Guinea detects 9 cases of Ebola in new region

by Reuters    |    September 03, 2014 , 9 : 37 pm GST     Share

Medical workers of the John Fitzgerald Kennedy hospital of Monrovia wear their protective suit before going to the high-risk area of the hospital, the surgical section where Ebola patients are being treated, on Wednesday. Nurses at Liberia's largest hospital went on strike on Monday, demanding better pay and equipment to protect them against a deadly Ebola epidemic which has killed hundreds in the west African nation. Photo: AFP/DOMINIQUE FAGET

Conakry/Dakar: Guinea's government said on Wednesday that Ebola had spread to a previously unaffected region of the country, as U.S. experts warned that the worst ever outbreak of the deadly virus was spiralling out of control in West Africa. Guinea, the first country to detect the haemorrhagic fever  in March, had said it was containing the outbreak but authorities announced that nine new cases had been found in the southeastern prefecture of Kerouane. The area, some 750 km southeast of the capital Conakry, lies close to where the virus was first detected deep in Guinea's forest region. The epidemic has since spread to four other West African countries and killed more than 1,500 people.   "There has been a new outbreak in Kerouane but we have sent in a team to contain it," said Aboubacar Sikidi Diakité, head of Guinea's Ebola task force. He insisted the outbreak was being contained. The nine confirmed cases were in the town of Damaro in the Kerouane region, with a total of 18 people under observation, the health ministry said in a statement...  http://www.timesofoman.com/News/39135/Article-Guinea-detects-9-cases-of-Ebola-in-new-region