EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE - WEST AFRICA (90): SIERRA LEONE, GHANA MEETING, HISTORY
****************************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
In this update:
[1] Sierra Leone
[2] Ghana meeting
[3] History
******
[1] Sierra Leone
Date: Wed 16 Jul 2014
Source: Knowledge, Technology and Society (KNOTS) blog [edited]
http://knotsids.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/ ... focus.html
As the worst Ebola virus disease [EVD] epidemic on record shows no signs of abating in West Africa, fear and ignorance are increasingly said to be playing a role in its continued spread. Meanwhile, local practices such as the consumption of bushmeat and deforestation are the go-to explanations for the epidemic's underlying causes. However, decades of anthropological research in the region by STEPS Centre (Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability) and Institute of Development Studies (IDS) researchers indicates not only that this picture is an over-simplification but that disease control policies based on these ideas may be unhelpful.
The latest news from West Africa is troubling: outreach and surveillance officers have been attacked; rumours circulate that the disease does not exist, that medical staff are harvesting organs, and anyone going to hospital will not come out alive. Tear gas was reportedly used to disperse a crowd at Sierra Leone's Kenema Government Hospital who were demanding the release of family members admitted to the Ebola treatment centre there. As many as 57 patients are reported "missing" in the country, either fleeing treatment centres or avoiding them altogether. This seriously hinders contact tracing and infection control efforts.
Both the Sierra Leonean and Liberian presidents have said anyone obstructing suspected Ebola patients from receiving official treatment will be punished. But these announcements are unlikely to have much effect, being disengaged from the reasons behind the community suspicion and the complexities of the socio-cultural context.
An important lesson from early outbreaks in Central Africa was to include anthropologists in the response teams so that local knowledge could be used to strengthen control measures and minimise fear. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) have been using anthropologists as part of their team in this current episode too, but the rumours are proving hard to beat. IDS Director and STEPS Centre former Director Professor Melissa Leach has lived and worked in the region. MSF recently asked for her anthropological insights, so we at IDS and the STEPS Centre have been thinking about how to put the disease and responses to it in context.
Even the most remote rural populations should not be assumed to be unfamiliar with concepts of modern medicine, however, their engagement with them may be mediated by other logics. People are accepting of Western medicine but are ambivalent about the formal health system. The history of Lassa fever, another viral haemorrhagic disease which has been recognised as endemic in the area for decades, is relevant. During my doctoral research on Lassa fever, I was told of longstanding rumours about medical staff administering lethal injections. Patients have been known to avoid the Lassa ward in Kenema.
Underlying health seeking patterns is the fact that people hold multiple models for interpreting and responding to sickness. In Mende [tribal] areas, there are general categories of big and small fever, and ordinary and hospital sick, as well as specific biomedical diseases. Lassa was classified a "big fever" and EVD may well be too. Diseases can be understood as caused by multiple things, including germ theory or "witchcraft." These causes are not necessarily mutually exclusive. A diagnostic test which proves someone has an illness may not be viewed as conclusive. Key to understanding health seeking is to understand how disease categories shift as the illness progresses. The way people and those around them have behaved, the events leading up to the illness and circumstances surrounding its onset all influence the model which is applied and the treatment sought.
Traditional burial practices have been implicated in transmission as they involve mourners having contact with the deceased's infectious body. The importance of burial practices cannot be underestimated, as they are strictly controlled by the male and female societies (known as secret societies in English) who are central to local and regional politics. Medical teams wishing to prevent traditional burials will likely be intervening in domains of power and secret knowledge that lie at the heart of the socio-political fabric which society officials control.
Secret knowledge, and membership of particular societies which offer access to that knowledge (to different degrees) characterises this region of West Africa. Much about the medical response may resonate with these themes: hiding patients behind screens (in isolation), wearing masks (protective clothing). It may be that medical teams are interpreted as another secret society. Response teams should be sensitive to these possibilities and aware of why they may face resistance.
As with disease, there are multiple kinds and causes of death. Certain circumstances -- such as sudden death or that of a pregnant woman -- raise suspicion. Witchcraft is the most frequently discussed, but this confuses some distinct phenomena including malicious spirits, bad intent by sorcerers, and inappropriate behaviour. Such deaths may require special practices, and again secret knowledge is likely to be important. This may be an additional reason why funerals are proving a flashpoint in this epidemic. It is possible that by not allowing the secret societies to carry out the appropriate cleansing after unusual deaths, medical teams are perceived to be making the situation worse.
While the recognition of Ebola in the area is new, people are likely to be interpreting and responding to it in line with longstanding local frameworks. Public behaviours and attitudes that might at 1st sight appear to reflect ignorance, can and should be seen as part of cultural logics that make sense given regional history, social institutions and experience.
Viewing conflicts as stemming from opposing categories of traditional and modern does not capture the complex and emergent meanings which define life in this region and this epidemic. This blog highlights only a small part of this, but it illustrates the need for a social science perspective. That perspective should also include examining the politics of knowledge which are at play. Simple narratives that blame the epidemic on local people for eating bushmeat and deforestation are already appearing. Prof. Leach has highlighted how these overlook well-established patterns of land use and interaction with bat habitats and so are unlikely to explain why the disease has emerged in West Africa now.
It is hard to say much with great certainty about Ebola, except that it is terrifying and tragic for those affected; all the more need for researchers, health workers, policy makers and the media to be cognizant of the power and politics involved in responding to and controlling the disease.
[Byline: Annie Wilkinson]
[Photo of Kenema Government Hospital: http://vhfc.org/sites/default/files/blo ... w_ward.jpg. King's Sierra Leone Partnership staff setting up the isolation ward at Connaught Hospital, Freetown: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QdGOPCfU_CI/U ... n_ward.jpg.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[2] Ghana meeting
Date: 16 Jul 2014
Source: Daily American [edited]
http://www.dailyamerican.com/news/natio ... 9702e.html
According to CNN, health ministers from across western Africa and the World Health Organization are meeting in Ghana today [16 Jul 2014] to discuss how to combat the Ebola virus disease [EVD] outbreak that has been the deadliest in history by far. The accompanying infographic shows the timeline of the outbreak [as of 1 Jul 2014] and which areas have been hit the hardest.
National Geographic reports that fighting the virus has become increasingly difficult due to victims being hidden by their families out of fear of isolation wards, from where so few return. Mistrust of outsiders and superstition have also hindered health officials, who are sometimes met with hostility and violence in areas where they are trying to help stop EVD from spreading.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[3] History
Date: 14 Jul 2014
Source: EurekAlert [edited]
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/ ... 071414.php
Analysis of clinical samples from suspected Lassa fever cases in Sierra Leone showed that about 2/3rds of the patients had been exposed to other emerging diseases, and nearly 9 percent tested positive for ebolavirus. The study, published in this month's edition [July 2014] of Emerging Infectious Diseases, demonstrates that ebolaviruses have been circulating in the region since at least 2006, well before the current outbreak.
1st author Randal J. Schoepp, Ph.D. recently returned from Liberia and Sierra Leone, where he spent 6 weeks helping to set up an ebolavirus testing laboratory and training local personnel to run diagnostic tests on suspected Ebola hemorrhagic fever [EVD] clinical samples. He is part of a team from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) that has been providing assistance to the EVD outbreak in West Africa since March [2014].
Three other USAMRIID personnel also have been involved in this ongoing effort: Wes Carter, who traveled with Schoepp to Liberia; Aileen O'Hearn, Ph.D., who recently returned from providing laboratory support to Kenema Government Hospital (KGH) in Sierra Leone; and Matthew Voorhees, who is currently onsite at KGH.
USAMRIID has been working in the region since 2006, when it began a collaborative project to develop and refine diagnostic tests for the Lassa fever virus endemic to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. As those assays have matured, the scientists have begun to optimize additional tests for a number of emerging diseases.
Because the team was working on disease identification and diagnostics and had pre-positioned assays in the region, said Schoepp, "we had people on hand who were already evaluating samples and volunteered to start testing right away when the current EVD outbreak started."
According to the publication's authors, between 500 and 700 samples are submitted each year to the KGH Lassa Diagnostic Laboratory in Sierra Leone. Generally, only 30 to 40 percent of the samples test positive for Lassa fever, so the aim of this study was to determine which other viruses had been causing serious illnesses in the region.
Using assays developed at USAMRIID that detect the presence of IgM, an early protein produced by the body to ward off infection, the research team found evidence of dengue fever, West Nile, yellow fever, Rift Valley fever, chikungunya, Ebola, and Marburg viruses in the samples collected between 2006 and 2008.
In addition, of the samples that tested positive for ebolaviruses, the vast majority reacted to the Zaire strain, which was unexpected, according to the authors. "Prior to the current outbreak, only one case of EVD had ever been officially reported in this region, and it was from the Ivory Coast strain," said Schoepp. "We were surprised to see that Zaire -- or a variant of Zaire -- was causing infection in West Africa several years ago."
The laboratory testing site in Kenema is supported by the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center-Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System. In collaboration with the host country, the site enables collection of samples that can be used in research toward new medical countermeasures and allows USAMRIID to evaluate the performance of previously developed laboratory tests using samples collected on-site. The institute hopes to eventually obtain viral isolates for medical countermeasure development and receive data on the performance of the diagnostic assays.
In addition to providing laboratory testing and training support for the current outbreak, USAMRIID has provided more than 10 000 Ebola assays to support laboratory capabilities in Sierra Leone and Liberia. The Institute also supplied personal protective equipment to Metabiota Inc., a non-government organization (NGO) involved in the testing.
Other contributors to the work include the Department of Defense Joint Program Executive Office-Critical Reagents Program, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) Cooperative Biological Engagement Program, and the DTRA Joint Science and Technology Office. Col. Erin P. Edgar, commander of USAMRIID, called the project "a great example of medical diplomacy at work. This collaboration allows USAMRIID to bring our expertise to bear in responding to an international health crisis," he said. "In addition, it enables us to test the medical diagnostics that we develop in a real-world setting where these diseases naturally occur."
USAMRIID's mission is to protect the warfighter from biological threats and to be prepared to investigate disease outbreaks or threats to public health. Research conducted at USAMRIID leads to medical solutions -- vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, and information -- that benefit both military personnel and civilians. The institute plays a key role as the lead military medical research laboratory for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency's Joint Science and Technology Office for Chemical and Biological Defense. USAMRIID is a subordinate laboratory of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command.
Reference:
Schoepp RJ, Rossi CA, Khan SH, Goba A, Fair JN. Undiagnosed acute viral febrile illnesses, Sierra Leone. Emerg Infect Dis. 2014 Jul. DOI: 10.3201/eid2007.131265.
Contact: Caree Vander Linden
<teresa.l.vanderlinden.civ@mail.mil>
US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[The analysis of local culture is very relevant to the problems of prevention in these countries.
If the particular ebolavirus strain causing the current epidemic (actually pandemic, because it has crossed international borders) has been in West Africa at least since 2006, why haven't cases been seen before? Well, they have; they were viral hemorrhagic fever patients coming to the Lassa ward of Kenema General Hospital, where they were treated with the proper precautions and did not spread either in hospital or to the community. But since fatal cases were presumably buried with traditional rites, why didn't the carers and mourners get massively infected in past years as they are being now? It's looks as though we have a strain that is more virulent than the Zaire strain has been in the past in West Africa yet not as virulent as it is in the Congo, where up to 90 percent of victims died.
The media should stop repeating there is no treatment and that the death rate is 90 percent. There is no "specific" treatment, but over 30 percent of known cases have recovered so far, a great tribute to MSF and the other NGOs working in hospitals in the 3 countries. - Mod.JW
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/46.]
Ebola in Westafrika
Moderator: Moderatoren
-
Birgitt
- Moderator
- Beiträge: 35219
- Registriert: Di 2. Aug 2005, 22:52
- Wohnort: NRW / Südl. Rheinland
- Kontaktdaten:
Ebola-Fieber in Westafrika
EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE - WEST AFRICA (91): WHO, GUINEA, SIERRA LEONE, LIBERIA, BORDER
**********************************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
In this posting:
[1] WHO update
[2] Guinea: Sub-regional Center
[3] Sierra Leone: survivors
[4] Sierra Leone: music to the rescue
[5] Liberia: spread
[6] Liberia: fake vaccine
[7] Gambia: border surveillance
******
[1] WHO update
Date: Thu 17 Jul 2014
Source: WHO/AFRO Outbreak News [edited]
http://www.afro.who.int/en/clusters-a-p ... -2014.html
Ebola virus disease, West Africa -- update 17 Jul 2014
------------------------------------------------------
The World Health Organization (WHO) continues monitoring the evolution of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. New cases and deaths attributed to EVD continue to be reported from the 3 countries.
As of 14 Jul 2014, the cumulative number of cases attributed to EVD in the 3 countries stands at 982, including 613 deaths.
Between 13-14 Jul 2014, 18 new cases and 11 deaths were reported from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. These include suspect, probable and laboratory-confirmed cases. The occurrence of community deaths, still being reported in Guinea, remains a serious concern. The respective Ministries of Health are working with WHO and its partners to step up outbreak containment measures.
Health sector response
----------------------
The national authorities in the 3 affected countries are scaling up outbreak containment measures.
- In Sierra Leone, the Ministry of Health has established an Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) aimed to ensure effective coordination and accelerate implementation of EVD outbreak response. The EOC is chaired by the Minister of Health and co-chaired by the WHO Representative, with members including heads of the different sub-committees of the task force, other senior staff and key partners. The EOC will oversee the development of the prioritized operational plan in line with the Accra inter-country strategy, ensure that priority interventions are implemented as planned, and streamline communication and information flow.
- In Guinea, a high level political delegation comprising of the President of the National Assembly, the Ministers of Health and Communication, and senior government officials are conducting a 3-day field visit to Gueckedou, from 14-17 Jul 2014. The outbreak response in Gueckedou, where community deaths continue to be reported, encountered resistance and apprehension from the communities. The delegation engaged local and opinion leaders in order to build a relationship of trust with the community, which should foster optimum cooperation and enhance acceptance of outbreak control measures. As a result of this engagement and dialogue, leaders of 19 out of 23 villages pledged their commitment to embrace the EVD outbreak response. Meanwhile, leaders of the 4 villages that did not turn up for the meeting later made contacts with the local administrative authority, expressing their willingness to be part of the response. In addition, the national authority has established administrative and law enforcement mechanism to deal with extremes of resistance such as violence on the response teams.
- In Liberia, the Chief Medical Officer including senior officials of the Ministry of Health, WHO and other partners visited Foya district, the epicentre of EVD outbreak. The field visit aimed to streamline and strengthen implementation of outbreak containment measures. The delegation participated in the district task force meeting, held discussions with the district authority, partners and health care workers.
Meanwhile, efforts are ongoing to scale up and strengthen all aspects of outbreak response in the 3 countries, including contact tracing, public information and community mobilization, case management and infection prevention and control, etc.
WHO does not recommend any travel or trade restrictions be applied to Guinea, Liberia, or Sierra Leone based on the current information available for this event.
Disease update
--------------
New cases and deaths attributable to EVD continue to be reported by the Ministries of Health in the 3 West African countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Between 13-14 Jul 2014, 18 new cases of EVD, including 11 new deaths, were reported from the 3 countries as follows:
- Guinea, 6 new cases and 5 deaths;
- Liberia, 2 new cases with 1 death;
- Sierra Leone, 11 new cases and 4 deaths.
These numbers include laboratory-confirmed, probable, and suspect cases and deaths of EVD.
The distribution and classification of the cases are as follows:
- Guinea, 411 cases (301 confirmed, 95 probable, and 15 suspected) and 310 deaths (203 confirmed, 95 probable, and 12 suspected);
- Liberia, 174 cases (70 confirmed, 42 probable, and 62 suspected) and 106 deaths (51 confirmed, 34 probable, and 21 suspected);
- Sierra Leone, 397 cases (346 confirmed, 39 probable, and 12 suspected) and 197 deaths (153 confirmed, 39 probable, and 5 suspected).
Confirmed, probable, and suspect cases and deaths from Ebola virus disease in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, as of 14 Jul 2014
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New* / Confirmed / Probable / Suspect / Totals (by Country)
Guinea
Cases: 5 / 301 / 95 / 15 / 411
Deaths: 6 / 203 / 95 / 12 / 310
Liberia
Cases: 2 / 70 / 42 / 62 / 174
Deaths: 1 / 51 / 34 / 21 / 106
Sierra Leone
Cases: 11 / 346 / 39 / 12 / 397
Deaths: 4 / 153 / 39 / 5 / 197
Totals
Cases: 18 / 717 / 176 / 89 / 982
Deaths: 11 / 407 / 169 / 38 / 613
*New cases were reported between 13-14 Jul 2014.
The total number of cases is subject to change due to reclassification, retrospective investigation, consolidation of cases and laboratory data, and enhanced surveillance. Data reported in the Disease Outbreak News are based on best available information reported by Ministries of Health.
--
Communicated by
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Marianne Hopp
******
[2] Guinea: Sub-regional Center
Date: Wed 16 Jul 2014
Source: Infection Control Today, WHO report [edited] http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/ne ... enter.aspx
WHO Opens Regional Ebola Response Center
----------------------------------------
In response to continuing reports of new cases and deaths attributable to Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, WHO today [16 Jul 2014] activated a Sub-regional Outbreak Coordination Center in Conakry, Guinea. "The center will act as a platform to consolidate and harmonize the technical support being provided to West African countries affected by the outbreak. It will also help to mobilize resources for the response," says Dr. Francis Kasolo, director for disease prevention and control for the WHO African Region and head of the Coordination Center. "Alongside national health authorities and WHO, other partner agencies involved in the EVD response, such as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the Red Cross, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and technical partners in the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), will also work from the center."
The establishment of the center was requested by health ministers from 11 African countries at an emergency meeting convened by WHO in Accra, Ghana, 2-3 Jul 2014. The Accra meeting identified critical challenges and gaps in the response: coordination, communications, cross-border collaboration, treatment of patients, contact tracing and community participation, human resources and financial support.
"Addressing these challenges in 3 countries will be far more efficient through a single coordination mechanism," says Dr. Benido Impouma, WHO epidemiologist and the technical coordinator of the new Center. "Finding and treating all EVD patients and then tracing and observing the close contacts of these persons over a period of 21 days to ensure they have not been infected is a key to halting transmission. This can be only done with full community participation."
As of 12 Jul 2014, the cumulative number of cases attributed to EVD in the 3 countries stands at 964, including 603 deaths.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[3] Sierra Leone: survivors
Date: Tue 15 Jul 2014
Source: Politico, Sierra Leone [edited]
http://politicosl.com/2014/07/60-cured- ... erra-leone
A total of 60 people who had tested positive for Ebola virus disease have been cured of the haemorrhagic fever, according to a press release from the Ministry of Health and Sanitation issued yesterday [14 Jul 2014]. This, since the outbreak started in May [2014]. They have been duly discharged from the treatment centre and told to go home. At one such discharge witnessed by Politico, 2 "survivors" clutched their discharge certificates and laughed understandably so loudly that you could count all their teeth.
On the flip side however, yesterday's release says the cumulative number of laboratory-confirmed cases stands at 346 people with 110 of them dead, making last week the deadliest since the onset of the outbreak -- with 30 people killed and nearly 70 new cases recorded.
The new cases include an Egyptian national who was a resident in Kenema [Eastern Province, Sierra Leone] but had his blood sample taken in Freetown [Western Province]. A health ministry spokesman, Sidi Yahya Tunis, told Politico that the North African, the 1st foreigner to test positive for the disease in Sierra Leone, had started showing signs of it in Kenema but travelled to Freetown where he was admitted to an Arab-run hospital where he allegedly hid himself receiving treatment. The hospital has been shut down. Assistant Inspector General [AIG] of Police for eastern Freetown, Memuna Conteh, said they shut it down on the orders of the health ministry. She said health officials had complained that they harboured the Egyptian and did not turn him over to the appropriate health authorities. The AIG said while bolting the hospital shut, they found one teenager receiving some treatment inside it.
Amid all this, laboratory technicians at the only Ebola-testing facility in the country have suspended their weekend strike action over the non-payment of a promised SLL 100 000 [about USD 23] monthly risk allowance. Some of the dozens of workers at the lab told Politico that they had decided on the suspension following pleas by their boss, James Massallay, to consider the present situation of the outbreak. The health workers' union and the authorities are locked in negotiations to resolve the impasse.
Meanwhile, religious leaders have called for 3 days of fasting for an end to the spread of the disease, which has now reached the south and the north.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Raporteur Mary Marshall
******
[4] Sierra Leone: music to the rescue
Date: Thu 17 Jul 2014
Source: Awareness Times [edited]
http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/articl ... 5794.shtml
The "God-father" of Sierra Leone's contemporary music industry Jimmy Yeanie Bangura, popularly known as Jimmy B, has joined the fight against the deadly Ebola virus disease in Sierra Leone through the launch of a song titled "The Ebola Song." This is not the 1st time that the musician turned filmmaker has done songs about development and national issues. He was at the forefront of the fight against HIV/AIDS, and his contribution towards bringing peace to Sierra Leone was even better documented. The outbreak of the virus has led to the death of about 110 people in Sierra Leone; Jimmy described the outbreak as "the biggest calamity that has befallen Sierra Leone after the war." He added: "We need to come together and fight together." "The Ebola Song" is aimed at raising awareness about the deadly virus that is spreading fast in the country.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[5] Liberia: spread
Date: Thu 17 Jul 2014
Source: Saudi Press Agency (SPA) [edited]
http://www.spa.gov.sa/english/
The ebolavirus has spread to 4 additional counties in Liberia, Health Ministry official Tolbert Nyenswah said Thursday [17 Jul 2014]. That brings the number of affected counties to 7 out of a total of 15.
According to DPA [German Press Agency], the 4 new counties are Bong and Bomi in the west, Nimba in the centre and Grand Gedeh in the east of the country. So far, Ebola virus disease [EVD] had affected mainly western Liberia. Nyenswah said at least 105 deaths have been recorded since the EVD outbreak [began] in May [2014].
The Liberian senate, meanwhile, said it wanted the lower house of parliament to join it in asking President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to declare a state of emergency. The senators described the EVD outbreak as a threat to the livelihood and very existence of Liberians.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[6] Liberia: fake vaccine
Date: Thu 17 Jul 2014
Source: The New Dawn [edited]
http://www.thenewdawnliberia.com/index. ... &Itemid=60
A senior health official here [Liberia] has [raised the alarm about] the issuing of "false Ebola vaccine" by imposters, acting as health workers in Monrovia [Montserrado County] and surroundings.
