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Ebola Crisis
Topic Started: 23 Mar 2014, 12:52 AM (2,801 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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skibboy
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8 December 2014

Ebola crisis: Sierra Leone case number surpasses Liberia

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Sierra Leone is struggling to contain the deadliest-ever Ebola outbreak

Sierra Leone has overtaken neighbouring Liberia as the country with the highest number of Ebola cases, the latest World Health Organization figures suggest.

Its latest estimate of the cumulative number of cases since the start of the outbreak in March now stands at 7,780 in Sierra Leone and 7,719 in Liberia.

In Guinea, the figure is 2,283.

The virus has killed more than 6,300 people in the three West African countries.

Just over half the reported deaths have been in Liberia, the WHO says.

On Monday, the organisation said its 60-day goals for tackling Ebola - treating 70% of patients and burying 70% of victims by 1 December - had been largely met in the three countries at the centre of the outbreak.

However it also said that the treatment figure in Sierra Leone had fallen below the mark.

The West African outbreak of Ebola is the deadliest ever.

The virus, which was first identified in 1976, causes vomiting, diarrhoea and bleeding.

People are infected through direct contact with the bodily fluids of a person who has the virus or has died from Ebola.

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08 December 2014

Dutch ship set for new mission to Ebola-hit countries

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© AFP/File | Ebola relief supplies are unloaded from the Royal Netherlands Navy Karel Doorman in the port of Monrovia, Liberia, on November 24, 2014

THE HAGUE (AFP) - Dutch navy transport ship Karel Doorman will on Friday return to West Africa to deliver dozens of vehicles, food and medical kit in the fight against Ebola, officials said Monday.

"The Karel Doorman will set sail on Friday loaded with vehicles, medical equipment and protective clothing for aid workers, as well as 1,500 tonnes of food for the World Food Programme," the Dutch Defence Ministry said in a statement.

Amid the cargo are "some 50 vehicles including ambulances, utility vehicles, 40 containers of clothing including protective suits, beds and 1,700 crates of rice," it said.

The Royal Dutch Navy's largest ship last month undertook a similar mission to drop off aid in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea -- three of the countries hardest hit by the outbreak, which has left 6,000 dead and overwhelmed health services.

The first of the aid is to be loaded in the southern Dutch port city of Vlissingen, after which the ship will sail to La Rochelle in France and Gibraltar for additional supplies before heading to the Gulf of Guinea.

The United Nations is leading international efforts to beat back the Ebola outbreak, which the Security Council has declared a threat to world peace and security.

So far, the Netherlands has contributed 37.8 million euros ($46.4 million) in the fight against Ebola.

Over the weekend the first Nigerian UN peacekeeper infected with the virus arrived in the Netherlands for treatment.

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10 December 2014

Ebola outbreak: Virus still 'running ahead of us', says WHO

By Tulip Mazumdar
Global health reporter

The Ebola virus that has killed thousands in West Africa is still "running ahead" of efforts to contain it, the head of the World Health Organization has said.

Director general Margaret Chan said the situation had improved in some parts of the worst-affected countries, but she warned against complacency.

The risk to the world "is always there" while the outbreak continues, she said.

She said the WHO and the international community failed to act quickly enough.

The death toll in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone stands at 6,331. More than 17,800 people have been infected, according to the WHO.

"In Liberia we are beginning to see some good progress, especially in Lofa county [close to where the outbreak first started] and the capital," said Dr Chan.

Cases in Guinea and Sierra Leone were "less severe" than a couple of months ago, but she said "we are still seeing large numbers of cases".

'Hunting the virus'

Dr Chan said: "It's not as bad as it was in September. But going forward we are now hunting the virus, chasing after the virus. Hopefully we can bring [the number of cases] down to zero."

The official figures do not show the entire picture of the outbreak.

In August, the WHO said the numbers were "vastly under-estimated", due to people not reporting illnesses and deaths from Ebola.

Dr Chan said the quality of data had improved since then, but there was still further work to be done.

She said a key part of bringing the outbreak under control was ensuring communities understood Ebola.

She said teams going into some areas were still being attacked by frightened communities.

"When they see people in space suits coming into their village to take away their loved ones, they were very fearful. They hide their sick relatives at home, they hide dead bodies.

"[This is] extremely dangerous in terms of spreading disease. So we must bring the community on our side to fight the Ebola outbreak. Community participation is a critical success factor for Ebola control.

"In all the outbreaks that WHO were able to manage successfully - that was a success element and this [is] not happening in this current situation."

Benefit of hindsight

The WHO faced criticism over its handling of the crisis at the start of the outbreak.

An internal document leaked in October said those involved "failed to see some fairly plain writing on the wall".

The first Ebola victim in West Africa has been retrospectively traced back to a two-year-old boy called Emile.

He died in south-east Guinea in December 2013. No-one knew it was Ebola at the time.

The virus had never been seen in West Africa.

The first cases started emerging in a remote part of the country with almost non-existent health facilities, and nobody spotted what it was in the first couple of months.

An outbreak was eventually declared at the end of March after 50 people had died.

The WHO announced a global health emergency on 8 August.

"It is fair to say the whole world, including WHO, failed to see what was unfolding, what was going to happen in front of our eyes," said Dr Chan.

"Of course, with the benefit of hindsight, if you ask me now... we could have mounted a much more robust response."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Ebola timeline

December 2013: Emile Ouamouno, two, becomes first Ebola victim

22 March: Ebola outbreak declared in Guinea

1 April: MSF warns of "unprecedented" outbreak

8 April: WHO says outbreak is "difficult" and "very challenging"

23 June: MSF says outbreak is "out of control"

8 Aug: WHO declares "international public health emergency"

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


The charity Medecins Sans Frontieres set up the first treatment centres when the outbreak began.

Andre Heller Perache from the charity said: "There was a series of press statements in June when we were talking about the magnitude of the crisis [saying] it was much worse then people had recognised and we made a desperate cry for help at that point.

"The WHO rebuffed that and said that's not accurate. They later reconsidered their position and agreed with ours and shortly after that declared an emergency."

