Uganda declares itself free of Ebola-like virus

Kampala - Ugandan health officials on Tuesday declared the country
free of the Ebola-like Marburg virus after completing a 42-day
surveillance period under World Health Organization (WHO) rules.

"The country is officially declared free of the Marburg virus
epidemic," senior health ministry official Sarah Achieng Opendi said in
a statement.

A 30-year-old medical technician died from Marburg on September 28,
11 days after falling ill in a Kampala hospital where he worked,
sparking alarm.

A total of 197 people were monitored, including eight who had
symptoms, but none had the virus.

"Since then, there have been no Marburg cases reported in the
country, this implies that the Marburg outbreak in the country has
completely been controlled," Opendi added.

The Marburg virus is one of the most deadly known pathogens. Like
Ebola, it causes severe bleeding, fever, vomiting and diarrhoea and
has a 21-day incubation period.
Like Ebola, the Marburg virus is also transmitted via contact with
bodily fluids and fatality rates range from 25 to 80 percent.

The Ebola outbreak has claimed almost 5,000 lives in west Africa since
the beginning of the year.
A Marburg outbreak in Uganda in October 2012 killed 10 people.

- AFP

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Morocco rejects AFCON hosting over Ebola fears

Rabat - Morocco has refused to host January's African Nations Cup
soccer finals amid fears over the spread of the Ebola virus, throwing
the 2015 tournament into jeopardy on Saturday.

The country, which had already said it wanted the 16-team event
postponed, rejected an ultimatum set by the Confederation of African
Football to confirm the hosting of the continental championship due
to take place Jan. 17-Feb. 8.

A statement from Morocco's sports ministry said: "The decision is
dictated by health reasons because of the serious threat of Ebola and
the risk of its spreading."

A decision on the tournament will now be made next week when CAF
has an executive committee meeting in Cairo but Morocco will almost
certainly be stripped as hosts.

CAF said earlier on Saturday it would make no statement until after
Wednesday's meeting.

Morocco is concerned that supporters from west Africa converging
on the country for the tournament could bring with them the deadly
virus and put at risk their important tourist industry.

They asked CAF to postpone the event to June, or even January 2016,
but this was rejected last week by African soccer's governing body,
who set Morocco a deadline of Saturday to confirm it would host the
three-week tournament.

CAF can now either move the event to another country - although it
has had no public expression of interest from nations it approached to
be on standby as possible emergency hosts - or cancel it at great
financial cost.

CAF accused Morocco of being alarmist in its fears over the spread of
the virus, which has caused almost 5,000 deaths in Liberia, Guinea
and Sierra Leone, and set out a lengthy list of reasons why it felt
they could still host the tournament without any risk.

Global health authorities are struggling to contain the world's worst
Ebola epidemic since the disease was identified in 1976 and cases have
reached as far as the United States and Spain.

Morocco has therefore stood firm on its refusal to host and could
face sanctions including the possibility of a lengthy ban from future
Nations Cup tournaments.
The Moroccans did offer in Saturday's statement to host the 2017
finals.

The tournament is African football's showpiece but has a turbulent
history, with several prospective hosts like Kenya, Libya, Zambia and
Zimbabwe pulling out or being stripped of hosting rights in the past
after being awarded the tournament.
Libya gave up the hosting of the 2017 finals in August because of
security issues and stadium delays and CAF must find a replacement.

The 2019 finals are set for Cameroon, 2021 in the Ivory Coast and
2023 in Guinea.

- Reuters

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Africa steps up Ebola fight with $28.5m fund

Addis Ababa - The African Union raised $28.5m on Saturday from the
continent's wealthiest individuals and firms for a fund to fight the
Ebola outbreak ravaging three west African nations.

AU officials and business executives gathered in the Ethiopian capital
to launch the emergency response fund said the money committed
would be disbursed immediately.

"Our immediate concern is to respond to the appeal for 1 000 health
care workers," Strive Masiyiwa, chairperson of Econet Wireless, an
African telecom operator, told reporters.

"We have also received considerable contributions in kind, which may
well ... exceed what we have received in cash."

