hello, i'm ray soares. ebola is a disease caused by a virus. it's very easily spread from tak precautions or take care of the proper precautions, and it spreads within family members. within family members or even it's that morticians. because 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 behaviour. particularly in west african epidemic, particularly in the countries - western african countries that you mentioned, it has gotten to the cities. cities when you're in the cities, the density of the population compounds even more the spread compounds, and spread, and when people are sick, and a lot of times, of times it's by team just by the people care of them, the physicians and health taking care of them who get sick mention. >> as the healthcare workers that you mentioned. people, what are the >> those are your people, and the rules of people what are the rules for people sierra leone, monrovia, liberia, to working in sierra leon, pass it, but monrovia, liberia, to make sure to it themselves. >> not only that they pass it, but don't fall victim to it themselves? the doctor alluded >> it's extremely personal protective equipment ironic, and which is mandatory. one has to know how to use the dr. fauci eluded to the ppe, and that protective equipment, which is mandatory, and that means that individuals, health care the healthcare providers providers need need to they need be properly educated prior to deployment. throughout the and work. they need to be ongoing the while we are providing education throughout the course for the of their work, while they're providing disease. it's a services for this highly contagious disease. spread during or after death. for that as dr. futchel has to be to nuts - from the moment they enter the fauci eluded to, it could be only after death. exit. there cannot be a break in that and there can not be a break in practice, which is critical. >> is it hard to do in places in that hygienic practice, which is critical. unlike western >> is that hard to do in everything is places around disposable everything. when where everything is not oriented in disposable everything. hospital you go into an american hospital. everything after one use. and they throw almost everything in places that are away after one use, but in can't by over and places that are poor, where they be harder can't buy everything over and >> it's over again, that must be hard to do. there are many health >> it's a challenge, but there providers willing to are many healthcare providers risks that are willing to take those risks and are hopefully adhering to the protocols alluded to. there are to the protocols in a dr. fauci and i eluded to, and there are disposable equipment. there are practices one ways of overcoming disposable equipment. and there are pursue to maintain practices that can maintain precautions that preclude the transition of the hygienic precautions and that preclude the transition of the disease, over and above just programme that you are the clothing that you're wearing. >> how would that look different from >> how would that look different from normal patient treatment? are you gowned, masked are you gowned, masked in a visibly different different way? in a visibly different way? >> among other >> among other things, and it's just the not just the individual, ideally the the rooms in which these are housed, individuals are housed, what we facilities, and call quarantined facilities, and protocolized. those have to be properly it's more difficult in the protocolized. marketplaces to get the and it's difficult in these resources to create emerging marketplaces to get the appropriate environment and resources to create the the appropriate equipment. appropriate environment and have we can only the appropriate equipment. the circumstances that and we can only do our best there. >> we'll take under the circumstances that are there. we come >> we were going to take a short how break. when we come back, we'll talk from animals to about how diseases like these it means for spread from animals to humans, and what it means to the future health care when a of healthcare when a world like this has no boundaries when it comes to this one has no boundaries when it comes to viruses. this is "inside story". stay with us. this is "inside story." stay with us. >> an american tonight investigative report >> i never would have thought this would happen to us kz >> athletes going for the gold >> i've had a lot of people ask me... why didn't you scream?... why didn't you yell?...kick... why didn't you go tell your mom? >> betrayed by those they believed in the most >> there's bad people out there in youth sports >> could this happen to your child? >> my sole purpose in coming forward, is to help change the culture of sports >> an america tonight investigative report only on al jazeera america >> now available, the new al jazeea america mobile news app. get our exclusive in depth, reporting when you want it. a global perspective wherever you are. the major headlines in context. mashable says... you'll never miss the latest news >> they will continue looking for survivors... >> the potential for energy production is huge... >> no noise, no clutter, just real reporting. the new al jazeera america mobile app, available for your apple and android mobile device. download it now >> 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 er 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." >> next saturday. gaza, experience what it's like on the ground, first hand, as our crew gets caught in the chaos. the reality of war. shujayea: massacre at dawn. next saturday, 10:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america. thee you on? borderland, tomorrow at 9 eastern, 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. >> announcer: this is al jazeera. hello there. welcome to this newshour, i'm laura kyle in doha. these are the top news stories - another israeli attack on a u.n. school in gaza, 10 people are killed. more than 30 injured. thousands flee libya as the two biggest cities descend into chaos. live at the boarder from tunisia. the first official v