The WHO is not an aid agency like MSF but does provide advice and technical support and is supposed to co-ordinate help.

The WHO says a full review and analysis of global responses to the crisis will be completed and made public once the outbreak is under control.

Dr Chan said: "As the director general of the WHO, this happened on my watch and I have a duty and responsibility to see it through and to learn lessons and to make changes in the organisation to make it stronger."

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10 December 2014

Ebola lockdown in eastern Sierra Leone mining district

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© AFP/File | Health workers wear personal protective equipment on November 11, 2014 before entering the red zone of the Hastings treatment center outside Freetown

FREETOWN (AFP) - Sierra Leone authorities imposed a two-week lockdown on the eastern diamond mining district of Kono Wednesday after eight cases of Ebola were confirmed in one day.

According to Sierra Leone's health ministry, Tuesday's spate of Ebola reports increased the cumulative total of confirmed cases in the region to 119.

The lockdown will limit residents' movements until December 23.

Sierra Leone, along with Guinean and Liberia, is at the epicentre of the worst Ebola outbreak on record.

The virus has claimed over 6,300 lives in west Africa over the past year, including more than 1,700 in Sierra Leone.

Officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) and US Center for Disease Control have been assisting Sierra Leone's National Ebola Response Center to prevent the virus from spreading throughout Kono and its population of 350,000.

"Our team met heroic doctors and nurses at their wits' end, exhausted burial teams and lab techs, all doing the best they could but they simply ran out of resources and were overrun with gravely ill people," said WHO's national Ebola coordinator Olu Olushayo.

The decision to impose a lockdown was taken at a meeting of traditional rulers known as the Council of Paramount Chiefs, its chairman Paul Saquee told reporters.

"The decision is a follow-up to the high increase in positive Ebola cases that have engulfed the district," Saquee said.

Although rapid reaction has helped contain the virus to about half of the 15 chiefdoms in Kono, WHO teams that arrived in the area 10 days ago were taken aback at the situation they encountered.

In the space of 11 days, two WHO teams buried 87 victims, including a nurse and an ambulance driver enlisted to help dispose of corpses piling up in the local hospital.

- Empty markets -

Doctor Amara Jambai, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation's Director of Disease Prevention and Control, used a local saying to describe the dramatic surge in Kono's Ebola cases.

"We are only seeing the ears of the hippo," Jambai said.

Despite the concerns however locals were said to be reacting calmly, according to journalists reached by phone by AFP.

Freelance journalist Emmanuel Lebbie said: "People are moving freely within towns and villages, but are not allowed to go beyond the district itself."

Most people were remaining indoors and while shops were open, the markets were largely empty of consumers.

Only essential vehicles such as fuel-carrying tankers, military, police, NGO workers and UN-associated vehicles were allowed through heavily monitored checkpoints into the district.

Private and commercial vehicles and motor cycle taxis are barred, and mining activity has ceased, one mines monitor reported.

Residents expressed mixed reaction to lockdown.

"We are happy about the response," said cocoa farmer Steve Boima. "If that's what it takes to kick Ebola out of the district, I am for it."

But Thomas Lahai, an unemployed motor mechanic, said things could have gone more smoothly.

"Although I support the action, it was not widely publicised and when the word got round (Tuesday), it resulted in panic buying with the result that some essential foodstuffs like yam, pepper and fish sold out at exorbitant prices."

Earlier this year, Sierra Leone quarantined hundreds of thousands of people, sealing off districts across the country in a bid to combat the Ebola outbreak.

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11 December 2014

Ebola vaccine trial 'interrupted' due to joint pains

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The clinical trial of an Ebola vaccine in Switzerland has been interrupted after some patients complained of joint pains in their hands and feet.

The trial was stopped one week early in all 59 volunteers "as a measure of precaution", the University of Geneva Hospital said.

The vaccine being tested is one developed by NewLink, and recently bought by Merck.

There is currently no vaccine licensed for use to protect against Ebola.

Two vaccines are currently being tested in humans in a number of countries.

The side-effects in the Geneva trial were experienced by four volunteers.

The hospital said human safety trials would resume on 5 January in up to 15 volunteers after checks had taken place to ensure the joint pain symptoms were "benign and temporary".

"They are all fine and being monitored regularly by the medical team leading the study," the hospital said.

Four trials of another Ebola vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline, in collaboration with the United States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, are also underway.

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11 December 2014

Ebola crisis: Sierra Leone bodies found piled up in Kono

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Safe burials of Ebola victims are crucial as dead bodies are highly infectious

Health officials in Sierra Leone have discovered scores of bodies in a remote diamond-mining area, raising fears that the scale of the Ebola outbreak may have been underreported.

The World Health Organization said they uncovered a "grim scene" in the eastern district of Kono.

A WHO response team had been sent to Kono to investigate a sharp rise in Ebola cases.

Ebola has killed 6,346 people in West Africa, with more than 17,800 infected.

Sierra Leone has the highest number of Ebola cases in West Africa, with 7,897 cases since the beginning of the outbreak.

The WHO said in a statement on Wednesday that over 11 days in Kono, "two teams buried 87 bodies, including a nurse, an ambulance driver, and a janitor drafted into removing bodies as they piled up".

Bodies of Ebola victims are highly infectious and safe burials are crucial in preventing the transmission of the disease.

The response team also found 25 people who had died in the past five days piled up in a cordoned section of the local hospital.

'Ears of the hippo'

Dr Olu Olushayo, a member of the WHO's Ebola response team, said:

"Our team met heroic doctors and nurses at their wits' end, exhausted burial teams and lab techs, all doing the best they could but they simply ran out of resources and were overrun with gravely ill people."

Health officials are worried that many of the Ebola cases in Kono have gone unreported until now.

"We are only seeing the ears of the hippo," said Dr Amara Jambai, Sierra Leone's Director of Disease Prevention and Control.

The district of more than 350,000 inhabitants had reported 119 cases up to 9 December.

Authorities in Sierra Leone have decided to put Kono district on "lockdown" from 10 to 23 December to try and contain the outbreak.