Deputy Health Minister for Research Planning, Ms. Yah Zolia, told UNMIL radio Wednesday [16 Jul 2014] that the Health Ministry is receiving reports of imposters delivering what they claimed is an Ebola vaccine. Additionally, the deputy health minister said she personally received 2 calls from Paynesville and one from Brewerville [both in Montserrado County], of complaints that unidentified individuals posing as health workers were delivering the Ebola vaccine. She said the action by the alleged imposters is intended to create false hope within the public that there is a vaccine for ebolavirus, which she dismissed as unfounded. Ms. Zolia told UNMIL Radio that her staff did not name a specific community in which the false Ebola vaccine was being offered.
A vaccine is a substance used to stimulate the production of antibodies and provide resistance against one or several diseases. It also acts as a foreign substance that induces an immune response in the body without stirring up a disease. The deputy minister has, meanwhile, urged the public, including those who have reported the alleged act, to call the police and health authorities whenever such imposters appear in their communities.
"Whoever that is doing that needs to be arrested.... Whatever they are doing, they are causing more harm than good, because they are giving people false hope that there is a vaccine for Ebola," said Ms. Zolia.
Health authorities in Liberia have reported scores of Ebola related deaths, affecting both patients and nurses since the deadly virus broke out in the West African region, but there has been no official pronouncement of vaccine. Messages have continuously centered on preventive tips such as avoiding contact with infected persons, touching their vomit and urine, or dead bodies, among others.
[Byline: Winston W. Parley]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[7] Gambia: border surveillance
Date: Wed 16 Jul 2014
Source: Shanghai Daily, Xinhua News Agency report [summ., edited]
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/ar ... ?id=230130
Gambia increases surveillance in borders areas for Ebola control
----------------------------------------------------------------
The Gambian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has set up a task force to control the border areas as part of the country's efforts to prevent the infection of ebolavirus. Surveillance has been increased and strengthened at the border areas to monitor those going in and out of the country, officials told Xinhua Tuesday [16 Jul 2014].
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[There is no sign of an end to the epidemic with 18 new cases and 11 more deaths in 2 days.
Profiteers such as those claiming to have an ebolavirus vaccine are a menace. People taken in by that claim will believe they are immune and not go to a hospital if they fall ill, but continue circulating in the community and infecting others. It is evidence of a disturbing level of public ignorance that the newspaper finds it necessary to explain to its readers exactly what a vaccine is.
One has to wonder what the Gambian border guards think of their new role. Have they been issued with disposable thermometers, gloves and masks? Where are they going to send suspected cases? In what transport? Have these details been thought through? - Mod.JW
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/45.]
**********************************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
In this posting:
[1] WHO update
[2] Guinea: Sub-regional Center
[3] Sierra Leone: survivors
[4] Sierra Leone: music to the rescue
[5] Liberia: spread
[6] Liberia: fake vaccine
[7] Gambia: border surveillance
******
[1] WHO update
Date: Thu 17 Jul 2014
Source: WHO/AFRO Outbreak News [edited]
http://www.afro.who.int/en/clusters-a-p ... -2014.html
Ebola virus disease, West Africa -- update 17 Jul 2014
------------------------------------------------------
The World Health Organization (WHO) continues monitoring the evolution of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. New cases and deaths attributed to EVD continue to be reported from the 3 countries.
As of 14 Jul 2014, the cumulative number of cases attributed to EVD in the 3 countries stands at 982, including 613 deaths.
Between 13-14 Jul 2014, 18 new cases and 11 deaths were reported from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. These include suspect, probable and laboratory-confirmed cases. The occurrence of community deaths, still being reported in Guinea, remains a serious concern. The respective Ministries of Health are working with WHO and its partners to step up outbreak containment measures.
Health sector response
----------------------
The national authorities in the 3 affected countries are scaling up outbreak containment measures.
- In Sierra Leone, the Ministry of Health has established an Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) aimed to ensure effective coordination and accelerate implementation of EVD outbreak response. The EOC is chaired by the Minister of Health and co-chaired by the WHO Representative, with members including heads of the different sub-committees of the task force, other senior staff and key partners. The EOC will oversee the development of the prioritized operational plan in line with the Accra inter-country strategy, ensure that priority interventions are implemented as planned, and streamline communication and information flow.
- In Guinea, a high level political delegation comprising of the President of the National Assembly, the Ministers of Health and Communication, and senior government officials are conducting a 3-day field visit to Gueckedou, from 14-17 Jul 2014. The outbreak response in Gueckedou, where community deaths continue to be reported, encountered resistance and apprehension from the communities. The delegation engaged local and opinion leaders in order to build a relationship of trust with the community, which should foster optimum cooperation and enhance acceptance of outbreak control measures. As a result of this engagement and dialogue, leaders of 19 out of 23 villages pledged their commitment to embrace the EVD outbreak response. Meanwhile, leaders of the 4 villages that did not turn up for the meeting later made contacts with the local administrative authority, expressing their willingness to be part of the response. In addition, the national authority has established administrative and law enforcement mechanism to deal with extremes of resistance such as violence on the response teams.
- In Liberia, the Chief Medical Officer including senior officials of the Ministry of Health, WHO and other partners visited Foya district, the epicentre of EVD outbreak. The field visit aimed to streamline and strengthen implementation of outbreak containment measures. The delegation participated in the district task force meeting, held discussions with the district authority, partners and health care workers.
Meanwhile, efforts are ongoing to scale up and strengthen all aspects of outbreak response in the 3 countries, including contact tracing, public information and community mobilization, case management and infection prevention and control, etc.
WHO does not recommend any travel or trade restrictions be applied to Guinea, Liberia, or Sierra Leone based on the current information available for this event.
Disease update
--------------
New cases and deaths attributable to EVD continue to be reported by the Ministries of Health in the 3 West African countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Between 13-14 Jul 2014, 18 new cases of EVD, including 11 new deaths, were reported from the 3 countries as follows:
- Guinea, 6 new cases and 5 deaths;
- Liberia, 2 new cases with 1 death;
- Sierra Leone, 11 new cases and 4 deaths.
These numbers include laboratory-confirmed, probable, and suspect cases and deaths of EVD.
The distribution and classification of the cases are as follows:
- Guinea, 411 cases (301 confirmed, 95 probable, and 15 suspected) and 310 deaths (203 confirmed, 95 probable, and 12 suspected);
- Liberia, 174 cases (70 confirmed, 42 probable, and 62 suspected) and 106 deaths (51 confirmed, 34 probable, and 21 suspected);
- Sierra Leone, 397 cases (346 confirmed, 39 probable, and 12 suspected) and 197 deaths (153 confirmed, 39 probable, and 5 suspected).
Confirmed, probable, and suspect cases and deaths from Ebola virus disease in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, as of 14 Jul 2014
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New* / Confirmed / Probable / Suspect / Totals (by Country)
Guinea
Cases: 5 / 301 / 95 / 15 / 411
Deaths: 6 / 203 / 95 / 12 / 310
Liberia
Cases: 2 / 70 / 42 / 62 / 174
Deaths: 1 / 51 / 34 / 21 / 106
Sierra Leone
Cases: 11 / 346 / 39 / 12 / 397
Deaths: 4 / 153 / 39 / 5 / 197
Totals
Cases: 18 / 717 / 176 / 89 / 982
Deaths: 11 / 407 / 169 / 38 / 613
*New cases were reported between 13-14 Jul 2014.
The total number of cases is subject to change due to reclassification, retrospective investigation, consolidation of cases and laboratory data, and enhanced surveillance. Data reported in the Disease Outbreak News are based on best available information reported by Ministries of Health.
--
Communicated by
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Marianne Hopp
******
[2] Guinea: Sub-regional Center
Date: Wed 16 Jul 2014
Source: Infection Control Today, WHO report [edited] http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/ne ... enter.aspx
WHO Opens Regional Ebola Response Center
----------------------------------------
In response to continuing reports of new cases and deaths attributable to Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, WHO today [16 Jul 2014] activated a Sub-regional Outbreak Coordination Center in Conakry, Guinea. "The center will act as a platform to consolidate and harmonize the technical support being provided to West African countries affected by the outbreak. It will also help to mobilize resources for the response," says Dr. Francis Kasolo, director for disease prevention and control for the WHO African Region and head of the Coordination Center. "Alongside national health authorities and WHO, other partner agencies involved in the EVD response, such as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the Red Cross, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and technical partners in the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), will also work from the center."
The establishment of the center was requested by health ministers from 11 African countries at an emergency meeting convened by WHO in Accra, Ghana, 2-3 Jul 2014. The Accra meeting identified critical challenges and gaps in the response: coordination, communications, cross-border collaboration, treatment of patients, contact tracing and community participation, human resources and financial support.
"Addressing these challenges in 3 countries will be far more efficient through a single coordination mechanism," says Dr. Benido Impouma, WHO epidemiologist and the technical coordinator of the new Center. "Finding and treating all EVD patients and then tracing and observing the close contacts of these persons over a period of 21 days to ensure they have not been infected is a key to halting transmission. This can be only done with full community participation."
As of 12 Jul 2014, the cumulative number of cases attributed to EVD in the 3 countries stands at 964, including 603 deaths.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[3] Sierra Leone: survivors
Date: Tue 15 Jul 2014
Source: Politico, Sierra Leone [edited]
http://politicosl.com/2014/07/60-cured- ... erra-leone
A total of 60 people who had tested positive for Ebola virus disease have been cured of the haemorrhagic fever, according to a press release from the Ministry of Health and Sanitation issued yesterday [14 Jul 2014]. This, since the outbreak started in May [2014]. They have been duly discharged from the treatment centre and told to go home. At one such discharge witnessed by Politico, 2 "survivors" clutched their discharge certificates and laughed understandably so loudly that you could count all their teeth.
On the flip side however, yesterday's release says the cumulative number of laboratory-confirmed cases stands at 346 people with 110 of them dead, making last week the deadliest since the onset of the outbreak -- with 30 people killed and nearly 70 new cases recorded.
The new cases include an Egyptian national who was a resident in Kenema [Eastern Province, Sierra Leone] but had his blood sample taken in Freetown [Western Province]. A health ministry spokesman, Sidi Yahya Tunis, told Politico that the North African, the 1st foreigner to test positive for the disease in Sierra Leone, had started showing signs of it in Kenema but travelled to Freetown where he was admitted to an Arab-run hospital where he allegedly hid himself receiving treatment. The hospital has been shut down. Assistant Inspector General [AIG] of Police for eastern Freetown, Memuna Conteh, said they shut it down on the orders of the health ministry. She said health officials had complained that they harboured the Egyptian and did not turn him over to the appropriate health authorities. The AIG said while bolting the hospital shut, they found one teenager receiving some treatment inside it.
Amid all this, laboratory technicians at the only Ebola-testing facility in the country have suspended their weekend strike action over the non-payment of a promised SLL 100 000 [about USD 23] monthly risk allowance. Some of the dozens of workers at the lab told Politico that they had decided on the suspension following pleas by their boss, James Massallay, to consider the present situation of the outbreak. The health workers' union and the authorities are locked in negotiations to resolve the impasse.
Meanwhile, religious leaders have called for 3 days of fasting for an end to the spread of the disease, which has now reached the south and the north.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Raporteur Mary Marshall
******
[4] Sierra Leone: music to the rescue
Date: Thu 17 Jul 2014
Source: Awareness Times [edited]
http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/articl ... 5794.shtml
The "God-father" of Sierra Leone's contemporary music industry Jimmy Yeanie Bangura, popularly known as Jimmy B, has joined the fight against the deadly Ebola virus disease in Sierra Leone through the launch of a song titled "The Ebola Song." This is not the 1st time that the musician turned filmmaker has done songs about development and national issues. He was at the forefront of the fight against HIV/AIDS, and his contribution towards bringing peace to Sierra Leone was even better documented. The outbreak of the virus has led to the death of about 110 people in Sierra Leone; Jimmy described the outbreak as "the biggest calamity that has befallen Sierra Leone after the war." He added: "We need to come together and fight together." "The Ebola Song" is aimed at raising awareness about the deadly virus that is spreading fast in the country.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[5] Liberia: spread
Date: Thu 17 Jul 2014
Source: Saudi Press Agency (SPA) [edited]
http://www.spa.gov.sa/english/
The ebolavirus has spread to 4 additional counties in Liberia, Health Ministry official Tolbert Nyenswah said Thursday [17 Jul 2014]. That brings the number of affected counties to 7 out of a total of 15.
According to DPA [German Press Agency], the 4 new counties are Bong and Bomi in the west, Nimba in the centre and Grand Gedeh in the east of the country. So far, Ebola virus disease [EVD] had affected mainly western Liberia. Nyenswah said at least 105 deaths have been recorded since the EVD outbreak [began] in May [2014].
The Liberian senate, meanwhile, said it wanted the lower house of parliament to join it in asking President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to declare a state of emergency. The senators described the EVD outbreak as a threat to the livelihood and very existence of Liberians.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[6] Liberia: fake vaccine
Date: Thu 17 Jul 2014
Source: The New Dawn [edited]
http://www.thenewdawnliberia.com/index. ... &Itemid=60
A senior health official here [Liberia] has [raised the alarm about] the issuing of "false Ebola vaccine" by imposters, acting as health workers in Monrovia [Montserrado County] and surroundings.
Deputy Health Minister for Research Planning, Ms. Yah Zolia, told UNMIL radio Wednesday [16 Jul 2014] that the Health Ministry is receiving reports of imposters delivering what they claimed is an Ebola vaccine. Additionally, the deputy health minister said she personally received 2 calls from Paynesville and one from Brewerville [both in Montserrado County], of complaints that unidentified individuals posing as health workers were delivering the Ebola vaccine. She said the action by the alleged imposters is intended to create false hope within the public that there is a vaccine for ebolavirus, which she dismissed as unfounded. Ms. Zolia told UNMIL Radio that her staff did not name a specific community in which the false Ebola vaccine was being offered.
A vaccine is a substance used to stimulate the production of antibodies and provide resistance against one or several diseases. It also acts as a foreign substance that induces an immune response in the body without stirring up a disease. The deputy minister has, meanwhile, urged the public, including those who have reported the alleged act, to call the police and health authorities whenever such imposters appear in their communities.
"Whoever that is doing that needs to be arrested.... Whatever they are doing, they are causing more harm than good, because they are giving people false hope that there is a vaccine for Ebola," said Ms. Zolia.
Health authorities in Liberia have reported scores of Ebola related deaths, affecting both patients and nurses since the deadly virus broke out in the West African region, but there has been no official pronouncement of vaccine. Messages have continuously centered on preventive tips such as avoiding contact with infected persons, touching their vomit and urine, or dead bodies, among others.
[Byline: Winston W. Parley]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[7] Gambia: border surveillance
Date: Wed 16 Jul 2014
Source: Shanghai Daily, Xinhua News Agency report [summ., edited]
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/ar ... ?id=230130
Gambia increases surveillance in borders areas for Ebola control
----------------------------------------------------------------
The Gambian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has set up a task force to control the border areas as part of the country's efforts to prevent the infection of ebolavirus. Surveillance has been increased and strengthened at the border areas to monitor those going in and out of the country, officials told Xinhua Tuesday [16 Jul 2014].
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[There is no sign of an end to the epidemic with 18 new cases and 11 more deaths in 2 days.
Profiteers such as those claiming to have an ebolavirus vaccine are a menace. People taken in by that claim will believe they are immune and not go to a hospital if they fall ill, but continue circulating in the community and infecting others. It is evidence of a disturbing level of public ignorance that the newspaper finds it necessary to explain to its readers exactly what a vaccine is.
One has to wonder what the Gambian border guards think of their new role. Have they been issued with disposable thermometers, gloves and masks? Where are they going to send suspected cases? In what transport? Have these details been thought through? - Mod.JW
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/45.]
-
Birgitt
- Moderator
- Beiträge: 35219
- Registriert: Di 2. Aug 2005, 22:52
- Wohnort: NRW / Südl. Rheinland
- Kontaktdaten:
Ebola-Fieber in Westafrika
EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE - WEST AFRICA (92): SIERRA LEONE, DRUG DEVELOPMENT, EUROPEAN COMMUNICABLE DISEASE CENTER
************************************************************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
In this update:
[1] WHO update 18 Jul 2014
[2] Sierra Leone: EVD treatable
[3] Sierra Leone: denial
[4] Drug development
[5] Airline direct flights
[6] ECDC update
******
[1] WHO update 18 Jul 2014
Date: 18 Jul 2014
Source: WHO/AFRO [edited]
http://www.afro.who.int/en/clusters-a-p ... -2014.html
The current epidemic trend of the EVD outbreak in Sierra Leone and Liberia remains serious, with 67 new cases and 19 deaths reported from 15-17 Jul 2014.
Between 15-17 Jul 2014, 67 new cases of EVD, including 19 new deaths, were reported from the 3 countries as follows:
- Guinea, 0 new cases and 0 deaths;
- Liberia, 22 new cases with 10 deaths;
- Sierra Leone 45 new cases and 9 deaths.
These numbers include laboratory-confirmed, probable, and suspected cases and deaths of EVD. The EVD outbreak in Guinea continues to show a declining trend, with no new cases reported during this 3 day-period.
As of 17 Jul 2014, the cumulative number of cases attributed to EVD in the 3 countries stands at 1048, including 632 deaths.
The World Health Organization (WHO) continues to monitor the evolution of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea.
The World Health Organization has been working with national authorities and partners in the affected countries to analyse and review the current outbreak response. An assessment of the outbreak response conducted in Liberia identified several gaps and challenges. Some of the gaps identified include low coverage of contact tracing; persisting denial and resistance in the community; weak data management; inadequate infection prevention and control practices, especially in peripheral health facilities; and weak leadership and coordination at sub-national levels.
Underpinning these challenges were limited financial resources and human technical capacity. Comprehensive mapping of the financial, logistical, and human resource needs will be articulated in the national operational plan under development. This exercise of developing prioritized operational plans is also being conducted in Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Following the call for regional collaboration during the Accra Ministerial meeting, the government and the Ministry of Health of Gambia provided a team of 11 health-care workers to support outbreak response in Sierra Leone. While this team will contribute the critical human resource needs, the mission will be crucial for enhancing capacity for epidemic preparedness and response in Gambia. This mission is being supported by UNDP, Gambia, and WHO Sierra Leone.
WHO does not recommend any travel or trade restrictions be applied to Guinea, Liberia, or Sierra Leone based on the current information available for this event.
The distribution and classification of the cases are as follows:
- Guinea, 410 cases (301 confirmed, 95 probable, and 14 suspected) and 310 deaths (203 confirmed, 95 probable, and 12 suspected);
- Liberia, 196 cases (76 confirmed, 56 probable, and 64 suspected) and 116 deaths (54 confirmed, 40 probable, and 22 suspected);
- Sierra Leone, 442 cases (368 confirmed, 48 probable, and 26 suspected) and 206 deaths (165 confirmed, 35 probable, and 6 suspected).
Confirmed, probable, and suspected cases and deaths from Ebola virus disease in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone as of 17 Jul 2014
-------------------------------------------
New* / Confirmed / Probable / Suspect / Totals (by Country)
Guinea:
Cases
0 / 301 / 95 / 14 / 410
Deaths
0 / 203 / 95 / 12 / 310
Liberia:
Cases
22 / 76 / 56 / 64 / 196
Deaths
10 / 54 / 40 / 22 / 116
Sierra Leone:
Cases
45 / 368 / 48 / 26 / 442
Deaths
9 / 165 / 35 / 6 / 206
Totals:
Cases
67 / 745 / 199 / 104 / 1048
Deaths
19 / 422 / 170 / 40 / 632
*New cases were reported between 15-17 Jul 2014.
The total number of cases is subject to change due to reclassification, retrospective investigation, consolidation of cases and laboratory data, and enhanced surveillance. Data reported in Disease Outbreak News are based on the best available information reported by Ministries of Health.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Marianne Hopp
[The number of reported cases has, sadly, now topped the 1000 mark, with an average 22 new cases a day in Sierra Leone and Liberia. - Mod.JW]
******
[2] Sierra Leone: EVD treatable
Date: 17 Jul 2014
Source: Sierra Express Media [edited]
http://www.sierraexpressmedia.com/archives/69158
The Co-founder of the West African Medical Mission (an international organization in Sierra Leone), Gabriel Pratt, has categorically condemned the manner in which the on-going Ebola virus disease sensitization is carried out in the country. Making the condemnation in an interview with this writer in his office at Macauley Street in Murray Town, Freetown, Gabriel Pratt noted that the death threat attached to the Ebola sensitization prompts people to stigmatize and ostracize patients, adding that the stigma kills faster than the disease itself. He warned health experts and the media to stop spreading the wrong message that Ebola is a death sentence, giving assurances that the disease is treatable.
Gabriel Pratt observed that since the outbreak of the dreaded disease in Guinea, and subsequently in Sierra Leone, its killing potential has been exaggerated.
[Byline: Abdulai Bangura]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[3] Sierra Leone: denial
Date: 18 Jul 2014
Source: Awareness Times, Sierra Leone [edited]
http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/articl ... 5811.shtml
One of the major reasons behind the unprecedented scale of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) crisis in Sierra Leone has been the aspect of denial. The denial is visible from top to bottom. Yesterday, 17 Jul 2014, even as an ambulance raced through streets of Freetown with a dead EVD patient to be hastily buried, it was interesting to see top government cadre still in denial as to the extent of the catastrophe. Minister of Tourism Peter Bayuku Conteh yesterday asked journalists to tell potential tourists that EVD was only found "in one region" of Sierra Leone. He passionately urged journalists to report such false information as a means of making tourists comfortable to come and visit Sierra Leone. We wonder whether he knows the implication of just one tourist catching EVD here? Is it not better for tourists to stay away until we stop active viral transmission in the country?
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[4] Drug development
Date: 17 Jul 2014
Source: Doctor's Tablet blog, Einstein College of medicine, NY [edited]
http://blogs.einstein.yu.edu/why-are-th ... bola-virus
The geographical complexity of the current crisis highlights one of the most crucial obstacles to successfully containing it, the reluctance of those infected to come forward. Because ebolavirus spreads through direct physical contact between infected and uninfected individuals, successful containment relies on the isolation of Ebola virus disease (EVD) patients and preventive quarantine of anyone with whom they may have come into contact. Unfortunately, in the current outbreak, many people with possible symptoms have chosen instead to shelter with their families or local communities, where they risk setting off new cycles of virus transmission.
Why are people unwilling to come forward? One of us (John Dye) interviewed over 100 survivors of previous EVD outbreaks in Uganda and asked them exactly this question. Some thought they may just have malaria or dengue, which are hard to differentiate from Ebola in the early stages, and they were afraid of contracting EVD from other infected patients when quarantined in the hospital. Others worried about the stigma that could attach to them and their families, that they might lose their jobs, or return from the hospital to find their home burnt down and belongings destroyed. Many feared they were going to the hospital to die, and to die alone, away from their families. Hanging over all of these conversations was the unspoken understanding that there was no treatment for EVD available to them. Sadly, the situation today remains the same.
