Recent declines in the number of Ebola cases in two of the hardest-hit areas of the West African country of Liberia offer early signs of progress in containing the virus, according to a new government report.
Since mid-September, the number of admissions to Ebola treatment units in the Liberian county of Montserrado has declined by 73%, according to one of six new articles published Friday in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Montserrado County, home to the Liberian capital city of Monrovia, has seen half of the country's 6,500 reported Ebola cases since March.
The report found that the number of blood samples in the county that tested positive for the virus was down 58%, and there has been a 53% drop in body collections.
A second report details fewer reported Ebola cases in the Liberian county of Lofa, where the country's Ebola epidemic began.
Weekly admissions to Ebola treatment units within Lofa have dropped from a high of 133 in mid-August to one new admission for the week ending Nov.1. Ebola tests on deceased victims showed the rate of those testing positive for the virus decreased from 95% between June 8 and Aug. 16 to 25% between Aug. 24 and Nov. 1
The reports indicate efforts to slow the epidemic may be working. Medical relief efforts in recent weeks have included adding more Ebola treatment units in affected areas, as well as a public education campaign about the disease.
“The recent decrease in cases suggested by these reports shows how important it is to continue to intensify our Ebola response,” CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden in a statement. “We have to keep our guard up—we can't stop until we stop the last chain of transmission.”
Health officials are hopeful that strategies employed in the two counties can be adopted throughout Liberia and the rest of West Africa to help slow the outbreak's spread.
Despite successes in Lofa and Montserrado, new cases continue to occur there as well as the rest of the country. As of Nov. 9, Liberia had seen more than 6,800 of the more than 14,400 suspected and confirmed cases of the virus among eight countries, including Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Spain and the U.S., according to the latest figures from the World Health Organization. Liberia has had more than 2,800 of the reported 5,100 Ebola deaths since March.
The Obama administration has requested $6.2 billion in emergency funding to fight Ebola in West Africa and to improve preparedness in the U.S.
Follow Steven Ross Johnson on Twitter: @MHsjohnson
