The first case of a patient who contracted the Ebola virus in Africa and was diagnosed has been made official in the United States. For experts, France is not immune to this risk.
A first case of Ebola has been diagnosed outside Africa! That’s the announcement made Tuesday night by a spokesperson for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. This patient who contracted the disease in Africa, but whose pathology started in the United States, was diagnosed in Texas. At the moment, his identity is unknown, but it is known that he had traveled to Liberia, a country severely affected by the Ebola fever epidemic. Last information that leaked, the man is currently hospitalized in Dallas.
Faced with this situation, a question arises: are epidemic outbreaks possible outside Africa?
Patients in incubation near African airports
Contacted by the editorial staff of why actor, Professor Jean-Paul Stahl, infectious disease specialist at Grenoble University Hospital (38) confides that “this case in the United States is not at all surprising and that it is quite logical. Moreover, France has prepared for this hypothesis, ”he underlines.
“In fact, these are infected patients in high-risk countries who arrive in their country of origin while being incubated. And they declare the disease after the return ”, adds Professor Jean-Paul Stahl.
Indeed, before returning to Texas, where he arrived by plane on September 20, the man had no symptoms, said the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Tom Frieden, at a press conference. He began to experience symptoms on September 24 and sought medical attention two days later. He was hospitalized on the 28th in Dallas, where he was quarantined.
For Professor Stahl, “ other cases could well occur in the United States, or even in France ”. He explains that from now on the Ebola epidemic is not raging only in remote or forested areas. But also in cities, and in large African megalopolises where there are airports. “Look for example at the cases reported in the capital of Liberia, Monrovia”, notes this infectious disease specialist.
Listen to Prof. Jean-Paul Stahl, infectious disease specialist at Grenoble University Hospital: “The hypothesis of an isolated case of Ebola which breaks out in France is clearly being considered …”
Epidemic outbreak in the USA: a fantasy for infectious disease specialists
But for Professor Jean-Paul Stahl, epidemic outbreaks in countries like France or the United States are unlikely. “ Because sick or suspected patients are taken care of very quickly, and there is an entire alert system in place to take care of the sick and their families. All this is provided for in plans ”, he indicates..
Result, normally, if there was a case in France, he would be taken care of immediately and his entourage would be monitored. And for Professor Jean-Paul Stahl, there is little chance that a patient will escape the system “ because the symptomatology of Ebola is so serious that patients consult very quickly, whatever the reason: Ebola, or not. “
A point of view shared by Professor Didier Raoult, infectious disease specialist at the head of the microbiology laboratory of Marseille hospitals, for whom an Ebola epidemic in developed countries is “a fantasy”. “A secondary case is possible but no more”, he thinks.
Blood remains the major factor of contamination
In addition, Prof. Didier Raoult is skeptical of the statement by CDC Director Dr Tom Frieden that it “possible that someone who has been in contact with this individual could develop Ebola in the coming weeks. The patient’s family has however been quarantined.
The infectious disease specialist from Marseille thinks for his part that “human-to-human transmission in developed countries will remain exceptional. Because you really have to have contact with the body fluids of the patient. In particular the blood which is the major factor of contamination. And in general, with us we do not put our hands in the blood of the sick. This is how the virus is transmitted in Africa, especially when people clean bodies or when they transport them. Unfortunately, Ebola is a hemorrhagic fever. Suddenly, the patients bleed at the end. But apart from contact with the blood of a patient, the contamination is extremely low, ”he concludes.
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