While careful supportive care does indeed improve a patient's chance of survival, case fatality rates for Ebola virus disease remain extremely high, at 50-90 percent. We believe that the availability of an effective drug for EVD would save lives, not least because it would encourage infected individuals and their families to seek treatment, thus curtailing the spread of the virus.
The 1st outbreak of EVD was in 1976 -- nearly 40 years ago -- so why is there no cure yet?
Paradoxically, the last decade has seen tremendous advances in ebolavirus research. We have learned much about its behavior in nature, how the virus exploits its hosts and subverts their immune systems to multiply, and how it causes disease as a result.
In the USA, with funding from both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense (DoD), scientists are applying these basic discoveries to come up with new approaches to prevent and treat ebolavirus infections. For example, we are part of an NIH-funded research consortium whose goal is to develop a cocktail of antibodies -- virus-fighting immune proteins -- that could be infused into patients to block Ebola virus infection. We and others are also receiving support from the DoD to discover drugs that shut down the ability of ebolaviruses to infect human cells.
To understand why our EVD drug cupboard is still empty despite recent progress, it is important to consider how pharmaceutical drugs are typically developed. Research scientists, often in academic institutions or small biotech companies, make a discovery that suggests a possible clinical application. After laying the groundwork, they pass the baton to a company with the expertise and deep pockets necessary to carry a potential drug through the protracted, complex, and expensive process of optimization, animal testing, manufacture, and clinical trials that will (with lots of luck) culminate in regulatory approval of the drug for human use.
This is where the process stalls for "orphan" diseases like EVD. Pharmaceutical companies are understandably unwilling to invest the considerable resources needed to develop drugs against a disease that currently infects only a few thousand people every few years in resource-poor countries, especially when there is little chance they will recoup their investment, let alone turn a profit.
Our experience with HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C teaches us that once we have acquired the basic scientific knowledge, it is possible to develop antiviral drugs that save lives. Diseases like EVD should be no exception. In this case, the hurdles we face are not scientific, but rather economic and political. To bridge the gap in the drug development process, we will need new, creative models that engage governments, academia, pharmaceutical companies, private philanthropic organizations, and even individual citizens. The essence of emerging viral threats like Ebola is their transnational and unpredictable nature, and we need to be ready.
This piece first appeared on The Huffington Post.
[Byline: Kartik Chandran, John M. Dye]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[5] Airline direct flights
Date: 18 Jul 2014
Source: All Africa [edited]
http://allafrica.com/stories/201407181275.html
The Liberian airline industry has been hard hit in recent times with the departure of 2 world class leading airlines; 1st Air France pulled out of the country, citing low profits, and Delta Airlines is also on the verge of departing after confirming that it is pulling out of the country [at the end of August 2014] citing weak passenger demand.
According to some Liberians who have travelled with the newcomer Gambia Bird, including market women who commute between Monrovia-Accra and other African countries, the airline, commonly call G-Bird, has the newest fleet and has come at the right time on the west coast. "There will be no difference, as G-Bird makes 6 flights per week to Liberia. It has become a source of convenience for us market women between Robertsfield [Liberia] and Accra [Ghana] and other places," said one market woman. Accordingly, Gambia Bird connects passengers to dozens of West African capitals offering affordable prices, thereby making it convenient for market women and other travelers. Gambia Bird operates flights from Banjul International Airport to African ECOWAS cities with an Airbus A319 fleet. In addition, the airline operates from Banjul (Gambia) and Freetown (Sierra Leone) to London (UK) and Barcelona (Spain).
Besides Gambia Bird, Kenya Airways (KQ) makes 3 weekly flights to Robertsfield with a newly acquired fleet of aircraft and offers several links to Asia, Europe and Latin America. British Airways, which can get passengers to North America the same day by Airbus 777, is still operating flights to Liberia. Other airlines, including Royal Air Maroc and Asky Airlines, continue to provide up to the minute valuable service to Liberia.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[6] ECDC update
Date: Thu 17 Jul 2014
Source: Avian Flu Diary [edited]
http://afludiary.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07 ... ebola.html
While stressing that the risk to travelers visiting Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia remains very low and that their previously published Risk Assessment for the EU remains unchanged, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) today [17 Jul 2014] has published their latest epidemiological assessment of the ongoing Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa.
In the most recent ECDC Rapid Risk Assessment on EVD (9 Jun 2014), experts worked out several scenarios whereby the ebolavirus might travel to the European Union:
Scenario 1: Suspicion of exposure to Ebola virus.
Scenario 2: Person presenting with symptoms compatible with EVD.
Scenario 3: Passenger with symptoms compatible with EVD on board an airplane.
Scenario 4: Patients and healthcare workers having been exposed to an unrecognised EVD patient.
However, they gave reassurances that the capacity to detect and confirm cases of EVD in the EU is considered to be sufficient and that the risk of a traveler developing the disease after returning to the EU is "extremely low."
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[The emphasis in official announcements on the high death rate of EVD seems to have had the opposite effect to what was intended. Instead of prompting the public to take preventive measures, it is leading to stigmatization and ostracism of patients, which makes sick people avoid the isolation hospitals.
"To bridge the gap in the drug development process, we will need new, creative models that engage ... even individual citizens;" see [4] above. Given the high level of international concern about EVD, now might be a good time to raise funds for ebolavirus drug testing through crowd-sourcing; see: http://www.forbes.com/sites/chancebarne ... undraising.
The number of airlines providing fast services to other West African countries, Europe, Asia and the Americas points to the potential risk of exporting EVD in a symptomless passenger (passengers with symptoms are unlikely to be allowed to board).
Regarding yesterday's [17 Jul 2014] story of a fake ebolavirus vaccine being distributed in and around Monrovia (the capital of Liberia) -- see ProMED archive 20140717.2618525 -- the Liberian Red Cross has denied rumours that it is involved in any way, considering that no such vaccine exists http://allafrica.com/stories/201407181227.html. - Mod.JW
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/46.]
************************************************************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
In this update:
[1] WHO update 18 Jul 2014
[2] Sierra Leone: EVD treatable
[3] Sierra Leone: denial
[4] Drug development
[5] Airline direct flights
[6] ECDC update
******
[1] WHO update 18 Jul 2014
Date: 18 Jul 2014
Source: WHO/AFRO [edited]
http://www.afro.who.int/en/clusters-a-p ... -2014.html
The current epidemic trend of the EVD outbreak in Sierra Leone and Liberia remains serious, with 67 new cases and 19 deaths reported from 15-17 Jul 2014.
Between 15-17 Jul 2014, 67 new cases of EVD, including 19 new deaths, were reported from the 3 countries as follows:
- Guinea, 0 new cases and 0 deaths;
- Liberia, 22 new cases with 10 deaths;
- Sierra Leone 45 new cases and 9 deaths.
These numbers include laboratory-confirmed, probable, and suspected cases and deaths of EVD. The EVD outbreak in Guinea continues to show a declining trend, with no new cases reported during this 3 day-period.
As of 17 Jul 2014, the cumulative number of cases attributed to EVD in the 3 countries stands at 1048, including 632 deaths.
The World Health Organization (WHO) continues to monitor the evolution of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea.
The World Health Organization has been working with national authorities and partners in the affected countries to analyse and review the current outbreak response. An assessment of the outbreak response conducted in Liberia identified several gaps and challenges. Some of the gaps identified include low coverage of contact tracing; persisting denial and resistance in the community; weak data management; inadequate infection prevention and control practices, especially in peripheral health facilities; and weak leadership and coordination at sub-national levels.
Underpinning these challenges were limited financial resources and human technical capacity. Comprehensive mapping of the financial, logistical, and human resource needs will be articulated in the national operational plan under development. This exercise of developing prioritized operational plans is also being conducted in Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Following the call for regional collaboration during the Accra Ministerial meeting, the government and the Ministry of Health of Gambia provided a team of 11 health-care workers to support outbreak response in Sierra Leone. While this team will contribute the critical human resource needs, the mission will be crucial for enhancing capacity for epidemic preparedness and response in Gambia. This mission is being supported by UNDP, Gambia, and WHO Sierra Leone.
WHO does not recommend any travel or trade restrictions be applied to Guinea, Liberia, or Sierra Leone based on the current information available for this event.
The distribution and classification of the cases are as follows:
- Guinea, 410 cases (301 confirmed, 95 probable, and 14 suspected) and 310 deaths (203 confirmed, 95 probable, and 12 suspected);
- Liberia, 196 cases (76 confirmed, 56 probable, and 64 suspected) and 116 deaths (54 confirmed, 40 probable, and 22 suspected);
- Sierra Leone, 442 cases (368 confirmed, 48 probable, and 26 suspected) and 206 deaths (165 confirmed, 35 probable, and 6 suspected).
Confirmed, probable, and suspected cases and deaths from Ebola virus disease in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone as of 17 Jul 2014
-------------------------------------------
New* / Confirmed / Probable / Suspect / Totals (by Country)
Guinea:
Cases
0 / 301 / 95 / 14 / 410
Deaths
0 / 203 / 95 / 12 / 310
Liberia:
Cases
22 / 76 / 56 / 64 / 196
Deaths
10 / 54 / 40 / 22 / 116
Sierra Leone:
Cases
45 / 368 / 48 / 26 / 442
Deaths
9 / 165 / 35 / 6 / 206
Totals:
Cases
67 / 745 / 199 / 104 / 1048
Deaths
19 / 422 / 170 / 40 / 632
*New cases were reported between 15-17 Jul 2014.
The total number of cases is subject to change due to reclassification, retrospective investigation, consolidation of cases and laboratory data, and enhanced surveillance. Data reported in Disease Outbreak News are based on the best available information reported by Ministries of Health.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Marianne Hopp
[The number of reported cases has, sadly, now topped the 1000 mark, with an average 22 new cases a day in Sierra Leone and Liberia. - Mod.JW]
******
[2] Sierra Leone: EVD treatable
Date: 17 Jul 2014
Source: Sierra Express Media [edited]
http://www.sierraexpressmedia.com/archives/69158
The Co-founder of the West African Medical Mission (an international organization in Sierra Leone), Gabriel Pratt, has categorically condemned the manner in which the on-going Ebola virus disease sensitization is carried out in the country. Making the condemnation in an interview with this writer in his office at Macauley Street in Murray Town, Freetown, Gabriel Pratt noted that the death threat attached to the Ebola sensitization prompts people to stigmatize and ostracize patients, adding that the stigma kills faster than the disease itself. He warned health experts and the media to stop spreading the wrong message that Ebola is a death sentence, giving assurances that the disease is treatable.
Gabriel Pratt observed that since the outbreak of the dreaded disease in Guinea, and subsequently in Sierra Leone, its killing potential has been exaggerated.
[Byline: Abdulai Bangura]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[3] Sierra Leone: denial
Date: 18 Jul 2014
Source: Awareness Times, Sierra Leone [edited]
http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/articl ... 5811.shtml
One of the major reasons behind the unprecedented scale of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) crisis in Sierra Leone has been the aspect of denial. The denial is visible from top to bottom. Yesterday, 17 Jul 2014, even as an ambulance raced through streets of Freetown with a dead EVD patient to be hastily buried, it was interesting to see top government cadre still in denial as to the extent of the catastrophe. Minister of Tourism Peter Bayuku Conteh yesterday asked journalists to tell potential tourists that EVD was only found "in one region" of Sierra Leone. He passionately urged journalists to report such false information as a means of making tourists comfortable to come and visit Sierra Leone. We wonder whether he knows the implication of just one tourist catching EVD here? Is it not better for tourists to stay away until we stop active viral transmission in the country?
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[4] Drug development
Date: 17 Jul 2014
Source: Doctor's Tablet blog, Einstein College of medicine, NY [edited]
http://blogs.einstein.yu.edu/why-are-th ... bola-virus
The geographical complexity of the current crisis highlights one of the most crucial obstacles to successfully containing it, the reluctance of those infected to come forward. Because ebolavirus spreads through direct physical contact between infected and uninfected individuals, successful containment relies on the isolation of Ebola virus disease (EVD) patients and preventive quarantine of anyone with whom they may have come into contact. Unfortunately, in the current outbreak, many people with possible symptoms have chosen instead to shelter with their families or local communities, where they risk setting off new cycles of virus transmission.
Why are people unwilling to come forward? One of us (John Dye) interviewed over 100 survivors of previous EVD outbreaks in Uganda and asked them exactly this question. Some thought they may just have malaria or dengue, which are hard to differentiate from Ebola in the early stages, and they were afraid of contracting EVD from other infected patients when quarantined in the hospital. Others worried about the stigma that could attach to them and their families, that they might lose their jobs, or return from the hospital to find their home burnt down and belongings destroyed. Many feared they were going to the hospital to die, and to die alone, away from their families. Hanging over all of these conversations was the unspoken understanding that there was no treatment for EVD available to them. Sadly, the situation today remains the same.
While careful supportive care does indeed improve a patient's chance of survival, case fatality rates for Ebola virus disease remain extremely high, at 50-90 percent. We believe that the availability of an effective drug for EVD would save lives, not least because it would encourage infected individuals and their families to seek treatment, thus curtailing the spread of the virus.
The 1st outbreak of EVD was in 1976 -- nearly 40 years ago -- so why is there no cure yet?
Paradoxically, the last decade has seen tremendous advances in ebolavirus research. We have learned much about its behavior in nature, how the virus exploits its hosts and subverts their immune systems to multiply, and how it causes disease as a result.
In the USA, with funding from both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense (DoD), scientists are applying these basic discoveries to come up with new approaches to prevent and treat ebolavirus infections. For example, we are part of an NIH-funded research consortium whose goal is to develop a cocktail of antibodies -- virus-fighting immune proteins -- that could be infused into patients to block Ebola virus infection. We and others are also receiving support from the DoD to discover drugs that shut down the ability of ebolaviruses to infect human cells.
To understand why our EVD drug cupboard is still empty despite recent progress, it is important to consider how pharmaceutical drugs are typically developed. Research scientists, often in academic institutions or small biotech companies, make a discovery that suggests a possible clinical application. After laying the groundwork, they pass the baton to a company with the expertise and deep pockets necessary to carry a potential drug through the protracted, complex, and expensive process of optimization, animal testing, manufacture, and clinical trials that will (with lots of luck) culminate in regulatory approval of the drug for human use.
This is where the process stalls for "orphan" diseases like EVD. Pharmaceutical companies are understandably unwilling to invest the considerable resources needed to develop drugs against a disease that currently infects only a few thousand people every few years in resource-poor countries, especially when there is little chance they will recoup their investment, let alone turn a profit.
Our experience with HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C teaches us that once we have acquired the basic scientific knowledge, it is possible to develop antiviral drugs that save lives. Diseases like EVD should be no exception. In this case, the hurdles we face are not scientific, but rather economic and political. To bridge the gap in the drug development process, we will need new, creative models that engage governments, academia, pharmaceutical companies, private philanthropic organizations, and even individual citizens. The essence of emerging viral threats like Ebola is their transnational and unpredictable nature, and we need to be ready.
This piece first appeared on The Huffington Post.
[Byline: Kartik Chandran, John M. Dye]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[5] Airline direct flights
Date: 18 Jul 2014
Source: All Africa [edited]
http://allafrica.com/stories/201407181275.html
The Liberian airline industry has been hard hit in recent times with the departure of 2 world class leading airlines; 1st Air France pulled out of the country, citing low profits, and Delta Airlines is also on the verge of departing after confirming that it is pulling out of the country [at the end of August 2014] citing weak passenger demand.
According to some Liberians who have travelled with the newcomer Gambia Bird, including market women who commute between Monrovia-Accra and other African countries, the airline, commonly call G-Bird, has the newest fleet and has come at the right time on the west coast. "There will be no difference, as G-Bird makes 6 flights per week to Liberia. It has become a source of convenience for us market women between Robertsfield [Liberia] and Accra [Ghana] and other places," said one market woman. Accordingly, Gambia Bird connects passengers to dozens of West African capitals offering affordable prices, thereby making it convenient for market women and other travelers. Gambia Bird operates flights from Banjul International Airport to African ECOWAS cities with an Airbus A319 fleet. In addition, the airline operates from Banjul (Gambia) and Freetown (Sierra Leone) to London (UK) and Barcelona (Spain).
Besides Gambia Bird, Kenya Airways (KQ) makes 3 weekly flights to Robertsfield with a newly acquired fleet of aircraft and offers several links to Asia, Europe and Latin America. British Airways, which can get passengers to North America the same day by Airbus 777, is still operating flights to Liberia. Other airlines, including Royal Air Maroc and Asky Airlines, continue to provide up to the minute valuable service to Liberia.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[6] ECDC update
Date: Thu 17 Jul 2014
Source: Avian Flu Diary [edited]
http://afludiary.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07 ... ebola.html
While stressing that the risk to travelers visiting Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia remains very low and that their previously published Risk Assessment for the EU remains unchanged, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) today [17 Jul 2014] has published their latest epidemiological assessment of the ongoing Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa.
In the most recent ECDC Rapid Risk Assessment on EVD (9 Jun 2014), experts worked out several scenarios whereby the ebolavirus might travel to the European Union:
Scenario 1: Suspicion of exposure to Ebola virus.
Scenario 2: Person presenting with symptoms compatible with EVD.
Scenario 3: Passenger with symptoms compatible with EVD on board an airplane.
Scenario 4: Patients and healthcare workers having been exposed to an unrecognised EVD patient.
However, they gave reassurances that the capacity to detect and confirm cases of EVD in the EU is considered to be sufficient and that the risk of a traveler developing the disease after returning to the EU is "extremely low."
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[The emphasis in official announcements on the high death rate of EVD seems to have had the opposite effect to what was intended. Instead of prompting the public to take preventive measures, it is leading to stigmatization and ostracism of patients, which makes sick people avoid the isolation hospitals.
"To bridge the gap in the drug development process, we will need new, creative models that engage ... even individual citizens;" see [4] above. Given the high level of international concern about EVD, now might be a good time to raise funds for ebolavirus drug testing through crowd-sourcing; see: http://www.forbes.com/sites/chancebarne ... undraising.
The number of airlines providing fast services to other West African countries, Europe, Asia and the Americas points to the potential risk of exporting EVD in a symptomless passenger (passengers with symptoms are unlikely to be allowed to board).
Regarding yesterday's [17 Jul 2014] story of a fake ebolavirus vaccine being distributed in and around Monrovia (the capital of Liberia) -- see ProMED archive 20140717.2618525 -- the Liberian Red Cross has denied rumours that it is involved in any way, considering that no such vaccine exists http://allafrica.com/stories/201407181227.html. - Mod.JW
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/46.]
-
Birgitt
- Moderator
- Beiträge: 35219
- Registriert: Di 2. Aug 2005, 22:52
- Wohnort: NRW / Südl. Rheinland
- Kontaktdaten:
Ebola-Fieber in Liberia
Ebola breitet sich in Liberia weiter ausDas tödliche Ebola-Virus hat sich in Liberia auf vier weitere Bezirke ausgebreitet. Damit sind mittlerweile sieben der insgesamt 15 Regionen des westafrikanischen Landes von der Seuche betroffen [...] Der Senat kündigte an, er wolle Präsidentin Ellen Johnson Sirleaf dazu bewegen, den Notstand auszurufen. Die Epidemie stelle eine große Bedrohung für ganz Liberia dar, hieß es.
18.07.2014 - rp online
Gruß
Birgitt
-
Birgitt
- Moderator
- Beiträge: 35219
- Registriert: Di 2. Aug 2005, 22:52
- Wohnort: NRW / Südl. Rheinland
- Kontaktdaten:
Ebola-Fieber in Westafrika
EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE - WEST AFRICA (93): SIERRA LEONE, WHO UNDERFUNDED
*********************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
In this posting:
[1] Sierra Leone
[2] Sierra Leone: tourism affected
[3] WHO underfunded
******
[1] Sierra Leone
Date: Fri 18 Jul 2014
Source: Crofsblogs, Politico SL News report [summ., edited]
http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/2014 ... etter.html
Fighting Ebola: Could Sierra Leone have done better?
----------------------------------------------------
From all that we've heard so far from our health workers, politicians across West Africa and the UN World Health Organisation [WHO], we have to accept that Sierra Leone is firmly in the claws of the Ebola epidemic and it will take a struggle of herculean proportions to free ourselves.
We have lost and will lose many more of our people probably before I finish writing this piece. Victory against Ebola is not in sight. Without doubt, this is the most serious catastrophe Sierra Leone has had to confront since Foday Sankoh brought a band of wicked killers across from Liberia. We have a few more weeks, even months to go, assuming we intensify the fight and are more honest and transparent with ourselves on this issue.
Inevitably, questions abound as to [why,] unlike Uganda, we have been unable to isolate, attack and defeat Ebola after so many weeks with all the international goodwill. In fact the latest figures released by the ministry of health clearly tell us the disease is spreading. The leadership of president Yoweri Museveni in his nation's struggle against Ebola, was internationally acclaimed. I think we are missing that vital convincing spark that this is a national emergency. In just a few weeks we have lost more than 100 innocent souls. What does it really have to take to drum the message home that merely making speeches, throwing money at the problem and engaging in mindless spin are totally counter-productive?
It's almost as if it's the rebel war mentality all over again. Until the rebels came to Freetown, many people dismissed the war as a matter for the uncivilised rural poor. Since independence, we have allowed many of our rural communities to be isolated and remote -- even cut off from the rest of the country -- to the extent that a study done by one international agency in the days of Valentine Strasser, recorded people in some parts of Koinadugu district as saying that Siaka Stevens was still the president of Sierra Leone. The people are physically and emotionally cut off from whatever we are doing in Freetown. All they know is that every 5 years politicians would go around, and make promises to get them to vote for them. That's all.
People living in border communities of Sierra Leone are heavily influenced by their interaction with people on the other side. My village lies just a few miles from Sierra Leone's border with Liberia. The whole chiefdom uses Liberian money, they talk with a Liberian accent and send their children to school in Liberia. I am not comfortable with that, but I can understand why it's happening. It's about the proximity of Monrovia to that border, it's about trade, travel, inter-marriage and all that.
Let's confront this other issue head on: our health care system is just not robust and sophisticated [enough] to withstand the challenges of a modern health system. Yes, the free health care project achieved certain important results, just the fact that for once many pregnant and lactating women who would otherwise have never seen a doctor are now able to visit health centres is a great achievement. But it appears as if while we were busy celebrating free health gains in Freetown, other areas of the health sector were experiencing a chronic lack of investment leading to decay. So when ebolavirus attacked, the system in those abandoned parts of the country collapsed like a pack of cards.
