Ebola reveals weak points in medical system

US scientists told a workshop in Washington on Nov 3 that many questions about the Ebola epidemic, like the exact pattern of how the virus spreads, remain unanswered. Two days later, China announced it would dispatch more than 1,000 medical and public health workers to West Africa to control the epidemic.

One of the questions is how to secure the safety of Chinese medical helpers. The new teams of Chinese will be in addition to the 134 Chinese health personnel already working in the worst hit countries of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. Since Chinese health professionals, including specialists, are working in quarantine centers, virus testing labs and hospitals taking care of the general health needs of the local people, they are at a high risk of being infected by Ebola.

Senior officials with the National Health and Family Planning Commission have pledged to fly back, if necessary, Chinese citizens who contract the virus for proper treatment. And the government has designated some top hospitals in East China to treat them.