Ebola has killed 4 950 people of the 13 241 infected since the outbreak
started earlier this year, according to the World Health Organisation,
mostly in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.

While countries from the United States to China and Cuba have
deployed resources and health personnel in a UN-led aid surge, fast-
growing African states and institutions have faced questions about
the level and speed of their own contributions.

Foreign firms
The African Union and the African Development Bank will guide the
legal set-up of the new fund, which will be administered by a board of
trustees drawn from corporate Africa.
Givers to the fund also include foreign firms that do business in
Africa, Masiyiwa said.

At the meeting, African telecom firms also agreed an initiative to
provide a platform for their customers to give at least a dollar each,
with the potential of reaching 700 million mobile phone users, he
added.

The platform, which will use one short code across all networks, is
expected to be ready early next month.
Mustapha Sidiki Kaloko, the African Union's Commissioner for Social
Affairs, said the priority was to secure transport for the 1 000 extra
health workers required.

"If somebody could help us with the transportation of the workers to
Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea ... that would be very, very helpful
to us," Kaloko told Reuters after the meeting.

The commissioner said they had 103 health workers on the ground but
the number could go up to 2 000 by the end of December.

- Reuters

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Ebola fight starting to pay off – WHO

Freetown - The deadliest Ebola outbreak ever is finally slowing in
Liberia, the worst-hit country, but still wreaking havoc in two
neighbouring west African states amid warnings of thousands of
unreported deaths.

As the initially lacklustre global response to the crisis centred in
Liberia and adjoining Sierra Leone and Guinea gathered some pace
following repeated and impassioned appeals from top UN officials and
world leaders, the good news from Liberia was tempered by warnings
that the global toll is likely vastly underestimated.

The outbreak is officially thought to have claimed 4 960 lives and
infected 13 042 people, according to the latest data issued by the
World Health Organisation. But that could be the tip of the iceberg,
an official at the UN health agency said.

"There are lots of missing deaths in this epidemic," Christopher Dye,
WHO's strategy chief, told AFP, estimating that around 5 000
fatalities could be missing from the count.

Traditional mourning
This assessment, he said, was based on the knowledge that the
fatality rate in the epidemic stands at about 70%.

Dye said the likely explanation was that many people were burying the
dead in secret, possibly to avoid having authorities interfere with
burial customs like washing and touching the deceased widely blamed
for much of the transmission.

Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma pressed the point in a
meeting this week with lawmakers well as tribal and religious chiefs.

"You must enforce the law and take out the sick," he said, referring
to a ban on traditional mourning rites with involve contact with
corpses.

"This is time for action and you must stop the hypocrisy in the fight
against Ebola," added Koroma, whose country has recorded 1 070
deaths from the disease and 4 759 cases.

'Progress sporadic'
Even though the spread of the virus has slowed in Liberia, where 2
697 people had died out of a total of 6 525 cases, officials warned that
this is no time for complacency.

"We cannot wait. This is a situation where we're seeing progress but
progress can be sporadic with this disease if we are not vigilant," said
Ertharin Cousin, the head of the UN's World Food Programme this
week while on a tour of west Africa.

"And one message is that now is the time for everyone to come
together to ensure that we are meeting the needs of people who are
affected by this disease, because we are seeing progress," Cousin
said.

Among these are more than 2 000 children left orphans by the disease
in Liberia alone, West Africa's regional bloc Ecowas said, urging
international help to go beyond immediate medical care.

Anthony Banbury, the UN's pointman on the fight against Ebola, told
the BBC that the international body had neither received sufficient
funds nor the means to fight the disease.

"It's not here yet. There are still people, villages, towns [and] areas
that [are] not getting any type of help right now and we definitely
don't have the response capability on the ground now from the
international community," he said.

The United Nations said it has received just over half - $572m of the
$988m the funds it is seeking to finance the fight against the worst
outbreak of Ebola since the discovery of the viral disease in 1976.

US President Barack Obama is asking Congress for more than $6.0bn
in emergency funding while Japan became the latest country this
week to pledge extra aid, taking Tokyo's contribution to a total of
$140m.

