Ebola outbreak in Guinea unprecedented, medical charity says

An Ebola outbreak in a remote province of Guinea that has killed 78 people thus far is unprecedented, a Doctors Without Borders official said.

“We are facing an epidemic of a magnitude never before seen in terms of the distribution of cases,” said coordinator Mariano Lugli of the epidemic, after cases were observed in Guinea’s southeastern Nzerekore region and later reported in areas hundreds of miles apart.

It has spread to Guinea’s capital, Conakry, and to neighboring Liberia, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported Tuesday.

Guinea’s health ministry said Monday there have been 78 deaths from 122 cases of suspected Ebola since January.

Liberia’s has recorded seven confirmed cases, the World Health Organization said. The first two Liberian deaths were sisters, one of whom had recently visited Guinea.

The illness, spread by human contact, has caused supermarket workers in Monrovia, Liberia, to wear gloves as a precaution. Liberian Health Minister Walter Gwenigale suggested Monday that people should stop shaking hands, kissing and engaging in sex.

Nearby Sierra Leone reported five suspected cases, and neighboring Senegal closed its border with Guinea.

[BBC]