Credit Dr. Ian Mackay VDU Blog
# 10,050
Nine months ago were were staring at a nearly apocalyptic worst case estimate of between 550,000 and 1.4 million Ebola cases in Liberia and Sierra Leone by the end of January 2015 - if interventions were not implemented - (see MMWR: Estimating The Future Number of Cases In The Ebola Epidemic).
Of course, interventions were implemented, and that harrowing estimate was never realized.
Not that one can take a lot of comfort from a tally that conservatively shows nearly 27,000 cases and just over 11,000 deaths. This single outbreak affected six times more people than all of the previously known outbreaks (1996-2014) combined.
But it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. And indications are that – barring something unforeseeable – this West African Ebola outbreak may be nearing an end.
This round up and commentary from Dr. Ian Mackay, from which I’ve only excerpted a snippet. Follow the link to read it in its entirety:
Liberia gave Ebola the boot...and a virus may soon be removed from the wild
The people of Liberia have earned our respect, some time for national celebrations and frankly any other rewards that may flow from denying the Makona variant of Ebola virus any hosts among their community.
The world considered this viral species to be one of the list-toppers when it came to ranking the causes of the most scary acute infectious diseases. Ebola virus has been the basis for all sorts of 'end-of 'the-world' mutating virus horror movies, books, and TV shows. It's not at all surprising that the public view of an Ebola virus infection had long been one of blood, fear and terror.
