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Risk of Ebola spreading to other countries seems to lessen: WHO

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Fri, 2015-04-10 10:58 — mike kraft

REUTERS  by Stephanie Nebehay                   April 10, 2015

GENEVA  West Africa's Ebola epidemic still poses a threat to other countries, but the risk of it spreading internationally appears to be diminishing, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

The U.N. agency declared in August 2014 that the world's worst Ebola outbreak -- which began in December 2013 -- represented a "public health emergency of international concern" that forced all health officials to shore up defenses.

The WHO's Emergency Committee, comprising independent experts who held talks on Thursday, was "absolutely firm" in maintaining that view, said Dr. Bruce Aylward, WHO Special Representative for the Ebola Response.

"They did note, however, that they believe the risk of international spread appeared to be reducing, this was a result of the work being done in the countries," Aylward told a news briefing at WHO headquarters. He cited control measures and exit screening of travelers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

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Country / Region Tags: 
Global
Africa
Guinea
Conakry
Liberia
Sierra Leone
United Nations
General Topic Tags: 
Contagion
Disease
Health
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Situation Report
Groups this Group Post belongs to: 
Africa Resilience Initiative
Global Health
Guinea Resilience System
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Fri, 2015-04-10 11:11 — mike kraft

ASSOCIATED PRESS by Maria Cheng                   April 10, 2015

LONDON --

...."We are still not controlling the epidemic," said Brice de le Vingne, director of operations for Doctors Without Borders, who noted past lulls in the outbreak have often been followed by surges in cases. He said the designation of Ebola as a global emergency is also necessary to speed up paperwork for the ongoing experimental drug and vaccine trials in West Africa.

Other experts agreed it's too early for WHO to downgrade the status of the biggest-ever Ebola outbreak and warned the recent fall in cases may be deceptive.

"It is just that we are used to (seeing) large numbers of cases and deaths," said Oyewale Tomori, a Nigerian virologist who sits on WHO's Ebola emergency committee. "These numbers should still frighten us."

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http://news.yahoo.com/un-ebola-still-global-emergency-despite-big-drop-115923575.html;_ylt=AwrC0CPV5idVay0ACx7QtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTByN2Ruc2MwBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwM0BHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--

howdy folks