Ebola Infections Dropping in West Africa, World Health Organization Says

NEW YORK TIMES by NICK CUMMING-BRUCE                                                                         Jan. 23, 2015

GENEVA — The number of people falling victim to the Ebola virus in West Africa has fallen to the lowest level in months, the World Health Organization said on Friday, but dwindling funds and a looming rainy season threaten to hamper efforts to control the disease.

More than 8,668 people have died in the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, which first surfaced in Guinea more than a year ago. But the three worst-affected countries — Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone — have now recorded falling numbers of new cases for four successive weeks, Dr. Bruce Aylward, the health organization’s assistant director general, told reporters in Geneva.

Speaking just after a visit to the region, Dr. Aylward said on Friday that the “really substantial reduction” in new cases was a direct result of last fall’s vast buildup of resources for fighting the epidemic. “This is the first time that the countries were in a position to stop Ebola,” he said.

President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone announced on Friday that the country was lifting the  travel restrictions that it had imposed in an effort to contain the virus. “Victory is in sight,” Mr. Koroma said. The restrictions, covering roughly half of the country’s six million people, were part of a state of emergency declared last July.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/24/world/africa/ebola-infections-dropping-in-west-africa-world-health-organization-says.html?_r=0