During the lockdown, no-one will be able to enter or leave the district but they can move around freely within it.

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Mali nears Ebola-free status as last patient leaves hospital

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© AFP | Police in front of the formerly quarantined Pasteur clinic in Bamako on November 12.

2014-12-12

Mali has no remaining cases of the Ebola virus as the last patient in the country has recovered and left hospital, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday.

Six people have died of Ebola in Mali, while two others have recovered.

The country is the sixth West African state to be hit by the worst outbreak of the virus on record of the haemorrhagic fever.

At least 6,533 people have died of the virus in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, the three West African countries worst hit by the disease, according to the World Health Organization.

Ebola first entered Mali through an infant girl who died of the disease in October after arriving from neighbouring Guinea. Later that month, an imam who also arrived from Guinea with the disease died in Mali. He infected other people.

“The only remaining case in treatment has recovered and has been released today so there are no more people sick with Ebola in Mali,” said Ministry of Health spokesman Markatié Daou.

Mali is yet to be officially declared Ebola-free, a status acquired by Nigeria and Senegal, two other countries blighted by virus earlier this year.

A senior UN official said on Tuesday that more foreign health workers are needed to help tackle the Ebola epidemic in western Sierra Leone and deep in the forested interior of Guinea.

“We know the outbreak is still flaming strongly in western Sierra Leone and some parts of the interior of Guinea. We can’t rest, we have to still push on,” said David Nabarro, the UN Special Envoy on Ebola.

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Sierra Leone cancels Christmas ‘to reflect on Ebola’

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© Francisco Leong, AFP file picture | A nurse assists an Ebola-infected patient at the Kenama treatment centre run by the Red Cross Society on November 15, 2014

2014-12-12

Sierra Leone said Friday it was banning any public Christmas celebrations as the spiralling caseload of Ebola infections continues to spread alarm.

Soldiers are to be deployed throughout the festive period to force people venturing onto the streets back indoors, the government's Ebola response unit said.

Palo Conteh, head of the department, told reporters in the capital Freetown there would be "no Christmas and New Year celebrations this year".

"We will ensure that everybody remains at home to reflect on Ebola," he said.

"Military personnel will be on the streets at Christmas and the New Year to stop any street celebrations," he said, without saying which areas would be targeted.

While Islam is the dominant religion in Sierra Leone, more than a quarter of the population is Christian and public gatherings and entertainment are common during the holiday period.

Conteh did not give the exact dates of the crackdown or list any exceptions. During previous local and nationwide anti-Ebola curfews, people were allowed out to worship and for "essential business".

Under current emergency regulations, bars and nightspots have already been shut down and public gatherings outlawed but there is no general ban on going outdoors or working.

Sierra Leone, which has overtaken Liberia to become the country worst affected by Ebola, has recorded 1,319 new infections in the last three weeks.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday there were 17,942 cases of the tropical fever across eight countries as of December 7, resulting in 6,388 deaths -- almost all in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone reported 397 new cases during the week ending December 7 -- three times as many as Liberia and Guinea combined, WHO said.

'At their wits' end'

Sources with knowledge of government policy told AFP detailed instructions on the workings of the Christmas curfew would be announced shortly.

The country now counts a total of 7,897 Ebola cases, including 1,768 deaths, according to Wednesday's tally.

A full third of the new cases, or 133 of them, were reported in Freetown, at the heart of the ongoing surge in cases seen in the west of the country.

Sierra Leone has already quarantined around half its population of six million, sealing off districts across the country in a bid to combat the Ebola outbreak.

The government imposed a two-week lockdown on the eastern diamond mining district of Kono on Wednesday after eight cases of Ebola were confirmed in one day.

The WHO's national Ebola coordinator Olu Olushayo said doctors and nurses were "at their wits' end."

In the space of 11 days, two WHO teams buried 87 victims, including a nurse and an ambulance driver enlisted to help dispose of corpses piling up in the local hospital, the agency said.

The government reacted with surprise to the WHO's claims, however, saying Friday they did not tally with reports from the ground and announcing that investigators had been sent to assess the situation in Kono.

Local media said officials at the district's main public hospital in Koidu had also been taken aback by the reports.

Aiah Beyonquee, the leader of the local burial team, told the state-run Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation no bodies had been stacked at the hospital.

"On Wednesday we had about 10 alert calls for death cases in the community which we reacted to," he told the broadcaster.

"There were also five deaths in the hospital and all these were buried the same day."

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14 December 2014

Ebola in 2015 - end of the line for a killer?

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© Getty/AFP/File / by Mariette Le Roux | A nurse wears a mask and holds a sign during a demonstration outside of the Dellums Federal Building on November 12, 2014 in Oakland, California

PARIS (AFP) - After decades making brief, murderous forays from central Africa's forests, Ebola erupted into a global emergency in 2014, yet its success could spell its downfall as scientists scramble to relegate it to a footnote of medical history.

From a single infection in impoverished west Africa, the epidemic swept into bustling cities, killed thousands and unleashed a wave of fear in far-off Europe and America.

From a standing start in August, the World Health Organization (WHO) gave the green light for the use of experimental treatments, and with vaccines being developed there are already a dozen leading candidates for anti-Ebola medication.

"People are very hopeful that we may be seeing some early results towards the end of the first quarter (of 2015) with some of these therapeutics," said Michael Kurilla of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

"If these things do prove to be efficacious, we may be able to approve some of them and then have cures or specific licensed treatments for Ebola."

First diagnosed in the former Zaire in 1976, the virus killed 1,590 people in 24 outbreaks until 2012, with a death rate of up to 90 percent of the infected in the worst cases, the victims often suffering massive internal and external bleeding.

But it inflicted few deaths compared with diseases like AIDS or malaria and only broke out in poor, remote areas -- with drug research limited and driven mainly by the US government's bio-terror fears.

"There has been little incentive to date for the private sector to invest in and commercialise products that might only ever be needed in the poorest parts of the world," said Sharon Lewin, director of the University of Melbourne's Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity.

