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Ebola crisis: Mali confirms first infection case

UPDATE: THE GUINEAN GIRL DIED IN MALI. WHO IS SENDING MORE STAFF TO HELP STOP FUTHER EXPOSURES.

TIME MAGAZINE                                                             Oct. 24, 2014

A two-year-old Guinean girl who recently traveled to Mali and was later confirmed to have Ebola has died, officials said on Friday, one day after her positive diagnosis meant the virus had reached its sixth nation in West Africa.

The child died  in the western town of Kayes, a health official told Reuters. On Thursday, Health Minister Ousmane Kone told state television that she had traveled from neighboring Guinea,accompanied by her grandmother. The girl was admitted to a hospital on Wednesday night, where she tested positive for Ebola.

Health officials said the girl had begun bleeding from the nose before she left Guinea,, “meaning that the child was symptomatic during their travels through Mali” and that “multiple opportunities for exposure occurred when the child was visibly symptomatic.” The initial investigation identified 43 close and unprotected contacts, including 10 health workers.

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World Health Summit - Aid Agencies Criticise Slow Ebola Response

CLICK HERE - VIDEO - World Health Summit
Aid Agencies Criticise Slow Ebola Response

Aid agencies fighting Ebola say the international community has been 'woefully underprepared' in tackling the crisis.

CLICK HERE - M 8 Alliance - Berlin Declaration on Ebola
World Health Summit 2014, Berlin October 19 to 22, 2014

(1 page .PDF document)

submitted by George Hurlburt

Special Symposium at the WHS 2014
Ebola: A Wake-Up Call for Global Health

With respect to the Ebola crisis, the World Health Summit has organized a special symposium "Ebola: A Wake-Up Call for Global Health" in association with the German Federal Ministry of Health and the German Federal Foreign Office, held on October 20 from 08:30 to 10:00 (Program >>>).

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WHO voices confidence no wider spread of Ebola in Africa

REUTERS                                                                                                      Oct. 23, 2014

GENEVA/LONDON --The World Health Organization said on Thursday it was still trying to slow the rate of new infections but had "reasonable confidence" that the Ebola virus plaguing three West African countries had not spread into neighboring states.

Volunteers who will be sent to Africa in the forthcoming days are taught how to work with patients infected with the Ebola virus during a training session at AP-HP hospital Henri Mondor in Creteil, a suburb of Paris October 22, 2014.

Asked whether countries such as Guinea Bissau, Mali and Ivory Coast might have cases of the disease crossing their borders without knowing about or reporting them, WHO assistant director general Keiji Fukuda said he considered that unlikely.

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WHO statement on the third meeting of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee regarding the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa

 

WHO    GENEVA                                                                         Oct. 23, 2014

 The WHO Ebola Emergency Committee statement issued today, following its meetings this week, said exit screening in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone remains critical for reducing the exportation of Ebola cases.

The statement said "States should maintain and reinforce high-quality exit screening of all persons at international airports, seaport, and major land crossings, for unexplained febrile illness consistent with potential Ebola infection. The exit screening should consist of, at a minimum, a questionnaire, a temperature measurement and, if fever is discovered, an assessment of the risk that the fever is caused by Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). States should collect data from their exit screening processes, monitor their results, and share these with WHO on a regular basis and in a timely fashion. This will increase public confidence and provide important information to other States."

The report also encouraged States that have recently introduced entry screening measures to should share their experiences and lessons learned.

...The Committee reiterated its recommendation that there should be no general ban on international travel or trade.

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Nigeria to Send Medics to West African Neighbors Stricken With Ebola

      

Health workers wearing protective clothing carry the body of an Ebola virus victim in the Waterloo district of Freetown, Sierra Leone, on Tuesday. Reuters

Volunteer Health Workers Will be Sent to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea

wsj.com - by Gbenga Akingbule and Drew Hinshaw - October 23, 2014

Nigeria will send 506 medics to its West African neighbors stricken with Ebola, its Health Minister Khaliru Alhassan told reporters Thursday, an announcement that catapults the country into one of the biggest contributors of human talent against the disease.

All of those health workers are volunteers, he said, and they’ll be sent to Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.

The announcement goes a small distance toward filling a critical shortfall: nurses and doctors willing to treat Ebola patients.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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Ebola kills, but it may be immunizing others at the same time

HOMELAND SECURITY NEWS WIRE                                         Oct. 22, 2014

Two Ebola researchers suggest that as Ebola continues to spread in West Africa, it may be silently immunizing large numbers of people who never fall ill or infect others, yet become protected from future infection. If such immunity is confirmed, it would have significant ramifications on projections of how widespread the disease will be and could help determine strategies that health workers use to contain the disease, according to a letter published last week in The Lancet medical journal.   http://download.thelancet.com/flatcontentassets/pdfs/PIIS0140673614618390.pdf?id=aaadpDXSyNZVP5Qg76oKu

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U.S. tightens Ebola monitoring for West African visitors

NEW YORK -- U.S. health officials imposed fresh constraints on Wednesday on people entering the country from three countries at the center of West Africa's Ebola epidemic, mandating that they report their temperature daily and stay in touch with health authorities.

U.S. Coast Guard Health Technician Nathan Wallenmeyer (L) and Customs Border Protection (CBP) Supervisor Sam Ko conduct prescreening measures on a passenger arriving from Sierra Leone at O’Hare International Airport's Terminal 5 in Chicago, in this handout picture taken October 16, 2014.

The move announced by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) marked the latest precautions put in place by the U.S. government to stop the spread of the virus, but stopped short of a ban on travelers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea as demanded by some lawmakers.

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EBOLA RESPONSE ROAD MAP SITUATION REPORT

 

                                                                            22, October, 2014

WHO's  new report says the number of confirmed,suspected and probable Ebola cases has reached 9936 with 4877 deaths confirmed.

See full Report and graphs

http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/137091/1/roadmapsitrep22Oct2014_eng.pdf?ua=1

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Red Cross: Ebola Could Be Contained Within 6 Months

Health workers bury the body of a woman who is suspected of having died of the Ebola virus in Bomi county, on the outskirts of Monrovia, Liberia, Oct. 20, 2014.

VOICE OF AMERICA                                                                            Oct.22, 2014

The head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said the Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 4,500 people in West Africa could be contained within four to six months if the right steps are followed.

Elhadj As Sy told reporters Wednesday in China that the time frame was possible with good isolation and treatment for those with confirmed cases of Ebola, along with proper burials for those who died from the virus.

His comments come as the World Health Organization convenes a meeting of its Emergency Committee on Ebola to discuss the latest developments in the outbreak and whether to alter its recommendations.

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Ebola Outbreak Erodes Recent Advances in West Africa

NEW YORK TIMES                                 Oct. 22, 2014

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