Ebola Outbreak Update: Some Virus Patients in Western Africa Are Recovering

After nearly two months of panic and a mob attack on a medical facility in Guinea, some patients who were infected with the Ebola virus are recovering, which could restore hope that the spread of the deadly disease is beginning to wane.

Last week, health officials working for Doctors Without Borders were forced to shut down a treatment facility in Guinea's capital of Conakry after a local mob threatened the medical staff and accused them of bringing the Ebola virus to their country. But after 101 deaths in Guinea, people are beginning to recover thanks to the help from the medical staffs.

Seven patients who were infected with the Ebola virus have recovered and were cleared to return home, Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) reported. This is promising because it shows that the treatment is producing positive results. The Ebola virus has no cure and no vaccine.

"When the first patient came out from the treatment center, I was so happy and the whole team was cheering," said Dr. Marie-Claire Lamah, who works at one of the treatment centers in Guinea.

"When you see them and you can hold their hand and see that they are totally fine, it improves everyone's morale and it's great news for the families and the communities these people are going back to," Doctors Without Borders spokesman Sam Taylor added in this BBC News article.

Since the outbreak's beginning in February, two-thirds of those infected have died and the virus has spread to neighboring Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Mali. Senegal shut its border to Guinea a few weeks ago to avoid having the virus infect their nation after it spread to the other nations, especially Mali, which is directly east of Senegal and also north of Guinea's border.

The patients who were treated could not be touched by the medics because the disease can spread easily through human contact. Those who were infected were isolated and were treated through rehydration, nutrition, and pain relief procedures (since there is no definitive treatment for the virus).

To read more about the Ebola virus survivors, visit this Time Magazine article.