- AFP

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US judge rejects Ebola quarantine for nurse

Fort Kent - A Maine judge gave nurse Kaci Hickox the OK to go
wherever she pleases, handing state officials a defeat Friday in their
bid to restrict her movements as a precaution against Ebola.

In a case that has come to define the clash between personal
freedom and fear of disease, Judge Charles C. LaVerdiere ruled that
Hickox must continue daily monitoring but said there's no need to
isolate her or restrict her movements because she's not showing
symptoms of Ebola.

Governor Paul LePage disagreed with the judge's decision but said
the state will follow the law.

"As governor, I have done everything I can to protect the health
and safety of Mainers. The judge has eased restrictions with this
ruling and I believe it is unfortunate. However, the state will abide
by law," LePage said.

After the ruling, a state police cruiser that had been monitoring her
Hickox's movements left, and she and her boyfriend stepped
outside to thank the judge.

Hickox called it "a good day" and said her "thoughts, prayers and
gratitude" remain with those who are still battling Ebola in West
Africa.

The state went to court Thursday to impose restrictions on Hickox
until the 21-day incubation period for Ebola ends on 10 November.

Hickox, who treated Ebola patients in Sierra Leone, contended that
confinement at her home in Maine violated her rights. She twice
violated the state's voluntary quarantine by going outside her
home - once to go on a bike ride and once to talk to the media and
shake a reporter's hand.

In his ruling, the judge thanked Hickox for her service in Africa and
acknowledged the gravity of restricting someone's constitutional
rights without solid science to back it up.

"The court is fully aware of the misconceptions, misinformation,
bad science and bad information being spread from shore to shore
in our country with respect to Ebola," he wrote. "The court is fully
aware that people are acting out of fear and that this fear is not
entirely rational."

Remains at risk

A spokesperson for LePage declined to say if the state would
request a hearing on the judge's ruling. Steve Hyman, one of her
lawyers, said the hearing would be unnecessary.

"She has violated every promise she has made so far, so I can't
trust her," LePage later told reporters after a campaign event. "I
don't trust her. And I don't trust that we know enough about this
disease to be so callous."

Hickox, 33, stepped into the media glare when she returned from
Sierra Leone to become subject to a mandatory quarantine in New
Jersey. After being released from a hospital there, she returned to
this small town, where she was placed under what Maine
authorities called a voluntary quarantine.

She said she is following the federal Centres for Disease Control
and Prevention recommendation of daily monitoring for fever and
other signs of the disease.

"I'm not willing to stand here and let my civil rights be violated
when it's not science-based," she said earlier.

In a court filing, the director of the Maine Centre for Disease Control
and Prevention backed away from the state's original request for
an in-home quarantine and called for restrictions that fall in line
with federal guidelines.

Hickox remains at risk of being infected with Ebola until the end of
a 21-day incubation period, Dr Sheila Pinette said.

"It is my opinion that the respondent should be subjected to an
appropriate public health order for mandatory direct active
monitoring and restrictions on movement as soon as possible and
until the end of the incubation period ... to protect the public health
and safety," she wrote.

Hickox said on Friday that she had no immediate plans, other than
to watch a scary movie at home on Halloween night. Asked if
she'd be handing out candy, she said she hadn't been able to go
shopping.

Source - AP

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Canada suspends visas for residents of Ebola-hit African countries

In a bid to also stop the spread of Ebola into its borders, the Canadian
government today October 31st announced its suspension of visa
applications for travelers from Ebola-hit countries.

Below is the statement released today by Canada's health minister,
Rona Ambrose
"Our number one priority is to protect Canadians. We continue to
work with domestic and international partners to aid efforts to
respond to the outbreak in West Africa, while strengthening our
domestic preparedness here at home."

The Canadian immigration minister, Chris Alexander said Canadian
immigration authorities will not process any visa application for
individuals who have been in any Ebola-affected nation 'within three
months prior to the date of the application.'

"Canada has been a leader in the international efforts to respond
to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The precautionary measures
announced today build on actions we have taken to protect the
health and safety of Canadians here at home." he said.