[Op-ed by Isaac Massaquoi]
[The author is not blaming Liberia for Ebola virus disease, but explaining the stronger influence of tribal culture in the borderlands over national citizenship. His comment on the dilapidated state of the health system in the interior of Sierra Leone explains a major part of the problem.
A map showing the districts of Sierra Leone is at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Leo ... tricts.png. The district closest to Monrovia, Liberia, is Pujehun, in the south. District 1 is Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. - Mod.JW]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[2] Sierra Leone: tourism affected
Date: Sat 19 Jul 2014
Source: eTN Global Travel Industry News [edited]
http://www.eturbonews.com/48153/sierra- ... t-scare-to
The Sierra Leone Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs Hon. Peter Bayuku Konteh on Thursday, 17 Jul 2014, during the Government weekly press briefing called on journalists to be responsible and objective in the way they report the Ebola virus disease [EVD] outbreak. According to him, it is scaring, frightening and sending away tourists. He said, in as much as the EVD outbreak is scary and detrimental, media practitioners should know the way they do their reporting so as not to send away tourists, adding that the outbreak is not in any way helping the country but militating against the growth and developmental initiatives of the country through the government.
He said the tourism sector is one of the most valuable and sustainable sectors in the country. "The tourism sector is the most fragile in governance, so it must be cautiously handled so to enable it actualize its mandate by attracting tourists into the country that will contribute to national development."
He informed that, from January to June 2013 there were 41 820 guests who arrived into the country and a total of USD 30 182 000) was generated, whilst from January to June 2014, there were 32 944 guests who arrived in the country and generated the total sum of USD 23 944 000), which, according to him, is appalling and does not tell well for the country, as there are variances of 8 876 guests and a deficit of USD 6 000 579).
Also making a statement, Mr. Tony Shallop of Country Lodge said every week there are cancellation of tourist bookings due to the Ebola outbreak, which he stated is as a result of the way it is been reported by the media.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[3] WHO underfunded
Date: Thu 17 Jul 2014
Source: Los Angeles Times [edited]
http://www.latimes.com/world/africa/la- ... story.html
Funding shortfalls are limiting WHO's ability to contain the ebolavirus. International health officials warned Thursday [17 Jul 2014] that recent budget cuts have impeded the ability of the World Health Organization to respond to the Ebola virus disease [EVD] outbreak that has killed [632] people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
"The situation in West Africa should be a wake-up call to recognize that this weakening of this institution on which we all depend is not in anybody's interest," Scott Dowell, director of disease detection and emergency response at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], said during a briefing in Washington [DC, USA]. "In my view, there's no way that WHO can respond in a way that we need it to."
Partly because of declining donations from member countries during the global recession, the United Nations-backed WHO has suffered a 12 percent drop in its program budget in the last 2 years. This year's [2014] budget is USD 3.98 billion.
Efforts to address the deadliest outbreak of EVD in 40 years also have been hindered by the failure of some countries to implement the WHO's International Health Regulations, which went into effect in 2007, Dowell said. The regulations require countries to report outbreaks of certain diseases, including smallpox, polio and new strains of influenza, to the organization. "We saw spread and chaos ... and, frankly, a lack of strong leadership combined with very poor public health infrastructure in the area," Dowell said. Such poor management led to the resurgence of the virus, he said. "If there are poor areas of the world where pathogens can get a head start, we're all vulnerable," Scott Dowell said.
About 80 percent of UN member countries, including the United States [WHO's biggest contributor], have not met their public health policy obligations to the organization. Many countries could take years to develop the ability to survey disease outbreaks, including monitoring who is traveling into the country and developing a laboratory that can track pathogens nationwide, said Keiji Fukuda, WHO assistant director general for health security. In the meantime, they will need technical assistance from wealthier countries, he said.
Fukuda also expressed concern about his organization's ability to respond to simultaneous, multiple outbreaks around the world. "I think the answer is fairly clear," Fukuda said. "I don't think we're quite ready. We're not adequately set up or prepared to deal with those things."
[Byline: Marianne Levine]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[As an example of WHO's constraints, it is not sending its own consultants to the ebolavirus diagnostic labs in the 3 countries. It is asking the European mobile lab to hire personnel, and Public Health Canada to send theirs.
Photo of the road from Kenema (isolation hospital) to Kailahun (WHO mobile lab), in the region most affected by EVD in Sierra Leone: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Leo ... n_Road.jpg. - Mod.JW
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/46.]
*********************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
In this posting:
[1] Sierra Leone
[2] Sierra Leone: tourism affected
[3] WHO underfunded
******
[1] Sierra Leone
Date: Fri 18 Jul 2014
Source: Crofsblogs, Politico SL News report [summ., edited]
http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/2014 ... etter.html
Fighting Ebola: Could Sierra Leone have done better?
----------------------------------------------------
From all that we've heard so far from our health workers, politicians across West Africa and the UN World Health Organisation [WHO], we have to accept that Sierra Leone is firmly in the claws of the Ebola epidemic and it will take a struggle of herculean proportions to free ourselves.
We have lost and will lose many more of our people probably before I finish writing this piece. Victory against Ebola is not in sight. Without doubt, this is the most serious catastrophe Sierra Leone has had to confront since Foday Sankoh brought a band of wicked killers across from Liberia. We have a few more weeks, even months to go, assuming we intensify the fight and are more honest and transparent with ourselves on this issue.
Inevitably, questions abound as to [why,] unlike Uganda, we have been unable to isolate, attack and defeat Ebola after so many weeks with all the international goodwill. In fact the latest figures released by the ministry of health clearly tell us the disease is spreading. The leadership of president Yoweri Museveni in his nation's struggle against Ebola, was internationally acclaimed. I think we are missing that vital convincing spark that this is a national emergency. In just a few weeks we have lost more than 100 innocent souls. What does it really have to take to drum the message home that merely making speeches, throwing money at the problem and engaging in mindless spin are totally counter-productive?
It's almost as if it's the rebel war mentality all over again. Until the rebels came to Freetown, many people dismissed the war as a matter for the uncivilised rural poor. Since independence, we have allowed many of our rural communities to be isolated and remote -- even cut off from the rest of the country -- to the extent that a study done by one international agency in the days of Valentine Strasser, recorded people in some parts of Koinadugu district as saying that Siaka Stevens was still the president of Sierra Leone. The people are physically and emotionally cut off from whatever we are doing in Freetown. All they know is that every 5 years politicians would go around, and make promises to get them to vote for them. That's all.
People living in border communities of Sierra Leone are heavily influenced by their interaction with people on the other side. My village lies just a few miles from Sierra Leone's border with Liberia. The whole chiefdom uses Liberian money, they talk with a Liberian accent and send their children to school in Liberia. I am not comfortable with that, but I can understand why it's happening. It's about the proximity of Monrovia to that border, it's about trade, travel, inter-marriage and all that.
Let's confront this other issue head on: our health care system is just not robust and sophisticated [enough] to withstand the challenges of a modern health system. Yes, the free health care project achieved certain important results, just the fact that for once many pregnant and lactating women who would otherwise have never seen a doctor are now able to visit health centres is a great achievement. But it appears as if while we were busy celebrating free health gains in Freetown, other areas of the health sector were experiencing a chronic lack of investment leading to decay. So when ebolavirus attacked, the system in those abandoned parts of the country collapsed like a pack of cards.
[Op-ed by Isaac Massaquoi]
[The author is not blaming Liberia for Ebola virus disease, but explaining the stronger influence of tribal culture in the borderlands over national citizenship. His comment on the dilapidated state of the health system in the interior of Sierra Leone explains a major part of the problem.
A map showing the districts of Sierra Leone is at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Leo ... tricts.png. The district closest to Monrovia, Liberia, is Pujehun, in the south. District 1 is Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. - Mod.JW]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[2] Sierra Leone: tourism affected
Date: Sat 19 Jul 2014
Source: eTN Global Travel Industry News [edited]
http://www.eturbonews.com/48153/sierra- ... t-scare-to
The Sierra Leone Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs Hon. Peter Bayuku Konteh on Thursday, 17 Jul 2014, during the Government weekly press briefing called on journalists to be responsible and objective in the way they report the Ebola virus disease [EVD] outbreak. According to him, it is scaring, frightening and sending away tourists. He said, in as much as the EVD outbreak is scary and detrimental, media practitioners should know the way they do their reporting so as not to send away tourists, adding that the outbreak is not in any way helping the country but militating against the growth and developmental initiatives of the country through the government.
He said the tourism sector is one of the most valuable and sustainable sectors in the country. "The tourism sector is the most fragile in governance, so it must be cautiously handled so to enable it actualize its mandate by attracting tourists into the country that will contribute to national development."
He informed that, from January to June 2013 there were 41 820 guests who arrived into the country and a total of USD 30 182 000) was generated, whilst from January to June 2014, there were 32 944 guests who arrived in the country and generated the total sum of USD 23 944 000), which, according to him, is appalling and does not tell well for the country, as there are variances of 8 876 guests and a deficit of USD 6 000 579).
Also making a statement, Mr. Tony Shallop of Country Lodge said every week there are cancellation of tourist bookings due to the Ebola outbreak, which he stated is as a result of the way it is been reported by the media.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[3] WHO underfunded
Date: Thu 17 Jul 2014
Source: Los Angeles Times [edited]
http://www.latimes.com/world/africa/la- ... story.html
Funding shortfalls are limiting WHO's ability to contain the ebolavirus. International health officials warned Thursday [17 Jul 2014] that recent budget cuts have impeded the ability of the World Health Organization to respond to the Ebola virus disease [EVD] outbreak that has killed [632] people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
"The situation in West Africa should be a wake-up call to recognize that this weakening of this institution on which we all depend is not in anybody's interest," Scott Dowell, director of disease detection and emergency response at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], said during a briefing in Washington [DC, USA]. "In my view, there's no way that WHO can respond in a way that we need it to."
Partly because of declining donations from member countries during the global recession, the United Nations-backed WHO has suffered a 12 percent drop in its program budget in the last 2 years. This year's [2014] budget is USD 3.98 billion.
Efforts to address the deadliest outbreak of EVD in 40 years also have been hindered by the failure of some countries to implement the WHO's International Health Regulations, which went into effect in 2007, Dowell said. The regulations require countries to report outbreaks of certain diseases, including smallpox, polio and new strains of influenza, to the organization. "We saw spread and chaos ... and, frankly, a lack of strong leadership combined with very poor public health infrastructure in the area," Dowell said. Such poor management led to the resurgence of the virus, he said. "If there are poor areas of the world where pathogens can get a head start, we're all vulnerable," Scott Dowell said.
About 80 percent of UN member countries, including the United States [WHO's biggest contributor], have not met their public health policy obligations to the organization. Many countries could take years to develop the ability to survey disease outbreaks, including monitoring who is traveling into the country and developing a laboratory that can track pathogens nationwide, said Keiji Fukuda, WHO assistant director general for health security. In the meantime, they will need technical assistance from wealthier countries, he said.
Fukuda also expressed concern about his organization's ability to respond to simultaneous, multiple outbreaks around the world. "I think the answer is fairly clear," Fukuda said. "I don't think we're quite ready. We're not adequately set up or prepared to deal with those things."
[Byline: Marianne Levine]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[As an example of WHO's constraints, it is not sending its own consultants to the ebolavirus diagnostic labs in the 3 countries. It is asking the European mobile lab to hire personnel, and Public Health Canada to send theirs.
Photo of the road from Kenema (isolation hospital) to Kailahun (WHO mobile lab), in the region most affected by EVD in Sierra Leone: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Leo ... n_Road.jpg. - Mod.JW
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/46.]
-
Birgitt
- Moderator
- Beiträge: 35219
- Registriert: Di 2. Aug 2005, 22:52
- Wohnort: NRW / Südl. Rheinland
- Kontaktdaten:
Ebola-Fieber in Westafrika
EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE - WEST AFRICA (94): SIERRA LEONE
****************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
In this update:
[1] Sierra Leone: official update
[2] Sierra Leone: eyewitness
[3] Sierra Leone: philanthropy
******
[1] Sierra Leone: official update
Date: 18 Jul 2014
Source: Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS), Sierra Leone (Via e-mail from Metabiota) [edited]
As of today, 18 Jul 2014, we have 92 cumulative survivors, 397 confirmed Ebola virus disease [EVD] cases, and 127 EVD confirmed deaths. 65 patients are currently admitted at the EVD treatment centers in Kenema and Kailahun.
The Ministry of Health & Sanitization and the World Health Organization have established a dedicated EVD Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at the WHO Country Office in Freetown. The EOC is co-Directed by the Minister of Health, Ms. Miata Kargbo and the WHO Representative for Sierra Leone, Dr. Jacob Mufunda and consists of leaders and partners involved in our fight against Ebola.
The EOC will serve as the Sierra Leone National Central Command and Control Center for Outbreak Response activities and will be directly linked with our district health leaders and with a regional EOC established by the World Health Organization in response to the current EVD epidemic http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/ne ... enter.aspx, as well as EOCs currently operating at WHO AFRO and WHO Headquarters in Geneva.
The Center is currently focusing on the effective distribution of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for healthcare, recruiting new nurses to reinforce those on the frontlines, as well as coordinating additional resources needed to contain the epidemic. Consultants from the World Health Organization and the US Government are providing additional expertise to improve contact tracing and monitoring, which includes identifying individuals known to have had contact with infected persons. Contacts are monitored in order to ensure that if they do develop symptoms, they can be immediately cared for at the nearest treatment center. It is through careful monitoring of these contacts that we can identify the symptoms of the disease early and thereby improve each individual's chances of survival, as well as prevent the unintentional spread of the disease to the community by persons that don't know they are infected.
Regarding the establishment of the EOC, Minister of Health Kargbo states: "Our absolute priority is to ensure the safety of our citizens and to protect our brave health care providers serving on the frontline. Our new center of operations will serve as a War Room in our fight against Ebola and will equip us to rapidly deploy resources, manpower, and materials, a strategy that is going to put us ahead of the curve and end this epidemic."
From the MOHS Daily report
---------------------
Ministry of Health and Sanitation
Ebola Update 19 Jul 2014 [24 hours later than the report above]
- 96 patients have survived the disease and have been discharged [an increase of 4 survivors].
- For 18 Jul 2014, a total of 12 samples were received by the laboratory: Kailahun (1), Kenema (6), Koinadugu (4) and Bo (1). Two of these samples are positive, both from Kenema; 9 are negative, while one is pending the lab result.
- 11 of the 12 pending results from 17 Jul 2014 are negative, while one is still awaiting re-testing. The previous samples that were in for resampling are still being processed.
- The cumulative number of laboratory confirmed cases is 399 including 131 confirmed deaths [increases of 2 and 4, respectively].
- 75 patients are currently admitted in the Kenema and Kailahun Isolation Units [increase of 10].
NB: The Association of Sierra Leone Commercial Banks donated 150 million Leones [USD 340 000] to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation as its contribution towards the fight against the Ebola virus disease.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[2] Sierra Leone: eyewitness
Date: 16 Jul 2014
Source: National Public Radio (NPR), USA [edited]
NPR's Jason Beaubien is in Kailahun, Sierra Leone covering the Ebola virus disease [EVD] outbreak that began in March [2014] in Guinea and has spread to neighboring countries. This morning [16 Jul 2014], he talked with us about a controversial burial, the impact of the "no touching" recommendation, and a sign of hope.
Q. Yesterday [15 Jul 2014], you were planning to go to the funeral for a 70-year-old woman who died of Ebola. How was it?
A. The funeral definitely captured the tension over EVD. The son of this woman had dug a grave right behind her house, in the backyard where she wanted to be buried. But other people filled the grave in before her body arrived because they didn't want her buried there. Eventually, the local chief came to settle everything, and the chief was quite upset. The son had to apologize to the chief for not having consulted him about burying his mother in the backyard. Then the chief allowed him to bury his mother in the village, but it had to be in the jungle behind the village. And so this guy and some relatives within an hour had cleared this area and dug a grave 6 feet deep. That's where they had the burial. The chief said this was the last time he was going to allow someone to bury an EVD victim in the village.
Q. The chief wants them to be buried [where]?
A. By the Ebola treatment center on the periphery of Kailahun, 3 or 4 miles from her village.
Q. Why are people afraid of burying an EVD victim in the village?
A. People just don't know how the EVD spreads. And they worry if a body's been buried and has EVD in it, the EVD will be able to get out and get them.
Q. EVD can't spread from a body that's been buried. How dangerous is the body before it's interred?
A. When a person dies, the virus has run rampant through that person. The level of virus is much lower in a person who's built up antibodies to fight it back. A dead body is incredibly hot from EVD and is likely to transmit the virus.
Q. So people are justified in being afraid of dead bodies. What happens when a body is found?
A. This morning, I heard there was a dead body, a man [found] just behind his house. People said he'd been sick for quite some time, like 3 years. So it's unclear whether he actually died from EVD or something else. But when someone is just found dead in the street, everybody thinks it's EVD, and you have to treat the body as if it's EVD.
Q. How was the body handled?
A. Everyone was terrified. Guys suited up in [protective] suits, 3 layers of gloves. WHO [World Health Organization] is trying to train local guys to do this. And this is part of the story at the moment. You've got EVD cases popping up all over, not just in Sierra Leone but in Liberia, in Guinea. Somebody has to go in and deal with the bodies. The problem throughout the region is that there isn't the medical staff trained in how to deal with an EVD case.
Q. Are there other misconceptions about Ebola?
A. Well, just a few minutes ago, I was talking to this one guy. He was saying that initially they believed that the white people who were showing up to treat EVD were cannibals, and they were trying to steal body parts. They were taking blood samples, taking swabs from dead bodies. And he said they believed I was a cannibal.
Q. And he meant you personally, that there were thoughts you were a cannibal?
A. He said it directly to me. But he said now he knows that that's not the case. He said the people are gaining confidence in the people who've come to try to treat people here.
Q. How is the threat of Ebola affecting daily life in the town?
A. This man was talking about precautions people are taking. He was saying that the "no touching" recommendation is being applied to sex. That no one in the village was having sex. I'm not sure that's necessarily true, but he said that was how the order on no touching was being interpreted.
Q. Who gave out the recommendation for no touching?
A. That is a message that has been given out in general. NGOs [non-governmental organizations] are putting out material about how Ebola spreads, what to do to keep yourself safe. No touching is one of the recommendations.
Q. Does the recommendation say: no touching strangers? No touching of family members?
A. Basically it's just said that you're not to touch other people, and everybody is interpreting that however they wish. So in church, they're no longer shaking hands. I'd assumed people in their families are still touching each other, but the "no sex thing" is how that guy's interpreting it.
Q. Life must be at a standstill in the town.
A. In many ways it's depressing. Schools are shut, the sole bank in town is shut, things are fairly bleak.
Q. What are people doing to pass the time?
A. One guy was telling me he's taking this time to go out to work on his garden, to get the weeds out. That's how he was dealing with it. A fair number of people are just standing around even though groups have been banned.
Q. Amid all the fear, is there any hope?
A. Last night [15 Jul 2014], 5 patients who were confirmed positive for EVD were released from the treatment center, the largest group ever to walk out of there. They were quite excited at Doctors Without Borders [MSF]. It shows that despite these incredibly high new numbers of cases and deaths, some people are recovering and are completely cured and being sent home.
[Byline: Marc Silver]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Mary Marshall
[There is a photo of Kailahun Government Hospital at: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... spital.jpg. - Mod.JW]
******
[3] Sierra Leone: philanthropy
Date: 20 Jul 2014
Source: Sierra Express Media [edited]
http://www.sierraexpressmedia.com/archives/69242
On launching his anti-Ebola campaign in his home district of Koinadugu about a month ago, one of Sierra Leone's leading philanthropists, Momoh Konte, promised to donate 10 million leones [USD 2260] each month to keep up the campaign, and indeed, he has begun fulfilling his promise.
During his visit to Kabala over the weekend to get an update of the campaign, Momoh Konte gave Le 10 million [USD 2260], as well as 250 pairs of hand gloves and scores of thermometers to the Ebola Task Force which he set up in Koinadugu a month ago, and which has been working assiduously to make sure Ebola does not enter the Koinadugu district [see map at: http://lghttp.32183.nexcesscdn.net/80E7 ... iworks.jpg].
He presented the money and equipment to the task force during a brief meeting at the community centre in Kabala where executive members of the task force were in attendance and where they gave Momoh Konte an update on their activities over the past month.
The Ebola Task Force executive members explained they have succeeded in prevailing on the authorities to put a by-law in place that any stranger who visits Koinadugu must be taken to the district council for screening, adding that they now have an isolation unit where suspected EVD patients, if any, can be confined until they are screened.
The executive members continued that through their one month campaign, most residents of Koinadugu have abstained from eating bush meat as a preventive measure against EVD. They also informed Momoh Konte about a chlorinated water drum they have put at the check point leading to Koinadugu in which passengers are urged to wash their hands before entering the district.
The Ebola Task Force executive members lauded the traditional authorities for their cooperation. They also revealed that they have brought on board the anti-EVD campaign to certain work groups like pharmacists and prison officers who are also playing a vital role in the campaign.
Momoh Konte and his entourage were taken aback when they met a long queue at a check point while they were entering Fadugu, Koinadugu District. They found at the check point a big drum of chlorinated water in which passengers, including Momoh Konte and his entourage, washed their hands before entering into Fadugu while on their way to the district headquarters town, Kabala. It was then that Momoh Konte realized that his EVD campaign had taken effect!
[Byline: Adeyemi Paul]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[Sierra Leone is now detecting the largest number of EVD cases in the region.
Because of the multiplicity of reagents and tests being used by the many different laboratories now operating in the 3 countries (real time reverse transcriptase chain reaction (rtRTPCR), antigen capture, immunoglobulin test), a quality control system has been set up to test and compare the results between them and the Special Pathogens Branch of CDC Atlanta, USA on a standard panel of specimens. This is a much-needed initiative under the circumstances to clear up equivocal results and possible false positives or negatives. - Mod.JW
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/46.]
****************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
In this update:
[1] Sierra Leone: official update
[2] Sierra Leone: eyewitness
[3] Sierra Leone: philanthropy
******
[1] Sierra Leone: official update
Date: 18 Jul 2014
Source: Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS), Sierra Leone (Via e-mail from Metabiota) [edited]
As of today, 18 Jul 2014, we have 92 cumulative survivors, 397 confirmed Ebola virus disease [EVD] cases, and 127 EVD confirmed deaths. 65 patients are currently admitted at the EVD treatment centers in Kenema and Kailahun.
