Scores of Ethiopian health workers arrived in Liberia to aid in the fight and battle against the deadly virus, Ebola that caused the biggest outbreak in West Africa in years. For eight months, the virus killed nearly 7,000 people in Liberia and its neighboring countries like Sierra Leone and Guinea. More than 14,000 people have been infected and the death toll rate is about 50%.
A total of 87 doctors and nurses will join an African Union (AU) mission to battle the worst Ebola outbreak in history. They will join about 175 Nigerian medics who were deployed to Ebola-ravaged countries Liberia and Sierra Leon earlier this month.
According to Major General Julius Oketta, the head for the AU mission, "The aim of the AU is to support the government on the progress so far made. We want to expand on it, to make sure that the community also supports it.
The focal point of the mission is concentrated on Montserrado County, which is home to the country's capital and largest city Monrovia. However, even if Liberia's infection rate has declined over the last few weeks, there are feedbacks there that perhaps the outbreak of the virus will be ending soon.
Liberia assistant health minister Tolbert Nyenswah said, "The campaign, getting to zero before Christmas, continues. We are still having between five to 10 cases per day in Liberia, and that is huge."
In related news, hope swirled across Africa because of the development of vaccines which are undergoing human trials. However, they are not to be released this year but will be released by mid-2015. They are hoping that by Christmas, the outbreak could be halted and new infections will decline.
There are many health officials who are hoping that the outbreak will finally stop as many of their co-workers have been greatly affected by the outbreak.