peter greste seven years, and another seven years plus three years because he had a spent bull net his possession one he picked up at a protest. they are falsely impressed and al jazerra continues to demands their release. >> people have suffered and died from ebola for years. it's a devastating disease. what makes this latest west african outbreak the worst ever? the number of dead, the geographics spread. the threat of many more case. ebola is the "inside story."

hello, i'm ray soares. ebola is a disease caused by a virus. it's very easily spread from person to person. up to nine out of ten people who contract the disease die of it. people who have been incubating ebola shed bodily fluids through vomiting and diarrhea, and contact with the bodily fluids is how the disease spreads. there's no cure, no vaccine, rapidly the viruses spread. with cases reported now in four west african countries, the world faces the frightening prospect of a widening outbreak. today's ebola outbreak in west africa is the worst in history. and as there a race to control it. since march,

the world health ocean has confirmed that 670 people have died in liberia, sierra leon and guinea. there have been 400 reported cases, including two americans working if those countries. now a cause for concern. patrick sawyer died of ebola after flying on more than one plane. while sick, he got on a flight in liberia, and then it's believed he had a stop over in ghana. he changed planes in towingo before ending his trip in liberia. now his case is sending health officials scrambling. >> they are sending teams to nigeria and towingo to find tracing, people that he may have been in touch with during his flight.

>> we're expecting the virus. >> it's a disease that starts with flu-like simms, fluid leaking from eyes and ears, and the world health association said that once someone gets ebb ol a. the death rate can be as high as 90%. >> before the epidemic started, people didn't know what ebola was. now the situation is difficult, it's a crisis. >> ebola is not airborne, and it can only be caught through bodily fluids like saliva, sweat and blood. those diagnosed with it are immediately quarantined, putting medical professionals at the front lines. >> my family tell me every day, do not work here because my life is at risk. because my colleagues, when they work here, every day, they're dying, even now as i talk to you, two of my colleagues are in the hospital.

they were diagnosed positive with ebola yesterday. >> reporter: the doctors for disease control said that the likelihood of ebola spreading to the u.s. is very low, but in an age where a deadly disease could be only one plane ride away, the cdc has cautioned people returning from west africa. ebola and other diseases come roaring out of the tropics. can you stop a disease in its tracks before it affects larger and larger numbers? in countries with underfunded public health systems, already over burdened. joining us with this deadly disease, dr. robert quigley, for international sos. dr. anthony fourchee, for the infectious diseases at the

national institutes health. and dr. lucy, from georgetown university medical center. dr. quigley, is there any intelligence coming out of west africa that gives us an idea of why there was a sudden spike in the number of cases. >> well, certainly the media has propagated a lot of the information that's available locally. i think the fact that as your report indicated, some americans have been contaminated, has heightened the awareness, and it's difficult to sort out fact from fiction in some of these circumstances, and it's companies like our own that are sorting the details to get to the bottom of your question. >> dr. lucy, there are ebola cases ongoing in central and western africa. what set of circumstances conspires to have a sudden jump like this? not necessarily in the case of ebola, but in any disease?

>> so ebola is a case of zoo naughtic diseases, they come from the animals, and bird flu is another. but ebola is on everyone's mind today. in general, it will come from one or more species, bats or gorillas, and it comes from eating bush meat or animals, and ebola can be transmitted from person to person through contact with those who have had the virus, not through the air. this is a very

high mortality disease, and almost everyone dies, and that puts a roadblock in the way of continued spread. but now we're seeing in urban areas, and people coming into the hospital with the early symptoms, and how does something like this breakout? >> yeah, so it's a very important question that's not easily answered. but in this particular instance, the largest outbreak ever since the first one in 1976, of ebola various disease. it seems that people have come into cities, and it has contributed to the spread and the difficulty in controlling the virus, but secondly, the virus is spread rurally to many sites in free countries in west africa, which has not been the case in the past, so uganda, or zair or sudan or elsewhere. so it's very hard to control, through isolating people who are

ill and exposed for up to 21 days they have to stay quarantine. >> dr. faucci, the two institutions that have the primary responsibility of looking for people in the united states, whether there's a spike like this overseas, is there an alarm this goes off? >> well, you certainly want to be vigilant, ray. we know a person can get on a plane and if that person from liberia got on a plane and went to nigeria. and particularly, in the cdc, which is a major public health surveillance here in the united states, and we might get a person here. the question that you just asked my colleagues on the line, what we have here in the united states would be a system that would make it likely unlikely

that the kind of explosive spread, if we good happen almost by accident to get someone who flew over here when they were relatively well but got infected in a western african country and then came here and actually got ill and got infected and sick, so you need a protocol to keep it from spreading. and you mentioned the idea of people dying, and one of the real problems with ebola is that it can still be spread by the bodily fluids of diarrhea or vomit or blood even after a person dies, so we see a spread of infection even when families don't bring the patient to the hospital and take care of them at home, and they touch the body or take care of the proper precautions, and it spreads