The Ministry of Health & Sanitization and the World Health Organization have established a dedicated EVD Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at the WHO Country Office in Freetown. The EOC is co-Directed by the Minister of Health, Ms. Miata Kargbo and the WHO Representative for Sierra Leone, Dr. Jacob Mufunda and consists of leaders and partners involved in our fight against Ebola.
The EOC will serve as the Sierra Leone National Central Command and Control Center for Outbreak Response activities and will be directly linked with our district health leaders and with a regional EOC established by the World Health Organization in response to the current EVD epidemic http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/ne ... enter.aspx, as well as EOCs currently operating at WHO AFRO and WHO Headquarters in Geneva.
The Center is currently focusing on the effective distribution of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for healthcare, recruiting new nurses to reinforce those on the frontlines, as well as coordinating additional resources needed to contain the epidemic. Consultants from the World Health Organization and the US Government are providing additional expertise to improve contact tracing and monitoring, which includes identifying individuals known to have had contact with infected persons. Contacts are monitored in order to ensure that if they do develop symptoms, they can be immediately cared for at the nearest treatment center. It is through careful monitoring of these contacts that we can identify the symptoms of the disease early and thereby improve each individual's chances of survival, as well as prevent the unintentional spread of the disease to the community by persons that don't know they are infected.
Regarding the establishment of the EOC, Minister of Health Kargbo states: "Our absolute priority is to ensure the safety of our citizens and to protect our brave health care providers serving on the frontline. Our new center of operations will serve as a War Room in our fight against Ebola and will equip us to rapidly deploy resources, manpower, and materials, a strategy that is going to put us ahead of the curve and end this epidemic."
From the MOHS Daily report
---------------------
Ministry of Health and Sanitation
Ebola Update 19 Jul 2014 [24 hours later than the report above]
- 96 patients have survived the disease and have been discharged [an increase of 4 survivors].
- For 18 Jul 2014, a total of 12 samples were received by the laboratory: Kailahun (1), Kenema (6), Koinadugu (4) and Bo (1). Two of these samples are positive, both from Kenema; 9 are negative, while one is pending the lab result.
- 11 of the 12 pending results from 17 Jul 2014 are negative, while one is still awaiting re-testing. The previous samples that were in for resampling are still being processed.
- The cumulative number of laboratory confirmed cases is 399 including 131 confirmed deaths [increases of 2 and 4, respectively].
- 75 patients are currently admitted in the Kenema and Kailahun Isolation Units [increase of 10].
NB: The Association of Sierra Leone Commercial Banks donated 150 million Leones [USD 340 000] to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation as its contribution towards the fight against the Ebola virus disease.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[2] Sierra Leone: eyewitness
Date: 16 Jul 2014
Source: National Public Radio (NPR), USA [edited]
NPR's Jason Beaubien is in Kailahun, Sierra Leone covering the Ebola virus disease [EVD] outbreak that began in March [2014] in Guinea and has spread to neighboring countries. This morning [16 Jul 2014], he talked with us about a controversial burial, the impact of the "no touching" recommendation, and a sign of hope.
Q. Yesterday [15 Jul 2014], you were planning to go to the funeral for a 70-year-old woman who died of Ebola. How was it?
A. The funeral definitely captured the tension over EVD. The son of this woman had dug a grave right behind her house, in the backyard where she wanted to be buried. But other people filled the grave in before her body arrived because they didn't want her buried there. Eventually, the local chief came to settle everything, and the chief was quite upset. The son had to apologize to the chief for not having consulted him about burying his mother in the backyard. Then the chief allowed him to bury his mother in the village, but it had to be in the jungle behind the village. And so this guy and some relatives within an hour had cleared this area and dug a grave 6 feet deep. That's where they had the burial. The chief said this was the last time he was going to allow someone to bury an EVD victim in the village.
Q. The chief wants them to be buried [where]?
A. By the Ebola treatment center on the periphery of Kailahun, 3 or 4 miles from her village.
Q. Why are people afraid of burying an EVD victim in the village?
A. People just don't know how the EVD spreads. And they worry if a body's been buried and has EVD in it, the EVD will be able to get out and get them.
Q. EVD can't spread from a body that's been buried. How dangerous is the body before it's interred?
A. When a person dies, the virus has run rampant through that person. The level of virus is much lower in a person who's built up antibodies to fight it back. A dead body is incredibly hot from EVD and is likely to transmit the virus.
Q. So people are justified in being afraid of dead bodies. What happens when a body is found?
A. This morning, I heard there was a dead body, a man [found] just behind his house. People said he'd been sick for quite some time, like 3 years. So it's unclear whether he actually died from EVD or something else. But when someone is just found dead in the street, everybody thinks it's EVD, and you have to treat the body as if it's EVD.
Q. How was the body handled?
A. Everyone was terrified. Guys suited up in [protective] suits, 3 layers of gloves. WHO [World Health Organization] is trying to train local guys to do this. And this is part of the story at the moment. You've got EVD cases popping up all over, not just in Sierra Leone but in Liberia, in Guinea. Somebody has to go in and deal with the bodies. The problem throughout the region is that there isn't the medical staff trained in how to deal with an EVD case.
Q. Are there other misconceptions about Ebola?
A. Well, just a few minutes ago, I was talking to this one guy. He was saying that initially they believed that the white people who were showing up to treat EVD were cannibals, and they were trying to steal body parts. They were taking blood samples, taking swabs from dead bodies. And he said they believed I was a cannibal.
Q. And he meant you personally, that there were thoughts you were a cannibal?
A. He said it directly to me. But he said now he knows that that's not the case. He said the people are gaining confidence in the people who've come to try to treat people here.
Q. How is the threat of Ebola affecting daily life in the town?
A. This man was talking about precautions people are taking. He was saying that the "no touching" recommendation is being applied to sex. That no one in the village was having sex. I'm not sure that's necessarily true, but he said that was how the order on no touching was being interpreted.
Q. Who gave out the recommendation for no touching?
A. That is a message that has been given out in general. NGOs [non-governmental organizations] are putting out material about how Ebola spreads, what to do to keep yourself safe. No touching is one of the recommendations.
Q. Does the recommendation say: no touching strangers? No touching of family members?
A. Basically it's just said that you're not to touch other people, and everybody is interpreting that however they wish. So in church, they're no longer shaking hands. I'd assumed people in their families are still touching each other, but the "no sex thing" is how that guy's interpreting it.
Q. Life must be at a standstill in the town.
A. In many ways it's depressing. Schools are shut, the sole bank in town is shut, things are fairly bleak.
Q. What are people doing to pass the time?
A. One guy was telling me he's taking this time to go out to work on his garden, to get the weeds out. That's how he was dealing with it. A fair number of people are just standing around even though groups have been banned.
Q. Amid all the fear, is there any hope?
A. Last night [15 Jul 2014], 5 patients who were confirmed positive for EVD were released from the treatment center, the largest group ever to walk out of there. They were quite excited at Doctors Without Borders [MSF]. It shows that despite these incredibly high new numbers of cases and deaths, some people are recovering and are completely cured and being sent home.
[Byline: Marc Silver]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Mary Marshall
[There is a photo of Kailahun Government Hospital at: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... spital.jpg. - Mod.JW]
******
[3] Sierra Leone: philanthropy
Date: 20 Jul 2014
Source: Sierra Express Media [edited]
http://www.sierraexpressmedia.com/archives/69242
On launching his anti-Ebola campaign in his home district of Koinadugu about a month ago, one of Sierra Leone's leading philanthropists, Momoh Konte, promised to donate 10 million leones [USD 2260] each month to keep up the campaign, and indeed, he has begun fulfilling his promise.
During his visit to Kabala over the weekend to get an update of the campaign, Momoh Konte gave Le 10 million [USD 2260], as well as 250 pairs of hand gloves and scores of thermometers to the Ebola Task Force which he set up in Koinadugu a month ago, and which has been working assiduously to make sure Ebola does not enter the Koinadugu district [see map at: http://lghttp.32183.nexcesscdn.net/80E7 ... iworks.jpg].
He presented the money and equipment to the task force during a brief meeting at the community centre in Kabala where executive members of the task force were in attendance and where they gave Momoh Konte an update on their activities over the past month.
The Ebola Task Force executive members explained they have succeeded in prevailing on the authorities to put a by-law in place that any stranger who visits Koinadugu must be taken to the district council for screening, adding that they now have an isolation unit where suspected EVD patients, if any, can be confined until they are screened.
The executive members continued that through their one month campaign, most residents of Koinadugu have abstained from eating bush meat as a preventive measure against EVD. They also informed Momoh Konte about a chlorinated water drum they have put at the check point leading to Koinadugu in which passengers are urged to wash their hands before entering the district.
The Ebola Task Force executive members lauded the traditional authorities for their cooperation. They also revealed that they have brought on board the anti-EVD campaign to certain work groups like pharmacists and prison officers who are also playing a vital role in the campaign.
Momoh Konte and his entourage were taken aback when they met a long queue at a check point while they were entering Fadugu, Koinadugu District. They found at the check point a big drum of chlorinated water in which passengers, including Momoh Konte and his entourage, washed their hands before entering into Fadugu while on their way to the district headquarters town, Kabala. It was then that Momoh Konte realized that his EVD campaign had taken effect!
[Byline: Adeyemi Paul]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[Sierra Leone is now detecting the largest number of EVD cases in the region.
Because of the multiplicity of reagents and tests being used by the many different laboratories now operating in the 3 countries (real time reverse transcriptase chain reaction (rtRTPCR), antigen capture, immunoglobulin test), a quality control system has been set up to test and compare the results between them and the Special Pathogens Branch of CDC Atlanta, USA on a standard panel of specimens. This is a much-needed initiative under the circumstances to clear up equivocal results and possible false positives or negatives. - Mod.JW
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/46.]
-
Birgitt
- Moderator
- Beiträge: 35219
- Registriert: Di 2. Aug 2005, 22:52
- Wohnort: NRW / Südl. Rheinland
- Kontaktdaten:
Ebola-Fieber in Westafrika
EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE - WEST AFRICA (95): FAO ALERT, SIERRA LEONE
***************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
In this update:
[1] FAO alert
[2] Sierra Leone: hospital fracas
[3] Sierra Leone: nurses strike
******
[1] FAO alert
Date: 21 Jul 2014
Source: Thomson-Reuters Trust [edited]
http://www.trust.org/item/20140721085954-3su7k
Increased efforts are needed to improve awareness among rural communities in West Africa about the risks of contracting the ebolavirus from eating certain wildlife species including fruit bats, FAO [the UN Food & Agriculture Organization] warned today [21 Jul 2014].
Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone are struggling to contain the world's deadliest recorded outbreak of the virus, which is transmitted by direct contact with the blood and body fluids of infected people and infected animals. The West African epidemic is thought to have started when the virus crossed over from infected wildlife into the human population and then began spreading between people. Curbing human-to-human transmission is the most important focus for governments and international health agencies.
However, FAO is working closely with the World Health Organization (WHO) to raise awareness of the transmission risks from wildlife among rural communities that hunt for bushmeat -- meat obtained from forest animals -- to supplement their diets and income. These communities risk future spill-over from species that can carry the virus, including fruit bats, some primates, and duikers [small antelopes; see museum specimens: http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology ... uikers.jpg. - Mod.JW].
"We are not suggesting that people stop hunting altogether, which isn't realistic," said FAO chief veterinary officer Juan Lubroth. "But communities need clear advice on the need not to touch dead animals or to sell or eat the meat of any animal that they find already dead. They should also avoid hunting animals that are sick or behaving strangely, as this is another red flag."
Fruit bats -- usually eaten dried or in a spicy soup -- are thought to be the most likely reservoir species for the virus, which they can carry without developing clinical signs of the disease, and should be avoided altogether, according to FAO. "The virus is killed when meat is cooked at a high temperature or heavily smoked, but anyone who handles, skins or butchers an infected wild animal is at risk of contracting the virus," Lubroth said.
While several governments in the region have attempted to outlaw the sale and consumption of bushmeat, bans have proved impossible to enforce and have met with suspicion from rural communities. "There is a lot of mistrust, to the extent that people are hiding patients rather than getting medical help, and it's very difficult to control the disease in the midst of many myths and rumours," said Katinka de Balogh, FAO veterinary public health officer and Ebola virus disease focal point.
De Balogh said there were growing concerns about the effect the outbreak may have on food security in some parts of the region, as some farmers are too afraid to work in their fields, while some markets have also closed down.
FAO has already committed resources and is working with governments, WHO country offices and other partners in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone to improve information about the virus at community level, using existing networks such as rural radio and agricultural extension services. "It is critical for rural communities to understand the risks, both of human-to-human transmission and from wildlife so that they are in a position to make informed decisions themselves," de Balogh said. The organization will work with governments to also set up wildlife surveillance systems to support early detection of the virus, collaborating with wildlife rangers, veterinarians, and local universities. "Rural communities have an important role to play in reporting unusual mortality in the animal population, which is another reason that their collaboration is so crucial," de Balogh said. In addition, FAO will help to assess the role of hunting in livelihoods with a view to finding healthier and more sustainable long-term livestock production alternatives to provide people with additional protein and income.
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[2] Sierra Leone: hospital fracas
Date: 21 Jul 2014
Source: Awareness Times, Sierra Leone [edited]
http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/articl ... 5813.shtml
Events on the night of Fri 18 Jul 2014 saw the escape from isolated observation of a pregnant woman (surname and address withheld) from the Princess Christian Maternity Hospital (PCMH) along Fourah Bay Road. According to medical staff who asked not to be named, from her presenting symptoms, she was presumed to be a suspected case of Ebola virus disease [EVD]. Blood samples were taken from her and sent to Kenema for testing. While the medical team awaited confirmation she was advised to be kept under observation in isolation from other pregnant patients.
On Friday [18 Jul 2014] evening, [her] relatives came with a huge group of well-muscled young men said to have been recruited from places near her residence in Eastern Freetown's Kissy suburbs. The youths and a loud bunch of women manhandled the security personnel at the gates, marched to the isolation room and forcibly helped her to escape from the hospital. The nurses on duty were threatened and overpowered by the group from Kissy in the east end of Freetown. One of the nurses on duty was slapped and further threatened for attempting to stop the escape. The patient was then put on a motorbike which sped off with her under the pouring rain. This newspaper's correspondent was right at the scene as she was being driven off on an okada [motorbike taxi] under a heavy rainfall.
"If this lady is found to be positive when the test results are out, it is obvious that the okada rider who drove off with her under the pouring rain, other close relatives, and friends who touched her stand the risk of being infected," a resident of Fourah Bay Road said.
"With all the reports about Ebola, if these people still do not believe this is a security threat to all of us, they will not come back to the hospital even if they get infected. They are the ones who will hide and continue spreading the disease until the situation gets worse. It is only when they start dying that they will believe. May God help us in this country and give our authorities the wisdom to handle this deadly plague," John Koroma, a university student visiting his sister said.
Our press team observed after the incident that security appeared to be limited at the PCMH Cottage Hospital. The police officers on duty were inadequately protected to try to restrain an escaping EVD suspect. In fact, we observed that only one gateman in plain clothes wore gloves that night. The gloves on his hands were stained and filthy, giving the impression he had worn them all day.
There are other serious lapses that need attention apart from the inadequate security. During the 2 days observation of PCMH, we did not see any chlorine water in buckets with taps or soap for washing of hands of visitors and patients moving in or out of the hospital. There was also no evidence of hand sanitizers for people moving in and out of the various sections of the facility [It is now being admitted that although hand sanitizers kill bacteria, they have no effect on ebolavirus. - Mod.JW].
Most importantly also, there was no sensitization presence; (that is a sort of briefing centre where visitors will be given official sensitization on EVD and how to contain its spread, especially to convince and warn the unbelievers). Neither the security post nor main entrance to the hospital itself, had any form of active sensitisation about EVD going on. Throughout the whole 2 days, we did not see anyone stopping PCMH visitors to speak to them about EVD.
As we went to press, the Ministry of Health & Sanitation has yesterday [Sun 20 Jul 2014] issued a statement saying the test results from the escaped patient had now come in, and showed that the escaped patient was not EVD positive. "The case referred to was being kept in the observation unit at PCMH while her blood sample was taken to the Kenema Lassa Laboratory [Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Laboratory] for the ebolavirus test. The test result came out negative, and that patient was no longer considered a suspected EVD case," stated the Health Ministry last night [20 Jul 2014].
The ministry also reported that, currently, the number of EVD cases confirmed through laboratory testing in Sierra Leone was now over 400, and they had been reported in all 4 regions of the country.
[byline: Augustine Samba, Bryan Randall]
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[This is a long, detailed account of the episode, with eyewitness accounts broadcast on social media. Refer to the source URL for the full report. There appears to have been serious lack of public health education at the hospital and lack of masks and gloves for the police and hospital security. Fortunately, the case tested negative, so none of the people involved became contacts needing follow up. - Mod.JW]
******
[3] Sierra Leone: nurses strike
Date: 21 Jul 2014
Source: Reuters [edited]
http://www.trust.org/item/2014072111215 ... ion=mobile
Religious leaders in Sierra Leone ... [are saying] a lack of information about the Ebola virus disease [EVD] outbreak was prompting rural communities to shun medical help. Bishop John Yambasu, chairman of an interfaith task force, said he was "seriously disappointed" the government had failed to declare a public health emergency and pump more resources into the fight against EVD, which has infected 400 people in the country. The highest number of deaths in recent weeks had been recorded in Sierra Leone, WHO said. It warned of resistance from remote rural communities to allowing access to doctors amid fears that outsiders were spreading the disease.
"Every day in this country, the number of new cases is increasing. To us as religious leaders, that is unacceptable," Yambasu, head of the United Methodist Church of Sierra Leone, told Reuters. He said the government was too concerned by the "political connotations" of declaring an emergency. Health minister Miatta Kargbo has said the EVD outbreak is "a serious matter" but has not reached emergency levels.
Dozens of nurses at a government hospital in the eastern Sierra Leone town of Kenema went on an indefinite strike on Monday [21 Jul 2014] following the deaths of 3 of their colleagues on Sunday [20 Jul 2014]. All 3 were suspected to have been infected with the deadly virus. The Kenema hospital has the only testing centre in the country for the haemorrhagic fever and holds the highest number of patients of the outbreak.
Mohamed Sheriff, a spokesman for the nurses, said they were demanding, among other things, the "immediate relocation to an isolated area of the EVD ward and its takeover by the French medical agency, MSF." The EVD wards are inside the Kenema hospital compound, which the striking workers say poses a health risk to them and to non-EVD patients. Sierra Leone's chief medical officer, Dr Brima Kargbo, said the government was looking into the nurses' grievances. Dozens of laboratory technicians at Sierra Leone's only EVD-testing facility went on strike last week [14 Jul 2014] over a USD 20 monthly risk premium, which they were promised but never paid.
Yambasu said that in Kailahun in eastern Sierra Leone -- the epicentre of the outbreak -- locals had dug trenches to bar ambulances and police from accessing their communities. Many locals regard being taken to an isolation ward as a death sentence. "It is likely that people are dying in the bush" due to lack of information about the disease, he said, adding that leaving those infected in their communities was encouraging the virus to spread.
Yambasu said religious leaders would preach in their churches and mosques for a change of attitude towards the disease and would visit the centre of the outbreak and call for change. Sierra Leone's religious leaders played a leading role in ending a brutal 1991-2002 civil war. "It is as a result of our experiences of the past that we have invited ourselves into this EVD struggle," he said.
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[There appears to have been a lack of protective material for both visitors and security personnel/police at the hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone from which a suspected case was forcibly removed.
Besides the tragic deaths of 3 nurses in Sierra Leone, 4 Liberian nurses have been admitted after contracting the ebolavirus while treating patients. They were working at Phebe Hospital in Suakoko, Bong County when they contracted the virus (http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/657836- ... octor.html).
These infections should have been avoidable given proper personal protective equipment (PPE) and training in its use.
It is deeply regrettable, if it is true, that political considerations are interfering with public health prevention activity. - Mod.JW
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/46.]
***************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
In this update:
[1] FAO alert
[2] Sierra Leone: hospital fracas
[3] Sierra Leone: nurses strike
******
[1] FAO alert
Date: 21 Jul 2014
Source: Thomson-Reuters Trust [edited]
http://www.trust.org/item/20140721085954-3su7k
Increased efforts are needed to improve awareness among rural communities in West Africa about the risks of contracting the ebolavirus from eating certain wildlife species including fruit bats, FAO [the UN Food & Agriculture Organization] warned today [21 Jul 2014].
Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone are struggling to contain the world's deadliest recorded outbreak of the virus, which is transmitted by direct contact with the blood and body fluids of infected people and infected animals. The West African epidemic is thought to have started when the virus crossed over from infected wildlife into the human population and then began spreading between people. Curbing human-to-human transmission is the most important focus for governments and international health agencies.
However, FAO is working closely with the World Health Organization (WHO) to raise awareness of the transmission risks from wildlife among rural communities that hunt for bushmeat -- meat obtained from forest animals -- to supplement their diets and income. These communities risk future spill-over from species that can carry the virus, including fruit bats, some primates, and duikers [small antelopes; see museum specimens: http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology ... uikers.jpg. - Mod.JW].
"We are not suggesting that people stop hunting altogether, which isn't realistic," said FAO chief veterinary officer Juan Lubroth. "But communities need clear advice on the need not to touch dead animals or to sell or eat the meat of any animal that they find already dead. They should also avoid hunting animals that are sick or behaving strangely, as this is another red flag."
Fruit bats -- usually eaten dried or in a spicy soup -- are thought to be the most likely reservoir species for the virus, which they can carry without developing clinical signs of the disease, and should be avoided altogether, according to FAO. "The virus is killed when meat is cooked at a high temperature or heavily smoked, but anyone who handles, skins or butchers an infected wild animal is at risk of contracting the virus," Lubroth said.
While several governments in the region have attempted to outlaw the sale and consumption of bushmeat, bans have proved impossible to enforce and have met with suspicion from rural communities. "There is a lot of mistrust, to the extent that people are hiding patients rather than getting medical help, and it's very difficult to control the disease in the midst of many myths and rumours," said Katinka de Balogh, FAO veterinary public health officer and Ebola virus disease focal point.
De Balogh said there were growing concerns about the effect the outbreak may have on food security in some parts of the region, as some farmers are too afraid to work in their fields, while some markets have also closed down.
FAO has already committed resources and is working with governments, WHO country offices and other partners in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone to improve information about the virus at community level, using existing networks such as rural radio and agricultural extension services. "It is critical for rural communities to understand the risks, both of human-to-human transmission and from wildlife so that they are in a position to make informed decisions themselves," de Balogh said. The organization will work with governments to also set up wildlife surveillance systems to support early detection of the virus, collaborating with wildlife rangers, veterinarians, and local universities. "Rural communities have an important role to play in reporting unusual mortality in the animal population, which is another reason that their collaboration is so crucial," de Balogh said. In addition, FAO will help to assess the role of hunting in livelihoods with a view to finding healthier and more sustainable long-term livestock production alternatives to provide people with additional protein and income.
