus has persisted after the initial outbreak, Fox10 reported.  

As of March 24, Guinea had reported 18 cases and nine deaths related to the Ebola outbreak that was first reported in January.   

Guinea launched an Ebola vaccination campaign on February 23, 2021, after the fresh outbreak of the deadly disease struck the country.

Officials hope the virus can be eradicated in six weeks. 

Following this latest outbreak, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has sent over 30,000 vaccine does to Guinea (pictured, a woman receives an Ebola vaccine in the DRC)

Following this latest outbreak, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has sent over 30,000 vaccine does to Guinea (pictured, a woman receives an Ebola vaccine in the DRC)

The international organisation has also organised a shipment of vaccines and additional therapeutic support to be sent to the DRC (pictured, a health worker administered an Ebola vaccine to a boy in the DRC)

The international organisation has also organised a shipment of vaccines and additional therapeutic support to be sent to the DRC (pictured, a health worker administered an Ebola vaccine to a boy in the DRC)

Guinea launched an Ebola vaccination campaign on February 23, 2021, after the fresh outbreak of the deadly disease struck the country

Guinea launched an Ebola vaccination campaign on February 23, 2021, after the fresh outbreak of the deadly disease struck the country 

Officials hope the virus can be eradicated in six weeks (pictured, the emergency drop off at the N'zerekore Hospital, where Guinea's first Ebola cases from this new outbreak were found)

Officials hope the virus can be eradicated in six weeks (pictured, the emergency drop off at the N’zerekore Hospital, where Guinea’s first Ebola cases from this new outbreak were found)

Following this latest outbreak, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has sent over 30,000 vaccine does to Guinea. The international organisation has also organised a shipment of vaccines and additional therapeutic support to be sent to the DRC

 Following this latest outbreak, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has sent over 30,000 vaccine does to Guinea. The international organisation has also organised a shipment of vaccines and additional therapeutic support to be sent to the DRC

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has reported 12 Ebola cases and six Ebola-related deaths since declaring its 12th outbreak of the virus in February. 

Though rare, Ebola can be deadly if it is not treated quickly.  

The 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak claimed more than 11,000 lives as it swept across West Africa. 

Following this latest outbreak, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has sent over 30,000 vaccine does to Guinea. 

The international organisation has also organised a shipment of vaccines and additional therapeutic support to be sent to the DRC.   

WHAT IS EBOLA AND HOW DEADLY IS IT?

Ebola, a haemorrhagic fever, killed at least 11,000 across the world after it decimated West Africa and spread rapidly over the space of two years.

That pandemic was officially declared over back in January 2016, when Liberia was announced to be Ebola-free by the WHO.

The country, rocked by back-to-back civil wars that ended in 2003, was hit the hardest by the fever, with 40 per cent of the deaths having occurred there.

Sierra Leone reported the highest number of Ebola cases, with nearly of all those infected having been residents of the nation.

WHERE DID IT BEGIN?

An analysis, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found the outbreak began in Guinea – which neighbours Liberia and Sierra Leone.

A team of international researchers were able to trace the pandemic back to a two-year-old boy in Meliandou – about 400 miles (650km) from the capital, Conakry.

Emile Ouamouno, known more commonly as Patient Zero, may have contracted the deadly virus by playing with bats in a hollow tree, a study suggested. 

Health workers tend to an Ebola patient kept in an isolation tent in the Democratic Republic of Congo in July 2019

Health workers tend to an Ebola patient kept in an isolation tent in the Democratic Republic of Congo in July 2019

Figures show nearly 29,000 people were infected from Ebola – meaning the virus killed around 40 per cent of those it struck.

Cases and deaths were also reported in Nigeria, Mali and the US – but on a much smaller scale, with 15 fatalities between the three nations.

Health officials in Guinea reported a mysterious bug in the south-eastern regions of the country before the WHO confirmed it was Ebola.

Ebola was first identified by scientists in 1976, but the most recent outbreak dwarfed all other ones recorded in history, figures show.

HOW DID HUMANS CONTRACT THE VIRUS?

Scientists believe Ebola is most often passed to humans by fruit bats, but antelope, porcupines, gorillas and chimpanzees could also be to blame.

It can be transmitted between humans through blood, secretions and other bodily fluids of people – and surfaces – that have been infected.

IS THERE A TREATMENT?

The WHO warns that there is ‘no proven treatment’ for Ebola – but dozens of drugs and jabs are being tested in case of a similarly devastating outbreak.

Hope exists though, the US’ FDA approved the Ervebo vaccine for use against the Ebola virus in December 2019.

Leave a Reply