within family members or even morticians. so it's that kind of understandable, because it's traditional behavior. but nonetheless, it's totally counter-productive when it comes to trying to contain an epidemic, particularly in the western african countries that you mentioned, it has gotten to the cities. when you're in the cities, the density of the population compounds even more the spread when people are sick, and a lot of times, just by the people taking care of them who get sick as the healthcare workers that you mentioned. >> those are your people, and what are the rules for people working in sierra leon, monrovia, liberia, to make sure not only that they pass it, but don't fall victim to it themselves? >> it's extremely ironic, and dr. fauci eluded to the protective equipment, which is

mandatory, and that means that the healthcare providers need to be properly educated prior to deployment. and they need to be ongoing the education throughout the course of their work, while they're providing services for this highly contagious disease. as dr. futchel fauci eluded to, it could be only after death. and there can not be a break in that hygienic practice, which is critical. >> is that hard to do in places where everything is not oriented in disposable everything. you go into an american hospital. and they throw almost everything away after one use, but in places that are poor, where they can't buy everything over and over again, that must be hard to do. >> it's a challenge, but there are many healthcare providers that are willing to take those

risks and are hopefully adhering to the protocols in a dr. fauci and i eluded to, and there are ways of overcoming disposable equipment. and there are practices that can maintain hygienic precautions that preclude the transition of the disease, over and above just the clothing that you're wearing. >> how would that look different from normal patient treatment? are you gowned, masked in a different way? in a visibly different way? >> among other things, and it's not just the individual, ideally the rooms in which these individuals are housed, what we call quarantined facilities, and those have to be properly protocolized. and it's difficult in these emerging marketplaces to get the resources to create the appropriate environment and have the appropriate equipment. and we can only do our best under the circumstances that are there. >> we were going to take a short

break. when we come back, we'll talk about how diseases like these spread from animals to humans, and what it means to the future of healthcare when a world like this one has no boundaries when it comes to viruses. this is "inside story." stay with us. >> there is a tendency to downplay human rights in favor of commercial interests >> harsh realities of a world in crisis >> governments care about their reputation... >> can roth, head of human rights watch >> with adequate pressure you can stop anybody's abuse. >> every saturday join us for exclusive, revealing, and surprising talks with the most interesting people of our time. >> talk to al jazeera only on al jazeera america

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still a very much volatile situation... >> the government is prepared to carry out mass array... >> if you want free press in the new democracy, let the journalists live. >> welcome back to "inside story" on aljazeera america, i'm ray soares. the outbreak of ebola in west africa this time on the program, relatively large numbers of ebola have been infected in sierraly own and guinea and what people need to know as they wrestle with this and other viruses. in the last seg, dr. lucey, from animals to people, is that something that happens over and over again, whether you're dealing with different strains

of the disease, or once it's established in humans, it doesn't matter where it comes from anymore. it's a human disease? >> it depends on the virus, and there are some that can come from people. but we're talking about viruses, ebola in africa, and mers in the middle east. and a variety of bird flu vires, the most recent in china, h7 and 9, but the one that we have most recently heard of, in india and elsewhere. there are different strains, to use that term, and all of these rna viruses that mutate a lot. ebola specifically has at least five, and now probably the strain that's in west africa, this is a new strain, related to the first one from zair. so there are probably close

to six strains now. and it's important to know how people get infected with each of these outbreaks. because that can help us understand how to control. >> is that how it got established in the population? >> that's right, ray. hiv is an example of the question that you just asked. does the disease keep coming back and hitting humans from the animal? the prototype of that was ebola. ebola was first recognized in 1976 in the democratic of the congo, and there of been a couple of outbreaks, this being the most important. important of the outbreaks, but it continued to go from an animal reservoir to a human, not really fully being

established in a human, whereas hiv made that zoonotic jump from the animal to the human. and now when you make the contrast from ebola to hiv, you see an example of each of the contrasts that you're asking about. >> so as professor lucey mentioned, rna, does a disease like ebola change over time? if we come up with some defenses and silver bullets in the next couple of years, will we be developing new ones if the virus continues to change? >> well, first of all, we need to have a disease that we're working on given the urgency of the situation. but you're right, you can have

mutations that interfere, quite frankly, and our functionally relevant mutations, you don't get a mutation that will completely negate the interventions that you have. you can get mutations of an rna virus that have the capability of mutating correctly by a mechanism, and you can get mutations that would get away from a drug that you would use, that would not being effective against the virus. we see that in mutations of the influenza virus, with the anti-influenza drugs, and then as they go through voit and the populations, they develop mutations. so the answer to your question, ray, certainly that can happen. but right now, we're focusing on getting some intervention for ebb ol a. either through vaccine or therapy. >> i don't want

