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Ebola Crisis
Topic Started: 23 Mar 2014, 12:52 AM (2,797 Views)
skibboy
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22 March 2014

Guinea deaths: Ebola blamed for deadly fever outbreak

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Ebola was first identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976

The Ebola virus has been identified as the cause of an outbreak of haemorrhagic fever now believed to have killed nearly 60 people in southern Guinea, government officials say.

Scores of cases have been recorded since the outbreak began early last month.

There is no known cure or vaccine for the highly contagious Ebola virus.

It is spread by close personal contact with people who are infected and kills between 25% and 90% of victims.

Symptoms include internal and external bleeding, diarrhoea and vomiting.

Outbreaks of Ebola occur primarily in remote villages in Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests, the World Health Organization says.

Analysts suggest it has never been recorded in Guinea before.

Recent years have seen outbreaks in Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo.

'Overwhelmed'

"We got the first results from Lyon yesterday (Friday) which informed us of the presence of the Ebola virus as the cause of this outbreak," Guinean health ministry official Sakoba Keita told AFP.

"The Ebola fever epidemic raging in southern Guinea since 9 February has left at least 59 dead out of 80 cases identified by our services on the ground."

"We are overwhelmed in the field, we are fighting against this epidemic with all the means we have at our disposal with the help of our partners but it is difficult."

Medical aid charity Medecins sans Frontieres said on Saturday it would strengthen its team in Guinea and fly some 33 tonnes of drugs and isolation equipment in from Belgium and France.

Dr Armand Sprecher, an emergency physician and epidemiologist working with MSF in Guinea, told the BBC that doctors had to identify all patients with the disease and monitor anyone they had been in contact with during their illness.

The latest outbreak could be brought under control if people acted quickly, he said.

"Based on our history with these sorts of outbreaks it will happen. Ideally, sooner rather than later," said Dr Sprecher.

"The more quickly we can contain this the fewer cases we'll have, then the smaller the scale of the epidemic. That's the idea of going in as strong as we can early on."

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10 July 2015

Ebola-hit countries appeal for billions for recovery

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© AFP / by Carole Landry | Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf speaks to UN members during an International Ebola Recovery Conference on July 10, 2015 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York

UNITED NATIONS (UNITED STATES) (AFP) - The leaders of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone appealed on Friday for $3.2 billion in aid to put their countries firmly on the road to recovery from Ebola.

The world's worst outbreak has killed more than 11,200 people in West Africa, brought fragile health care systems to their knees, rolled back economic gains and sent investors fleeing.

Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf told a pledging conference at the United Nations that the "world has a great stake in how we respond to the global threat" of the Ebola epidemic.

"We can and we must return to the progress of our pre-Ebola trauma," she told the gathering.

Liberia suffered a setback when a few new cases were uncovered last month after the hardest-hit country had been declared Ebola-free.

New infections in Sierra Leone and Guinea have fallen dramatically amid indications that the epidemic is largely under control.

But Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma warned against complacency.

"Humanity sometimes displays a short attention span and wants to move to other issues because the threat of Ebola seems over," said Koroma.

"No, no, no," he emphasized.

"The threat is never over until we rebuild the health sector Ebola demolished, until we rebuild the livelihoods in agriculture it compromised, until we shore up government revenues it dried up, and until we breathe life into the private sector it has suffocated."

The European Union pledged 450 million euros ($500 million) at the outset of the conference to support health care, agriculture and other hard-hit sectors.

- Final stretch -

The $3.2 billion in requested aid will help the three countries put in motion their national recovery plans to get hospitals, schools and government services fully up and running.

The three countries also put forward a separate regional plan of $4 billion.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, who chairs the African Union, called for debt cancellation for the three countries.

Around 30 people are still being infected with Ebola every week, said David Nabarro, the UN's coordinator for Ebola.

"The strategy to end the outbreak is working," said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, "but the final stretch of the response remains particularly challenging."

Legions of health care workers died from Ebola and field hospitals built at the height of the crisis have since closed, leaving health systems struggling.

The loss of health workers could lead to an additional 4,022 deaths of women each year across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone as a result of complications in pregnancy and childbirth, according to the World Bank.

The World Health Organization has said the three countries are facing a funding gap of $700 million just to rebuild their health systems and provide services until December 2017.

Liberia, the hardest-hit country, and Sierra Leone have seen modest gains made after years of war wiped out by Ebola.

Growth rates in all three countries showed that economic prospects were bright before the outbreak that began in Guinea in December 2013.

by Carole Landry

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10 July 2015

New Liberia Ebola case 'similar' to first outbreak: WHO

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© AFP/File | Sierra Leone's health officials checking passengers transiting at the border crossing with Liberia in Jendema on March 28, 2015

GENEVA (AFP) - Tests on the first Ebola case in Liberia after a three month span when the West African country was declared Ebola-free are genetically similar to a 2014 outbreak, the UN health agency said Friday.

The World Health Organization said this showed that the resurgence of the disease was not likely due to the virus entering Liberia from two other Ebola-ravaged neighbours; Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Liberia said on June 30 that a 17-year-old died after contracting Ebola and transmitting the virus to two other people in the coastal region of Margibi.

Since then, two more people from the same village have been detected with the virus, taking the total number of confirmed cases to five.

"Tests on these samples have shown that the virus is genetically similar to viruses that infected many people in Margibi County more than 6 months ago, in late 2014," the WHO said.

"Because the virus appears to be related to the one previously circulating in Liberia, it is unlikely that this recurrence has been caused by virus imported from infected areas of Guinea or Sierra Leone," it said.

The world's worst Ebola outbreak has killed more than 11,250 people in West Africa, brought fragile health care systems to their knees, rolled back economic gains and sent investors fleeing.

Liberia suffered a setback when the new cases were uncovered after the hardest-hit country had been declared Ebola-free.

New infections in Sierra Leone and Guinea have fallen dramatically amid indications that the epidemic is largely under control.

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20 July 2015

Last four Liberian Ebola patients discharged

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© AFP/File | Information minister Lewis Brown wears a t-shirt reading, "Liberia is free from Ebola" during a ceremony hosted by the World Health Organization in Monrovia on May 9, 2015

MONROVIA (AFP) - Liberia discharged its last four Ebola patients on Monday, leaving the west African nation with no known cases of the deadly tropical fever.

The two men and two boys -- part of a cluster of six new confirmed cases -- were released from the ELWA II clinic in Monrovia after making a full recovery.

"This is a clear indication that we are capable of facing the outbreak whenever there is one," deputy health minister Tolbert Nyensuah told reporters at the treatment unit.

"Our doctors were able to stop the virus from killing these people. Today they are free and will be given the certificate (of recovery)."

Liberia was declared free of transmission on May 9, six weeks after the funeral of its last case.

But a 17-year-old died in the coastal county of Margibi at the end of June after passing the virus on to five others, one of whom died.

The recovered patients, aged nine to 24, came from the same village as the first of the new cases, near the country's international airport and about an hour's drive southeast from Monrovia.

