Guinea

Ebola crisis: Huge risk of spread - UN's Tony Banbury

Mon, 2014-12-01 15:43 — mike kraft

BBC By Mark Doyle Dec. 1, 2014

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone --The head of the UN Ebola response mission in West Africa has told the BBC there is still a "huge risk" the deadly disease could spread to other parts of the world.

Tony Banbury declined to say if targets he had set in the fight against Ebola, to be achieved by Monday, had been met.

The targets were for the proportion of people being treated and for the safe burial of highly infectious bodies.

In October, Mr Banbury told the UN Security Council that by 1 December, "70% of all those infected by the disease must be under treatment and 70% of the victims safely buried if the outbreak is to be successfully arrested".

Mr Banbury said the 70% targets were being met in "the vast majority" of areas in the three worst-affected countries - Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

"But in some areas", he said, "including here in Sierra Leone - especially in the capital Freetown and in the town of Port Loko - we are falling short. And it is in those areas where we really need to focus our assets and our capabilities".

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NEJM - Ebola Outbreak

Mon, 2014-12-01 15:30 — Kathy Gilbeaux

nejm.org

A collection of articles and other resources on the Ebola outbreak, including clinical reports, management guidelines, and commentary.

CLICK HERE - NEJM Ebola Outbreak page, where all content is FREE

https://www.facebook.com/TheNewEnglandJournalofMedicine/posts/10152498380218462

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There Is An Urgent Need For An Improved Infrastructure To Share Health Data, Researchers Say

Sun, 2014-11-30 15:16 — mike kraft

DESIGN & TREND by Randall Mayes Nov. 29, 2014

Over the last decade, we have witnessed the emergence of Superbugs, various strains of bird flu and now Ebola, which do not have geographical borders.

Consequently, there is a pressing need for international cooperation to control these pandemics.

In a new study, researchers have identified obstacles that are currently preventing the world from sharing health data, reports Science Daily.

While performing a literature search for the study, an international group of researchers discovered over 1,400 scientific articles related to sharing public health data. From those articles, they found two broad categories that need to be addressed.

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http://www.designntrend.com/articles/28008/20141129/urgent-need-improved-infrastructure-share-health-data.htm

Link to article in Science Daily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141125102102.htm

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New 15-Minute Test for Ebola to be Trialled in Guinea

Sat, 2014-11-29 15:12 — Kathy Gilbeaux

wellcome.ac.uk - November 28, 2014

A rapid, point-of-care diagnostic test for the Ebola virus will be trialled in the coming weeks at the Ebola treatment centre in Conakry, Guinea. The trial is one of six health research projects that have been jointly funded by the Wellcome Trust and the UK government.

The 15-minute Ebola test is six times faster than similar tests currently in use and aims to speed up the diagnosis of Ebola cases. Early detection of Ebola leads to better infection control as medical staff can identify and isolate confirmed cases of Ebola faster, and start treating patients sooner. Ultimately, a faster test could reduce Ebola transmission and mortality.

The project is supported through a joint Department for International Development (DFID) and Wellcome Trust fund for rapid health research during the Ebola outbreak. The six projects are managed by Enhancing Learning & Research for Humanitarian Assistance (ELRHA).

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WHO advises male Ebola survivors to abstain from sex

Sat, 2014-11-29 15:11 — mike kraft

REUTERS NOV. 28, 2014

LONDON --Men who recover from Ebola should abstain from sex for three months to minimize the risk of passing the virus on in their semen, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

Ebola, a disease that has infected and killing thousands in a vast epidemic in West Africa, normally spreads via bodily fluids such as blood, saliva and faeces. Although sexual transmission of Ebola virus disease has never been documented, the virus has been detected in the survivors' semen.

"Men who have recovered from Ebola virus disease should be aware that seminal fluid may be infectious for as long as three months after onset of symptoms," the WHO said in a statement....