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Jamaica bans visitors from Ebola -hit nations

Caribbean country joins Guyana and Trinidad in imposing bans on
travellers from Ebola - stricken West African countries .

Jamaica has ordered an immediate ban on people who have traveled
through the Ebola - affected countries of Liberia , Guinea, and Sierra Leone ,
joining a growing number of states to impose such restrictions .

The ministry of national security said in a statement on Thursday that the
ban covered " certain persons traveling directly or indirectly , from or
through " those West African countries, where nearly 4 , 500 people have
died of the disease .

News of the ban comes as opposition Republican politicians in the United
States called on President Barack Obama to impose a similar ban , after
two nurses who cared for Liberian patient Thomas Eric Duncan contracted
the virus . Duncan later died of the disease .

Aside from Jamaica , another South American country , Guyana, said it had
denied entry to citizens from the West African states, as well as Nigeria ,
for the past five weeks . Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia and St. Lucia
took similar steps earlier this week.

Obama has so far resisted the call for a ban , saying on Thursday that
experts have told him "a flat- out travel ban is not the way to go "
because current screening measures on travelers are working .

At a White House meeting , Obama said he is considering appointing an
Ebola "czar " as the lead US coordinator in the effort to contain the virus .

He also signed an order calling up military reservists to help the
government 's anti - Ebola operation.
Earlier on Thursday, Thomas Frieden , director of the US Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention , cautioned Congress members that a ban
could only make the crisis worse .

He said some West Africans have US passports, and that others could
come into the country without revealing their point of origin , making it
harder to trace them .
'Burning building'
Closing national borders to people from countries hit hardest by the Ebola
outbreak is " not an effective strategy" for stopping the deadly disease, the
president of the World Bank said on Thursday .

There is only one way to end the Ebola crisis , which is to stop the spread
of the disease in its origin , the World Bank 's Jim Yong Kim told the
Reuters news agency .
" All this talk about closing our borders . . . it 's as if you were in a burning
house , in your room , and you start putting wet towels under the door to
keep the smoke from coming in, " Kim said .

The World Health Organization ( WHO ) has said it is focusing on 15
African countries to stop the disease.
Meanwhile, the European Union health ministers agreed on Thursday to
try to improve the systems put in place by West African nations to screen
departing passengers for Ebola , but disagreed on the need to check
travellers arriving in their own countries.

France said on Wednesday it would begin screening air passengers for
Ebola if they arrive on flights from regions hit by the disease, following
similar decisions by Britain and the Czech Republic . But other EU
governments have made no such move, as WHO regulations do not
require screening .

On Thursday, Dr . Isabelle Nuttall , a WHO director , said that the outbreak
is still out of control , and that the death toll will rise this week to more
than 4 , 500 from the 9 , 000 infected patients .

" Our data shows that cases are doubling every four weeks , " she said ,
adding that cases were growing in Guinea's capital Conakry, while data -
gathering in Liberia , which has a significant under- reporting of cases,
make it hard to draw any conclusions there .

- Aljazeera

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Texas health worker isolated on cruise ship over possible Ebolacontact

Lagos - A Texas health worker who may have had contact with
specimens from the first patient diagnosed with Ebola in the United
States has been isolated on a cruise ship despite showing no
symptoms of the disease, the Department of State said on Friday.

The Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital worker, who did not have
direct contact with now deceased Liberian patient Thomas Eric
Duncan but could have processed his bodily fluids 19 days ago, left
on a cruise from Galveston on Sunday, department spokeswoman Jen
Psaki said in a statement.

U.S. concerns have intensified after two nurses from the Dallas
hospital who cared for Duncan contracted the virus, which has killed
nearly 4,500 people, mostly in West Africa. President Barack Obama's
administration is facing sharp criticism from lawmakers over its efforts
to contain the disease at home.

The employee has been self-monitoring since last Monday and has
yet to develop a fever or show any other symptom of Ebola, the
statement said. Still the worker and a companion voluntarily isolated
themselves in their cabin, and U.S. officials are arranging for the ship
to return to the country.

"We are working with the cruise line to safely bring them back to the
United States out of an abundance of caution," Psaki said in the
statement.