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[2] Sierra Leone: hospital fracas
Date: 21 Jul 2014
Source: Awareness Times, Sierra Leone [edited]
http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/articl ... 5813.shtml
Events on the night of Fri 18 Jul 2014 saw the escape from isolated observation of a pregnant woman (surname and address withheld) from the Princess Christian Maternity Hospital (PCMH) along Fourah Bay Road. According to medical staff who asked not to be named, from her presenting symptoms, she was presumed to be a suspected case of Ebola virus disease [EVD]. Blood samples were taken from her and sent to Kenema for testing. While the medical team awaited confirmation she was advised to be kept under observation in isolation from other pregnant patients.
On Friday [18 Jul 2014] evening, [her] relatives came with a huge group of well-muscled young men said to have been recruited from places near her residence in Eastern Freetown's Kissy suburbs. The youths and a loud bunch of women manhandled the security personnel at the gates, marched to the isolation room and forcibly helped her to escape from the hospital. The nurses on duty were threatened and overpowered by the group from Kissy in the east end of Freetown. One of the nurses on duty was slapped and further threatened for attempting to stop the escape. The patient was then put on a motorbike which sped off with her under the pouring rain. This newspaper's correspondent was right at the scene as she was being driven off on an okada [motorbike taxi] under a heavy rainfall.
"If this lady is found to be positive when the test results are out, it is obvious that the okada rider who drove off with her under the pouring rain, other close relatives, and friends who touched her stand the risk of being infected," a resident of Fourah Bay Road said.
"With all the reports about Ebola, if these people still do not believe this is a security threat to all of us, they will not come back to the hospital even if they get infected. They are the ones who will hide and continue spreading the disease until the situation gets worse. It is only when they start dying that they will believe. May God help us in this country and give our authorities the wisdom to handle this deadly plague," John Koroma, a university student visiting his sister said.
Our press team observed after the incident that security appeared to be limited at the PCMH Cottage Hospital. The police officers on duty were inadequately protected to try to restrain an escaping EVD suspect. In fact, we observed that only one gateman in plain clothes wore gloves that night. The gloves on his hands were stained and filthy, giving the impression he had worn them all day.
There are other serious lapses that need attention apart from the inadequate security. During the 2 days observation of PCMH, we did not see any chlorine water in buckets with taps or soap for washing of hands of visitors and patients moving in or out of the hospital. There was also no evidence of hand sanitizers for people moving in and out of the various sections of the facility [It is now being admitted that although hand sanitizers kill bacteria, they have no effect on ebolavirus. - Mod.JW].
Most importantly also, there was no sensitization presence; (that is a sort of briefing centre where visitors will be given official sensitization on EVD and how to contain its spread, especially to convince and warn the unbelievers). Neither the security post nor main entrance to the hospital itself, had any form of active sensitisation about EVD going on. Throughout the whole 2 days, we did not see anyone stopping PCMH visitors to speak to them about EVD.
As we went to press, the Ministry of Health & Sanitation has yesterday [Sun 20 Jul 2014] issued a statement saying the test results from the escaped patient had now come in, and showed that the escaped patient was not EVD positive. "The case referred to was being kept in the observation unit at PCMH while her blood sample was taken to the Kenema Lassa Laboratory [Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Laboratory] for the ebolavirus test. The test result came out negative, and that patient was no longer considered a suspected EVD case," stated the Health Ministry last night [20 Jul 2014].
The ministry also reported that, currently, the number of EVD cases confirmed through laboratory testing in Sierra Leone was now over 400, and they had been reported in all 4 regions of the country.
[byline: Augustine Samba, Bryan Randall]
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[This is a long, detailed account of the episode, with eyewitness accounts broadcast on social media. Refer to the source URL for the full report. There appears to have been serious lack of public health education at the hospital and lack of masks and gloves for the police and hospital security. Fortunately, the case tested negative, so none of the people involved became contacts needing follow up. - Mod.JW]
******
[3] Sierra Leone: nurses strike
Date: 21 Jul 2014
Source: Reuters [edited]
http://www.trust.org/item/2014072111215 ... ion=mobile
Religious leaders in Sierra Leone ... [are saying] a lack of information about the Ebola virus disease [EVD] outbreak was prompting rural communities to shun medical help. Bishop John Yambasu, chairman of an interfaith task force, said he was "seriously disappointed" the government had failed to declare a public health emergency and pump more resources into the fight against EVD, which has infected 400 people in the country. The highest number of deaths in recent weeks had been recorded in Sierra Leone, WHO said. It warned of resistance from remote rural communities to allowing access to doctors amid fears that outsiders were spreading the disease.
"Every day in this country, the number of new cases is increasing. To us as religious leaders, that is unacceptable," Yambasu, head of the United Methodist Church of Sierra Leone, told Reuters. He said the government was too concerned by the "political connotations" of declaring an emergency. Health minister Miatta Kargbo has said the EVD outbreak is "a serious matter" but has not reached emergency levels.
Dozens of nurses at a government hospital in the eastern Sierra Leone town of Kenema went on an indefinite strike on Monday [21 Jul 2014] following the deaths of 3 of their colleagues on Sunday [20 Jul 2014]. All 3 were suspected to have been infected with the deadly virus. The Kenema hospital has the only testing centre in the country for the haemorrhagic fever and holds the highest number of patients of the outbreak.
Mohamed Sheriff, a spokesman for the nurses, said they were demanding, among other things, the "immediate relocation to an isolated area of the EVD ward and its takeover by the French medical agency, MSF." The EVD wards are inside the Kenema hospital compound, which the striking workers say poses a health risk to them and to non-EVD patients. Sierra Leone's chief medical officer, Dr Brima Kargbo, said the government was looking into the nurses' grievances. Dozens of laboratory technicians at Sierra Leone's only EVD-testing facility went on strike last week [14 Jul 2014] over a USD 20 monthly risk premium, which they were promised but never paid.
Yambasu said that in Kailahun in eastern Sierra Leone -- the epicentre of the outbreak -- locals had dug trenches to bar ambulances and police from accessing their communities. Many locals regard being taken to an isolation ward as a death sentence. "It is likely that people are dying in the bush" due to lack of information about the disease, he said, adding that leaving those infected in their communities was encouraging the virus to spread.
Yambasu said religious leaders would preach in their churches and mosques for a change of attitude towards the disease and would visit the centre of the outbreak and call for change. Sierra Leone's religious leaders played a leading role in ending a brutal 1991-2002 civil war. "It is as a result of our experiences of the past that we have invited ourselves into this EVD struggle," he said.
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[There appears to have been a lack of protective material for both visitors and security personnel/police at the hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone from which a suspected case was forcibly removed.
Besides the tragic deaths of 3 nurses in Sierra Leone, 4 Liberian nurses have been admitted after contracting the ebolavirus while treating patients. They were working at Phebe Hospital in Suakoko, Bong County when they contracted the virus (http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/657836- ... octor.html).
These infections should have been avoidable given proper personal protective equipment (PPE) and training in its use.
It is deeply regrettable, if it is true, that political considerations are interfering with public health prevention activity. - Mod.JW
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/46.]
-
Birgitt
- Moderator
- Beiträge: 35219
- Registriert: Di 2. Aug 2005, 22:52
- Wohnort: NRW / Südl. Rheinland
- Kontaktdaten:
Ebola-Fieber in Liberia und Sierra Leone
EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE - WEST AFRICA (96): LIBERIA, SIERRA LEONE
*************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
In this update:
[1] Liberia
[2] Sierra Leone
******
[1] Liberia
Date: 22 Jul 2014
Source: AllAfrica [edited]
http://allafrica.com/stories/201407220992.html
The World Health Organization (WHO) regional director for Africa, Dr Luis Gomes Sambo, arrived yesterday [21 Jul 2014] in Liberia on an official visit to contribute to the fight against the ongoing Ebola virus outbreak.
During his visit, Dr Sambo is expected to meet high-level government officials, health partners, as well as UN representatives to advocate for technical and financial support to contain the outbreak and will also attend the launch of the Liberia Strategic Plan for Accelerated Response to Re-occurrence of Ebola Epidemic.
Dr Sambo said they are worried about the spread of the ebolavirus in Liberia. In a meeting convened yesterday [21 Jul 2014] at the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Dr Sambo told Liberia's health minister, Dr Walter Gwenigale, and his staff that cross border transmission is of great concern to the WHO. He said they believe that it is possible to stop the disease, and that is why he is visiting Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
He congratulated Minister Gwenigale and his team and said there's more to be done. According to him, Ebola virus disease [EVD] is emerging from various communities. Dr Sambo said he is here to galvanize response efforts and to help mobilize the support needed nationally and internationally to control the outbreak of EVD and prevent it in the future. At the same time, Liberia's health minister, Dr Gwenigale, has denied receiving any fund from President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria. He thanked Dr Sambo for the support and said that the Ministry of Health needs additional support.
On the cross border issue, Dr Gwenigale stressed that the problem with the border is that there are a lot of intermarriages going on. He mentioned that's how the Ebola virus disease came into Liberia and that the Ministry of Health is faced with a great challenge. He told Dr Sambo that traditional practices are other ways the disease is being transmitted.
The Ministry of Health boss said there are other counties [districts] that have not been affected by the ebolavirus and that they are doing all they can to prevent the outbreak of the deadly disease in those counties. He appealed to the WHO regional director for more support to strengthen their surveillance in those counties and at the borders.
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[2] Sierra Leone
Date: 21 Jul 2014
Source: Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone [edited]
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ministry ... 4805403702
Sierra Leone: Ebola [virus disease] official update
-----------------------------------------------
98 patients have survived the disease and have been discharged [4 more than on 18 Jul 2014].
For 20 Jul 2014, a total of 9 samples were received by the Laboratory: Kailahun 3, Kenema 3, Western Area [Freetown] 2 and Bo 1; 4 of these samples are positive for ebolavirus: 2 from Kailahun, 1 from Bo, and 1 from Kenema.
Three of the total samples are negative from: Kailahun 1 and Western Area 2. The remaining 2 samples are in for re-testing, both from Kenema. One of the previous samples that were in for re-sampling yesterday [20 Jul 2014, because of equivocal results] is now negative, from Bo district.
The cumulative number of laboratory confirmed cases is 409 including 139 confirmed deaths [increases of 12 cases and 12 deaths in 2 days; see ProMED archive (94) 20140720.2623966].
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[Hopefully, the WHO Regional Director's visit will encourage cross-border surveillance.
Cases continue to rise -- and the number of survivors also -- mostly in Sierra Leone. - Mod.JW
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/46.]
*************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
In this update:
[1] Liberia
[2] Sierra Leone
******
[1] Liberia
Date: 22 Jul 2014
Source: AllAfrica [edited]
http://allafrica.com/stories/201407220992.html
The World Health Organization (WHO) regional director for Africa, Dr Luis Gomes Sambo, arrived yesterday [21 Jul 2014] in Liberia on an official visit to contribute to the fight against the ongoing Ebola virus outbreak.
During his visit, Dr Sambo is expected to meet high-level government officials, health partners, as well as UN representatives to advocate for technical and financial support to contain the outbreak and will also attend the launch of the Liberia Strategic Plan for Accelerated Response to Re-occurrence of Ebola Epidemic.
Dr Sambo said they are worried about the spread of the ebolavirus in Liberia. In a meeting convened yesterday [21 Jul 2014] at the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Dr Sambo told Liberia's health minister, Dr Walter Gwenigale, and his staff that cross border transmission is of great concern to the WHO. He said they believe that it is possible to stop the disease, and that is why he is visiting Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
He congratulated Minister Gwenigale and his team and said there's more to be done. According to him, Ebola virus disease [EVD] is emerging from various communities. Dr Sambo said he is here to galvanize response efforts and to help mobilize the support needed nationally and internationally to control the outbreak of EVD and prevent it in the future. At the same time, Liberia's health minister, Dr Gwenigale, has denied receiving any fund from President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria. He thanked Dr Sambo for the support and said that the Ministry of Health needs additional support.
On the cross border issue, Dr Gwenigale stressed that the problem with the border is that there are a lot of intermarriages going on. He mentioned that's how the Ebola virus disease came into Liberia and that the Ministry of Health is faced with a great challenge. He told Dr Sambo that traditional practices are other ways the disease is being transmitted.
The Ministry of Health boss said there are other counties [districts] that have not been affected by the ebolavirus and that they are doing all they can to prevent the outbreak of the deadly disease in those counties. He appealed to the WHO regional director for more support to strengthen their surveillance in those counties and at the borders.
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[2] Sierra Leone
Date: 21 Jul 2014
Source: Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone [edited]
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ministry ... 4805403702
Sierra Leone: Ebola [virus disease] official update
-----------------------------------------------
98 patients have survived the disease and have been discharged [4 more than on 18 Jul 2014].
For 20 Jul 2014, a total of 9 samples were received by the Laboratory: Kailahun 3, Kenema 3, Western Area [Freetown] 2 and Bo 1; 4 of these samples are positive for ebolavirus: 2 from Kailahun, 1 from Bo, and 1 from Kenema.
Three of the total samples are negative from: Kailahun 1 and Western Area 2. The remaining 2 samples are in for re-testing, both from Kenema. One of the previous samples that were in for re-sampling yesterday [20 Jul 2014, because of equivocal results] is now negative, from Bo district.
The cumulative number of laboratory confirmed cases is 409 including 139 confirmed deaths [increases of 12 cases and 12 deaths in 2 days; see ProMED archive (94) 20140720.2623966].
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[Hopefully, the WHO Regional Director's visit will encourage cross-border surveillance.
Cases continue to rise -- and the number of survivors also -- mostly in Sierra Leone. - Mod.JW
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/46.]
-
Birgitt
- Moderator
- Beiträge: 35219
- Registriert: Di 2. Aug 2005, 22:52
- Wohnort: NRW / Südl. Rheinland
- Kontaktdaten:
Verdacht auf Ebola-Fieber in Nigeria
EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE - WEST AFRICA (98): NIGERIA SUSPECTED, ALERT
****************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
Date: Wed 23 Jul 2014
Source: Nairaland Forum [edited]
http://www.nairaland.com/1826877/ebola-alert
RED ALERT
Please be informed that a suspected case of Ebola haemorrhagic fever has been confirmed by NCDC [Nigeria Center for Disease Control] through our Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos yesterday 22 Jul 2014.
The case is now receiving the medical team attention at Lagos. All Port Health Services staff throughout the Nation is expected to be extra vigilant, you should report on any suspected cases while taking into consideration the necessary aseptic techniques in handling such cases.
Furthermore, you are all expected to institute the necessary actions to the Border Communities.
Urgent Reports should be sent to:
1. Director Public Health FMOH -- 08037211528
2. PD NCDC FMOH -- 07067352220
3. CSG I PHS FMOH -- 08097979595
4. CSG I Epidemiology FMOH -- 08033120482
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[It is not clear what is meant by "a suspected case of Ebola haemorrhagic fever has been confirmed" -- which is it, suspected or confirmed?
I doubt if there has been time to send a specimen to a reference lab and get a result back. But Nigeria's vigilance is commendable. Perhaps it is time for WHO to review its position on travel restrictions. - Mod.JW
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/62.]
****************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
Date: Wed 23 Jul 2014
Source: Nairaland Forum [edited]
http://www.nairaland.com/1826877/ebola-alert
RED ALERT
Please be informed that a suspected case of Ebola haemorrhagic fever has been confirmed by NCDC [Nigeria Center for Disease Control] through our Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos yesterday 22 Jul 2014.
The case is now receiving the medical team attention at Lagos. All Port Health Services staff throughout the Nation is expected to be extra vigilant, you should report on any suspected cases while taking into consideration the necessary aseptic techniques in handling such cases.
Furthermore, you are all expected to institute the necessary actions to the Border Communities.
Urgent Reports should be sent to:
1. Director Public Health FMOH -- 08037211528
2. PD NCDC FMOH -- 07067352220
3. CSG I PHS FMOH -- 08097979595
4. CSG I Epidemiology FMOH -- 08033120482
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[It is not clear what is meant by "a suspected case of Ebola haemorrhagic fever has been confirmed" -- which is it, suspected or confirmed?
I doubt if there has been time to send a specimen to a reference lab and get a result back. But Nigeria's vigilance is commendable. Perhaps it is time for WHO to review its position on travel restrictions. - Mod.JW
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/62.]
-
Birgitt
- Moderator
- Beiträge: 35219
- Registriert: Di 2. Aug 2005, 22:52
- Wohnort: NRW / Südl. Rheinland
- Kontaktdaten:
Ebola-Fieber in Westafrika
EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE - WEST AFRICA (99): WHO, SIERRA LEONE, LIBERIA
******************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
In this posting:
[1] WHO update
[2] Sierra Leone: head doctor infected
[3] Sierra Leone: official report
[4] Liberia: shortage of PPE
[5] Liberia: protests
******
[1] WHO update
Date: Wed 23 Jul 2014
Source: WHO/AFRO, Epidemic & Pandemic Alert and Response (EPR), Outbreak News [edited]
http://www.afro.who.int/en/clusters-a-p ... -2014.html
Ebola virus disease, West Africa - update 23 Jul 2014
-----------------------------------------------------
Between 18 and 20 Jul 2014, 45 new cases and 28 deaths [of Ebola virus disease (EVD)] were reported from Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. These include suspect, probable, and laboratory-confirmed cases. As of 20 Jul 2014, the cumulative number of cases attributed to EVD in the 3 countries stands at 1093, including 660 deaths.
Disease update
--------------
New cases and deaths attributable to EVD continue to be reported by the ministries of health in the 3 West African countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Between 18-20 Jul 2014, 45 new cases of EVD, including 28 new deaths, were reported from the 3 countries as follows:
- Guinea: 5 new cases and 4 deaths;
- Liberia: 28 new cases with 11 deaths;
- Sierra Leone: 12 new cases and 13 deaths.
These numbers include laboratory-confirmed, probable, and suspect cases and deaths of EVD.
The distribution and classification of the cases are as follows:
- Guinea, 415 cases (304 confirmed, 98 probable, and 13 suspected) and 314 deaths (204 confirmed, 98 probable, and 12 suspected);
- Liberia, 224 cases (77 confirmed, 68 probable, and 79 suspected) and 127 deaths (56 confirmed, 44 probable, and 27 suspected);
- Sierra Leone, 454 cases (405 confirmed, 35 probable, and 14 suspected) and 219 deaths (182 confirmed, 32 probable, and 5 suspected).
Health sector response
----------------------
The regional director, WHO African Region, began official visits to the 3 West African countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone on 21 Jul 2014. On the 1st leg of his mission, the regional director visited Liberia from 21-22 Jul 2014. The goal of the visit is to make a 1st-hand assessment of the EVD outbreak, review the current outbreak response and challenges, and explore the best ways to rapidly contain the EVD outbreak in West Africa.
The regional director held official meetings with the president of Liberia and the minister of health, including senior government officials. The president and the regional director also participated in the Ebola national coordination meeting at the Ministry of Health. During this meeting, the regional director emphasized the need to step up implementation of key outbreak containment strategies, including community engagement and involvement, effective contact tracing, cross-border collaboration and effective coordination.
Discussions were also held with international and local non-governmental organizations, UN agencies, and other stakeholders to enhance collaboration and effective coordination. The regional director called upon all partners to be fully involved in the EVD outbreak response. Following his visit to Liberia, significant financial contributions and commitments were made, including from the government and partners.
In Liberia, the minister of health launched the national strategic plan for accelerated response to the EVD outbreak. The plan is aligned to the inter-country strategy for accelerated response to the outbreak, adopted in the Accra ministerial meeting. It is expected that the launch and subsequent implementation of this strategic plan will bring tangible improvement and scale up effective outbreak containment measures at field level. Similarly, the Ministry of Health and partners in Guinea and Sierra Leone are conducting planning meetings to re-strategize and come up with concrete, action-oriented national operational plans to accelerate the response to the EVD outbreak response.
Efforts are currently ongoing to scale up and strengthen all aspects of the outbreak response in the 3 countries, including contact tracing, public information and community mobilization, case management and infection prevention and control, and coordination.
Confirmed, probable, and suspect cases and deaths from Ebola virus disease in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, as of 20 Jul 2014
---------------------------------------------------------------
New* / Confirmed / Probable / Suspect / Totals (by country)
Guinea
------
Cases 5 / 304 / 98 / 13 / 415
Deaths 4 / 204 / 98 / 12 / 314 [estimated CFR (case fatality rate) 75 per cent]
Liberia
-------
Cases 28/77/68/79/224
Deaths 11/56/44/27/127 [CFR 57 per cent]
Sierra Leone
------------
Cases 12 / 405 / 35 / 14 / 454
Deaths 13 / 182 / 32 / 5 / 219 [CFR 48 per cent]
Totals
------
Cases / 45 / 786 / 201 / 106 / 1093
Deaths 28 / 442 / 174 / 44 / 660
*New cases were reported between 18-20 Jul 2014.
The total number of cases is subject to change due to reclassification, retrospective investigation, consolidation of cases and laboratory data, and enhanced surveillance. Data reported in the Disease Outbreak News are based on best available information reported by ministries of health.
WHO does not recommend any travel or trade restrictions be applied to Guinea, Liberia, or Sierra Leone based on the current information available for this event.
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail rapporteur Marianne Hopp
******
[2] Sierra Leone: head doctor infected
Date: Wed 23 Jul 2014
Source: Awareness Times, Sierra Leone [edited]
http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/articl ... 5829.shtml
Sierra Leone: news analysis of state of fight against Ebola
-----------------------------------------------------------
A very important Sierra Leone citizen was this week quoted as saying "We have to ensure that within the next couple of weeks or so, we will put the whole issue of Ebola behind us." Clearly, this very important citizen is under a huge illusion based on gross misinformation he might have been given by those in whom he has placed trust. This very important citizen has shown, with those words, that he really has no idea of the extent of gravity of what is now unfolding inside Sierra Leone with respect to Ebola virus disease [EVD].
Family members of 2 prominent doctors in Kenema [3rd largest city in Sierra Leone] have confided to this newspaper that the doctors are currently stricken with EVD-like symptoms. One of them (name withheld) is said to be awaiting his test results whilst the other, Dr Sheik Umar Khan was last evening, 22 Jul 2014, announced by the Health Ministry, as being confirmed positive for EVD. Dr Khan is the specialist doctor in charge of the Ebola Unit in Kenema Government Hospital.