Othelo Miah, 19, said he was among a group of villagers who had eaten cooked dog flesh with the 17-year-old -- originally and incorrectly attributed as a possible source of the new outbreak.

"I got sick after eating dog meat. My body was painful, every part of it. They brought me here and today I am happy that I am free from Ebola," he told reporters.

ELWA 2 said four people who were thought to have had contact with the patients had also been released, having escaped infection, while six remained under observation.

Scientists believe the resurgence of Ebola is likely to have originated in a survivor still carrying the virus.

Ebola has infected 27,700 people and killed almost 11,300 across Liberia and its neighbours Guinea and Sierra Leone, according to official data widely thought to underestimate the toll.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said last week samples of the pathogen taken from the 17-year-old "strongly suggests that the most likely origin of transmission is a re-emergence of the virus from a survivor within Liberia."

There were 30 confirmed Ebola cases reported in the week to June 12, according to the WHO -- 13 in Guinea, three in Liberia and 14 in Sierra Leone.

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26 July 2015

Sierra Leone president unveils post-Ebola 'battle plan'

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© AFP/File | Health workers assist an Ebola patient at the Kenama treatment centre run by the Red Cross Society, on November 15, 2014

FREETOWN (AFP) - Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma has unveiled a post-Ebola "battle plan" to help the west African country turn the page on the devastating epidemic.

"Beyond the immediate nine-month recovery period, we will commence a two-year plan during which we must resolve to restore Sierra Leone to the path to prosperity," Koroma said in a statement released Friday.

"We will work to reinvigorate the private sector as a source of growth, create jobs and livelihoods in our economy," he said, emphasising the need to improve roads and market access.

"Access to energy and water will be high priorities for the next few years," he added.

The programme will be funded by more than $804 million (730 million euros) earmarked for Sierra Leone at this month's UN Pledging Conference on Ebola.

Donors pledged a total of $3.4 billion for the three countries ravaged by the Ebola epidemic -- Liberia and Guinea as well as Sierra Leone.

Experts at the UN conference urged the three countries to focus on rebuilding health care systems, reopening schools, supporting agriculture and restoring government services that were overwhelmed by the crisis.

The worst Ebola outbreak in history produced some 27,600 infections in the three countries, of which 11,253 were fatal, according to official data widely seen as an underestimate.

Sierra Leone has reported 3,941 deaths.

In announcing the "battle plan", Koroma said it was critical "not only to finally defeat the virus and get to zero (cases), but also to ensure that the virus stays defeated."

Koroma said 10 of the country's 14 districts have reported no new cases of Ebola in the past 90 days; three of those have seen no new outbreaks since the beginning of 2015.

The health ministry said in its latest update that there are currently only three reported cases of the virus nationwide.

Tonkolili in the north of the country reported one new case of Ebola on Saturday, ending a 150-day run of no new infections, health officials said Sunday.

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Ebola cases fall to year low but WHO warns of trouble ahead

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© AFP/File | An health worker gives a drink to an Ebola patient at Kenama treatment center run by the Red Cross Society on November 15, 2014

GENEVA (AFP) - The World Health Organization on Wednesday hailed the fewest weekly infections for over a year in the west African Ebola epidemic, but warned they were braced for a significant new outbreak in Sierra Leone.

There were just four confirmed cases in Guinea in the week to Sunday and three in Sierra Leone, the WHO said in the latest of its weekly updates on the epidemic.

But it warned that one of the Sierra Leone cases, a patient who died after travelling from the capital Freetown to the central district of Tonkolili, posed "a substantial risk of further transmission".

"On July 19 the case attended a community hospital complaining of a headache, and was treated as an outpatient and discharged," the WHO said.

"Two days later on July 21, the case presented to a different hospital and was isolated on admission. The patient died on July 23 and was confirmed (Ebola) positive after post-mortem testing.

"Over 500 contacts have been listed so far, several of whom are deemed to be high risk. Investigations are ongoing to establish the source of infection and identify and trace all contacts."

The WHO said all of the 500-plus contacts are in Tonkolili, which reported its first new case of Ebola earlier this month, ending a 150-day run of no new infections.

Around 28,000 people have been infected in the two countries and neighbouring Liberia in the worst Ebola outbreak in history, more than 11,000 of them fatally, according to official data widely seen as an underestimate.

Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma has unveiled a two-year post-Ebola "battle plan" to reinvigorate the private sector as an engine for economic growth and job creation.

The programme will be funded by more than $804 million (730 million euros) earmarked for Sierra Leone at this month's UN Pledging Conference on Ebola.

There was better news elsewhere, with Liberia reporting no new cases in the week to Sunday, following a small outbreak a month ago which dashed hopes that the country had eradicated the spread of the virus among humans for good.

Six people were confirmed infected in the first cluster of cases for three months.

Two of them died, but the remaining four have been given the all clear and the country is once again dealing with no known cases.

For the first time since the epidemic emerged in December 2013, Guinea's new cases were all registered contacts of previous Ebola patients, a strong indicator that the spread of the virus is under control.

The seven cases in Guinea and Sierra Leone represented the lowest weekly total for over a year, the WHO said, snapping a two-month run during which weekly case incidence had plateaued at between 20 and 30.

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Ebola vaccine is 'potential game-changer'

By James Gallagher
Health editor, BBC News website

9 hours ago

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A vaccine against the deadly Ebola virus has led to 100% protection and could transform the way Ebola is tackled, preliminary results suggest.

There were no proven drugs or vaccines against the virus at the start of the largest outbreak of Ebola in history, which began in Guinea in December 2013.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said the findings, being published in the Lancet, could be a "game-changer".

Experts said the results were "remarkable".

This trial centred on the VSV-EBOV vaccine, which was started by the Public Health Agency of Canada and then developed by the pharmaceutical company Merck.

It combined a fragment of the Ebola virus with another safer virus in order to train the immune system to beat Ebola.

A unique clinical trial took place in Guinea. When a patient was discovered, their friends, neighbours and family were vaccinated to create a "protective ring" of immunity.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Analysis

This could be the breakthrough the world has been waiting for.

There is caution as the results are still preliminary, with more data coming in.

But officials at the WHO believe the effectiveness of the vaccine will end up being between 75% and 100%.

If such a vaccine was available 18 months ago then thousands of lives could have been saved.

There are still other vaccines being trialled - notably from GSK and Johnson&Johnson - although as the number of cases continues to fall it is becoming increasingly difficult to prove how effective they are.

Ebola will inevitably come again.

The hope now is that the legacy of this unprecedented outbreak will be a vaccine that means a tragedy of this scale can never be repeated.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


One hundred patients were identified in the trial between April and July and then close contacts were either vaccinated immediately, or three weeks later.

In the 2,014 close contacts who were vaccinated immediately there were no subsequent cases of Ebola.

In those vaccinated later there were 16 cases, according to the results published in the Lancet medical journal.

'Promising'

The WHO says it is so far 100% effective, although that figure may change as more data is collected.

Close contacts of Ebola patients in Guinea will now be vaccinated immediately.