The person left the country before being notified of the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) updated requirement for
active monitoring, the statement said.
The maximum incubation window for the disease is 21 days,
according to the CDC.

- Reuters

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Ebola fears as passenger flying from Nigeria to JFKdies in his seat after vomiting profusely

There was fresh Ebola fears yesterday October 16th after an
unidentified 63 year old man on board an Arik flight which left Lagos on
Wednesday night heading to New York's JFK airport died before the
plane reached its destination after vomiting profusely in his seat.

The plane crew immediately contacted the Centre for Disease Control,
CDC, and custom officials, who then boarded the plane as it touched
down, forcing 145 worried passengers to remain on board, UK Daily
Mail reports..

CDC then conducted tests on the body and found he did not have
Ebola.
According to The New York Post the unidentified man's body was then
handed over to the Port Authority who removed it from the plane. What
they plan to do with the remains have not been made known.

Throughout the ordeal, the door connecting the aircraft to the terminal
was left open, prompting worries from Republican Congressman Peter
King that there are not enough checks in place before reaching the
screening process.

In a letter to the Department of Homeland Security, King wrote:
'It was what I was told a cursory examination. The Port Authority
cops and personnel from Customs and Border Protection were
there, and they were told there was no danger because the person
did not have Ebola,'
'But their concern was, how could you tell so quickly? And what
adds to the concern is how wrong the CDC has been over the past
few weeks.

'These individuals transit the airport with the rest of the traveling
population, including using the restrooms,' King wrote in a letter
on Thursday.

Source: UK Daily Mail

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UN worker dies of Ebola in Germany

A United Nation Aids worker who was being treated for Ebola at the St
George clinic in Leipzig, Germany has died.

The unidentified UN worker who was flown back to Germany from
Liberia last week after contracting the deadly virus, died in the early
hours of today, October 14th. A statement from the hospital read;

"The Ebola patient died during the night in the St. George Clinic in
Leipzig. Despite intensive medical measures and maximum efforts by
the medical team, the 56 year old succumbed to the serious infectious
disease"

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China sends Ebola drug to Africa, eyes clinical trials

Shaghai - A Chinese drugmaker with military ties has sent an
experimental Ebola drug to Africa for use by Chinese aid workers and
is planning clinical trials there to combat a deadly outbreak of the
disease, executives at the firm told Reuters on Thursday.

Sihuan Pharmaceutical Holdings Group Ltd has supplied several
thousand doses of its drug JK-05 to the region, Chief Operating Officer
Jia Zhongxin said. More doses could be sent if needed, Jia said.

An Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the worst on record, has killed more
than 4 000 people.
Governments and drugmakers around the globe have been racing to
find a treatment for the outbreak, which has spread as far as the
United States and Europe. U.S. President Barack Obama has pledged
to get more "aggressive" against the disease.

"Aid workers have already taken the drug with them, and if a case
breaks out (amongst the aid workers), then the drug may be used,"
added Huo Caixia, Sihuan's assistant general manager.

Sihuan, part-owned by U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley , is
hoping to get the drug fast-tracked for civilian use in China. It has
signed an agreement with the Academy of Military Medical Sciences
(AMMS), a research unit, to seek approval for the drug's use in China
and push it to market.
The drug, approved in China for emergency military use only, was
initially developed by AMMS.

If it proves to be an effective cure it would be a big prize for China's
medical sector and a boost to the country's soft power in Africa, an
increasingly important partner for the world's No.2 economy.
Clinical trials
Sihuan says it is China's third-largest prescription drugmaker. It was
originally a military scientific unit, which was spun off into its current
form in 2001.

The company is preparing for clinical trials in Africa and could test the
drug on African Ebola patients, said Huo. So far no Chinese nationals
have been infected.
"Right now we're formulating a plan for clinical trials, and don't rule
out the possibility of using African patients," she said, adding that any
outbreak of Ebola in Asia or China would speed up the drug's
timetable to market.

There are around a million Chinese nationals living in Africa, with some
10,000 in the countries most affected by Ebola - Sierra Leone, Guinea
and Liberia.
China has sent hundreds of aid workers to Africa to help in the fight
against the Ebola outbreak and more than $35 million in medical aid
to the worst affected countries.

