Africa

WHO Shuts Sierra Leone Lab After Worker Infected with Ebola

Tue, 2014-08-26 22:21 — Kathy Gilbeaux

A British man infected with the Ebola virus is loaded into a Royal Air Force (RAF) ambulance after being flown home on a C17 plane from Sierra Leone, at Northolt air base outside London, August 24, 2014. REUTERS/Andrew Winning

af.reuters.com - By Umaru Fofana and Media Coulibaly - August 26, 2014

FREETOWN/KINSHASA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday it had shut a laboratory in Sierra Leone after a health worker there was infected with Ebola, a move that may hamper efforts to boost the global response to the worst ever outbreak of the disease.

. . . The WHO said it had withdrawn staff from the laboratory testing for Ebola at Kailahun -- one of only two in Sierra Leone -- after a Senegalese epidemiologist was infected with Ebola. . .

"It's a temporary measure to take care of the welfare of our remaining workers," WHO spokesperson Christy Feig said, without specifying how long the measure would last. "After our assessment, they will return."

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Ebola outbreak: Why Liberia's quarantine in West Point slum will fail

Tue, 2014-08-26 11:58 — Elhadj Drame

A relic of the Middle Ages, quarantines do more harm than good

By Amber Hildebrandt, CBC News Aug 25, 2014 5:00 AM ET

Medical experts say that mass quarantine is rarely if ever effective in stemming the spread of a contagion like Ebola, and the move by Liberia to cordon off a sprawling slum is likely to do more harm than good.

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Fears Held Over Ebola's Spread in Worst-Ever Outbreak

Mon, 2014-08-25 21:05 — Kathy Gilbeaux

There are fears Ebola has spread to a fifth country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, as sub-Saharan African authorities take drastic steps to keep population centres safe from the worst-ever Ebola outbreak.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation - Broadcast: 25/08/2014 - Reporter: Martin Cuddihy

. . . GAVIN MACGREGOR-SKINNER, ELIZABETH R. GRIFFIN RESEARCH FOUNDATION: It's heartbreaking. For being involved in infectious diseases prevention and control for years, what I'm hearing on the news, what I'm reading and the conversations that I'm having with colleagues in West Africa, it's absolutely heartbreaking.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: Gavin MacGregor-Skinner is an Australian expert in public health and emergency responses. He's now based in Washington, DC, but is preparing to leave for Nigeria. He says technology is making a big difference in how quickly authorities can react.

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Democratic Republic of Congo Declares Ebola Outbreak in Northern Equateur Province

Sun, 2014-08-24 22:15 — Kathy Gilbeaux

reuters.com - (Reporting by Bienvenu-Marie Bakumanya; Writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
August 24, 2014

(Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo declared an Ebola outbreak in its northern Equateur province on Sunday after two out of eight cases tested came back positive for the deadly virus, Health Minister Felix Kabange Numbi said.

A mysterious disease has killed dozens of people in Equateur in recent weeks but the World Health Organization had said on Thursday it was not Ebola.

"I declare an Ebola epidemic in the region of Djera, in the territory of Boende in the province of Equateur," Kabange Numbi told a news conference. . .

. . . Numbi said that one of the two cases that tested positive was for the Sudanese strain of the disease, while the other was a mixture between the Sudanese and the Zaire strain -- the most lethal variety.

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Last Ebola-Free Region of Liberia Falls to Virus

Sun, 2014-08-24 21:14 — Kathy Gilbeaux

reliefweb.int - by Zoom DOSSO with Selim SAHEB ETTABA in Dakar

MONROVIA, August 22, 2014 (AFP) - Every region of Liberia has now been hit by Ebola, officials said Friday, as the World Health Organization warned the fight against the worst-ever outbreak of the killer disease would take months.

After seeing people fall to the deadly virus in area after area, Liberia said two people had succumbed to the virus in Sinoe province, the last Ebola-free bastion in a country that has seen the biggest toll . . .

. . . The virus has spread relentlessly through Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, and Nigeria has also been affected despite showing some progress in fighting the epidemic . . .

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Ebola - Existence of an Invisible Caseload of Patients Who are Not Being Detected by the Surveillance System

Sun, 2014-08-24 17:16 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Photo: CDC

As Ebola outbreak grows, WHO notes case-count difficulties

cidrap.umn.edu - by Robert Roos - August 22, 2014

. . . the World Health Organization (WHO) conceded that the size of the epidemic has been underestimated and cited a list of reasons for that, from concealment and denial of cases to the closing of treatment centers and clinics. . .

. . . The WHO also said that in parts of Liberia, newly opened treatment facilities have been immediately flooded with patients, many of whom were not previously identified. "This phenomenon strongly suggests the existence of an invisible caseload of patients who are not being detected by the surveillance system."

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WHO Expert in West Africa Infected by the Ebola Virus

Sun, 2014-08-24 15:44 — Elhadj Drame

Source: http://www.cubiclane.com/2014/08/24/who-expert-in-west-africa-infected-by-the-ebola-virus-12984

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Assessment of the Risk of Ebola Virus Transmission from Bodily Fluids and Fomites

Sun, 2014-08-24 15:12 — Kathy Gilbeaux

jid.oxfordjournals.org

J Infect Dis. (2007) 196 (Supplement 2): S142-S147. doi: 10.1086/520545

Abstract

Although Ebola virus (EBOV) is transmitted by unprotected physical contact with infected persons, few data exist on which specific bodily fluids are infected or on the risk of fomite transmission. Therefore, we tested various clinical specimens from 26 laboratory-confirmed cases of Ebola hemorrhagic fever, as well as environmental specimens collected from an isolation ward, for the presence of EBOV. Virus was detected by culture and/or reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction in 16 of 54 clinical specimens (including saliva, stool, semen, breast milk, tears, nasal blood, and a skin swab) and in 2 of 33 environmental specimens.We conclude that EBOV is shed in a wide variety of bodily fluids during the acute period of illness but that the risk of transmission from fomites in an isolation ward and from convalescent patients is low when currently recommended infection control guidelines for the viral hemorrhagic fevers are followed.

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WHO says 70 die from illness in Congo, denies Ebola link

Fri, 2014-08-22 15:30 — Kathy Gilbeaux

reuters.com - (Reporting by Bienvenu Bakumanya and Emma Farge; Editing by Daniel Flynn/Mark Heinrich)
August 21, 2014

(Reuters) - At least 70 people have died in northern Democratic Republic of Congo from an outbreak of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis, the World Health Organization said on Thursday, denying that the illness was Ebola.

A WHO report dated Thursday and seen by Reuters said that 592 people had contracted the disease, of whom 70 died. Five health care workers, including one doctor, are among the dead.

"This is not Ebola," a WHO spokesman said in an email to Reuters on Thursday.

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