Ebola kills an average of 50% of those who are infected by it. The first symptoms are fever and muscle pain, soon followed by vomiting, diarrhoea and sometimes internal and external bleeding. Those infected must be treated as soon as possible and kept in quarantine.
The current outbreak of Ebola was declared in West Africa in March 2014, and has since spread quickly and claimed over 4,500 lives. According to the World Health Organisation, since October 17th 2014 alone, there have been a further 9,191 cases reported in Guinea, Sierra Leona and Liberia. An additional 25 cases were reported in Nigeria, Senegal, Spain, and the United States, as well as 68 cases in an unrelated outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the disease is endemic. Ebola kills an average of 50% of those who are infected by it. The first symptoms are fever and muscle pain, soon followed by vomiting, diarrhoea and sometimes internal and external bleeding. Those infected must be treated as soon as possible and kept in quarantine. Corpses and burials have been identified as a major source of spread of the disease. Islamic Relief is currently engaged in an interfaith initiative to help promote sensitisation and safe burial rites in Sierra Leone. Our field offices in neighbouring countries of Mali, Niger and Chad have started planning projects in case the disease spreads further and into any of the countries. We are intending to expand the initiatives we are currently working on, to include other preventative measures across affected countries. We will also work to support food security projects due to many farmers abandoning fields as a result of the outbreak, resulting in a growing risk of food shortage.