MOSCOW, October 9 (RIA Novosti) – More than 230 healthcare workers have died from Ebola, with a total of over 400 having been affected by the virus, Russia's public health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said on its website Thursday.
"401 medical staff have been affected by the Ebola [hemorrhagic] fever, with 232 of the cases having had a fatal outcome," Rospotrebnadzor's statement said.
Earlier on Thursday the head of Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, said that a serious outbreak of the Ebola virus is unlikely to happen in Russia, although sporadic infections among Russians who travel abroad are possible.
According to Popova, Russia is currently considering sending more teams of Russian healthcare workers to fight the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
A team of Russian epidemiologists, virologists and bacteriologists from Rospotrebnadzor is currently stationed in Guinea, where the Ebola epidemic started in February. The disease later spread across Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal, with several cases having been reported in the United States and Europe.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 3866 people have been killed by Ebola in West Africa. A total of 8034 people have been affected by the Ebola virus.
Healthcare workers are at the highest risk of contracting Ebola, which is transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of those infected. Though there is no officially approved medication for the disease, several countries, including the United Kingdom, Russia, the United States, Canada and Japan are currently working on developing Ebola vaccines.
