Il New York Times ha ricostruito la genesi dell'epidemia del virus ebola in Africa occidentale. Il paziente "zero" è un bambino di due anni, ucciso dalla febbre emorragica il 6 dicembre a Guéckédou, al confine tra Guinea, Sierra Leone e Liberia. Una settimana dopo è morta anche la madre della piccola vittima, quindi la sorella di tre anni e in seguito la nonna. Tutti avevano febbre, vomito e diarrea.
Due persone presenti al funerale hanno poi portato il virus nel proprio villaggio, scrive il quotidiano statunitense. Un infermiere, a sua volta, lo ha portato in un altro, dove è morto, così come il suo dottore.
La cartina della diffusione del virus
La febbre emorragica da dicembre ha ucciso 960 persone su quasi 1.800 casi confermati, probabili o sospetti, da parte dell' Organizzazione mondiale della Sanità e si è diffusa dalla Guinea alla Liberia, alla Sierra Leone e, dallo scorso luglio, alla Nigeria.
M.A./ANSA
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