China's military has also given Sihuan the green-light to produce
emergency supplies of the drug.
JK-05 has not been used on humans, although Sihuan says it has
proven effective during animal testing on mice.

Its development lags some way behind U.S.-developed ZMapp and
TKM-Ebola, which have been tested on monkeys and used on Ebola
patients. However, analysts said the drug's similarities to Japanese
influenza drug Favipiravir is an encouraging sign.

Japanese firm Fujifilm Holdings Corp last week said the French and
Guinean governments were considering clinical trials of Favipiravir,
developed by group firm Toyama Chemical Co, to treat patients
infected with Ebola.

Source - ReReuters

 

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600 Nigerian volunteers to fight Eboba

Abuja - The Coordinator, Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC),
Prof. Abdulsalami Nasidi, said more than 600 Nigerians registered as
volunteers in the international team to control Ebola Virus Disease in
West Africa.

He made the disclosure while fielding questions at the 2014 ministerial
press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said the volunteers comprised health workers, journalists and
others.

Nasidi said Nigeria remained committed to supporting the control of
Ebola spread in West Africa, hence the number of volunteers registered
to join the fight against the disease.
The coordinator, however,  did not give the exact date when the team
would commence its assignment but said Nigeria was prepared to
lead the international response team.

"I want to announce to this gathering that over 600 Nigerian doctors,
nurses, laboratory scientists, field epidemiologists and other
categories of experts, including journalists, have registered to join the
international team on Ebola.

"This strong team is an indication that Nigeria is committed to leading
the fight against Ebola in West Africa.’’
The NCDC coordinator said that the Federal Government’s Treatment
and Research Group had helped in developing a national response
plan, stressing that implementation of the plan would soon
commence.

He added that the national plan was conceived to help Nigeria to
prepare in the event of an outbreak of the disease in any part of the
country.

According to him, Nigeria now has a strategic plan in place that will
guide workers in controlling any outbreak of Ebola and other emerging
diseases in the country.

The coordinator said that the plan put together was in
acknowledgement of the fact that Nigeria was still at risk of another
outbreak of the disease.

He added that until the last reported case of Ebola in the world was
brought under control, Nigeria would not relent in its efforts to combat
the disease.

The Federal Government had offered the services of the coordinator of
the NCDC to lead the international response team to other parts of
West Africa.

Source -  NAN

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Fashola Dares FG, Lagos Schools Will Not Resume Sept 22

Governor Babatunde Fashola on Thursday said its primary and public schools will not resume on September 22 as directed by the federal government.
Fashola made the disclosure when he received the Country Representative of the World Health Organization, Mr. Rui Van Gaz who paid him a courtesy visit in his office.
“The state government is in the process of ascertaining through scientific risk evaluation, whether it will accept the date announced by the Federal Government,” he said.
He added that if evaluation showed that children would be at risk on resumption, Lagos schools would not open on September 22.
He further urged the state government to avoid being complacent due to the apparent drop in the number of Ebola cases, saying the war had not been won until the virus was entirely wiped out.
“On schools resumption, we need to ensure that the schools are fully prepared in terms of availability of water, soaps and sanitizers,” said the envoy.

“The teachers must be fully aware of what needed to be done when they are faced with any suspected case of Ebola Virus Disease, EVD in their school. The students must be enlightened about the symptoms of the deadly disease. Even though the number of Ebola cases has reduced and most of the contacts are out of the 21-day quarantine, we should avoid any complacency.
“Until the last case is over and surveillance completed, we should not relent in the effort at tackling the disease. We need to learn from this experience by not only dealing with the disease but to strengthen the entire health system in the country.” He said.

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Liberian Woman Found Dead In Lagos, Hanging Off A Tree [Graphic Photos]

The woman, simply identified as Kate was found dead hanging off a pear tree in Lagos on Friday, 12 Spetember.
Her Corpse was found at Bankole Street, in the Isheri-Oke area of Lagos, Punch reports.

