2014 EBOLA FACTS
This is the largest Ebola outbreak in history and the presence of Ebola in
West Africa is unprecedented. Over half of the deaths from Ebola are
occurring in Liberia. Currently there is a 70% death rate among those
infected by the virus and it continues to spread throughout Liberia.
RESPOND TO THE EBOLA CRISES
PRAY: IGRC friends in Liberia are in weekly contact. Our Liberian
friends and associates ask we continue to pray for the protection and
safety of their families and communities as Ebola continues to spread.
BE INFORMED: Follow the news of IGRC website by clicking on the
Ebola Crisis link at the top of the IGRC webpage. CDC updates are
available at www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/ .
DONATE: Please donate though United Methodist Committee on Relief
and IGRC Ebola Response efforts.
(a) UMCOR - Give to UMCOR’S International Disaster Response Advance
#982450. Please place the following on the designation line: EBOLA
RESPONSE or you may designate LIBERIA EBOLA RESPONSE.
(b) IGRC - A designated fund is established to directly send food
assistance to those appealing to IGRC for help due to offices and schools
being closed, no income being received and the increased cost of food.
This fund is NOT a IGRC Advance Special and NO FIVE STAR GIVING
CREDIT will be given for these donations, yet the need is very real.
Checks must be payable to IGRC with IGRC EBOLA RESPONSE-FRIENDS
OF IGRC on the designation . Please mail these donations to the
attention of Bunny Wolfe, IGRC Mission Coordinator, PO Box 19207,
Springfield, IL 62794.
Fruit bats are considered the most likely host of the Ebola virus although
other wild animals may also carry the disease. Ebola is first contracted
by infected wild meat and is then spread through human contact.
In the 2014 West African outbreak, human transmission has caused the
widespread infection. Ebola is spread through contact with body fluids
of an infected person. It is NOT airborne. One must be in close bodily
contact with someone who has an active case of Ebola to be infected.
There is no licensed medicine or vaccine for Ebola virus disease, but
several products are being tested and researched with hopes of soon
having an effective treatment.
When the medical professionals determine it is okay for the patient to
return home, that individual is no longer infectious and cannot infect
others. It is believed that person is now immune to the type of Ebola
they have survived, but testing continues to verify immunity.
Inadequate health infrastructure, poor sanitation, traditional customs,
misunderstanding for the need of isolation, lack of adequate beds in
isolation wards and lack of knowledge on how the virus spreads and
denial to the reality of Ebola all contribute to the current rapid and
continual spread of the virus.
Although the risk of infection for those traveling to Liberia remains low,
all IGRC mission trips are postponed. The first possible date for an IGRC
team to return to Liberia is July, 2015. Information is available at
bwolfe@igrc.org .