United Nations

UN Says Several Months Needed to Control Ebola

Thu, 2014-12-11 16:05 — mike kraft

ASSOCIATED PRESS by EDITH M. LEDERER Dec. 11, 2014

UNITED NATIONS-- The U.N. Ebola chief said Thursday it will take several more months before the outbreak in West Africa is under control, an assessment that makes clear the World Health Organization's goal of isolating 100 percent of Ebola cases by Jan. 1 won't be met.

Dr. David Nabarro said there has been "a massive shift" over the last four months in the way affected governments have taken the lead in responding to the epidemic, communities are taking action and the international community has pitched in.

But he said greater efforts are needed to combat Ebola in western Sierra Leone and northern Mali, to reduce the number of new cases in Liberia and to limit transmission to Mali.

WHO conceded that it didn't meet an interim Dec. 1 target of isolating 70 percent of Ebola patients and safely burying 70 percent of victims in hardest-hit Sierra Leone. But it hasn't made clear what that means for its Jan. 1 goal, which it set in September. It has acknowledged that its patchy data could compromise the goal, since the agency does not know how many Ebola patients there actually are and is unable to track all of their contacts.

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Ebola response roadmap - Situation report

Thu, 2014-12-11 15:54 — mike kraft

WHO Dec. 10, 2014

A total of 17 942 confirmed, probable, and suspected cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) have been reported in five affected countries (Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, and the United States of America) and three previously affected countries (Nigeria, Senegal and Spain) up to the end of 7 December. There have been 6388 reported deaths.

Reported case incidence is slightly increasing in Guinea (103 confirmed and probable cases reported in the week to 7 December), declining in Liberia (29 new confirmed cases in the 3 days to 3 December), and may still be increasing in Sierra Leone (397 new confirmed cases in the week to 7 December). The case fatality rate across the three most-affected countries in all reported cases with a recorded definitive outcome is 76%; in hospitalized patients the case fatality rate is 61%.

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http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/situation-reports/en/

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

Wed, 2014-12-10 17:16 — mike kraft

BBC by Tulip Mazumdar Dec. 10, 2014

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....

"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."

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http://www.bbc.com/news/health-30400304

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WHO: malaria gains 'at risk' in Ebola-affected countries

Wed, 2014-12-10 11:05 — mike kraft

MEDICAL NEWS TODAY Dec. 9, 2014

LONDON --Thanks to increased disease control, global deaths to malaria have fallen dramatically, and the number of new cases is steadily declining, say the World Health Organization in a new report. Also, an increasing number of countries are moving toward eliminating the mosquito-borne disease altogether. But the UN agency warns these gains are fragile, and no more so than in countries worse-affected by the Ebola crisis.

A new report from the World Health Organization says the number of lives claimed by malaria worldwide fell by 47% between 2000 and 2013, and by 54% in Africa, where the vast majority of deaths occur.

The 2014 World Health Organization (WHO) report says deaths to malaria worldwide fell by 47% between 2000 and 2013. In the WHO African Region, where 90% of deaths to malaria occur, the reduction is 54%.

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In Ebola Outbreak, Bad Data Adds Another Problem

Mon, 2014-12-08 14:10 — mike kraft

ASSOCIATED PRESS -By MARIA CHENG and SARAH DiLORENZO Dec. 14, 2014

LONDON--As health officials struggle to contain the world's biggest-ever Ebola outbreak, their efforts are being complicated by another problem: bad data.

Having accurate numbers about an outbreak is essential not only to provide a realistic picture of the epidemic, but to determine effective control strategies. Dr. Bruce Aylward, who is leading the World Health Organization's Ebola response, said it's crucial to track every single Ebola patient in West Africa to stop the outbreak and that serious gaps remain in their data.

"As we move into the stage of hunting down the virus instead of just slowing the exponential growth, having good data is going to be at the heart of this," Aylward said. "We are not there yet and this is something we definitely need to fix."

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