And since the vaccine has been shown to be safe, that process will also be extended to include children.

Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) is involved with this research, and is part of a parallel trial for frontline healthcare workers.

Medical director Bertrand Draguez said the Lancet results should spur instant action.

"With such high efficacy, all affected countries should immediately start and multiply ring vaccinations to break chains of transmission and vaccinate all frontline workers to protect them."

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Marie-Paule Kieny, an assistant director general at the WHO told BBC News: "It is certainly promising. We have seen that where rings have been vaccinated, the transmission has stopped.

"Prior to vaccination there were cases, cases, cases. The vaccine arrives and 10 days later the cases are flat.

"It could be a game-changer because previously there was nothing, despite the disease being identified 40 years ago.

"When there is a new outbreak this vaccine will be put to use to stop the outbreak as soon as possible to not have the terrible disaster we have now."

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More than 11,000 people have died from Ebola and nearly 28,000 have been infected.

The sheer scale of the 2014-15 outbreak led to an unprecedented push on vaccines - and a decade's work has been condensed into around 10 months.

The number of cases has fallen - and in the week up to July 26th 2015 there were just four cases in Guinea and three in Sierra Leone.

Prof John Edmunds, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, helped design the trial: "The development has been at an absolutely unprecedented speed.

"This is very good news, these are very significant results, the epidemic is not over and this shows we have another potential weapon.

"The trial is still continuing, these are interim results which need confirming, but there's now light at the end of the tunnel."

Dr Jeremy Farrar, the director of the Wellcome Trust medical charity, said this was a "remarkable result" and was the product of international collaboration.

He added: "Our hope is that this vaccine will now help bring this epidemic to an end and be available for the inevitable future Ebola epidemics."

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05 August 2015

Just two Ebola cases reported last week: WHO

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© AFP/File | Health workers wearing personal protective equipment assist an Ebola patient at the Kenama treatment centre run by the Red Cross Society in Sierra Leone on November 15, 2014

GENEVA (AFP) - Guinea and Sierra Leone only registered one new Ebola case each last week, the UN's health agency said Wednesday, hailing dramatic improvements in monitoring but warning the danger was far from over.

During the previous seven-day period, the two countries had together recorded just seven new cases, already marking the fewest weekly infections in over a year in the west African Ebola epidemic.

But the World Health Organization (WHO) warned against "unrealistic expectations" that the epidemic that has claimed around 11,300 lives since late 2013 would just peter out.

The single case reported in Guinea, in the capital Conakry, during the week ending August 2 was a 28-year-old woman who had been sought since she was a known contact of an Ebola patient, WHO said.

While she was missing, the woman "is likely to have generated a substantial number of further high-risk contacts," it said, pointing out that she had travelled from Conakry to nearby Forecariah and onto Kambia, Sierra Leone, where she reportedly visited a traditional healer, before returning home again.

Health professionals use the term "contact" to refer to someone they know has been in contact with someone with Ebola.

The case reported in Sierra Leone last week was also a known contact who had provided care to a family member with Ebola, WHO said.

In both countries nearly 2,000 contacts remain under surveillance, it said, but cautioned that a small number of contacts in both countries had not been traced or had been lost to follow-up.

"The response is definitely getting better, the epidemiology is reflecting that... (but) there is a huge risk of unrealistic expectations that this will go from here to zero," Bruce Aylward, who heads WHO's Ebola response, told reporters Tuesday.

"We will have additional flares, and this could still go on for additional months before it gets stopped," he said, adding that finding the missing contacts is vital to ending the epidemic.

Aylward said it was a "realistic goal" to halt Ebola transmission by the end of the year, but warned that even once that was done risks would remain and insisted tight surveillance would be required well into 2016.

He pointed to the example of Liberia, which was declared free of Ebola transmission in May after reporting no new cases for 42 consecutive days, only to see the virus reemerge a month later.

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12 August 2015

Better hygiene in schools in Ebola epicentre pays off: UN

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© AFP/File | A student washes her hands before heading to her classroom at Don Bosco High School in the Liberian capital Monrovia on February 16, 2015

DAKAR (AFP) - Better hygiene in schools in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea -- the epicentre of the Ebola epidemic -- has dramatically cut infections among teachers and students, the UN said on Wednesday.

Some five million children in the three west African countries had their studies disrupted as schools were closed from July last year until January, the UN children's agency said.

"There have been no reported cases of a student or teacher being infected at a school since strict hygiene protocols were introduced when classes resumed at the beginning of the year," a UNICEF statement said.

But it added that in Liberia, two schools had to be decontaminated as a precaution after a student died in June and another was infected in July.

"The massive effort that went into making schools as safe from Ebola transmission as possible appears to have paid off," said Geoff Wiffin, the UNICEF representative in Sierra Leone.

"Children learned in school how to protect themselves and others from Ebola, and they passed on those messages to their parents and their communities. This played an important role in the battle against the epidemic."

The measures developed by UNICEF and its partners include taking the temperature of children and staff at the school gate and installing hand washing stations.

They also involved the distribution of millions of bars of soap and chlorine.

Ebola has claimed around 11,300 lives since late 2013.

More than 99 percent of these occurred in the three west African countries, according to the World Health Organization.

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Sierra Leone Ebola village quarantine lifted

4 hours ago

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Armed soldiers guarded the village for three weeks

A village in Sierra Leone has become one of the last areas in the country to be released from an Ebola quarantine.

President Ernest Bai Koroma lifted the quarantine in person, sparking wild celebrations from the more than 500 people who had been isolated for the past three weeks.

He said it was the beginning of the end for the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone.

More than 11,000 people have died since the start of the Ebola outbreak in parts of West Africa.

One young woman who gave birth three days into the quarantine told the BBC's Umaru Fofana that she now felt "happy and free".

Being under quarantine with armed soldiers blocking anyone from going in or out of the village felt like living in "a real prison", one resident told our correspondent.

The northern village of Massessebe in the Tonkilili District was placed under quarantine after a visitor to the area died from the virus, becoming the first case in the area for 150 days.

There are now only two Ebola patients left in the entire country, both of whom were infected by the victim in Massessebe village.

The World Health Organization says Ebola can be defeated by the end of the year.

Only a few new weekly cases have been recorded in West Africa recently.

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Sierra Leone records zero new Ebola infections

By Tulip Mazumdar
Global health reporter

7 hours ago

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For the first time since the Ebola outbreak was declared in Sierra Leone, the country has recorded zero new infections.

There were no new Ebola cases reported last week according to the WHO.

At the height of the outbreak Sierra Leone was reporting more than 500 new cases a week.

Last week, for the first time since May last year, there were zero new cases.

But authorities are warning against complacency.

OB Sisay, Director of the National Ebola Response Centre (NERC), said: "This does not mean Sierra Leone is suddenly Ebola free.

"As long as we have one Ebola case we still have an epidemic. People should continue to take the public health measures... around hand-washing, temperature checks, enhanced screening."