- End of indifference -

Since the beginning of the year, Ebola has killed more than 6,500 people, spilling from Guinea into its west African neighbours before causing the first-ever domestic infections outside of Africa -- two in the United States and one in Spain.

As governments closed borders and screened air passengers, indifference towards the epidemic evaporated and pharmaceutical companies began a race to develop treatments, vaccines and faster, mobile diagnostic tests.

Among the vaccines, cAd3-ZEBOV recently reported good results from early Phase I safety tests on a group of healthy volunteers in the United States.

"We are manufacturing approximately 20,000 additional doses of the vaccine candidate so that if the ongoing Phase I trials are successful, we can begin the next phases" -- hopefully "early in 2015", pharma company GlaxoSmithKline told AFP.

Among the treatments, frontrunner ZMapp has already been given to a number of stricken medical personnel, though its efficacy is not proven and doses have run out.

Broad-spectrum antiviral drugs are also being tested, and trials will start soon with therapies based on the blood or plasma of Ebola survivors.

Scientists believe the epidemic will be under control within a year in any case, but warn that the virus will continue to survive in an animal "reservoir", possibly fruit bats, from where it jumps every so often to humans in close contact.

And while hopes are riding on a pharmaceutical breakthrough some experts say improvements in medical infrastructure and infection control measures such as isolating patients, contact tracing and education provide the best answers.

"Outbreaks that have occurred in the past, they have been stopped without vaccine," said David Heymann, a virologist and head of the Centre on Global Health Security.

by Mariette Le Roux

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15 December 2014

Ebola serum supply reaches Liberia

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Liberia has begun treating Ebola patients with serum therapy - a treatment made from the blood of recovered survivors.

Doctors hope the experimental treatment could help combat the virus that has been sweeping West Africa and killing thousands of people.

Up to 13 December, 6,841 people had been reported as having died from the disease.

The total number of reported cases is more than 18,000.

If a person has successfully fought off the infection, it means their body has learned how to combat the virus and they will have antibodies in their blood that can attack Ebola.

Doctors can then take a sample of their blood and turn it into serum - by removing the red blood cells but keeping the important antibodies - which can be used to treat other patients.

Ebola patients treated in the UK and the US have already received this type of treatment.

Doctors in Liberia will monitor how safe and effective the serum treatment being given at the ELWA Hospital in Monrovia is.

A number of Liberian health care workers have been trained to give the therapy.

Dr David Hoover, the programme's director, said: "This will empower local health care systems to become more self-sufficient and better serve their patients during this current epidemic as well as in the future."

Scientists are also exploring other Ebola treatments.

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The US, UK and Canada are testing different kinds of vaccine in controlled clinical trials.

The aim is to have 20,000 doses that could be used in West Africa by early next year.

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15 December 2014

Ebola toll rises to more than 6,800

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© AFP/File | Health workers from the Sierra Leone's Red Cross Society Burial Team 7 remove a corpse from a house in Freetown on November 12, 2014

GENEVA (AFP) - More than 6,800 people have now died from the Ebola virus, almost all of them in west Africa, the World Health Organization said Monday.

The UN health agency reported that as of December 13, there had been 18,464 cases of infection from the deadly virus in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and 6,841 people had died.

WHO did not provide an update of cases in other countries, but last week said the death toll remained the same: six in Mali, one in the United States, and eight in Nigeria, which was declared Ebola free in October.

Spain and Senegal, which have both been declared free from Ebola, meanwhile counted one case each, but no deaths.

- Sierra Leone -

Sierra Leone, which last week overtook Liberia as the nation with the most infections, counted 8,273 cases and 2,033 deaths on December 13.

The toll up until December 10 stood at 8,069 cases and 1,899 deaths.

- Liberia -

Liberia, long the hardest-hit country, has meanwhile seen a decrease in the rate of transmission in recent weeks.

As of December 9, the country counted 7,797 cases and 3,290 deaths, up from the 7,765 infections and 3,222 deaths tallied two days earlier.

- Guinea -

In Guinea, where the outbreak started nearly a year ago, 2,394 Ebola cases and 1,518 deaths were recorded as of December 13.

Three days earlier, the country counted 2,354 Ebola cases and 1,462 deaths.

- Healthcare workers -

Ebola, one of the deadliest viruses known to man, is spread only through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person showing symptoms such as fever or vomiting.

People caring for the sick or handling the bodies of people infected Ebola are especially exposed.

As of the latest figures up to December 7, a total of 639 healthcare workers were known to have contracted the virus, and 349 of them had died, WHO said.

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17 December 2014

Ebola: Sierra Leone begins house-to-house searches

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The authorities want to ensure that anyone who may be displaying symptoms of Ebola comes forward for treatment

Sierra Leone has begun house-to-house searches in the capital Freetown to find hidden cases of Ebola.

President Ernest Bai Koroma said that Sunday trading would be banned and travel between districts restricted.

The president said that as Christmas approached, people would need to be reminded that Sierra Leona was at war with a "vicious enemy".

Sierra Leone has overtaken Liberia to have the highest number of Ebola cases, World Health Organization figures show.

The virus has killed more than 6,800 people this year, mostly in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.

Posted Image
Sierra Leone has had more Ebola cases than any other country

In his statement, President Koroma said the searches aimed to "break the chain of transmission".

He added: "Do not hide the sick."

The president said that while many districts of the country had made progress in fighting Ebola, challenges still remained in the western part of the country, which for the past two weeks had accounted for 50% of new infections.

He said that he was introducing an action plan, Operation Western Area Surge, to encourage people to come forward if they had a fever or other symptoms of Ebola.

He said it was necessary to introduce such stringent measures even though it was the festive season - a time when people would normally "celebrate with their families in a joyous manner".


The president also said that:

-Travel restrictions between districts would be enforced over the Christmas period

-Christians would be allowed to attend church services, but would be requested to return home immediately afterwards

-All New Year's Day festivities including church services and outings would be prohibited or severely restricted

-In addition to the blanket Sunday trading ban, the new measures would include time restrictions on Saturday and weekday shopping.


The prevalence of the virus in the capital Freetown is thought to be one of the reasons why Ebola is spreading so fast in the west.

