Guinea frets as Ebola virus spreads

A second spike in Ebola virus cases has panicked residents and health officials in Guinea, who fear a west African outbreak of the killer disease may now be out of control. “Ebola cases are worrying. We do not know what to expect,” Mamady Traore, a trader in the suburbs of the capital Conakry, told AFP on Thursday. “Sometimes you are told it has been (contained) and sometimes you hear it has reappeared in other towns and villages.” According to figures released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday, a total of 398 cases of haemorrhagic fever — causing 264 deaths — have been reported in Guinea since the start of 2014. Of these, 254 were caused by Ebola. The incurable disease is spread by contact with bodily fluids including sweat, meaning just touching an infected person is enough to spread the virus. “The government can’t do anything to fight the disease,” taxi driver...