Fears on the rise about spread of deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa

An 'unprecedented' outbreak of the Ebola virus in western Africa has claimed the lives of over 90 people since the beginning of the year. As more suspected cases show up, including in bordering countries, concerns are rising that it will continue to spread.

A total of 95 people have died due to confirmed or suspected cases of the Ebola virus as of Saturday — 86 from Guinea, 7 from Liberia and 2 from Sierra Leone — with at least 60 more cases currently being treated. The majority of these cases have been in the Guékédou, Macenta and Kissidougou regions of southern Guinea and the country's capital city, Conakry. Suspected cases have also been reported in central and northern regions of the country (Dabola and Djingaraye), where three people have died already, and more have been showing up in the neighbouring countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Mali. The number of people requiring medical follow-up has climbed to over 600 from the 74 reported just last week.

Concerns about the disease spreading even further were stoked over the past few days when a 12-year-old girl died from similar symptoms (viral fever and bleeding) in the country of Ghana, to the east, on the other side of Côte d'Ivoire (The Ivory Coast) from Guinea and Liberia. However, according to Reuters, health officials who tested her blood confirmed that she did not die from the Ebola virus.

[ Related: Deadly Ebola outbreak spreads from Guinea to neighbouring countries ]

Countries that border Guinea have either closed their borders or have introduced screening procedures for anyone entering the country. The airport in Conakry is also screening passengers leaving Guinea. There were even some concerns raised on Friday on board to an Air France flight that arrived in Paris from Conakry, due to vomit found in the airliner's bathroom by a flight attendant. USA Today reported that passengers and crew were released when none showed any signs of fever.

Although local governments are responding to the outbreak and there are reports that most people are reacting to the situation calmly and simply taking precautions, there have been some incidences of panic, violence and protest. According to CBC News, health workers had to be evacuated from Macenta, in southern Guinea, when the clinic they were housing quarantined victims in was attacked by an angry crowd. The mob claimed that the Doctors without Borders staff brought the disease to their town, since this was the first time Ebola has ever been reported in the area. On a bus travelling in Guinea, people fled in fear when an elderly man on the bus vomited. In Mali, protesters took to the street in one neighbourhood where victims were being quarantined, for fear that their presence would spread the disease in the region.

Doctors without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières or MSF), recorded this video about the outbreak on March 26, discussing the disease and the measures taken to protect against it.

[ More Geekquinox: Weird Science Weekly: Bionic kangaroo is the future of robotics ]

Fears about the spread of Ebola are understandable, as there is no cure or vaccine available and its deadly reputation is well-earned. However, it is actually one of the easier viruses to contain, as it is only spread by contact with bodily fluids (blood, sweat, saliva, vomit or diarrhea). As long as the public can be made of aware of the outbreak early and educated about the symptoms to watch for and how to stay safe, anyone contracting the virus is isolated, and precautions taken about dealing with the bodies of the deceased and travelling to or from the region, the virus will not spread easily.

However, this particular outbreak is being called 'unprecedented' by officials, due to the wide-spread areas that it has spread to already. Part of the problem is the incubation period (21 days), which means that someone infected can travel quite far and come into contact with many people before they actually become sick from the virus. This means that family and friends of an infected person are the most at risk. It's suspected that the virus was first transmitted to people from eating 'bush meat' — in this case, fruit bats, which is one of the possible 'natural reservoirs' of the virus.

Geek out with the latest in science and weather.
Follow @ygeekquinox on Twitter!