In Sierra Leone currently:

-two Ebola patients are still being treated

-81 people who have been in contact with infected patients are being monitored by authorities

-four contacts are currently missing, according to the World Health Organization

Nightclubs re-open

Restrictions on public gatherings, travel and trade have been eased in the last couple of weeks.

Nightclubs and theatres have re-opened and markets are allowed to stay open for longer.

"People are really happy," said OB Sisay.

"The jubilations haven't started yet because we are constantly on the radio saying it's not over yet, but people are extremely pleased that they are [starting to] see the end of this."

Officially though, the end of the outbreak will only be declared six weeks after the last Ebola patient either dies or tests negative for the virus.

Whilst neighbouring Guinea continues to report a small number of cases, this final goal remains out of reach.

Guinea identified three new infections last week.

Liberia has been on zero new cases since 23 July.

On Friday, President Ernest Bai Koroma lifted the quarantine on one of the last villages to be cordoned off to help stop the spread of the virus, marking the moment as the beginning of the end of the outbreak in Sierra Leone.

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Deadliest outbreak

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-Over 11,000 people have died from Ebola since the epidemic erupted in 2014 - a six-fold increase of victims since its discovery in 1976.

-The World Health Organization declared the outbreak an international emergency on 8 August 2014 - more than seven months after it began.

-Some scientists say there's a risk the virus may become an ever-present disease in West African society.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


The World Health Organization said the use of rapid response teams and strong community involvement in tracing sick people and their close contacts is helping to finally bring an end to the outbreak.

It said the focus is now on tracking each and every chain of Ebola virus transmission, and closing them down as quickly as possible.

Tracking chains of transmission means finding every single person who has been in contact with someone infected with Ebola, monitoring them closely for 21 days and then quickly moving them to a treatment centre if they develop symptoms.

Dr Anders Nordstrom, WHO Representative in Sierra Leone said: "We have to keep doing this intensive working with communities to identify potential new cases early and to rapidly stop any Ebola virus transmission.

"It's important for Sierra Leone that we have come this far, but it's not over for the region until we are at zero for 42 days in all three countries."

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24 August 2015

Sierra Leone's last known Ebola patient leaves hospital

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© AFP/File / by Rod Mac Johnson | A nurse wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) is spayed with desinfectant before leaving the red zone at the Kenama ebola treatment center run by the Red Cross Society on November 15, 2014

FREETOWN (AFP) - Sierra Leone's last known Ebola patient was released from hospital Monday, raising hopes the west African nation may finally have beaten the devastating epidemic.

President Ernest Bai Koroma hailed "the beginning of the end of Ebola in Sierra Leone" as Adama Sankoh, 34, was released from hospital in Makeni, the country's third-largest city, in a festive ceremony.

With no new cases reported in two weeks, Sierra Leone joins neighbouring Liberia in the countdown to being declared Ebola-free, with Guinea the only country where people are still falling sick with the deadly tropical fever.

The World Health Organisation says a country can be declared Ebola-free 42 days after the last confirmed case has tested negative twice for the virus.

The release of the cured patient was celebrated by crowds dancing in the streets, beating drums, cars honking their horns and radio and television stations playing the national anthem.

Sankoh said she would "from now on be the number one messenger to sensitise people that although Ebola is on the run, vigilance should be the watchword."

She appealed to "government not to forget all Ebola survivors as most of us are now very vulnerable in terms of economic wellbeing."

National Ebola Response Centre coordinator Steven Gaoja said the patient's discharge from hospital "represents a significant milestone in the fight against Ebola and the countdown towards a resilient zero."

According to the health ministry, only 14 people are now in quarantine nationwide.

- 'False sense of security' -

Since first emerging in December 2013, the worst outbreak of Ebola in history has infected nearly 28,000 people and left some 11,300 dead -- mostly across Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.

The disease can cause fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, kidney and liver failure, and internal and external bleeding.

There is currently no licensed cure or treatment.

Sierra Leone had its first case in May 2015 after a woman tested positive on her return home from a funeral in Guinea.

Some 4,000 people have since died in the country.

Ebola has brought the three nations to their knees, devastating their economies to the backdrop of apocalyptic scenes as infectious bodies at times lay in the streets and entire communities were quarantined.

The WHO has said that if current efforts to root out new cases are kept up, the epidemic could be over by the end of the year.

But the organisation has warned against a "false sense of security" as even a single undetected case could ignite a major flare-up.

Liberia was declared Ebola-free in May, but six new cases cropped up a month later, all of whom have now been cleared.

Guinea, the epicentre of the outbreak, has struggled the most to bring the epidemic under control, and has battled distrust and suspicion from locals who believe the disease is a "white conspiracy".

The WHO also believes the numbers of cases and deaths have been vastly underestimated due to families hiding the sickness and burying relatives before they can be tested.

Closer than ever to being declared Ebola-free, the affected countries are taking grim stock of the devastation wrought on their economies as key mining and agricultural activities ground to a halt.

Sierra Leone said Saturday that gold exports had plunged by two-thirds and diamond exports nearly halved in the first half of 2015.

The country's economy was booming with 11 percent growth in 2013 but is expected to contract by two percent this year, according to the World Bank.

The outbreak has also killed some 500 health workers in countries whose health systems were already in dire straits, battling high maternal mortality and rife diseases like malaria.

The survivors are mourning entire communities wiped out while some 13,000 struggle with long-term complications such as severe joint pains and visual impairments that can lead to blindness.

by Rod Mac Johnson

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31 August 2015

New Ebola case in Sierra Leone sets back efforts to beat epidemic

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© AFP/File | Health workers wearing personal protective equipment assist an Ebola patient at the Kenama treatment centre run by the Red Cross Society on November 15, 2014

FREETOWN (AFP) - A woman who died last week in northern Sierra Leone tested positive for Ebola, the National Ebola Response Centre (NERC) said Monday, in a setback for the country's bid to gain Ebola-free status.

There had been celebratory scenes last week when the country's last known Ebola patient was released from hospital in the central city of Makeni after being cured of the virus, raising hopes the west African nation may finally have beaten the devastating epidemic.

Sources contacted by AFP confirmed that the woman was in her mid-60s and lived in Sella Kafta village in Kambia District.

The swab taken after her death last Friday confirmed she had contracted Ebola.

She had not travelled to either Liberia or Guinea, two other countries also blindsided by the worst outbreak of Ebola in history, which has killed some 11,300 people since first emerging in December 2013 in Guinea.

"We have sent a team from here to Sella Kafta village and we have already identified ten high-risk contacts that we are focusing on to stem any possible transmission," the NERC's communication director Sidi Yahya Tunis said in an interview with a local radio station.

"We have already isolated the high-risk contacts and are assessing whether the village will be isolated if need be," he added.

Tunis also said that a World Health Organization team which successfully tested an Ebola vaccine in Guinea that has been billed as possibly marking "the beginning of the end" of the virus would join NERC in Kambia to vaccinate contacts of the latest victim to "stop any possible train of transmission".

Tunis said people should "remain calm and not be frustrated over the development".