Our correspondent in Sierra Leone, Umaru Fofana, said the measures were partly aimed at controlling crowds.

He said people in Freetown continued to gather on the streets or go jogging along the beach despite the Ebola threat.

This is not the first time that Sierra Leone has used stringent tactics to locate Ebola sufferers, but none have stopped the rise in infections.

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention head Tom Frieden told the AP news agency that "the fight is going to be long and hard to get to zero cases", and is heavily contingent on sick individuals coming forward to be diagnosed.

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17 December 2014

Ebola toll rises to more than 6,900: WHO

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© AFP/File | Children walk past a slogan painted on a wall reading "Ebola" in Monrovia on August 31, 2014

GENEVA (AFP) - More than 6,900 people have now died from the Ebola virus, almost all of them in west Africa, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday.

As of December 14, there were 18,569 cases of infection of the deadly virus in the three worst affected countries, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and 6,900 deaths.

This is out of a total of 18,603 cases and 6,915 deaths across eight countries affected by the outbreak.

In some good news, the UN agency said Mali has not seen a new case for three weeks, completing one of the two 21-day incubation periods needed to be declared free of the virus.

The death toll in other countries was unchanged: six in Mali, one in the United States, and eight in Nigeria, which was declared Ebola free in October.

Spain and Senegal, which have both been declared free from Ebola, meanwhile counted one case each, but no deaths.

- Sierra Leone -

Sierra Leone earlier this month overtook Liberia as the country with the most infections.

But the WHO said: "There are signs the increase in incidence has slowed, and that incidence may no longer be increasing."

It counted 8,356 cases and 2,085 deaths up to December 14, up from 8,273 cases and 2,033 deaths a day earlier.

- Liberia -

Liberia, long the hardest-hit country, has continued to see a decrease in the rate of transmission, the WHO said, although it had no new figures.

As of December 9, the country counted 7,797 cases and 3,290 deaths, up from the 7,765 infections and 3,222 deaths tallied two days earlier.

- Guinea -

In Guinea, where the outbreak started nearly a year ago, 2,416 cases of Ebola and 1,525 deaths were recorded as of December 14, up from 2,394 cases and 1,518 deaths a day earlier.

The WHO said that incidence of infection was "fluctuating".

- Healthcare workers -

Ebola, one of the deadliest viruses known to man, is spread only through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person showing symptoms such as fever or vomiting.

People caring for the sick or handling the bodies of people infected Ebola are especially exposed.

As of the latest figures up to December 14, a total of 649 healthcare workers were known to have contracted the virus, and 365 of them had died, the WHO said.

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19 December 2014

Ebola crisis: Top Sierra Leone doctor dies from disease

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Healthcare workers are among those most at risk of catching Ebola because is spread by bodily fluids (file pic)

One of Sierra Leone's top doctors died from Ebola hours after the arrival in the country of an experimental drug that could have been used to save him.

Victor Willoughby, who tested positive for the disease only on Saturday, is the 11th doctor in the country in the current outbreak.

His death has been described as "a big loss to the medical profession".

Ebola has killed more than 7,300 people this year in West Africa, World Health Organization figures show.

There have been more than 2,470 deaths in Sierra Leone.

Healthcare workers are among those most at risk of catching Ebola because is spread by bodily fluids.

Respected

Dr Willoughby, 67, died on Thursday, hours after the arrival of the experimental drug ZMab in Sierra Leone, officials said.

ZMapp, which was developed in Canada, has been credited with helping several patients recover, including two US doctors.

BBC Africa deputy editor Josephine Hazeley says Dr Willoughby was one of Sierra Leone's best known and most respected doctors.

Meanwhile the country's chief medical officer, Brima Kargbo, said the death was "a big loss to the medical profession" in Sierra Leone.

"We all looked up to Dr Willoughby and would consult him on many issues relating to our medical profession," he told the Associated Press news agency.

Earlier this week officials in Sierra Leone began house-to-house searches in the capital Freetown to find hidden cases of Ebola.

President Ernest Bai Koroma said Sunday trading would be banned and travel between districts restricted in a bid to stop the spread of the disease.

The country has also banned public celebrations over Christmas and the New Year.

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19 December 2014

Nigerian peacekeeper cured of Ebola in Netherlands

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© ANP/AFP | An ambulance carrying a Nigerian worker suspected of having Ebola arrives at the Emergency Hospital of the University Medical Center Utrecht in Utrecht, on December 6, 2014

THE HAGUE (AFP) - A Nigerian UN peacekeeper infected with Ebola and brought to the Netherlands for treatment has been cured, the Dutch authorities said on Friday.

"The Nigerian patient who was admitted on December 6 has been cured of Ebola," the Dutch public health institute RIVM said in a statement.

The soldier was infected while working as a peacekeeper battling the deadly disease in Liberia.

He was flown to the Netherlands at the request of the World Health Organisation in a specially equipped plane and treated at the university hospital in central city Utrecht.

He was the first Ebola patient to be treated in the Netherlands and will stay at a military hospital until he can return home, the RIVM said.

Ebola has killed more than 6,900 people, almost all of them in west Africa.

Liberia tops the number of fatalities at 3,290 deaths but Sierra Leone earlier this month overtook it as the country with the most infections.

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20 December 2014

Ebola crisis: Liberia holds postponed senate election

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Election workers have been taking the temperature of voters before they enter election centres

Voting is under way in Liberia in an election that was postponed in October because of the Ebola outbreak.

Liberians are choosing representatives to the country's senate.

Among the 139 candidates vying for 15 seats are former football star George Weah and Robert Sirleaf, the son of Liberia's president.

Ebola has infected about 19,000 people in West Africa, killing more than 7,373 - with 3,346 deaths in Liberia, according to the latest UN figures.

The senate elections were postponed in October in a bid to stop campaigners and voters spreading the virus.

The election is being held just days after neighbouring Sierra Leone clamped down on public gatherings.

It has banned Sunday trading, restricted travel between districts and prohibited public celebrations over Christmas and the New Year.