Simultaneously, a national broadcaster last evening [22 Jul 2014] reported that following the deaths of 8 nurses within one month, ostensibly from infection, the Kenema city Ebola Unit is now abandoned by nurses who accuse the Health Ministry of being "incapable" of protecting health workers. Kenema EVD patients lie abandoned in a manner similar to those who were left to their own devices in Kissi Teng, when this crisis first broke.
Dr Khan has last evening [22 Jul 2014] been moved to the Kailahun Ebola center built and operated by the international NGO [non governmental organisation], Medecins Sans Frontieres. There have been widespread ironical comments over the move of the infected medical doctor from Kenema to Kailahun. It could be recalled there were vehement protests against the move of EVD patients from the remote epicenter of Kissi Teng, Kailahun to Kenema, which is a metropolitan city. Those protests had been met with government's insistence that it was only in Kenema that EVD patients could be effectively treated.
The opponents of the Kailahun to Kenema move had firmly insisted that, by international protocol, health facilities in the remote epicenter should have been instantly upgraded; with field hospital services speedily created on the very day the outbreak happened.
Less than 2 months after [that], we will today, 23 Jul 2014, have recorded over 500 laboratory confirmed, suspected and probable EVD cases in just Sierra Leone. No-one knows actual number of deaths from EVD in Sierra Leone. [Officially reported to WHO as of 20 Jul 2014 in [1] above: 454 cases (405 confirmed, 35 probable, and 14 suspected) and 219 deaths -- have there been 50 more cases reported since then? - Mod.JW]
Meanwhile, another eerie similarity to Kissi Teng happened over weekend [19-20 Jul 2014] in Freetown, when irate relatives of a suspected EVD patient forcibly removed her from the PCMH Cottage Hospital [in Freetown] and took her home out of fear she would be "killed" [see ProMED-mail archive 20140722.2626215]. This brought memories of what happened between 26-27 May 2014 when Health Ministry said Kailahun's Kissi Teng residents forcibly removed suspected EVD patients from health facilities and took them home. Back then, reports were that Kailahun residents had feared their loved ones would be "killed" by health workers. In reaction, those Kailahun residents had been described by Health Minister as 'gullible' people. It will now appear Freetown also has "gullible" people.
Religious leaders have now urged for prayers against a still-unfolding plague.
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map of Sierra Leone can be accessed at http://healthmap.org/promed/p/46. Sr.Tech.Ed.MJ]
******
[3] Sierra Leone: official report
Date: Thu 24 Jul 2014
Source: Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone via SUBMIT INFO tab at top of ProMED-mail home page [edited]
http://promedmail.org
Ebola [virus disease] outbreak update
-------------------------------------
As of today, 23 Jul 2014, we have 108 cumulative number of survivors, 427 confirmed Ebola virus disease [EVD] cases [including] 144 EVD confirmed deaths [estimated case fatality rate (CFR) 34 per cent]. 65 patients are currently admitted at the EVD treatment centers in Kenema and Kailahun.
The Ministry of Health and Sanitization and the World Health Organization have established a dedicated Ebola Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at the WHO Country Office in Freetown. The EOC is co-directed by the minister of health, Ms Miata Kargbo and the WHO representative for Sierra Leone, Dr Jacob Mufunda and consists of leaders and partners involved in our fight against EVD.
The EOC will serve as the Sierra Leone National Central Command and Control Center for Outbreak Response activities and meets every day. The EOC members under the leadership of the hon. minister of health and sanitation unanimously decided at the 22 Jul 2014 meeting that the following actions be effected immediately:
- That all new confirmed cases be admitted at the Treatment Center in Kailahun while the Ministry and its partners work on relocating the Treatment Center in Kenema out of the Kenema Government Hospital premise to another location as requested by health workers and the people of Kenema.
- The existing patients at the treatment center in Kenema continue to be cared for at that center with enhanced Infection Prevention Control and nursing care.
- More health personnel be trained in Infection Prevention Control and nursing care.
- Tulane University to stop ebolavirus testing during the current EVD outbreak.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to officially send their findings and recommendations from the assessment of the laboratory and treatment center in Kenema.
- Ministry of Health and Sanitation to proceed with the procurement of 3 vehicles currently in country for contact tracing and surveillance.
The EOC wishes the general public and all partners working in the healthcare sector to know that Dr Shiekh Umar Khan is still alive and responding to treatment, contrary to social media report of his demise.
--
Sidie Yahya Tunis
Director, Information Communication Technology (ICT)
Ministry of Health and Sanitation
Sierra Leone
<tunis@health.gov.sl>
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[4] Liberia: shortage of PPE
Date: Thu 24 Jul 2014
Source: AllAfrica, The New Dawn (Monrovia) [edited]
http://allafrica.com/stories/201407241076.html
Liberia: Ebola strikes doctor at Phebe
--------------------------------------
A doctor at the Phebe Hospital in Bong County has been tested positive for the deadly Ebola virus disease [EVD], barely a month after a head doctor at the Redemption Hospital in the Borough of New Kru Town died of the disease at the John F Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Monrovia.
The doctor, whose name has not been disclosed was transferred to Monrovia along with 4 nurses, 3 of whom died yesterday [23 Jul 2014]. The doctor and nurses were said to have come in contact with an EVD patient from Lofa County, who had earlier told health workers at the hospital that she resides in Gbarnga, Bong County.
The doctor is being quarantined by health authorities for additional days to monitor his status. The latest incident from the Phebe Hospital has increased panic among health workers, with many of them expressing fear for their lives on the job. In Monrovia, several hospitals have shut their doors to the public, including Redemption Hospital and the James Davies Memorial Hospital in Nee-Zoe community, Paynesville after nurses and doctors refused to report for work.
Lack of PPE (personal protective equipment)
-------------------------------------------
Health workers [in Liberia] lack protective garments to handle suspected EVD patients, so much so that several nurses have contracted the virus while attending to patients and subsequently died of the disease. The government of Liberia has complained of lack of funds to equip health facilities across the country with protective garments for health workers.
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map of Liberia can be accessed at http://healthmap.org/promed/p/54 . Sr.Tech.Ed.MJ]
******
[5] Liberia: protests
Date: Thu 24 Jul 2014
Source: AllAfrica, FrontPageAfrica (Monrovia) [edited]
http://allafrica.com/stories/2014072410 ... ?viewall=1
Man sets Liberia's Health Ministry ablaze
-----------------------------------------
What seemed an unprecedented form of protest against the Liberian government's handling of the deadly Ebola virus disease erupted on Wednesday [23 Jul 2014] when a Liberian man set the conference room at the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in Congo Town on fire in the early afternoon. Workers at the ministry were constrained to use a ladder to burst open the glass windows of the conference room when they saw the smoke, which billowed out of the building, which saved the entire building, restricting the fire to only the conference room.
The Liberia Fire Service arrived after the health ministry employees had already put out the fire and made a citizen arrest of the culprit. The situation saw many employees running for their lives and it brought a halt to normal working activities at the Health Ministry. Reports gathered by FrontPageAfrica indicate that [the man] has been engaging the Health Ministry, informing them that his 14 year old relative died as a result of the deadly Ebola virus.
Eyewitnesses, some whom work at the ministry say the aggrieved Liberian who called the fire 'A miracle' said he wanted to set the entire building ablaze because he blames the lack of doctors and nurses at major government hospitals to cater to his sick relative as what led to the relative's death.
Health minister Dr Walter Gwenigale said "I came out I saw a group of people standing over a young man, whom they say confessed that he started the fire because a relative of his died of EVD and nobody paid attention to him, that's all I know," said Dr Gwenigale. "The offices are okay, it is the conference room here, where we can have the major conferences, that actually burned completely and is destroyed" [he said].
The man is the 1st Liberian to publicly protest the government's handling of the disease in this manner since the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus disease, which has now caused 50 confirmed deaths and over 100 cases. The suspect was quickly arrested by health ministry employees and turned over to the Liberia National Police.
Protest from ELWA residents
---------------------------
As the fire raged in the conference room at the health ministry, a sizeable number of residents from Kpelleh Town and surrounding communities in the ELWA [Eternal Love Winning Africa] area blocked the main entrance of the ELWA compound housing the ELWA hospital to protest against the establishment of an EVD isolation center in the area. A resident expressed fear over the setting up of the EVD isolation center because they say it could lead to infecting people living in that area with the ebolavirus.
[byline: Wade CL Williams]
[Photo of Ministry of Health, Liberia:
http://www.myworldshots.com/p1/m/Liberi ... -13150.jpg. - Mod.JW]
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[From Sierra Leone comes the bad news that 2 more local doctors have been infected, including Dr Sheik Umar Khan who last evening, 22 Jul 2014, the Ministry of Health said had been confirmed positive for EVD. Dr Khan is the specialist doctor in charge of the Ebola Unit in Kenema Government Hospital. Hopefully, given the excellent clinical care of MSF, they will be among the survivors. The latest WHO figures in [1] above show that in Sierra Leone, half the EVD patients survive (according to Serra Leone's figures in [4] above, 2/3 survive). It would be good if Guinea could bring their 25 per cent survival rate up to at least that level.
The news media in Sierra Leone appear to understand the EVD situation very well, but there is obviously still a lot of misinformation among the public, even at high levels.
From Liberia, there is a disturbing report of a violent protest action.
2 things are urgently needed in the 3 EVD-infected countries:
- better communication with the public about the risk of infection, and
- more PPE (personal protective equipment).
There is absolutely NO NEED for health workers to continue dying from treating EVD patients. - Mod.JW]
******************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
In this posting:
[1] WHO update
[2] Sierra Leone: head doctor infected
[3] Sierra Leone: official report
[4] Liberia: shortage of PPE
[5] Liberia: protests
******
[1] WHO update
Date: Wed 23 Jul 2014
Source: WHO/AFRO, Epidemic & Pandemic Alert and Response (EPR), Outbreak News [edited]
http://www.afro.who.int/en/clusters-a-p ... -2014.html
Ebola virus disease, West Africa - update 23 Jul 2014
-----------------------------------------------------
Between 18 and 20 Jul 2014, 45 new cases and 28 deaths [of Ebola virus disease (EVD)] were reported from Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. These include suspect, probable, and laboratory-confirmed cases. As of 20 Jul 2014, the cumulative number of cases attributed to EVD in the 3 countries stands at 1093, including 660 deaths.
Disease update
--------------
New cases and deaths attributable to EVD continue to be reported by the ministries of health in the 3 West African countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Between 18-20 Jul 2014, 45 new cases of EVD, including 28 new deaths, were reported from the 3 countries as follows:
- Guinea: 5 new cases and 4 deaths;
- Liberia: 28 new cases with 11 deaths;
- Sierra Leone: 12 new cases and 13 deaths.
These numbers include laboratory-confirmed, probable, and suspect cases and deaths of EVD.
The distribution and classification of the cases are as follows:
- Guinea, 415 cases (304 confirmed, 98 probable, and 13 suspected) and 314 deaths (204 confirmed, 98 probable, and 12 suspected);
- Liberia, 224 cases (77 confirmed, 68 probable, and 79 suspected) and 127 deaths (56 confirmed, 44 probable, and 27 suspected);
- Sierra Leone, 454 cases (405 confirmed, 35 probable, and 14 suspected) and 219 deaths (182 confirmed, 32 probable, and 5 suspected).
Health sector response
----------------------
The regional director, WHO African Region, began official visits to the 3 West African countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone on 21 Jul 2014. On the 1st leg of his mission, the regional director visited Liberia from 21-22 Jul 2014. The goal of the visit is to make a 1st-hand assessment of the EVD outbreak, review the current outbreak response and challenges, and explore the best ways to rapidly contain the EVD outbreak in West Africa.
The regional director held official meetings with the president of Liberia and the minister of health, including senior government officials. The president and the regional director also participated in the Ebola national coordination meeting at the Ministry of Health. During this meeting, the regional director emphasized the need to step up implementation of key outbreak containment strategies, including community engagement and involvement, effective contact tracing, cross-border collaboration and effective coordination.
Discussions were also held with international and local non-governmental organizations, UN agencies, and other stakeholders to enhance collaboration and effective coordination. The regional director called upon all partners to be fully involved in the EVD outbreak response. Following his visit to Liberia, significant financial contributions and commitments were made, including from the government and partners.
In Liberia, the minister of health launched the national strategic plan for accelerated response to the EVD outbreak. The plan is aligned to the inter-country strategy for accelerated response to the outbreak, adopted in the Accra ministerial meeting. It is expected that the launch and subsequent implementation of this strategic plan will bring tangible improvement and scale up effective outbreak containment measures at field level. Similarly, the Ministry of Health and partners in Guinea and Sierra Leone are conducting planning meetings to re-strategize and come up with concrete, action-oriented national operational plans to accelerate the response to the EVD outbreak response.
Efforts are currently ongoing to scale up and strengthen all aspects of the outbreak response in the 3 countries, including contact tracing, public information and community mobilization, case management and infection prevention and control, and coordination.
Confirmed, probable, and suspect cases and deaths from Ebola virus disease in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, as of 20 Jul 2014
---------------------------------------------------------------
New* / Confirmed / Probable / Suspect / Totals (by country)
Guinea
------
Cases 5 / 304 / 98 / 13 / 415
Deaths 4 / 204 / 98 / 12 / 314 [estimated CFR (case fatality rate) 75 per cent]
Liberia
-------
Cases 28/77/68/79/224
Deaths 11/56/44/27/127 [CFR 57 per cent]
Sierra Leone
------------
Cases 12 / 405 / 35 / 14 / 454
Deaths 13 / 182 / 32 / 5 / 219 [CFR 48 per cent]
Totals
------
Cases / 45 / 786 / 201 / 106 / 1093
Deaths 28 / 442 / 174 / 44 / 660
*New cases were reported between 18-20 Jul 2014.
The total number of cases is subject to change due to reclassification, retrospective investigation, consolidation of cases and laboratory data, and enhanced surveillance. Data reported in the Disease Outbreak News are based on best available information reported by ministries of health.
WHO does not recommend any travel or trade restrictions be applied to Guinea, Liberia, or Sierra Leone based on the current information available for this event.
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail rapporteur Marianne Hopp
******
[2] Sierra Leone: head doctor infected
Date: Wed 23 Jul 2014
Source: Awareness Times, Sierra Leone [edited]
http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/articl ... 5829.shtml
Sierra Leone: news analysis of state of fight against Ebola
-----------------------------------------------------------
A very important Sierra Leone citizen was this week quoted as saying "We have to ensure that within the next couple of weeks or so, we will put the whole issue of Ebola behind us." Clearly, this very important citizen is under a huge illusion based on gross misinformation he might have been given by those in whom he has placed trust. This very important citizen has shown, with those words, that he really has no idea of the extent of gravity of what is now unfolding inside Sierra Leone with respect to Ebola virus disease [EVD].
Family members of 2 prominent doctors in Kenema [3rd largest city in Sierra Leone] have confided to this newspaper that the doctors are currently stricken with EVD-like symptoms. One of them (name withheld) is said to be awaiting his test results whilst the other, Dr Sheik Umar Khan was last evening, 22 Jul 2014, announced by the Health Ministry, as being confirmed positive for EVD. Dr Khan is the specialist doctor in charge of the Ebola Unit in Kenema Government Hospital.
Simultaneously, a national broadcaster last evening [22 Jul 2014] reported that following the deaths of 8 nurses within one month, ostensibly from infection, the Kenema city Ebola Unit is now abandoned by nurses who accuse the Health Ministry of being "incapable" of protecting health workers. Kenema EVD patients lie abandoned in a manner similar to those who were left to their own devices in Kissi Teng, when this crisis first broke.
Dr Khan has last evening [22 Jul 2014] been moved to the Kailahun Ebola center built and operated by the international NGO [non governmental organisation], Medecins Sans Frontieres. There have been widespread ironical comments over the move of the infected medical doctor from Kenema to Kailahun. It could be recalled there were vehement protests against the move of EVD patients from the remote epicenter of Kissi Teng, Kailahun to Kenema, which is a metropolitan city. Those protests had been met with government's insistence that it was only in Kenema that EVD patients could be effectively treated.
The opponents of the Kailahun to Kenema move had firmly insisted that, by international protocol, health facilities in the remote epicenter should have been instantly upgraded; with field hospital services speedily created on the very day the outbreak happened.
Less than 2 months after [that], we will today, 23 Jul 2014, have recorded over 500 laboratory confirmed, suspected and probable EVD cases in just Sierra Leone. No-one knows actual number of deaths from EVD in Sierra Leone. [Officially reported to WHO as of 20 Jul 2014 in [1] above: 454 cases (405 confirmed, 35 probable, and 14 suspected) and 219 deaths -- have there been 50 more cases reported since then? - Mod.JW]
Meanwhile, another eerie similarity to Kissi Teng happened over weekend [19-20 Jul 2014] in Freetown, when irate relatives of a suspected EVD patient forcibly removed her from the PCMH Cottage Hospital [in Freetown] and took her home out of fear she would be "killed" [see ProMED-mail archive 20140722.2626215]. This brought memories of what happened between 26-27 May 2014 when Health Ministry said Kailahun's Kissi Teng residents forcibly removed suspected EVD patients from health facilities and took them home. Back then, reports were that Kailahun residents had feared their loved ones would be "killed" by health workers. In reaction, those Kailahun residents had been described by Health Minister as 'gullible' people. It will now appear Freetown also has "gullible" people.
Religious leaders have now urged for prayers against a still-unfolding plague.
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map of Sierra Leone can be accessed at http://healthmap.org/promed/p/46. Sr.Tech.Ed.MJ]
******
[3] Sierra Leone: official report
Date: Thu 24 Jul 2014
Source: Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone via SUBMIT INFO tab at top of ProMED-mail home page [edited]
http://promedmail.org
Ebola [virus disease] outbreak update
-------------------------------------
As of today, 23 Jul 2014, we have 108 cumulative number of survivors, 427 confirmed Ebola virus disease [EVD] cases [including] 144 EVD confirmed deaths [estimated case fatality rate (CFR) 34 per cent]. 65 patients are currently admitted at the EVD treatment centers in Kenema and Kailahun.
The Ministry of Health and Sanitization and the World Health Organization have established a dedicated Ebola Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at the WHO Country Office in Freetown. The EOC is co-directed by the minister of health, Ms Miata Kargbo and the WHO representative for Sierra Leone, Dr Jacob Mufunda and consists of leaders and partners involved in our fight against EVD.
The EOC will serve as the Sierra Leone National Central Command and Control Center for Outbreak Response activities and meets every day. The EOC members under the leadership of the hon. minister of health and sanitation unanimously decided at the 22 Jul 2014 meeting that the following actions be effected immediately:
- That all new confirmed cases be admitted at the Treatment Center in Kailahun while the Ministry and its partners work on relocating the Treatment Center in Kenema out of the Kenema Government Hospital premise to another location as requested by health workers and the people of Kenema.
- The existing patients at the treatment center in Kenema continue to be cared for at that center with enhanced Infection Prevention Control and nursing care.
- More health personnel be trained in Infection Prevention Control and nursing care.
- Tulane University to stop ebolavirus testing during the current EVD outbreak.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to officially send their findings and recommendations from the assessment of the laboratory and treatment center in Kenema.
- Ministry of Health and Sanitation to proceed with the procurement of 3 vehicles currently in country for contact tracing and surveillance.
The EOC wishes the general public and all partners working in the healthcare sector to know that Dr Shiekh Umar Khan is still alive and responding to treatment, contrary to social media report of his demise.
--
Sidie Yahya Tunis
Director, Information Communication Technology (ICT)
Ministry of Health and Sanitation
Sierra Leone
<tunis@health.gov.sl>
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[4] Liberia: shortage of PPE
Date: Thu 24 Jul 2014
Source: AllAfrica, The New Dawn (Monrovia) [edited]
http://allafrica.com/stories/201407241076.html
Liberia: Ebola strikes doctor at Phebe
--------------------------------------
A doctor at the Phebe Hospital in Bong County has been tested positive for the deadly Ebola virus disease [EVD], barely a month after a head doctor at the Redemption Hospital in the Borough of New Kru Town died of the disease at the John F Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Monrovia.
The doctor, whose name has not been disclosed was transferred to Monrovia along with 4 nurses, 3 of whom died yesterday [23 Jul 2014]. The doctor and nurses were said to have come in contact with an EVD patient from Lofa County, who had earlier told health workers at the hospital that she resides in Gbarnga, Bong County.
The doctor is being quarantined by health authorities for additional days to monitor his status. The latest incident from the Phebe Hospital has increased panic among health workers, with many of them expressing fear for their lives on the job. In Monrovia, several hospitals have shut their doors to the public, including Redemption Hospital and the James Davies Memorial Hospital in Nee-Zoe community, Paynesville after nurses and doctors refused to report for work.
Lack of PPE (personal protective equipment)
-------------------------------------------
Health workers [in Liberia] lack protective garments to handle suspected EVD patients, so much so that several nurses have contracted the virus while attending to patients and subsequently died of the disease. The government of Liberia has complained of lack of funds to equip health facilities across the country with protective garments for health workers.
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map of Liberia can be accessed at http://healthmap.org/promed/p/54 . Sr.Tech.Ed.MJ]
******
[5] Liberia: protests
Date: Thu 24 Jul 2014
Source: AllAfrica, FrontPageAfrica (Monrovia) [edited]
http://allafrica.com/stories/2014072410 ... ?viewall=1
Man sets Liberia's Health Ministry ablaze
-----------------------------------------
What seemed an unprecedented form of protest against the Liberian government's handling of the deadly Ebola virus disease erupted on Wednesday [23 Jul 2014] when a Liberian man set the conference room at the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in Congo Town on fire in the early afternoon. Workers at the ministry were constrained to use a ladder to burst open the glass windows of the conference room when they saw the smoke, which billowed out of the building, which saved the entire building, restricting the fire to only the conference room.
The Liberia Fire Service arrived after the health ministry employees had already put out the fire and made a citizen arrest of the culprit. The situation saw many employees running for their lives and it brought a halt to normal working activities at the Health Ministry. Reports gathered by FrontPageAfrica indicate that [the man] has been engaging the Health Ministry, informing them that his 14 year old relative died as a result of the deadly Ebola virus.
Eyewitnesses, some whom work at the ministry say the aggrieved Liberian who called the fire 'A miracle' said he wanted to set the entire building ablaze because he blames the lack of doctors and nurses at major government hospitals to cater to his sick relative as what led to the relative's death.
Health minister Dr Walter Gwenigale said "I came out I saw a group of people standing over a young man, whom they say confessed that he started the fire because a relative of his died of EVD and nobody paid attention to him, that's all I know," said Dr Gwenigale. "The offices are okay, it is the conference room here, where we can have the major conferences, that actually burned completely and is destroyed" [he said].