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New Ebola death confirmed in Sierra Leone

4 hours ago

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Sierra Leone was reporting more than 500 new cases a week at the height of the outbreak

A woman who recently died in northern Sierra Leone has tested positive for Ebola.

It comes as a setback to the country's effort to eradicate the deadly disease.

Sierra Leone was celebrating last week when it discharged its last known Ebola patient from hospital.

News of the new case means the country is no longer Ebola-free.

High-risk contacts of the woman have been identified, isolated and will now be watched for symptoms.

The National Ebola Response Centre is assessing whether to isolate the whole village of Sella in the Kambia district where the woman, who was in her mid-60s, died.

The end of the outbreak will only be declared six weeks after the last Ebola patient either dies or tests negative for the virus.

At the height of the outbreak, Sierra Leone was reporting more than 500 new cases a week.

Meanwhile, in Guinea there were three confirmed cases in the week up to 23 August.

The last known Ebola case in Liberia was discharged on 23 July.

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Sierra Leone village in quarantine after Ebola death

4 September 2015

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The last quarantined village was reopened by Sierra Leone's president in August

Nearly 1,000 people in Sierra Leone have been put under quarantine following the death of a 67-year-old woman who tested positive for Ebola.

It comes five days into a six-week countdown for the country to be officially declared Ebola-free.

The quarantine will last for three weeks, provided no new cases are recorded.

More than 11,000 people have died since the start of the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

The BBC's Umaru Fofana in the capital, Freetown, says the authorities had been optimistic after a long period without any new Ebola cases and this caught them off-guard.

Our correspondent says the quarantine is stricter than previous ones. It includes a curfew in which people will not be allowed to move from one house to another.

Soldiers and police have been deployed to keep the quarantine in Sellakaffta, a village in Kambia on the northern border with Guinea.

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The World Health Organization and Sierra Leone's health ministry are planning a vaccination programme for those who could have come into contact with the woman.

Guinea is still trying to contain its outbreak while the WHO announced that the Ebola virus had stopped spreading in Liberia for a second time on Thursday.

It had been declared free of Ebola transmission in May but then more cases were found the following month.

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Ebola countries record first week with no new cases

2 hours ago

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The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has killed more than 11,000 people

The three West African countries at the heart of the Ebola epidemic recorded their first week with no new cases since the outbreak began in March 2014.

The outbreak has so far killed more than 11,000 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

New cases have fallen sharply in 2015, but the WHO has warned that the disease could break out again.

The epidemic is the worst known occurrence of Ebola in history.

More than 500 people believed to have had dangerous contact with an Ebola patient remain under follow-up in Guinea, the WHO said in a report.

It also said several "high-risk" people linked to recent patients in Guinea and Sierra Leone had been lost track of.

Liberia has already been declared free of the disease after 42 days without a new case.

It is the second time the country received the declaration, following a flare-up in June.

Sierra Leone released its last known Ebola patients on 28 September and must now wait to be declared free of the disease.

Guinea's most recent cases were recorded on 27 September.

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Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey 'in serious condition'

5 hours ago

A Scottish nurse who contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone last year is in a "serious condition" after being readmitted to an isolation unit in London.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde confirmed that the virus is still present in Pauline Cafferkey's body after being left over from the original infection.

She is not thought to be contagious.

The 39-year-old has been flown back to the isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London.

Bodily tissues can harbour the Ebola infection months after the person appears to have fully recovered.

Ms Cafferkey, from Cambuslang in South Lanarkshire, spent almost a month in the unit at the beginning of the year after contracting the virus in December 2014.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) said she had been admitted to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow on Tuesday after feeling unwell and was treated in its infectious diseases unit.

She was then transferred to the Royal Free Hospital in the early hours of Friday morning due to an "unusual late complication" in her illness.

Dr Emilia Crighton, NHSGGC director of public health, said: "Pauline's condition is a complication of a previous infection with the Ebola virus.

"The risk to the public is very low. In line with normal procedures in cases such as this, we have identified a small number of close contacts of Pauline's that we will be following up as a precaution."

Government sources have described her transfer to the specialist unit as a "highly precautionary process".

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Background by Stuart Nicolson, BBC Scotland News

Colleagues who worked with her have spoken of Ms Cafferkey's dedication and enthusiasm for her role at the Ebola Treatment Centre in Kerry Town.

And in extracts from her diary published by the Scotsman newspaper, she described how the work she was doing had quickly come to feel like a "normal part of life".

She wrote: "My nice community nursing job in Blantyre is far removed from this but at the moment this seems a lot more real. The dreams that I do remember always seem to have an Ebola theme, it seems to be all consuming."

During the third week of her diary, she described "an awful shift" during which she had to tell a young boy, whose father had died from Ebola, that the virus had also killed his mother and sister.

"His mother had seen her daughter die in the bed across from her that morning and she died a few hours later," she wrote.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Dr Ben Neuman, a virologist from the University of Reading, told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme that the outlook for Ms Cafferkey was good and it was unlikely the virus remained infectious.

He said: "Once the virus is removed from the blood once, it tends to retreat into the hard-to-access components of the body. It'll hide in places like the back of your eye or breast milk."

He said the effects of the virus on the body could last for up to two years, although it was difficult to know how long it could actually persist.

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He added: "The nice news here is that she's beaten the virus once so she can probably beat it again.

"The odds are that she has actually inherited a lucky set of genes and these are probably what protected her the first time and probably what will keep her safe the second time regardless of any treatment. The outlook's good."

Ebola is passed on through bodily fluids.

It is not transmitted through casual contact.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Analysis by James Gallagher, health editor, BBC News website

Finding the virus in Ebola survivors months after recovering is not unheard of.

Previous outbreaks have shown the virus can survive in semen and it was found in the eye of a US doctor two months after recovering.

This can pose health problems for the patient, but is there a risk of spreading the virus?

Men are advised to use condoms indefinitely until more is known.

But there are now so many survivors in West Africa - around 13,000 - that if there was a major risk then we would know about it.

Liberia did have a mini Ebola flare-up after going more than 40 days without a case.

Ebola virus persisting in survivors is one possible explanation.

Experts say there will have to be monitoring for Ebola flare-ups for years after the epidemic is over.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Last week Ms Cafferkey, who works at the Blantyre Health Centre, was in London receiving an award at the Pride of Britain ceremony which recognised the risks aid workers took with their own health.

There are not thought to be any concerns about contact she had with people at the event but health officials in Scotland are focusing on who she had seen since her return home.

Ms Cafferkey contracted Ebola while working as a volunteer with Save the Children at a treatment centre in Kerry Town, in Sierra Leone.

She was diagnosed on 29 December last year, after returning to Glasgow via London.

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Ms Cafferkey contracted Ebola while working as a volunteer in Sierra Leone last year

Her temperature had been tested seven times before she flew from Heathrow to Glasgow and she was cleared to travel, before later falling ill.

She was placed in an isolation unit at Glasgow's Gartnavel Hospital after becoming feverish, before being transferred by an RAF Hercules plane to London on 30 December.

She was then transferred to the specialist isolation unit at the Royal Free.