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Campaigners have been urged to follow public health regulations

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A crowd followed former football star George Weah as he campaigned in November

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Suspected Ebola patients are kept in quarantine at medical centres

One of Sierra Leone's top doctors, Victor Willoughby, died from Ebola on Thursday, just hours after the arrival of experimental drug ZMab which could have been used to treat him.

Healthcare workers are among those most at risk of catching Ebola which is spread by bodily fluids and requires close contact with victims.

In November, Liberia's election commission chairman, Jerome Korkoya, urged candidates and supporters to follow public health regulations in the run-up to the senate elections.

"For instance, the transportation of large groups of electorates by candidates clustered in vehicles and the congregation of huge number of people will be regulated," he said in a statement.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was in Liberia on Friday at the start of a two-day visit to countries affected by Ebola in West Africa.

He continued on to Guinea on Saturday.

After stepping off the plane, he washed his hands and had his temperature taken - two important practices to help stop the spread of the disease.

Mr Ban urged people to follow strict health regulations until the epidemic was over.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf lifted a state of emergency last month that was imposed in August to control the outbreak.

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22 December 2014

IMF policies blamed for Ebola spread in West Africa

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Sierra Leone, along with Liberia and Guinea, have poor health facilities

Spending cuts imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may have contributed to the rapid spread of Ebola in three West African states, UK-based researchers say.

It had led to "under-funded, insufficiently staffed, and poorly prepared health systems" in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, they said.

The IMF denied the allegation.

The deadliest Ebola outbreak ever has so far killed more than 7,300 people, mostly in the three states.

"A major reason why the Ebola outbreak spread so rapidly was the weakness of healthcare systems in the region, and it would be unfortunate if underlying causes were overlooked," said Cambridge University sociologist and lead study author Alexander Kentikelenis.

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IMF polices made it difficult to employ health staff, researchers say

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The three West African states have relied heavily on aid agencies to help fight the outbreak

Policies requiring that government spending be slashed were "extremely strict, absorbing funds that could be directed to meeting pressing health challenges", the study said.

Mr Kentikelenis told the BBC's Newsday programme that caps on wage bills meant countries could not hire heath staff and pay them adequately.

The IMF's emphasis on decentralised healthcare systems had also made it difficult to mobilise a co-ordinated response to health emergencies such as the Ebola outbreak, he said.

'Completely untrue'

Study co-author Lawrence King said Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone had met the IMF's directives in 2013, just before the Ebola outbreak.

However, they all "failed to raise their social spending despite pressing health needs", he said.

The IMF said in a statement that health spending in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone had, in fact, increased in the 2010-2013 period.

It was "completely untrue" that IMF policies had caused Ebola to spread, a spokesman is quoted by AFP news agency as saying

"Such claims are based on a misunderstanding, and, in some cases, a misrepresentation, of IMF policies," he said.

The three poor West African states are heavily dependent on donor funding.

Conflict in Liberia and Sierra Leone in the 1990s also contributed to the destruction of their health systems.

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CDC director warns against Ebola complacency

By Susannah Cullinane, CNN
December 22, 2014

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Dr. Tom Frieden described seeing "real momentum and real progress" in combating the virus.

(CNN) -- The number of Ebola cases in West Africa has not reached worst-case scenario predictions, but until it drops to zero, the world remains at risk, the CDC director said Monday.

Speaking to reporters after a visit to Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, Centers for Disease Prevention Director Dr. Tom Frieden said he saw "real momentum and real progress" in combating the virus.

"It's going to be a long hard fight, but I am hopeful that we are going to see continued progress. The challenge is not to let up, not to be complacent and to really double down," he said.

Last week, the World Health Organization put the number of reported deaths from Ebola at 6,915, with more than 18,600 cases of the disease reported.

Asked about the CDC's report in September that in certain scenarios, Ebola cases could reach 550,000 by January, Frieden said: "The projections we released a few months ago showed what could happen if nothing more were done -- in fact an enormous amount has been done."

He said what had changed was the world's reaction response to not letting that happen.

Liberia had the "most hopeful picture" of the three countries, Frieden said. "As of today, it has the upper hand over the virus."

This was due to the country's implementation of the Rapid Isolation and Treatment for Ebola approach, he said.

Extensive challenges remain, however, in Sierra Leone, he said.

"Sierra Leone has by far the largest number of cases of the three countries at this point and is in a rapid scale-up phase." This is in part a result of the "challenge of complacency," he said.

As the number of cases fell, he said, health care workers were "relaxing their grip", by, for example, not wearing protective clothing or ignoring the possibility of Ebola infection when treating patients for other ailments.

Three actions were important to combat the next phase of the outbreak,


Frieden said:

-First, break the cycle of exponential growth.

-Second, trace every chain of transmission and ensure the intensive followup of every patient with Ebola.

-And third, strengthen the areas that were now Ebola-free to prevent outbreaks there, he said.


"The next phase is in many ways harder -- it's tracing every single case to break every single chain of transmission including in highly mobile urban areas and that's going to be challenging," he said.

"The problem is there are clusters all over and new ones popping up all the time. Till each of the three countries get to the last cluster, the last case, then we're at risk."

A lot had been done to combat Ebola, Frieden said, but it was still a "work in progress," with -- for example -- more French-speaking health care workers needed in Guinea to stop the spread there.

Tools on the horizon included a new point-of-care diagnostic kit that would allow health care workers to diagnose the virus on the spot -- rather than having to make sometimes arduous trips back from remote areas for lab testing of suspected cases.

Frieden said that another new initiative in Sierra Leone would allow the vaccination of thousands of health care workers -- if and when a safe vaccine was developed.

But he said with new tools -- especially the vaccine -- "we have to ardently hope that they work urgently, but we can't count on them working."

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24 December 2014

Ebola crisis likely to last a year, says expert

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Peter Piot said he was impressed by progress in the fight against Ebola in Sierra Leone

West Africa's Ebola crisis is likely to last until the end of 2015, says a leading researcher who helped to discover the virus.

Peter Piot, who has just returned from Sierra Leone, told the BBC that he was encouraged by progress there and by the promise of new anti-viral therapies.