Kat worked at a satchet water factory and was popular in the area.
The reason for committing suicide is yet to be known, as neighbors residents say she never had problems with anyone in the area.
However, Kate’s dilemma began when people in her neighbourhood learnt that it was a Liberian man, Patrick Sawyer, who brought the deadly Ebola Virus into the country. Then, they started to stay away from her and this had a negative effect on her.
One resident told the press, “We see her in this neighbourhood every day. She always looked sick but people stopped selling to her after the Ebola outbreak. It could be because she was Liberian and looked sickly. This might have frustrated her.”

Another resident said, “She attended a church in the area and her church members still saw her yesterday. I used to see her every day in the dress she died in. She was sick and people in this area had avoided her, especially after the Ebola outbreak.”
Landlords of the Isheri Oke Community Development Association, told Punch that the incident had been reported to the Isheri Police Division.

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Ebola kills 2 288, nearly half in past 21 days

Geneva - The Ebola epidemic in west Africa has claimed 2 288 lives, the World Health Organisation said on Tuesday, stressing that nearly half had died in less than a month.

As of 6 September 2 288 people had died in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Libera out of 4 269 cases, the UN's health agency said, pointing out that 47% of the deaths and 49% of the cases had come in the prior 21 days.

Another eight people have died in Nigeria out of 21 cases, while one case of Ebola has been confirmed in Senegal, WHO said.

- AFP

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Spouses of two dead Nigerian Ebola victims test positive - Health Minister

Minister of Health Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu announced today August 22nd that Nigeria has recorded two new cases of the Ebola disease.

The Minister said the two new cases are spouses of dead Ebola victims who had primary contact with late Patrick Sawyer, the man who brought Ebola to Nigeria. Prof. Chukwu said the two new cases are the first secondary contacts in isolation to test positive to the deadly virus.

This brings the total number of cases in Nigeria to 14, with 5 deaths and 5 survivors. Details soon..

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Armed men attack Monrovia Ebola clinic, 29 patients flee

According to reports, armed men yesterday night attacked an Ebola isolation centre in the densely populated Monrovia suburb of Westpoint, Liberia. 29 patients under quarantine reportedly fled the centre. Some reports say the armed men were residents of the area who looted materials used by quarantine patients.



A witness of the attack, Rebecca Wesseh said "They broke down the doors and looted the place. The patients all fled”

The Head of Health Workers Association of Liberia, George Williams has confirmed the sad incident. But who goes to steal from sick, quarantined people? Are they mentally alright? More details later..

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Ebola: Kenya bans west African travellers

Nairobi - Kenya has become the latest country to ban travellers from parts of Ebola-hit west Africa as Nigeria scrambled to stop the deadly disease spreading through the continent's most populous nation.
Kenyan Health Minister James Macharia said on Saturday that the country is closing its borders to travellers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone - the nations most affected by the worst-ever Ebola outbreak.
National carrier Kenya Airways also said it would suspend its flights to Freetown and Monrovia when the ban takes effect on Wednesday.

Another person tested in Spain
The move comes amid an international appeal to help contain the deadly virus, which has already killed 1 145 people across west Africa this year.
In Spain, where a missionary priest died recently of Ebola after being infected in Liberia, another person was being tested for the disease and was placed in hospital isolation Saturday.
Nigeria's Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu told reporters on Saturday that 12 people have so far tested positive for the virus, including the four who died, while 189 others are under surveillance in Lagos and six in the southeastern town of Enugu.


"As you are aware, the patients under treatment have now been moved to the new 40 bed capacity isolation ward provided by the Lagos state government," he said.
He said five of the patients have almost fully recovered but added that an experimental drug, nano silver, intended to be administered on the patients was not approved by the National Health Research Ethics Committee.

Doctors heed the call
He also said the first Nigerian to be diagnosed with the virus, a female doctor, had been discharged.
Nigeria has trained 800 volunteers to help in the fight against Ebola following an appeal by authorities in the megacity of Lagos for volunteers to make up for a shortage of medical personnel because of a six-week doctors' strike over pay.
"People have heeded our call for service," said Hakeem Bello, a spokesperson for Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola.
"We have trained some 800 volunteers in the area of contact tracing, sensitisation and treatment of the Ebola disease," he added.