After a few days Ms Cafferkey's condition began to deteriorate, with the hospital announcing she had become critically ill on 4 January.

After leaving hospital later the same month, Ms Cafferkey said she was "very happy to be alive" and was looking forward to returning to "normal life".

An investigation by Save the Children later concluded that the nurse had probably caught Ebola by wearing a visor instead of goggles while treating patients.

At the time, Dr Michael Jacobs, from the Royal Free's infectious diseases team, said Ms Cafferkey had completely recovered and was "not infectious in any way".

NHS Lanarkshire said she had begun a phased return to work in mid-March, and had last been at work on 1 October.

Consultant in Public Health David Cromie said: "Pauline was well while at work and there is no wider public health risk for patients treated by her or her staff colleagues.

"In line with normal procedures in cases such as this, a small number of close contacts of Pauline have been identified and will be followed up as a precaution.

"Together with Pauline's colleagues, our thoughts are with Pauline and we wish her a full speedy recovery."

Ms Cafferkey had visited Mossneuk Primary School in East Kilbride the day before she fell ill, where she gave a presentation at an assembly to thank the school for raising money.

Health experts have offered reassurance to parents, stressing that Ebola cannot be spread through ordinary social contact.

The World Health Organisation admits not much is known about the long-term implications after having Ebola.

Some survivors of the virus have had eye and joint problems, as well as ongoing fatigue.

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13 October 2015

Close contacts of British Ebola nurse monitored

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© AFP/File | Pauline Cafferkey was flown to London's Royal Free Hospital, where she is being treated in Britain's only isolation ward for Ebola

LONDON (AFP) - A total of 58 close contacts of a British nurse currently in treatment for a rare late complication from the Ebola virus have been identified, heath officials said on Monday.

Pauline Cafferkey was successfully treated in January after contracting Ebola in Sierra Leone while treating patients there.

Cafferkey, 39, was admitted to hospital in Glasgow last week after feeling unwell and was flown to London's Royal Free Hospital, where she is being treated in Britain's only isolation ward for the lethal disease.

In a statement, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said that all close contacts of the nurse had been identified and offered vaccinations.

"All 58 close contacts are being closely monitored," the statement said.

"This includes a period of 21 days since their last exposure where they will have their temperature taken twice daily, restrictions placed on travel and, in the case of healthcare workers, they have been asked not to have direct patient contact during this period."

The group is a mix of healthcare workers and friends, family and contacts in the community, according to the health service.

In all, 40 of the group were offered an Ebola vaccination, of which 25 accepted.

The other 15 people either declined or could not take the vaccine due to existing medical conditions.

The rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine used is currently under trial in collaboration with the World Health Organisation.

During a recent outbreak of Ebola in the West African state of Guinea the vaccination was tested in over 7,000 people.

Cafferkey "is in a serious condition", the Royal Free Hospital said on Friday.

The deadliest-ever Ebola outbreak since the virus was identified in central Africa in 1976 has killed 11,312 of the 28, 457 people infected since December of 2013, according to the latest WHO figures.

Nearly all the victims have been in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

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Ebola beds prevented 40,000 deaths

By Michelle Roberts
Health editor, BBC News online

13 October 2015

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Workers being fitted with protective clothing at the Kerry Town centre

The global response to the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone helped avert 40,000 deaths but if aid had been offered sooner, thousands more lives there might have been saved, say researchers.

Britain's donations of more than £100m in the summer of 2014 helped to set up nearly 3,000 hospital beds.

This vital provision, researchers estimate, prevented 56,000 Ebola cases.

But a further 12,500 cases could have been averted if the beds been available even a month earlier, they calculate.

The UK government insists that it did act swiftly and says the international community as a whole could have done more.

It's not the first time the government's response to Ebola has come under scrutiny.

In February, the Public Accounts Committee said funds had not been released quickly enough to deal with the crisis.

In the months following the Ebola outbreak, the World Health Organization was also heavily criticised for being slow to act.

Care and quarantine

The work from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, published in the journal PNAS, details how much of an impact a delay in international aid may have had.

Researchers used a mathematical model to estimate how many cases of Ebola were averted thanks to foreign aid efforts that set up treatment centres where patients with the infectious virus could be quarantined and cared for.

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A treatment centre in Kerry Town, Sierra Leone

From September 2014 onwards, more than 2,700 treatment beds were introduced in Ebola holding centres, community care centres and treatment units to support the overwhelmed health system in Sierra Leone.

The researchers calculate that these beds prevented some 56,600 cases of Ebola.

Had they been installed a month earlier, tens of thousands more would have been avoided.

With Ebola killing more than half of those it infects, thousands more lives would also have been saved.

Ebola
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is the world's deadliest to date.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Ebola deaths

Figures up to 4 October 2015

11,312 Deaths - probable, confirmed and suspected
(Includes one in the US and six in Mali)

4,808 Liberia

3,955 Sierra Leone

2,534 Guinea

8 Nigeria

Source: WHO

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


The three West African countries at the heart of the Ebola epidemic have recorded their first week with no new cases since the outbreak began in March 2014.

But experts agree there is no room for complacency - experience shows that the disease could easily break out again.

To date, the UK has committed £427m to defeating Ebola.

A spokeswoman for the Department for International Development said: "Britain has been at the forefront of the international response to Ebola in Sierra Leone.

"By deploying NHS medics and military personnel and building treatment centres across the country, our swift action helped save countless lives and contain the spread of the disease."

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14 October 2015

Does 'reactivated' Ebola pose a threat?

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© AFP/File | People walk past a billboard with a message about Ebola in Freetown, on November 7, 2014

PARIS (AFP) - The Ebola virus can linger in survivors for many months, as in the case of British nurse Pauline Cafferkey, who has had a serious relapse almost a year after she first fell ill.

Q: Is it common for the virus to survive so long in a human?

Ed Wright, University of Westminster virus expert:

- "There is a growing body of evidence to suggest the virus can persist in certain bodily fluids... (breast milk, semen, eye fluid) for up to six months following infection without the person showing the characteristic symptoms."

Q: What about virus "reactivation"?

Ben Neuman, virology expert at the University of Reading:

- "This is only the second case of reactivated Ebola." The other was US doctor Ian Crozier, in whose eye doctors found Ebola virus months after he was discharged from a hospital in Atlanta where he had been treated for the disease he contracted in west Africa.

Nathalie MacDermott, infectious diseases expert from Imperial College London:

- There may be similar cases in west Africa "but it has not been possible to test them yet."

Q: Is there a risk of these long-term carriers transmitting the virus?

Jonathan Ball, professor of molecular virology at the University of Nottingham:

- "There is little, if any, evidence that the virus can transmit once these major (initial) symptoms (bleeding, fever, diarrhoea, vomiting) have disappeared."

- "There have been reports of possible sexual transmission... but these have not been proven conclusively."

- "Whilst we don't know her (Cafferkey's) specific symptoms we have been reassured that before she was admitted... she wasn't exhibiting any that we'd associate with a transmission risk to others, so contact monitoring and vaccination is a precautionary measure."