But he also warned that vaccines would take time to develop.

The current Ebola outbreak, the deadliest to date, has so far killed more than 7,300 people.

Most of the victims have been in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.

Prof Piot was one of the scientists who discovered Ebola in 1976 and is now Director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

He said that even though the outbreak has peaked in Liberia and was likely to peak in Sierra Leone in the next few weeks, the epidemic could have a "very long tail and a bumpy tail".

"The Ebola epidemic is still very much there. People are still dying, new cases are being detected," he told the BBC World Service's Newsday programme.

"We need to be ready for a long effort, a sustained effort [for] probably the rest of 2015."

But he added that he was impressed by the progress that he had seen in Sierra Leone.

"Treatment centres have now been established across the country with British help. You don't see any longer the scenes where people are dying in the streets," he said.

He also said he was also encouraged that thanks to simple treatments such as intravenous fluids and antibiotics, mortality rates had fallen to as low as one in three.

"Getting it below that will require specific therapies that are now going to be tested," he said, adding that he hoped that within three months it would be clear which anti-viral therapies were effective.

Developing a vaccine would be more complicated, he said, but must be done "so that when there is another epidemic or maybe when this epidemic drags on for a long time, that we have that vaccine available".

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24 December 2014

Fourth UN staff contracts Ebola in Liberia

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© AFP/File | A nurse walks with a little girl suffering from Ebola, at the Medecins Sans Frontieres clinic in Monrovia on September 27, 2014

MONROVIA (AFP) - A fourth member of the UN mission in Liberia, the country hardest-hit by the Ebola epidemic, has been hospitalised after testing positive for the virus.

"This is the fourth case of Ebola in the mission and UNMIL personnel continue to mourn the deaths of two colleagues who died from the disease only three months ago," a UN statement said Wednesday, referring to the United Nations Mission in Liberia.

Liberia tops the number of Ebola deaths in the world with 3,376 fatalities but has seen a clear decrease of new transmissions in the past month.

Ebola has killed 7,518 people, almost all of them in the west African epicentres of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The UN member tested positive on Tuesday and was immediately transferred to an Ebola treatment unit, Karin Landgren, the special representative of UN chief Ban Ki-moon said.

"UNMIL is taking all necessary measures to mitigate any possible further transmission - both within the mission and beyond," Landgren said.

It said the mission had stepped up surveillance "to ensure that all people who came into contact with the staff member while symptomatic are assessed and quarantined."

"All UNMIL staff considered at risk are being isolated. The vehicles used to transport the patient and locations they visited while symptomatic are being decontaminated."

"The confirmation of an additional Ebola case in UNMIL at the start of the holiday period is a stark reminder that we must all remain vigilant until there are no cases in Liberia or west Africa," the statement said.

Ban, who recently toured west Africa for a first-hand assessment of the fight against Ebola, said on his return that the UN must learn lessons from the crisis and begin preparing now for the next outbreak of the deadly disease.

The secretary general also called for recovery efforts to be stepped up in west Africa to rebuild shattered economies, get children back in school and begin caring for Ebola orphans.

His appeal followed sharp criticism from non-governmental organisations that the United Nations, in particular the World Health Organization, were too slow to swing into action.

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25 December 2014

Ebola crisis: Sierra Leone declares three-day lockdown in north

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Sierra Leone recently overtook Liberia as the worst affected country in the Ebola outbreak

Sierra Leone has declared lockdown of at least three days in the north of the country to try to contain the Ebola epidemic.

Shops, markets and non-Ebola related travel services will be shut down, officials said.

Sierra Leone has already banned many public Christmas celebrations.

More than 7,500 people have died from the outbreak in West Africa so far, the Word Health Organization (WHO) says, with Sierra Leone the worst hit.

Sierra Leone has the highest number of Ebola cases in West Africa, with more than 9,000 cases and more than 2,400 deaths since the start of the outbreak.

The other countries at the centre of the outbreak are Liberia and Guinea.

State of emergency

Alie Kamara, resident minister for the Northern Region, told AFP news agency that most public gatherings would be cancelled.

"Muslims and Christians are not allowed to hold services in mosques and churches throughout the lockdown except for Christians on Christmas Day", he said.

No unauthorised vehicles would be allowed to operate "except those officially assigned to Ebola-related assignments" he added.

The lockdown would operate for at least three days but this could be extended if deemed necessary, officials said.

Sierra Leone has been in a state of emergency since July.

The outbreak began a year ago in the West African country of Guinea, but only gained international attention in early 2014.

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26 December 2014

Ebola death toll rises to 7,693: WHO

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© UN/AFP | Medical workers wash their hands in an Ebola treatment centre in Monrovia on December 20, 2014

GENEVA (AFP) - The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in west Africa has risen to 7,693 out of 19,695 cases recorded, the World Health Organization said Friday.

The previous toll released December 22 stood at 7,518 fatalities out of 19,340 infected in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.

Worldwide, the disease has killed at least 7,708, including six in Mali, one in the United States and eight in Nigeria, which was declared Ebola-free in October.

Spain and Senegal, which have both been declared free of Ebola, meanwhile counted one case each, but no deaths.

- Sierra Leone -

Sierra Leone, which has overtaken Liberia as the country with the most infections, counted 9,203 cases and 2,655 deaths on December 24, the WHO said.

Four days earlier the toll stood at 8,939 cases and 2,556 deaths.

- Liberia -

Liberia, long the hardest-hit country, has seen a clear decrease in transmission over the past month.

As of December 20 the country counted 7,862 cases and 3,384 deaths, up from 7,830 cases and 3,376 deaths recorded in the previous update, the WHO said.

- Guinea -

In Guinea, where the outbreak started a year ago, 2,630 Ebola cases and 1,654 deaths were recorded as of December 24.

The previous tally showed the country with 2,571 Ebola cases and 1,586 deaths.

- Healthcare workers -

Ebola, one of the deadliest viruses known to man, is spread only through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person showing symptoms such as fever or vomiting.

People caring for the sick or handling the bodies of people infected Ebola are especially exposed.

