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Officials Admit a ‘Defeat’ by Ebola in Sierra Leone

Sat, 2014-10-11 14:23 — mike kraft

NEW YORK TIMES Oct. 11, 2014
By Adam Nossiter

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — Acknowledging a major “defeat” in the fight against Ebola, international health officials battling the epidemic in Sierra Leone approved plans on Friday to help families tend to patients at home, recognizing that they are overwhelmed and have little chance of getting enough treatment beds in place quickly to meet the surging need.

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Sharp Increase Of Ebola Cases Reported In Guinean Capital

Fri, 2014-10-10 22:34 — Elhadj Drame

10/10/2014 4:50 AM ET

by RTT Staff Writer

The medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has reported a sharp increase of Ebola cases in the Guinean capital, Conakry, where there were glimpses of hopes three months ago that the disease was being stabilised.

In July, case numbers appeared to decrease in Guinea, suggesting the end of the outbreak might be near.

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WHO: Ebola Death Toll Rises to More Than 4,000

Fri, 2014-10-10 21:39 — mike kraft

ASSOCIATED PRESS Oct 10, 2014, 4:36 PM ET

By JONATHAN PAYE-LAYLEH and ROBBIE COREY-BOULET Associated Press

MONROVIA -- Liberian lawmakers on Friday rejected a proposal to grant President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf the power to further restrict movement and public gatherings and to confiscate property in the fight against Ebola. One legislator said such a law would have turned Liberia into a police state.

The proposal's defeat came as the World Health Organization once again raised the death toll attributed to the Ebola outbreak. The Geneva-based U.N. agency said that 4,033 confirmed, probable or suspected Ebola deaths have now been recorded.

Liberians stage a protest yesterrday outside the National Assembly against the government not doing enough to fight Ebola virus in Monrovia, Liberia. (AP Photo/Abbas Dulleh)

All but nine of them were in the three worst-affected countries, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Eight of the rest were in Nigeria, with one patient dying in the United States....

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Ebola Outbreak's Grim Equation

Fri, 2014-10-10 14:11 — mike kraft

THE WASHINGTON POST
by Joel Achenbach, Lena H. Sun and Brady Dennis October 9

WASHINGTON--- When the experts describe the Ebola disaster, they do so with numbers. The statistics include not just the obvious ones, such as caseloads, deaths and the rate of infection, but also the ones that describe the speed of the global response.

Right now, the math still favors the virus.

Global health officials are looking closely at the “reproduction number,” which estimates how many people, on average, will catch the virus from each person stricken with Ebola. The epidemic will begin to decline when that number falls below one. A recent analysis estimated the number at 1.5 to 2.

The number of Ebola cases in West Africa has been doubling about every three weeks. There is little evidence so far that the epidemic is losing momentum.

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European Leaders Scramble to Upgrade Response to Ebola Crisis

Thu, 2014-10-09 13:30 — mike kraft

NEW YORK TIMES

By ANDREW HIGGINS OCT. 9, 2014

BRUSSELS — When the Ebolavirus was first identified in March as the cause of a series of mysterious deaths in the remote forests of Guinea, Europe moved quickly to battle a disease that has now infected more than 7,000 Africans and already killed around half of those. It mobilized more money and health workers than the United States, China or anyone else for West Africa.

But, proud of its long record as the world’s biggest donor of humanitarian aid, Europe has since suffered a blow to its self-image of can-do generosity. Its own efforts to contain the lethal virus have been overshadowed by President Obama’s announcement last month that he was sending 3,000 troops to West Africa to build hospitals and otherwise help in the fight against Ebola.

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Fear of Ebola could have “catastrophic” economic costs, World Bank predicts

Thu, 2014-10-09 02:04 — mike kraft

Washington POst Oct. 8, 2014
By Max Ehrenfreund

A report issued Wednesday by the World Bank forecasts that the total economic impact of Ebola could exceed $32 billion by the end of 2015 if the virus spreads from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone to neighboring countries.

That single dollar amount doesn't fully convey the extraordinary human toll of a virus that kills four in five of its victims and could infect as many 1.4 million people by January. Yet the World Bank's estimate is a reminder that sickness and death are only part of what could be a developing regional crisis....

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John Kerry: World Must 'Step Up' Anti-Ebola Effort

Thu, 2014-10-09 00:05 — mike kraft

Associated Press Oct. 8, 2010

By Mathew Lee

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry made an urgent plea Wednesday for nations to step up their response to the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus, saying more money, equipment and personnel are needed now.

In an impassioned appeal, Kerry said progress against the disease was being made, but far too slowly, and that the world is not where it needs to be in stemming Ebola's spread....

"We need people to step up now," he said. "Now is the time for action, not words. And frankly, there is not a moment to waste in this effort."

Speaking with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, Kerry added that it is essential for airlines to keep flying to West Africa and for borders to remain open to allow for the movement of assistance and medical staff.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/08/john-kerry-ebola_n_5952798.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

Text of full remarks, with charts

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The Fight Against Ebola Is a Fight Against Inequality

Tue, 2014-10-07 17:14 — mike kraft

Commentary by Jim Young Kim, President of the World Bank Group
Oct. 6, 2014

As the spread of the Ebola virus in West Africa shows, the importance of reducing inequality could not be more clear. The battle against the virus is a fight on many fronts -- human lives and health foremost among them.

But the fight against Ebola is also a fight against inequality. The knowledge and infrastructure to treat the sick and contain the virus exists in high- and middle-income counties. However, over many years, we have failed to make these things accessible to low-income people in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. So now thousands of people in these countries are dying because, in the lottery of birth, they were born in the wrong place.

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