MacDermott:

- "There is no conclusive evidence of consistent transmission of virus from survivors."

- "There have also been reports of transmission to infants through breast milk of asymptomatic mothers and also in utero (to the foetus in the womb)... At the moment this is all anecdotal."

Wright:

- "Given the restricted locations where the virus has been found and the low amounts within these fluids (breast milk, semen and eye fluid), people who may harbour the virus once (they've) recovered pose negligible risk to the general public as the virus could only be transmitted by close, intimate contact."

- "The level of virus found in these fluids is several orders of magnitude lower than that found during the initial, acute phase of infection."

Q: What has Cafferkey's relapse revealed about what we do NOT know?

Ball:

- "This is frankly staggering. I am not aware from the scientific literature of a case where Ebola has been associated with what we can only assume as life-threatening complications after someone has initially recovered, and certainly not so many months after."

MacDermott:

- "This is an unprecedented situation in medical terms."

Derek Gatherer, a virus expert from Lancaster University:

- "It is now clear that we still have a lot to learn about Ebola's long-term effects."

Comments via the Science Media Centre in London.

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Ebola crisis: Two new cases confirmed in Guinea, WHO says

5 hours ago

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The Ebola virus that has killed more than 11,000 people in nearly two years

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed two new cases of Ebola in Guinea, ending a two-week spell in which no new infections were reported.

One case was found in the capital Conakry and the other in Forecariah, a town in western Guinea.

The week before last was the first week that the three worst-affected countries - Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia - had seen no new infections.

The virus has killed more than 11,000 people in nearly two years.

The case in Forecariah appeared to be linked to a previously known chain of infection, while the one in Conakry seemed to be new, authorities in Guinea said.

"On the bumpy road we keep talking about - the high risk of recurrence - once again we are navigating a few bumps," said WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris on Friday.

"Of course we didn't want it, but we did expect it. Guinea hadn't got to the stage where we were looking at 42 days".

A country is considered to be Ebola-free after 42 days without a new case.

Liberia recently achieved this status and neighbouring Sierra Leone is nearly halfway through the 42 days.

The enduring risks from the virus were highlighted this week when a British nurse fell "critically ill", 10 months after recovering from Ebola.

A new study has also shown that Ebola persists in the semen of male survivors for up to nine months - much longer than previously thought.

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Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey's condition 'has improved'

6 hours ago

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Ms Cafferkey is being treated in a specialist unit in London

The condition of a Scottish nurse who contracted Ebola while working in West Africa has improved, according to the hospital where she is being treated.

Pauline Cafferkey was readmitted to a specialist isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London this month.

She was being treated for complications after tests showed the infection was still present in her system.

Last week her condition was described as "critical", but the hospital said she was now "serious but stable".

Ms Cafferkey, 39, from Cambuslang in South Lanarkshire, contracted Ebola while working at a treatment centre in Sierra Leone last year.

She spent almost a month in isolation at the Royal Free at the beginning of the year after the virus was detected when she arrived back in the UK.

She was later discharged after apparently making a full recovery.

Ms Cafferkey had returned to work as a public health nurse at Blantyre Health Centre in South Lanarkshire.

However, she became unwell earlier this month and was admitted to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow for treatment.

Ms Cafferkey's family claimed doctors had "missed a big opportunity" to spot she had fallen ill with Ebola again after it emerged she had been sent home by an out-of-hours doctor who saw her earlier
that week.

'Serious but stable'

On 9 October, she was flown from Glasgow to London in a military aircraft to receive treatment in the isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital.

Last Wednesday, the hospital said Ms Cafferkey was "critically ill" after her condition deteriorated.

But in an update on Monday afternoon, the hospital said: "We are able to announce that Pauline Cafferkey's condition has improved to serious but stable."

Bodily tissues can harbour the Ebola infection months after the person appears to have fully recovered.

A total of 58 close contacts of Ms Cafferkey have been identified, with 40 of those offered vaccinations as a precaution.

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Ebola caused meningitis in nurse Pauline Cafferkey

8 hours ago

A Scottish nurse who contracted Ebola while working in West Africa is recovering well after the virus caused her to develop meningitis.

Pauline Cafferkey, 39, was readmitted to an isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London earlier this month after suffering an apparent relapse.

Health officials confirmed she had been diagnosed with meningitis caused by Ebola and had a "long recovery ahead".

Ms Cafferkey, from South Lanarkshire, contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone.

Dr Michael Jacobs, who is treating Ms Cafferkey at the Royal Free Hospital in London, said: "Pauline has become unwell by meningitis caused by the Ebola virus.

"But to be very clear about this, she hasn't been re-infected with the Ebola virus.

"This is the original Ebola virus that she had many months ago, which has been lying inside the brain, replicating at a very low level probably, and has now re-emerged to cause this clinical illness of meningitis. And this is obviously a serious thing."

Dr Jacobs said Ms Cafferkey had "became critically ill due to neurological complications from the meningitis" while being treated at the specialist isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital.

He added: "I'm really pleased to tell you that in the last few days she's made a significant improvement. She is much better now.

"I think she has a long recovery ahead of her and will be with us for quite a while still."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Analysis

By James Gallagher, health editor, BBC News website

Unprecedented, extraordinary and unusual - the words used by doctors treating Pauline Cafferkey.

Meningitis has been seen in Ebola patients in West Africa during this outbreak, but only at the height of their initial infection.

This is completely different.

The virus has resurged months later and has been contained to just her brain and spinal cord.

Due to the lack of resources in the affected countries we simply do not know if this has happened to any of the 17,000 Ebola survivors in West Africa.

The World Health Organization says meningitis should be "on the radar" for survivors, alongside eyesight problems and joint pains.

While the virus was briefly detected in Ms Cafferkey's blood, the risk of anyone spreading the infection after recovery is thought to be very low.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Ms Cafferkey, who is from Halfway, Cambuslang, contracted Ebola while working at a treatment centre in Sierra Leone last year.

The nurse spent almost a month in isolation at the Royal Free at the beginning of the year after the virus was detected when she arrived back in the UK.

She was later discharged after apparently making a full recovery and returned to work as a public health nurse at Blantyre Health Centre in South Lanarkshire.

However, she became unwell earlier this month and was admitted to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow for treatment.

On 9 October, she was flown from Glasgow to London in a military aircraft to receive treatment in the isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital.

Last Wednesday, the hospital said Ms Cafferkey was "critically ill" after her condition had deteriorated.

Following treatment her condition improved to "serious but stable" by Monday.

Dr Jacobs said Ms Cafferkey has been treated with "a highly experimental" anti-viral drug in the early stages of development called GS5734.

"We don't know if it's of benefit to her," he said.

'Extremely concerned'

And he added: "The crucial treatment is the exceptional nursing care at the Royal Free Hospital, that's what has really made the difference here.

"It's really important to understand we don't use the term critically ill lightly. It means someone is at imminent risk of dying.