As of December 21 a total of 666 healthcare workers were known to have contracted the virus, and 366 of them had died, according to WHO.

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28 December 2014

EU aid shipment arrives in Ebola-hit West Africa

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© AFP | Port dockers unload equipment from Dutch Navy ship "Karel Doorman" in the port of Conakry on December 27, 2014

CONAKRY (AFP) - An EU aid shipment including vehicles and medical equipment for the three west African nations hardest hit by the Ebola epidemic has arrived in Guinea, officials said Sunday.

The Dutch navy's largest ship, the Karel Doorman, arrived in Guinea on Saturday and was due to also stop in Sierra Leone and Liberia, a statement from the EU delegation said.

The aid delivered to Guinea included enriched flour, some 20 all-terrain vehicles, ambulances and medical equipment such as masks.

Details on the shipment's value and total weight were not available.

The Karel Doorman also delivered aid to the three countries in November, including vehicles and tonnes of hospital equipment.

Ebola has killed more than 7,500 people over the past year, almost all of them in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

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29 December 2014

Ebola case confirmed in Glasgow hospital

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The woman is being treated in isolation at Gartnavel Hospital in Glasgow

A healthcare worker who has just returned from West Africa has been diagnosed with Ebola and is being treated in hospital in Glasgow.

The woman, who arrived from Sierra Leone on Sunday night, is in isolation at Glasgow's Gartnavel Hospital.

All possible contacts with the case are being investigated, including on flights to Scotland via Heathrow.

UK Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt confirmed that the woman would be taken to a specialist unit in London.

She will be flown from Glasgow and taken to the Royal Free Hospital in north London "as soon as we possibly can," Mr Hunt said.

It is expected she will be transferred overnight by air ambulance.

The hospital has a specialist isolation unit and treated William Pooley, the British nurse who contracted and recovered from Ebola.

Low risk

Mr Hunt said the government was doing "absolutely everything it needs to be" to keep the UK safe.

He insisted NHS processes "worked well" after the woman starting exhibiting symptoms.

The health secretary added: "We are also reviewing our procedures and protocols for all the other NHS workers who are working at the moment in Sierra Leone."

Charity Save the Children confirmed the woman was an NHS health worker who was working with them at the Ebola Treatment Centre in Kerry Town, Sierra Leone.

The organisation's humanitarian director, Michael von Bertele, said: "Save the Children is working closely with the UK government, Scottish government and Public Health England to look into the circumstances surrounding the case."

At a news conference in Glasgow, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon stressed that the risk to the general public was very low.

She added that the patient was thought to have had contact with only one other person since arriving in the city, but that all passengers on the flights the woman took will be traced.

Ms Sturgeon said: "Apart from other passengers on the flights and obviously the hospital staff since this patient's admittance to hospital, she, the patient is thought to have had contact with only one other person in Scotland since returning to Scotland last night and that person will also be contacted and given appropriate reassurance."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Glasgow Ebola case

Patient flight details - 28 December

-Flight AT596 from Freetown, Sierra Leone, to Casablanca

-Flight AT0800 from Casablanca to London Heathrow

-Flight BA1478 from London Heathrow to Glasgow, arriving 23:30

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Alisdair MacConachie, of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said: "She's being managed in an isolation facility by staff who are comfortable managing patients in such a situation. She herself is quite stable and is not showing any great clinical concern at the minute."

NHS Scotland said infectious diseases procedures had been put into effect at the Brownlee Unit for Infectious Diseases at Gartnavel.

Ebola is transmitted by direct contact with the bodily fluids - such as blood, vomit or faeces - of an infected person.

The patient returned to Scotland from Sierra Leone late on Sunday via Casablanca and London Heathrow, arriving into Glasgow Airport on a British Airways flight at about 23:30.

While public health experts have emphasised that the risks are negligible, a telephone helpline has been set up for anyone who was on the BA 1478 Heathrow to Glasgow flight.

The number is: 08000 858531

The woman had been admitted to hospital early on Monday morning after feeling unwell and was placed into isolation at 07.50.

A British Airways spokesman said: "We are working closely with the health authorities in England and Scotland and will offer assistance with any information they require.

"The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority and the risk to people on board that individual flight is extremely low."

Ms Sturgeon has chaired a meeting of the Scottish Government Resilience Committee (SGoRR) and has also spoken to Prime Minister David Cameron.

Mr Hunt is to chair a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee on Monday evening.

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The patient had travelled from Freetown in Sierra Leone via Casablanca

Ms Sturgeon said: "Our first thoughts at this time must be with the patient diagnosed with Ebola and their friends and family. I wish them a speedy recovery.

"Scotland has been preparing for this possibility from the beginning of the outbreak in West Africa and I am confident that we are well prepared."

Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer for England, said: "It is important to be reassured that although a case has been identified, the overall the risk to the public continues to be low.

"We have robust, well-developed and well-tested NHS systems for managing unusual infectious diseases when they arise, supported by a wide range of experts. The UK system was prepared, and reacted as planned, when this case of Ebola was identified."

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29 December 2014

US gives go-ahead to fast Ebola test

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© AFP/File | A Guinean health worker writes on the protective suit of his co-worker at an Ebola Donka treatment centre in Conakry on December 8, 2014

GENEVA (AFP) - US authorities have given emergency authorisation to Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche for an Ebola test that can take as little as three hours, the company said on Monday.

The US Food and Drug Administration authorised the test for emergency use on patients with signs and symptoms of the deadly virus, Roche said.

"The LightMix Ebola Zaire test is an easy-to-use molecular diagnostic test providing a solution for healthcare professionals to quickly detect the virus and start patient treatment as early as possible," said Roland Diggelmann, chief operations officer of Roche's diagnostics division.

The test, manufactured by German company TIB MOLBIOL GmbH, has also been given the European CE mark indicating it conforms with EU regulations.

Mobile laboratories in the three west African nations hard hit by Ebola -- Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia -- currently use expensive and time-consuming tests that can take up to six hours.

Ebola has killed more than 7,500 people over the past year, almost all of them in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

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