Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and his wife Priscilla donated $25 million to the CDC Foundation to help prevent the spread of the Ebola virus.
Zuckerberg said, “We need to get Ebola under control in the near term so that it doesn’t spread further and become a long term global health crisis that we end up fighting for decades, at large scale, like HIV or polio.”
In addition, Zuckerberg believed that their financial contribution is the fastest way to empower the CDC and the experts in the field to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus.
“Grants like this directly help the frontline responders in their heroic work. These people are on the ground setting up care centers, training local staff, identifying Ebola cases and much more. We are hopeful this will help save lives and get this outbreak under control,” according to Zuckerberg.
Total Ebola cases
Data from CDC showed that there are 8,376 total Ebola cases including 4,633 laboratory-confirmed cases as of October 10, 2014. More than four thousand people (4,024) already died from Ebola virus.
The countries with wide spread transmission of Ebola virus include Guinea (1,350 cases), Liberia (4,076 cases) and Sierra Leone (2,950) in West Africa.
According to the agency, other countries with travel-associated cases of Ebola virus include the United States (2 cases), Spain (1 case) and Senegal (1 case).
In the United States, Thomas Eric Duncan contracted the Ebola virus from Liberia. He was treated at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital and died last week. The CDC confirmed that a nurse who helped treat Duncan was tested positive of Ebola virus last Sunday.
In Spain, the nurse who was diagnosed positive with Ebola virus was part of the team who treated the priest who died at the Carlos III de Madrid on September 25. The priest contracted the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone.
U.S. nurses warn about system failure
During an interview with CBS, CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said a “breach in protocol” on the part of the healthcare worker spread the infection.
During a press conference last Sunday, the National Nurses United (NNU), the largest nursing union in the United States warned that there is a system failure and hospitals are not providing proper training and equipment to front line workers.
“You don’t scapegoat and blame when you have a disease outbreak. We have a system failure. That is what we have to correct,” said Bonnie Castillo, director of the Registered Nurses Response Network at NNU
Katy Rooemer, a registered nurse also commented, “We’re seeing that caregivers who are not being adequately trained are being blamed.”
