Ebola Experts Warn of an African

Apocalypse
At an emergency hearing Thursday, leaders of the fight against Ebola gave updates on the
situation in Africa and the future of the deadly diseases possible spread.
At an emergency hearing in Washington on Thursday afternoon, major players in the fight
against Ebola in West Africa addressed the outbreak that has stolen the lives of more than
900. Leaders from health agencies and humanitarian efforts addressed the need for increased
support, as one called the current state of affairs in West Africa apocalyptic.
Rep. Christopher Smith, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa
and Global Health, opened the hearing by urging the speakers to clear the air on a grave
issue that has gripped the mass media for weeks. We hope to gain a realistic
understanding of what were up against while avoiding sensationalism, he told the floor.
Here are the takeaways:
The outbreak is getting worse.
Its already an unprecedented outbreak, CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden says, and the number
of infected and killed by Ebola will likely soon outnumber all other Ebola outbreaks in the
past 32 years combined. According to the CDC, there have already been more than 1,700
suspected and confirmed cases of Ebola in West Africa, and more than 900 deathsnumbers
that Frieden later called too foggy to be definitive. Ken Isaacs, the vice president of
Program and Government Relations for Samaritans Purse, painted an even bleaker picture.
According to the World Health Organization, West Africa has counted 1,711 diagnoses and
932 deaths, already, which could represent only a small fraction of the true number. We
believe that these numbers represent just 25 to 50 percent of what is happening, said Isaacs.
The atmosphere in West Africa is apocalyptic.
In a six-hour meeting with the president of Liberia last week, Isaacs said workers from
Samaritans Purse and SIM watched as the somber officials explained the gravity of the
situation in their countries, where hundreds lie dead in the streets. It has an atmosphere of
apocalypse, Isaacs said of the Liberia Ministry of Healths status updates. Bodies lying in
the streetgangs threatening to burn down hospitals. I believe this disease has the potential
to be a national security risk for many nations. Our response has been a failure. Isaacs says
that the epidemic is inciting panic worldwide that, in his opinion, may soon be warranted.
We have to fight it now here or were going to have to fight it somewhere else.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Tom Frieden shows an
awareness poster as he testifies before an Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and
International Organizations Subcommittee hearing on Combating the Ebola Threat at the
Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C., on August 7, 2014. (AFP/Getty)
Its unclear how many serums are available in the U.S.
Frieden explained that the government is looking carefully into any possible treatment for the
infection but stressed that because of rapidly evolving information, it is unclear how many
of the potentially life-saving Ebola serums are available. I cant tell you definitively how
many courses there are, said Frieden. I heard there are a handfulfewer than the fingers of
one hand. Some manufacturers have reportedly said they can make some, but some
companies are saying it could take months. I dont have definitive information. Frieden
further reiterated that Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol are the first two humans to be
given the treatment, suggesting that even if additional treatments were available, using them
may not be ethical. Whatever happens with these individualswe still do not know from
their experience whether these drugs work. Antibodies are only one part of our response to an
illnessin other conditions antibodies can make a disease worse. Its too soon to know.
The international response has been disastrous.
Isaacs, head of the humanitarian agency for which Brantly worked, vehemently condemned
the international community for a response that he considers both delayed and insufficient.
The disease is uncontained and out of control. The international response has been a
failure, he said. With three of the poorest nations in the world affected, West Africa is
extremely ill-prepared for the disastera fact, Isaacs argued, that necessitates a stronger
response. The ministries of health in these countries do not have the capacity to handle this.
If a mechanism is not found, the world will be effectively relegating the containment of this
disease to three of the poorest nations in the world, he said, adding later: Is the world
willing to let the public health of the world be in their hands?
Writebol and Dr. Brantly are getting better.
When asked for an update on the current status of the two American workers being treated at
Emory University in Atlanta after contracting the disease in Liberia, Isaacs said they were
getting better every day. He was not able to confirm whether either can be classified as
stable. I dont think [their recovery] will be fast, he said. I will say that they seem to have
gotten better. We appreciate that they are getting good treatmentwe pray that they will
survive.
But their introduction back to the U.S. will be painful.
In the days since the two American workers have returned to America, Samaritans Purse has
heard widespread concern about their reintegration. People are afraid to get around them
husbands, wives, no one knows if its safe, he said. We are doing everything we can to give
them a safe place to be, but imagine how difficult it is for American citizensand all
citizensto suffer from this, he said. Some from the communities where the two Americans
came from reportedly have expressed concern about them infecting other residents. This is a
nasty, bloody disease; I could give you descriptions of people dying that you cannot even
believe.
Doctors in the Ebola-infected countries are in desperate need of supplies.
Dr. Frank Glover, a missionary with SIM who also testified at the hearing, expressed
frustration at the affected countries lack of personal protective gear (PPG), which he says is
increasing the spread of infections significantly. Glover says the doctors and nurses in these
areas, particularly Liberia, are terrified to enter the hospitals because of a lack of proper
gloves, goggles, and gowns that are needed to protect them. The No. 1 cause of infections in
Liberia is lack of protective gear. Its unconscionable that were asking them to take care of
people without gloves. If were putting people on the line, we owe it to them to give them a
fighting chance.
The quarantined towns are in desperate need of other vital support systems.
Rep. Karen Bass, a standing member on Smiths subcommittee who spoke with Liberian
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, says the quarantined areas in West Africa are in desperate
need of basic supplies like food and water. Health care is a human right. We must ensure
these countries have what they need to fight for it, she said. Both Isaacs and Glover also
expressed concern over the lack of education in West Africa about both the symptoms and
proper response that should be taken in the wake of an infection. A poster on the wall saying
Ebola kills isnt going to do it, said Isaacs. They need education. Grover cited the 14-
year civil war in Liberia, which left millions illiterate, as one of the main roadblocks in
educating the country.
The U.S. may not be prepared to treat American relief workers should they get infected.
According to Isaacs, of the Samaritans Purse, the plane that flew Writebol and Brantly to
safety in Atlanta is the sole vehicle of that kind in existence. There is only one airplane in
the world with one chamber to carry a Level 4 pathogenic victim. Oneand its in the U.S,
said Isaacs. There is no other aircraft in the world. Isaacs says that unless the Department
of Defense is secretly in possession of another aircraft, then the U.S. will not have the power
to evacuate more than one American relief worker at a time, should they get infected. If the
U.S. is going to expect CDC people [to be in these nations], there has to be assurance that we
can care for them when they are sick.
The disease could spread to other countries.
Isaacs, whose warnings to Congress about the urgency for a better response prompted
Thursdays meeting, says he is gravely concerned about the future. After first observing the
outbreak in April, hes watched the disease spread furiously across West Africa with little to
no effective international support. I think we are going to see death tolls in numbers that we
cant imagine, said Isaacs. If we do not fight and contain this disease, we will be fighting
this and containing this in multiple countries across the world. The cat is, most likely, already
out of the bag.