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/28/us-health-ebola-sex-idUSKCN0JC0UP20141128

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Despite Aid Push, Ebola Is Raging in Sierra Leone

Fri, 2014-11-28 13:58 — mike kraft

NEW YORK TIMES By Jeffrey Gettleman Nov.28, 2014

KISSI TOWN, Sierra Leone-- ...While health officials say they are making headway against the Ebola epidemic in neighboring Liberia, the disease is still raging in Sierra Leone, despite the big international push. In November alone, the World Health Organization has reported more than 1,800 new cases in this country, about three times as many as in Liberia, which until recently had been the center of the outbreak....

On Freetown’s outskirts, burly youth are setting up roadblocks. The police are nowhere to be found. The young men barricade the road brandishing digital thermometers. Credit Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times

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African Stars Give ‘Band Aid 30’ Ebola Track Cool Welcome

Fri, 2014-11-28 13:05 — Norea

voanews.com - by Henry Ridgwell - Nov 28, 2014

Dozens of British music stars have come together to record a new version of the song ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ to raise money for the fight against Ebola. But as Henry Ridgwell reports from London, the song has not been universally welcomed in Africa - where local music stars have recorded their own Ebola single.

http://www.voanews.com/media/video/african-stars-give-band-aid-thirty-ebola-track-cool-welcome/2538714.html

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Scientists: 'Positive' results in 1st human trial of experimental Ebola vaccine

Thu, 2014-11-27 16:35 — mike kraft

CNN -- By Laura Smith-Spark Nov. 27, 2014

The first human trial of an experimental Ebola vaccine has produced promising results, U.S. scientists said, raising hopes that protection from the deadly disease may be on the horizon.

All 20 healthy adults who received the vaccine in a trial run by researchers from the National Institutes of Health in Maryland produced an immune response and developed anti-Ebola antibodies, the NIH said Wednesday.

None suffered serious side effects, although two people developed a brief fever within a day of vaccination.

The vaccine is being developed by the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline. The process has been fast-tracked in light of the current catastrophic Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which has claimed more than 5,000 lives.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/27/health/ebola-outbreak/

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Sierra Leone physician who treated doctor with Maryland ties is diagnosed with Ebola

Thu, 2014-11-27 12:19 — Norea

Physician Komba Songu M’Briwa recently contracted Ebola. He is being cared for at Hastings Ebola Treatment Center in Freetown, Sierra Leone. (Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post) By Kevin Sieff - November 27 2014 - washingtonpost.com

The doctor who treated Martin Salia, the Sierra Leonean physican who died of Ebola last week after being transported to Omaha, has contracted the disease himself.

Komba Songu M’Briwa cared for Salia, his colleague and former professor, at Freetown’s Hastings Ebola Treatment Center before Salia, whose family lives in New Carrollton, was transported to the United States.

After Salia’s initial Ebola test came back negative, M’Briwa said employees “were celebrating” by embracing him. Salia’s subsequent test came back positive, meaning they had been unknowingly exposed to the virus.

It’s not certain that was how M’Briwa contracted Ebola.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/sierra-leone-physician-who-treated-martin-salia-diagnosed-with-ebola/2014/11/27/af1fbd54-7627-11e4-a755-e32227229e7b_story.html

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Ebola discoverer Piot sees long, bumpy road to ending epidemic

Wed, 2014-11-26 20:42 — mike kraft

REUTERS By Kate Kelland Nov. 26, 2014

LONDON --West Africa's Ebola epidemic could worsen further before abating but new infections should start to decline in all affected countries by the end of this year, a leading specialist on the disease said on Wednesday.

Peter Piot, one of the scientists who first identified the Ebola virus almost 40 years ago, said the outbreak was far from over, but said that "thanks to now massive efforts at all levels" what had been an exponential growth in numbers should soon begin to recede.

The death toll in the worst Ebola epidemic on record has risen to 5,459 out of 15,351 cases identified in eight countries by November 18, latest data from the World Health Organization (WHO) showed. Almost all those cases are in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

"By the end of the year we should start seeing a real decline everywhere," Piot, who is now director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told a meeting of public health experts, non-governmental organizations and officials.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/26/us-health-ebola-piot-idUSKCN0JA1AQ20141126

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