‘Ebola may cause food crisis in Africa’

The World Food Program (WFP) has warned that the ongoing epidemic of Ebola infection, which is wreaking havoc on West African countries, may also give rise to a food crisis in the region.

“The spread of Ebola is disrupting food trade and markets in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and the region,” Elizabeth Byrs, the WFP spokeswoman, said on Friday, referring to the African countries mostly affected by the disease.

The UN body also expressed concern over a surge in commodity prices in the West African country of Liberia if Ebola damages domestic agriculture.

The WFP has so far delivered over 13,000 tons of food to people in the three worse-hit countries.

The report comes as Mali has become the latest country in West Africa to be hit by Ebola after its officials confirmed on Thursday that a two-year-old girl had been diagnosed with the disease.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the deadliest Ebola epidemic on record has infected around 10,000 and claimed almost 4,900 lives so far.

Ebola is a form of hemorrhagic fever whose symptoms are diarrhea, vomiting and bleeding. The virus spreads through direct contact with infected blood, feces or sweat. It can be also spread through sexual contact or the unprotected handling of contaminated corpses.

The media hype over Ebola comes at a time when thousands of people in Africa and other parts of the world die every day from hunger and preventable diseases.

MSM/MKA/SS