to veer away from the brave people on the front lines. i want to remind people about them. just in the last day, sierra leon just lost it's anti-ebola doctor, one week after he's infected, he's dead. and that would be a anywhere in the world, but for a country as hungry for trained doctors as sierra leon, i'm guessing it's a compounded tragedy. >> it is, it's compounded in so many ways, ray, and this is a sating tragic outcome for somebody who has committed himself to this unselfish gesture. and all i can say, it's important that we, those of us in a position to do so, dr. fauci and his organizations continue to work round-the-clock to develop at least treatment

regimens and vaccines that would be effective, because there are going to be tragedies because of the nature of this disease and how contagious it is. >> when you got an emergency like this, how does the international sos respond? getting the necessary equipment and people like firemen coming to the rescue? >> well, it's a very complex issue. first and form most, in the ideal world, we would want to upgrade the level of care that the infected individual is receiving, and as simple as that is to state, it's not as simple to institute. for example, if we wanted to upgrade the care from somebody infected in one of these west african countries like is he early on and we wanted to move that patient from an ambulance to somewhere on the other side of the world, we would have to have permission from the local health authorities in the

country, and a receiving country, and a destination center that is willing to take such an individual, who may not be in that destination country. we would have to have permission to fly over and do fuel stops. so the logistics are very complicated. furthermore, we have to be able to put our own transport teams in harm's way, so we have to have vehicles to transport the patients, and the patients fit to fly. so we have to have special biological containment units, and those are not as easy it come by as one thinks. the disease has manifested at some point in time with secretions such as diarrhea and documenting, and to try to contain that is a challenge, and you run the risk of contaminating those professionals trying to remove this patient, assuming that you need to move them in the first place. so a few are sending in personnel to assist on-site.

which seems to be our first line of defense. but we're working with all of those organizations to try to figure out ways that we may be able to transport these patients to upgrade their care. >> we're going to take a break, and when we come back, we'll talk about neighboring nations and whether the widening world have to be worried about 24 outbreak of ebola. this is "inside story." >> al jazeera america presents >> what did i do? please take this curse off of me. >> 15 stories one incredible journey edge of eighteen coming september only on al jazeera america

chasing bail only on al jazeera america >> you're watching "inside story" on aljazeera america, i'm ray soares. four countries in west africa are fighting an outbreak of ebola virus. it's highly contagious and deadly. and the countries with the largest number of cases, beginy, liberia and sierra leone, including conflict zones in poor countries. and could even the heroic volunteer staff make up for the lack of spending on health in

this part of the world? still with us, dr. robert quigley, regional director for international sos, dr. anthony fauci, director of the national substitute of allergies and infectious diseases, and dr. daniel lucey at georgetown medical center. dr. fauci, already suspended flights to the infected countries, and the contact tracing team is in west africa trying to put together a timeline for this patient in nigeria. just how worried should the rest of west africa and the world be about a wider outbreak? >> well, rather than use the word, worry, ray, i would say be alert. certainly, the possibility more so in the countries surrounding the three or four countries that

you mentioned because the borders are rather porus there. and when people come in, one thing that you have to make sure. if they come in with symptoms of ebola, it feels like a serious flu. they are aching and they have a headache, and then they start in the symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea. so you have to be aware of people traveling in porus borders. if you're talking about the united states or canada or european countries, you have to be careful when people fly in from those areas, and you might in an emergency room have someone come in with an illness, it's very important for physicians and healthcare providers to do a very quick travel history. i did all of my training in medicine in the middle of new york city, and we learned right from the getgo because of the people coming into the city from all over the worlds o'world, if someone comes in with an illness, the first thing

that you and is, do you have recent travel? and that's what we need to ask in the united states, the possibility that someone might have flown in from a country and gotten infected if that country and flown in here. so it's a head up game. and you have to deal with the protective equipment and protocols that we have been talking about on the show. >> but does that mean, professor lucey, pulling people off of passenger planes at airports and doing something voluntary if there's a possible sufferer? where are the lines here. >> i think that doing tests on people who don't agree to them being performed is crossing the line, so you want to be reasonable at all times. i think that a heightened alertness or vigilance is certainly indicated at this point. but how do

you communicate your concern, and increased vigilance, and the behaviors that go along with that is very very important. you have to gain and maintain a trust of the people that you're trying to help. >> and professor, dr. quigley, quickly before we go, is the world responding quickly and thoroughly enough from this flair coming up from west africa? >> i think that two organizations such as your own, this is an educational forum, and we're educating the public at large, which i think is appropriate. and whether or not we're responding enough will remain to be seen, but from what i've seen today, everybody is committed to battling this unfortunate illness, and time will tell what the outcome will be. >> that briggs u brings us to tf this edition of "inside story." thank you for being with me and

in washington, i'm ray soares. on "america tonight" - israel steps up its bombardment. dozens are killed and gaza's power station is knocked out. exploding hopes of a ceasefire for now, and signalling how far down israel is willing to go to root out hamas. also ahead - a judge's surprising warning a win for firearm advocates and raises questions about gun control in the capital. >> we were not prepared bright lights, bold shows - a danger