"We were extremely concerned about Pauline's condition. That's why we're thrilled to be having this conversation now."

Ms Cafferkey's family have previously claimed doctors "missed a big opportunity" to spot she had fallen ill with Ebola again.

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Dr Michael Jacobs, infectious diseases consultant at the Royal Free Hospital

A total of 65 close contacts of the nurse have been identified, with 40 of those offered vaccinations as a precaution.

Health Protection Scotland said: "A number of Ebola tests have been carried out and they have all returned negative.

"All appropriate infection control measures remain in place."

The health agency said no new contacts of Ms Cafferkey had emerged and it continued to monitor those already identified.

It added: "The statement from the Royal Free this afternoon is very welcome news.

"It is clear that there is some learning still to be done with regard to Ebola, and Health Protection Scotland will work with national and international partners to play whatever part it can in that work.

"The announcement from the Royal Free has not changed our assessment that the risk to the public remains extremely low."

The Ebola outbreak in west Africa has killed 11,312 of the 28,457 people infected since December 2013, according to the latest WHO figures.

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Ebola outbreak: WHO 'delayed Sierra Leone state of emergency'

5 hours ago

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President Ernest Bai Koroma told the BBC his country was coming to the end of a "difficult and turbulent journey"

The World Health Organization (WHO) delayed Sierra Leone from declaring a state of emergency and restricting movement during the Ebola outbreak, the country's president has told the BBC.

President Ernest Bai Koroma said he had had "conflicts" with WHO advisers.

Nearly 4,000 people died from the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone.

The country will be officially declared free of the virus on Saturday, when it is due to mark 42 days since the last patient was discharged.

Delays tolerated

Mr Koroma told the BBC's Umaru Fofana that on issues such as restricting movement, "we wanted to move on... but the advice was to the contrary".

He said his government had to put up with the delays because international organisations such as the WHO "were the experts".

"They have the resources and the knowledge to help us in the fight."

The WHO has previously acknowledged failures in its handling of the outbreak.

BBC News has invited the organisation to respond to Mr Koroma's remarks.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Ebola deaths

Figures up to 1 November 2015

11,314 Deaths - probable, confirmed and suspected (Includes one in the US and six in Mali)

4,808 Liberia

3,955 Sierra Leone

2,536 Guinea

8 Nigeria

Source: WHO

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Mr Koroma was discussing his frustrations hours before Sierra Leone was due to be declared free of Ebola.

He said it was the end of a "difficult and turbulent journey".

"It's a moment of great celebration for our people, a feeling of achievement, a feeling of getting out of the thick woods that we found ourselves [in]."

The president said in the event of another outbreak, he would introduce counter-measures far sooner.

More than 11,000 people in West Africa are thought to have died from the deadliest occurrence of Ebola since the virus was discovered in 1976.

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Ebola outbreak: Sierra Leone declared free of disease

7 November 2015

Sierra Leone has officially been declared free of Ebola by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Thousands of people took to the streets of the capital, Freetown, at the stroke of midnight - marking 42 days without a single declared case of the disease.

There were further cheers when the WHO local representative made the official announcement later on Saturday.

The outbreak killed almost 4,000 people in Sierra Leone over the past 18 months.

Many gathered around a giant cotton tree in the centre of the city.

Some lit candles in memory of the victims, while others danced with joy.

Dr Oliver Johnson, from the King's Sierra Leone partnership, worked at an Ebola clinic in Freetown, and has strong links with medical professionals there.

"[For] everyone I've spoken to, there's a sense of relief that this might finally be over and maybe a bit of disbelief that after so many false starts, or false ends, we might finally be there," he told the BBC.

A country is considered free of human-to-human transmission once two 21-day incubation periods have passed since the last known case tested negative for a second time.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


At the scene: Tulip Mazumdar, BBC News, Freetown

This is the moment Sierra Leone has been waiting for.

Thousands of people took to the streets of the capital on the run-up to midnight.

Women's groups came together to organise a march through the city centre; the final point was a 600-year-old cotton tree which sits on a huge roundabout. Usually, the area is jammed with cars, but last night it was packed with people.

Some held up candles, others jumped around dancing and a military band led the procession through the city.

There were waves of celebrations, and then silence as names of some of the dead were beamed on to a screen.

Health workers in particular were honoured for their bravery and sacrifice, they were some of the first to die when Ebola struck.

Today is an enormous milestone for Sierra Leoneans, and people are overjoyed.

But this historic moment is bittersweet.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma is due to address crowds in the city later.

On Friday, he blamed the WHO for delaying Sierra Leone declaring a state of emergency and restricting movement during the Ebola outbreak.

He said his government did at the time what it could do and did not have the knowledge to fight the disease.

He said his government had to put up with the delays because international organisations such as the WHO "were the experts".

Neighbouring Liberia was declared Ebola-free in September following 4,800 deaths there.

A handful of cases are still being reported in neighbouring Guinea.

Sierra Leone has said it will take heightened security and health screening measures at their shared border.

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12 November 2015

Ebola nurse released from isolation in Britain

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© AFP/File | Medical personnel wheel a quarantine tent trolley containing Scottish healthcare worker Pauline Cafferkey, who was diagnosed with Ebola, into a Hercules Transport plane at Glasgow International Airport on December 30, 2014

LONDON (AFP) - A British nurse who suffered a relapse after contracting Ebola in Sierra Leone has been released from isolation after being treated for meningitis caused by the virus, her hospital said.

Pauline Cafferkey, 39, had been kept in isolation at London's Royal Free Hospital since October 9 and became "critically ill" shortly afterwards.

But she is no longer infectious and has been now transferred to a hospital in the city of Glasgow in Scotland, where she is from.

"We are delighted that Pauline has made a full recovery from Ebola and is now well enough to return to Scotland. We would like to wish her well for the future," a spokeswoman for the Royal Free Hospital said in a statement.

Cafferkey initially contracted Ebola while working as a nurse at a treatment centre in Kerry Town in Sierra Leone run by charity Save the Children.

She was diagnosed with the disease in December last year on her return to Glasgow and spent almost a month in isolation in the Royal Free Hospital, which has Britain's only isolation ward for the lethal disease, before being released in January.

But in October she was re-admitted to hospital, suffering from rare late complications due to the virus.

Royal Free infectious diseases consultant Michael Jacobs explained at the time that the original Ebola virus had been inside her brain replicating at a low level, and had re-emerged to cause meningitis.

"This is an unprecedented situation," Jacobs said.

Forty people in contact with her were offered vaccinations following her relapse, while Cafferkey was treated with experimental drug GS5734 while in isolation.

Upon her release from hospital Wednesday, Cafferkey thanked the staff of the hospital for their "amazing care".

"For a second time, staff across many departments of the hospital have worked incredibly hard to help me recover and I will always be grateful to them and the NHS," or National Health Service, Cafferkey said.

"I am looking forward to returning to Scotland and to seeing my family and friends again."

The 2013 Ebola outbreak in west Africa infected some 28,000 people and left 11,300 dead, the virus' highest toll since its identification in central Africa in 1976.

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