Washington: A new research has revealed that massive global rapid response is required to tackle Ebola outbreak.
Professor Peter Piot, co-discoverer of the virus, said that the epidemic in WHO is the result of a "perfect storm" involving dysfunctional health services, low trust in governments and Western medicine, denials about the virus's existence, and unhygienic burial practices.
Piot, added that the fast pace of Ebola's spread is a grim reminder that epidemics are a global threat and that the only way to get this virus under control is through a rapid response at a massive global scale, much stronger than the current efforts.
According to Piot, international assistance to the growing local efforts must include support for disease-control activities such as the provision of protective equipment, patient care, and addressing the health, nutritional, and other needs of populations in quarantine.
With the World Health Organization announcing that compassionate use of experimental therapies is ethically justified, even if they have not been tested in humans, Piot commented that an exceptional crisis required an exceptional response.
The outbreak which began in December 2013 now spans five countries in West Africa and has so far killed nearly 2000 people, with the WHO predicting that 20,000 may become infected.
This study is published in Science.
