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Ebola Cluster Traced to Sexual Transmission 15 Months After Man's Illness

cidrap.umn.edu - September 2, 2016

A cluster of Ebola cases in Guinea earlier this year has been traced to sexual transmission from a man who had recovered from the disease close to 15 months earlier, marking the longest known period of sexual transmissibility after recovery from the disease.

"Evidence for sexual transmission of the persisting EBOV in February 2016, about 470 days after onset of symptoms in the survivor, is compelling," says the report by an international team of researchers, published yesterday in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

The cluster involved 3 probable and 7 confirmed cases in Guinea, with 8 deaths, in February, March, and April of this year, the report says.

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CLICK HERE - CID - Resurgence of Ebola virus disease in Guinea linked to a survivor with virus persistence in seminal fluid for more than 500 days

 

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Ebola Virus Persists in Semen Far Longer Than Thought, Study Finds

statnews.com - by Helen Branswell - August 30, 2016

CLICK HERE - The Lancet Global Health - Prevention of sexual transmission of Ebola in Liberia through a national semen testing and counselling programme for survivors: an analysis of Ebola virus RNA results and behavioural data

The Ebola virus can hide itself in the testicles of men who’ve survived the disease for far longer than had been previously thought, a new study suggests.

In fact, the research reports on a man who was still emitting fragments of Ebola viruses in his semen 565 days after he became ill — or 18 months. . . .

. . . suggesting it may be due to age-related changes in the immune system.

. . . The work, published Tuesday in the journal Lancet Global Health, was done by scientists from the Liberian Ministry of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization. . . .

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CDC - MMWR - Incident Management Systems and Building Emergency Management Capacity During the 2014–2016 Ebola Epidemic - Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea

cdc.gov - July 8, 2016

Summary

Establishing a functional incident management system (IMS) is important in the management of public health emergencies. In response to the 2014–2016 Ebola virus disease (Ebola) epidemic in West Africa, CDC established the Emergency Management Development Team (EMDT) to coordinate technical assistance for developing emergency management capacity in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. EMDT staff, deployed staff, and partners supported each country to develop response goals and objectives, identify gaps in response capabilities, and determine strategies for coordinating response activities. To monitor key programmatic milestones and assess changes in emergency management and response capacities over time, EMDT implemented three data collection methods in country: coordination calls, weekly written situation reports, and an emergency management dashboard tool. On the basis of the information collected, EMDT observed improvements in emergency management capacity over time in all three countries. The collaborations in each country yielded IMS structures that streamlined response and laid the foundation for long-term emergency management programs.

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World Bank Contributes to Improved Disease Surveillance and Health Systems in West Africa following Ebola Epidemic

                                                

worldbank.org

WASHINGTON, June 29, 2016—In Guinea, Sierra Leone and Senegal, more than 33.3 million people will benefit from stronger health systems and more effective disease surveillance systems through US$110 million in International Development Association (IDA) financing, approved yesterday by the World Bank Group’s Board of Executive Directors. This is the first in a series of investments planned under the Regional Disease Surveillance Systems Enhancement Program (REDISSE), which aims to address systemic weaknesses within the human and animal health sectors that hinder effective disease surveillance and response. The REDISSE program was developed with financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and technical support from the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Report of the Independent Panel on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Ebola Response

                    

disasterlit.nlm.nih.gov - June 30, 2016

This 57-page report summarizes a request to capture critical lessons from the Ebola epidemic of 2014-2016 and review the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)'s international and domestic responses. It summarizes an Independent Panel's assessment of HHS's challenges, and, where appropriate, challenges facing the broader U.S. government. It describes notable opportunities for improvement in leadership and organization, communication, management, and logistics, as well as in development and use of vaccines and treatments. It also presents recommendations for addressing future urgent public health threats.

CLICK HERE - ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND ACCESS TO THE REPORT - Report of the Independent Panel on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Ebola Response

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CLICK HERE - ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND ACCESS TO THE REPORT - Report of the Review Committee on the Role of the International Health Regulations (2005) in the Ebola Outbreak and Response

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Ibuprofen 'Disables' Ebola Virus

SPL

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH - Nature - Toremifene interacts with and destabilizes the Ebola virus glycoprotein

bbc.com - by James Gallagher - June 30, 2016

The painkiller ibuprofen and the cancer drug toremifene can disable the Ebola virus, say researchers.

Scientists used the UK's national synchrotron facility - Diamond Light Source - to analyse the virus in incredible detail.

They revealed the two drugs could bind to the crucial part of Ebola that the virus needs to infect cells.

However, the team warns this is just a starting point and more effective drugs need to be researched.

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ADDITIONAL REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED BELOW:

Toremifene interacts with and destabilizes the Ebola virus glycoprotein
http://www.nature.com/nature/archive/subject.html?code=326

Toremifene interacts with and destabilizes the Ebola virus glycoprotein
http://www.nature.com/subjects/ebola-virus

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Togo Prexy Draws Up Post-Ebola Program For ECOWAS

-President Sirleaf Discloses
By: 
Alaskai Moore Johnson, Observer Health Correspondent

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf assuring ECOWAS Commission President Marcel Alain De Souza (2nd from right), she and her colleagues’ support to his Commission on Friday, June 17, 2016

 

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has disclosed that her Togolese colleague, President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, has been given the task of drawing up a post-Ebola plan for the ECOWAS region.

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Researchers Develop Model that Predicts Outbreaks of Zoonotic Diseases

Spatial distribution of simulated LAS spill-over events across its endemic region in western Africa for (a) present day, and (b) projected for 2070 under a medium climate and full land cover change scenario. Values represent the expected number of spill-over events per grid cell per year, and are represented on a linear color scale where green is all simulations and grey zero. Axis labels indicate degrees, in a World Geodetic System 84 projection. Filled black circles represent locations of historic LAS outbreaks.  Credit: Redding et al. UCL

CLICK HERE - Predicting disease outbreaks using environmental changes

sciencedaily.com - June 13, 2016

A model that predicts outbreaks of zoonotic diseases -- those originating in livestock or wildlife such as Ebola and Zika -- based on changes in climate, population growth and land use has been developed by a team of researchers.

CLICK HERE -UCL - Predicting disease outbreaks using environmental changes

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G7 Points to Need for WHO Reforms, Citing Lessons Learned From Ebola

ISE-SHIMA (Japan), (Sputnik) – The recent Ebola outbreak claimed the lives of over 11,000 people, according to WHO estimates.


UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned that Ebola virus flare-ups would happen in 2016 despite the fact that all known chains of Ebola transmission had been stopped in West Africa.

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Disease Evolution: How New Illnesses Emerge When We Change How We Live

Humans have been “acquiring” infectious diseases from animals (zoonotic diseases) since we first started hunting wild game on the African savannahs. Indeed, nearly 60% of bugs that infect humans originated in animals.

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