Experts say Ebola is raging out of control in the region, with the World Health Organisation declaring the epidemic an international health emergency and appealing for global aid.
The disease erupted in the forested zone straddling the borders of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia earlier this year and spread to Nigeria last month.
The districts of Kailahun and Kenema in eastern Sierra Leone have become the new epicentres of the outbreak, with charities and health authorities battling to keep it from spreading.
"You cannot mess about here: this virus will kill you. One mistake, one wrong move, and you're dead - that's it," a senior aid worker in Kailahun told AFP.

Raising awareness
But officials fear an outbreak in the key regional hub of Nigeria could be far more dangerous, and US health authorities pledged this month to send extra personnel and resources.
Volunteers have so far been deployed to 57 districts of Lagos state but more are needed, particularly to treat those already infected with the disease, Bello said.
Lagos' state government has stepped up a media campaign to raise awareness of how to prevent the spread of the disease, including radio and television advertisements and public health announcements.

Nigerian doctors have been on a nationwide strike since 1 July to demand a pay rise and better working conditions.
Medical charity Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, on Friday warned Ebola is spreading faster than authorities can handle and could take six months to bring under control.
Draconian travel restrictions have been imposed across west Africa and several airlines have cancelled flights to affected countries in a bid to stop it spreading beyond the region.

Nigeria has also withdrawn its athletes from the Youth Olympics in the Chinese city of Nanjing as a result of the outbreak, state media reported as the games opened on Saturday.
The International Olympic Committee has barred athletes from Ebola-hit countries from competing in pool events and combat sports, affecting three athletes.
Ebola is spread by contact with an infected person's bodily fluids, such as sweat and blood, and no cure or vaccine is currently available.

The last days of a victim's life can be grim, characterised by agonising muscular pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and catastrophic haemorrhaging described as "bleeding out", as vital organs break down.
Canada and the United States are both sending consignments of largely untested drugs in the hope of saving hundreds of lives, but officials warn they are likely to have little impact.

- AFP

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Ebola: Guinea shuts Liberia, S’Leone borders

Guinea has closed its borders with Liberia and Sierra Leone to contain the spread of Ebola, which has killed 959 people in the three countries.

The latest outbreak is thought to have begun in Guinea, but Liberia and Sierra Leone are currently facing the highest frequency of new cases.

The World Health Organisation said on Friday the spread of the virus was a global health emergency.
The Ebola virus is transmitted between humans through bodily fluids.

Animals such as fruit bats carry the virus, which can be transmitted to humans through contact with blood or consumption of bushmeat.

In recent weeks, countries around the world have advised their citizens not to travel to the affected countries.
The infections have spread to Nigeria, which has recorded two deaths and several more cases.


The total number of cases in the current outbreak stands at 1,779, the WHO said on Friday.
The most recent figures from August 5 and 6 showed 68 new cases and 29 deaths.
They included 26 new cases in Sierra Leone and 38 in Liberia, but no new cases in Guinea, where the outbreak began.

Guinea said it was closing its borders in order to stop people from entering the country.
“We have provisionally closed the frontier between Guinea and Sierra Leone because of all the news that we have received from there recently,” Health Minister Remy Lamah told a news conference.
He added that Guinea had also closed its border with Liberia.

Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have already declared varying levels of emergency over the spread of the virus.

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Goodluck Jonathan Declares State Of Emergency In Nigeria Over Ebola

President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a nationwide state of emergency over Ebola.

Nigeria has confirmed seven cases of Ebola in its commercial capital Lagos since a man fell sick on arrival from Liberia, two of whom have died. Several dozen people who came into contact with the man are under surveillance.

Jonathan’s spokesman Reuben Abati said the money would pay to “strengthen steps to contain the virus such as … additional isolation centers, case management, contact tracing, deployment of additional personnel, screening at borders, and the procurement of required items and facilities”.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that West Africa’s Ebola epidemic constituted an international health emergency and the virus, which has killed nearly 1,000 people, could continue spreading for months.

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