The man is the 1st Liberian to publicly protest the government's handling of the disease in this manner since the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus disease, which has now caused 50 confirmed deaths and over 100 cases. The suspect was quickly arrested by health ministry employees and turned over to the Liberia National Police.
Protest from ELWA residents
---------------------------
As the fire raged in the conference room at the health ministry, a sizeable number of residents from Kpelleh Town and surrounding communities in the ELWA [Eternal Love Winning Africa] area blocked the main entrance of the ELWA compound housing the ELWA hospital to protest against the establishment of an EVD isolation center in the area. A resident expressed fear over the setting up of the EVD isolation center because they say it could lead to infecting people living in that area with the ebolavirus.
[byline: Wade CL Williams]
[Photo of Ministry of Health, Liberia:
http://www.myworldshots.com/p1/m/Liberi ... -13150.jpg. - Mod.JW]
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[From Sierra Leone comes the bad news that 2 more local doctors have been infected, including Dr Sheik Umar Khan who last evening, 22 Jul 2014, the Ministry of Health said had been confirmed positive for EVD. Dr Khan is the specialist doctor in charge of the Ebola Unit in Kenema Government Hospital. Hopefully, given the excellent clinical care of MSF, they will be among the survivors. The latest WHO figures in [1] above show that in Sierra Leone, half the EVD patients survive (according to Serra Leone's figures in [4] above, 2/3 survive). It would be good if Guinea could bring their 25 per cent survival rate up to at least that level.
The news media in Sierra Leone appear to understand the EVD situation very well, but there is obviously still a lot of misinformation among the public, even at high levels.
From Liberia, there is a disturbing report of a violent protest action.
2 things are urgently needed in the 3 EVD-infected countries:
- better communication with the public about the risk of infection, and
- more PPE (personal protective equipment).
There is absolutely NO NEED for health workers to continue dying from treating EVD patients. - Mod.JW]
-
Birgitt
- Moderator
- Beiträge: 35219
- Registriert: Di 2. Aug 2005, 22:52
- Wohnort: NRW / Südl. Rheinland
- Kontaktdaten:
Verdacht auf Ebola-Fieber in Nigeria
Nigeria: Verdacht auf ersten Ebola-Fall in MillionenstadtIn Nigerias größter Stadt Lagos leben rund zehn Millionen Menschen. Wie die Nachrichtenagentur Reuters meldet, wird dort derzeit ein 40-jähriger Mann auf das lebensgefährliche Ebola-Virus getestet. Fällt der Test positiv aus, wäre es der erste Fall einer Ebola-Erkrankung im westafrikanischen Staat Nigeria [...] Demnach stehen 30 weitere Personen, mit denen der Mann Kontakt hatte, im Verdacht, sich möglicherweise mit dem Virus infiziert zu haben.
24.07.2014 - Spiegel
Gruß
Birgitt
-
Birgitt
- Moderator
- Beiträge: 35219
- Registriert: Di 2. Aug 2005, 22:52
- Wohnort: NRW / Südl. Rheinland
- Kontaktdaten:
Ebola-Fieber in Westafrika
EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE - WEST AFRICA (100): COTE D'IVOIRE ALERT, TANZANIA PREVENTION
*********************************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
In this posting:
[1] Cote d'Ivoire: alert
[2] Tanzania: prevention
[3] Nigeria: update
******
[1] Cote d'Ivoire: alert
Date: Thu 24 Jul 2014
Source: Afriquinfos, Xinhua News Agency report [in French, machine transl., edited]
http://www.afriquinfos.com/articles/201 ... 260060.asp
A suspected case of Ebola [virus disease, EVD] was recorded in a village bordering Liberia with the Ivory Coast, said the Ivorian Ministry of Health on Wednesday [23 Jul 2014] in Abidjan, calling on Ivorians to be vigilant against "a very high risk" of disease spread. "A suspected case of EVD was recorded in a village in Liberia which borders Cote d'Ivoire," the ministry said in a statement.
The department is asking people in border villages in Liberia and Guinea, where the virus occurs, to "remain vigilant" against the "very high risk" of spreading the disease. He calls on them to inform emergency health services of any issue of "general signs of EVD including fever [with] headache and bleeding."
The Ivorian government recently expelled 400 of its nationals from Liberia, who wanted to return home with UNHCR [UN High Commissioner for Refugees] assistance under the voluntary return of refugees from the post-election crisis of 2010-2011.
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail rapporteur Mary Marshall
******
[2] Tanzania: prevention
Date: Thu 24 Jul 2014
Source: IPP Media, The Guardian report, Tanzania [edited]
http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=70283
Ministry deserves kudos for Ebola preparedness
----------------------------------------------
At least assurance has been made by the [Tanzania] Health and Social Welfare ministry that it is taking all necessary measures to see that Ebola [virus disease, EVD], the deadly disease that has recently killed many West Africans, does not wreck havoc if it happens to creep into the country.
Although no patient has been diagnosed with the disease [in Tanzania], we are informed that the government has set up response centres across the country and has also dispatched, among other things, materials and equipment to all regional medical officers (RMOs) to ensure efficient detection and response. As for Dar es Salaam, Amana Hospital with about 350 workers of various cadres, has been closed and will now serve as an EVD response centre.
Besides, the ministry has already sent instructions to all RMOs and equipped them with detailed information on the disease's symptoms and ways to go about tackling it. It has gone further by making available protective gear to all physicians to protect themselves from the disease when attending to the patients. Working with epidemiologists, the government is now conducting screening sessions at all points of entry to the country including land, sea and airports.
We are told that EVD is the human disease caused by the ebolavirus contracted when one comes into contact with infected body fluid. Scientists say the symptoms start showing from the 1st day up to 3 weeks after contracting the virus with a fever, throat and muscle pains as well as headache following thereafter. There is then nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, along with decreased functioning of liver and kidneys. At this point, some people begin to have problems with bleeding, which is associated with hemorrhagic fever.
EVD has no cure, and patients can only be treated for blood and water loss. This means that [many] of the people who suffer from it die automatically. In tackling the Ebola menace, we believe, the ministry has given us enough information about the disease and the ways to identify it in case it happens to creep into the country. God forbid! It is for this reason that we commend it for the measures so far taken. It is upon us to be alert and ensure that the epidemic does not find a way in.
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[3] Nigeria: update
Date: Thu Jul 24 2014
From: Oyewale Tomori <oyewaletomori@yahoo.com> [edited]
Cross-posted from <nigerianbiomedicalandlifescientists@yahoogroups.co.uk>
As at 5:30 pm Nigerian time today, 24 Jul 2014, what we have is a laboratory result indicating possible infection with a filovirus, the family to which ebolaviruses belong. This is still awaiting confirmation from another laboratory, [expected] any time from now.
However, with the case arriving from Liberia and reportedly sick before leaving for Nigeria, current evidence points to a possible imported Ebola virus disease case. The steps taken by the government are the right ones.
Let me also say that the discovery of the suspected case was fortuitous, that is, through luck and chance, certainly not because of our preparedness. It was reported that the case, already sick from Liberia, collapsed or slumped soon upon arrival on an ASKY flight in Lagos. By now we should have traced all the contacts on the plane, at the airport and wherever the case was taken to. We thank God for luck and chance.
--
Oyewale Tomori
<oyewaletomori@yahoo.com>
[I am afraid there is no way to "ensure that the epidemic does not find a way in" to any country. The answer is to place the suspected case in an isolation ward while being tested, and wear full PPE (personal protective equipment) when touching the patient.
ASKY airlines (http://www.flyasky.com/asky) flies from Freetown, Sierra Leone to:
Abidjan, Abuja and Lagos, Nigeria
Accra, Ghana
Bamako, Mali
Bangui, Central African Republic
Brazzaville, Congo Rep.
Cotonou, Benin
Dakar, Senegal
Douala, Cameroun
Kinshasa, Congo DR
Libreville, Gabon
(see map at http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/coun ... africa.jpg)
All those airports now need to check the health of passengers arriving with Liberian passports (or identification as nationals) of the 3 affected countries, and the nationalities of patients hospitalized with severe fevers within 3 weeks of arrival from them. What a job! - Mod.JW]
*********************************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
In this posting:
[1] Cote d'Ivoire: alert
[2] Tanzania: prevention
[3] Nigeria: update
******
[1] Cote d'Ivoire: alert
Date: Thu 24 Jul 2014
Source: Afriquinfos, Xinhua News Agency report [in French, machine transl., edited]
http://www.afriquinfos.com/articles/201 ... 260060.asp
A suspected case of Ebola [virus disease, EVD] was recorded in a village bordering Liberia with the Ivory Coast, said the Ivorian Ministry of Health on Wednesday [23 Jul 2014] in Abidjan, calling on Ivorians to be vigilant against "a very high risk" of disease spread. "A suspected case of EVD was recorded in a village in Liberia which borders Cote d'Ivoire," the ministry said in a statement.
The department is asking people in border villages in Liberia and Guinea, where the virus occurs, to "remain vigilant" against the "very high risk" of spreading the disease. He calls on them to inform emergency health services of any issue of "general signs of EVD including fever [with] headache and bleeding."
The Ivorian government recently expelled 400 of its nationals from Liberia, who wanted to return home with UNHCR [UN High Commissioner for Refugees] assistance under the voluntary return of refugees from the post-election crisis of 2010-2011.
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail rapporteur Mary Marshall
******
[2] Tanzania: prevention
Date: Thu 24 Jul 2014
Source: IPP Media, The Guardian report, Tanzania [edited]
http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=70283
Ministry deserves kudos for Ebola preparedness
----------------------------------------------
At least assurance has been made by the [Tanzania] Health and Social Welfare ministry that it is taking all necessary measures to see that Ebola [virus disease, EVD], the deadly disease that has recently killed many West Africans, does not wreck havoc if it happens to creep into the country.
Although no patient has been diagnosed with the disease [in Tanzania], we are informed that the government has set up response centres across the country and has also dispatched, among other things, materials and equipment to all regional medical officers (RMOs) to ensure efficient detection and response. As for Dar es Salaam, Amana Hospital with about 350 workers of various cadres, has been closed and will now serve as an EVD response centre.
Besides, the ministry has already sent instructions to all RMOs and equipped them with detailed information on the disease's symptoms and ways to go about tackling it. It has gone further by making available protective gear to all physicians to protect themselves from the disease when attending to the patients. Working with epidemiologists, the government is now conducting screening sessions at all points of entry to the country including land, sea and airports.
We are told that EVD is the human disease caused by the ebolavirus contracted when one comes into contact with infected body fluid. Scientists say the symptoms start showing from the 1st day up to 3 weeks after contracting the virus with a fever, throat and muscle pains as well as headache following thereafter. There is then nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, along with decreased functioning of liver and kidneys. At this point, some people begin to have problems with bleeding, which is associated with hemorrhagic fever.
EVD has no cure, and patients can only be treated for blood and water loss. This means that [many] of the people who suffer from it die automatically. In tackling the Ebola menace, we believe, the ministry has given us enough information about the disease and the ways to identify it in case it happens to creep into the country. God forbid! It is for this reason that we commend it for the measures so far taken. It is upon us to be alert and ensure that the epidemic does not find a way in.
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[3] Nigeria: update
Date: Thu Jul 24 2014
From: Oyewale Tomori <oyewaletomori@yahoo.com> [edited]
Cross-posted from <nigerianbiomedicalandlifescientists@yahoogroups.co.uk>
As at 5:30 pm Nigerian time today, 24 Jul 2014, what we have is a laboratory result indicating possible infection with a filovirus, the family to which ebolaviruses belong. This is still awaiting confirmation from another laboratory, [expected] any time from now.
However, with the case arriving from Liberia and reportedly sick before leaving for Nigeria, current evidence points to a possible imported Ebola virus disease case. The steps taken by the government are the right ones.
Let me also say that the discovery of the suspected case was fortuitous, that is, through luck and chance, certainly not because of our preparedness. It was reported that the case, already sick from Liberia, collapsed or slumped soon upon arrival on an ASKY flight in Lagos. By now we should have traced all the contacts on the plane, at the airport and wherever the case was taken to. We thank God for luck and chance.
--
Oyewale Tomori
<oyewaletomori@yahoo.com>
[I am afraid there is no way to "ensure that the epidemic does not find a way in" to any country. The answer is to place the suspected case in an isolation ward while being tested, and wear full PPE (personal protective equipment) when touching the patient.
ASKY airlines (http://www.flyasky.com/asky) flies from Freetown, Sierra Leone to:
Abidjan, Abuja and Lagos, Nigeria
Accra, Ghana
Bamako, Mali
Bangui, Central African Republic
Brazzaville, Congo Rep.
Cotonou, Benin
Dakar, Senegal
Douala, Cameroun
Kinshasa, Congo DR
Libreville, Gabon
(see map at http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/coun ... africa.jpg)
All those airports now need to check the health of passengers arriving with Liberian passports (or identification as nationals) of the 3 affected countries, and the nationalities of patients hospitalized with severe fevers within 3 weeks of arrival from them. What a job! - Mod.JW]
-
Birgitt
- Moderator
- Beiträge: 35219
- Registriert: Di 2. Aug 2005, 22:52
- Wohnort: NRW / Südl. Rheinland
- Kontaktdaten:
Ebola-Fieber in Westafrika
EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE - WEST AFRICA (101): NIGERIA ex LIBERIA, WHO, SIERRA LEONE
******************************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
In this posting:
[1] Nigeria: 1st case, ex Liberia, fatal
[2] Sierra Leone: WHO regional director visit
[3] Sierra Leone: official
[4] Sierra Leone: lost contacts
[5] Protective suit limitations
******
[1] Nigeria: 1st case, ex Liberia, fatal
Date: Fri 25 Jul 2014
Source: AP [edited]
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/nigeria- ... bola-death
Nigeria confirms 1st Ebola death
--------------------------------
West Africa's current Ebola outbreak has spread to a 4th country, after a Liberian man vomited and had diarrhea and a high fever on an airplane to Nigeria. As soon as the plane landed on Tuesday [22 Jul 2014], the 40 year old Liberian was moved into an isolation ward and he died on Friday [25 Jul 2014]. It is the 1st case of Ebola to be confirmed in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, since the current outbreak began in West Africa earlier this year [2014], according to Nigerian health minister Onyebuchi Chukwu.
"All ports of entry into Nigeria, including airports, seaports and land boarders, are placed on red alert," he said. "Ministry of Health specialists have been positioned in all entry points. Active surveillance has also been stepped up." Authorities are currently investigating all persons who may have come into contact with the deceased, said Chukwu. "We have already got in touch with all the passengers," he said. "We are monitoring and investigating."
The man, a Liberian government official, arrived in Nigeria on Tuesday [22 Jul 2014] to attend an international conference and died early Friday [25 Jul 2014]. Blood tests for ebolavirus returned positive from the Lagos University Teaching Hospital later in the day. Ebola, one of the world's most deadly and contagious diseases, has killed at least 660 and infected 1093 in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and now Nigeria, according to the World Health Organization.
[byline: Heather Murdock]
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[2] Sierra Leone: WHO regional director visit
Date: Wed 23 Jul 2014
Source: WHO press release [edited]
http://www.afro.who.int/en/media-centre ... ssion.html
WHO urges Sierra Leone's president to boost community engagement to stop Ebola transmission
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The World Health Organization's regional director for Africa Dr Luis Sambo continued his visit to the 3 West African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. On the 2nd leg of his visit, the regional director arrived in Sierra Leone on Tuesday, 22 Jul 2014, to get more insight, review current outbreak response and challenges, and explore the best ways to rapidly contain the Ebola virus disease [EVD] outbreak in West Africa. Dr Sambo held a series of high level official meetings with the president of Sierra Leone HE Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, the Inter-ministerial Taskforce on Ebola comprising of strategic cabinet ministers, donor partners, the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC), and the United Nations Country Team, respectively.
President Koroma, during his meeting with Dr Sambo, thanked WHO and the international community for their continued support prior to and during the outbreak. He expressed concerns over the continued outbreak of EVD in the country and called on WHO and partners to strengthen their support to contain the disease. Furthermore, he requested international support to train national staff to be deployed in the field, noting that this is the 1st time the country is experiencing the EVD outbreak.
Addressing the head of state, Dr Sambo appreciated the president's leadership and called for urgent government action to engage communities for behaviour change at the household level to stop the emergence of new cases of infection. He also expressed concerns about the significant number of health workers that have been infected with EVD and the need for continued training and mentoring of staff, especially on matters of infection prevention and control. The regional director assured the president of the commitment from the WHO director general and staff to articulate the international partnership to contain the outbreak in Sierra Leone.
In his meeting with development partners including donors and UN agencies, Dr Sambo informed his audience about the challenges being experienced in controlling the ongoing epidemic. He encouraged them to pool their resources to stop the transmission and "get the number of new infections to zero," he added. Responding to Dr Sambo, the partners pledged their commitment and suggested ways of improving the national response. Furthermore, they requested the urgent finalization of the Accelerated National Ebola Response Plan.
Sierra Leone declared the confirmation of the 1st case of EVD on 25 May 2014. As of 23 Jul 2014, a total of 427 cases have been confirmed positive for EVD and 144 confirmed deaths in 7 districts. WHO continues to provide support to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Sierra Leone in all areas of the response.
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[3] Sierra Leone: official
Date: Thu 24 Jul 2014
Source: Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone [edited]
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ministry ... 4805403702
Ebola outbreak update
---------------------
As of today, 24 Jul 2014, we have 108 cumulative number of survivors, 435 confirmed Ebola cases and 146 Ebola confirmed deaths. 65 patients are currently admitted at the Ebola treatment centers in Kenema and Kailahun.
The Ministry of Health and Sanitization and the World Health Organization have established a dedicated Ebola Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at the WHO Country Office in Freetown. The EOC is co-directed by the minister of health, Ms Miata Kargbo, and the WHO representative for Sierra Leone, Dr Jacob Mufunda, and consists of leaders and partners involved in our fight against Ebola.
The EOC will serve as the Sierra Leone national central command and control center for outbreak response activities, and meets every day. The EOC members, under the leadership of the honourable minister of health and sanitation, unanimously decided at the 24 Jul 2014 meeting that the following actions be effected immediately:
- all district medical officers constitute 2 burial teams of 7 members per burial team in their respective districts;
- the regional training for burial teams be completed this weekend (Friday and Saturday [25-26 Jul 2014]) in Bo;
- more health personnel be trained in infection prevention control by MSF [Medecins sans Frontieres] in Kailahun, and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation to provide the finance to support the training;
- all districts to establish EOCs to be chaired by the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and be co-chaired by WHO or the major partner operating in their respective district recommended by WHO.
The EOC wishes the general public and all partners working in the healthcare sector to know that Dr Sheik Umar Khan is still alive and responding to treatment, contrary to social media reports of his demise.
--
communicated by:
Sidie Yahya Tunis
Director, Information Communication Technology (ICT)
Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone
<tunis@health.gov.sl>
******
[4] Sierra Leone: lost contacts
Date: Fri 25 Jul 2014
Source: Reuters [edited]
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/ ... DB20140725
Sierra Leone officials appealed for help on Friday [25 Jul 2014] to trace the 1st known resident in the capital with Ebola virus disease [EVD] whose family forcibly removed her from a Freetown hospital after testing positive for the deadly disease.
Radio stations in Freetown, a city of around 1 million inhabitants, broadcast the appeal on Friday [25 Jul 2014] to locate a woman who tested positive for the disease that has killed 660 people across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since an outbreak was 1st identified in February [2014]. "SK of 25 Old Railway Line, Brima Lane, Wellington," the announcement said. "She is a positive case and her being out there is a risk to all. We need the public to help us locate her."
SK, 32, a resident of the densely populated Wellington neighborhood, had been admitted to an isolation ward while blood samples were tested for the virus, health ministry spokesman Sidi Yahya Tunis said. The results came back on Thursday [24 Jul 2014]. "The family of the patient stormed the hospital and forcefully removed her and took her away," Tunis said. "We are searching for her."
Fighting one of the world's deadliest diseases is straining the region's weak health systems, while a lack of information and suspicion of medical staff has led many to shun treatment.
Dozens unaccounted for
----------------------
Earlier this year [2014], a man in Freetown tested positive for EVD, although he is believed to have caught it elsewhere.
According to health ministry data and officials, dozens of people confirmed by laboratory tests to have EVD are now unaccounted for in Sierra Leone, where the majority of cases have been recorded in the country's east. While international medical organizations have deployed experts to the field in an attempt to contain the outbreak, WHO said poor health infrastructure and a lack of manpower were hindering their efforts. "We're seeing many of these facilities simply don't have enough people to provide the constant level of care needed," WHO spokesman Paul Garwood told a news briefing in Geneva on Friday [25 Jul 2014].
The West African outbreak is the 1st time that EVD, which was 1st discovered in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976, has appeared in heavily populated urban areas and international travel hubs. Cases have already been confirmed in Conakry and Monrovia, the capital cities of Guinea and Liberia.
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail rapporteur Mary Marshall
******
[5] Protective suit limitations
Date: Thu 24 Jul 2014
Source: Daily Kos [edited]
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/2 ... atching-it#
[Photo: health care worker in Kailahun, Sierra Leone wearing protective gear includes goggles and head to toe covering, as well as gloves and boots (http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/07 ... s6-c30.jpg).]
Tommy Trenchard of NPR [National Public Radio, USA] asks, "This suit keeps Ebola out -- so how can a health worker catch it?" ( In response to my article yesterday, "Dr Sheik Umar Khan, Sierra Leone's top Ebola doctor, contracts virus after treating 100 patients" (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/2 ... 0-patients), many have asked, "how could this happen, even though he was taking all the recommended precautions?"
Dr Khan is just one of dozens of health workers who have become infected with the virus while caring for patients even while wearing protective gear called PPE, personal protective equipment. Caring for patients requires much contact, and any exposure to bodily fluids of an infected patient can transmit the virus, so this includes vomit, blood, sweat, mucus, diarrhea, semen, spit, etc.
Dr Khan has said, "Even with the full protective clothing you put on, you are at risk." Taking these suits off safely after exposure is not easy, and health workers are also vulnerable to needle sticks and other exposures such as with blood samples, hospital equipment, and laboratory tests.
Tommy Tranchard spoke with Armand Sprecher of MSF, Medecins Sans Frontieres, known also in English as Doctors Without Borders, about the PPE. The yellow suit that MSF uses is [made of] a woven plastic fiber. And they throw a laminate on it. It's very impervious to fluid. But to work, it has to be used in conjunction with a set of behaviors and procedures.... The presumed way you get sick is virus gets into a mucus membrane inside your mouth, nose or eyes. If you were very, very good about keeping your hands off your face, you could probably get away with more exposed skin above the neck. But we like to cover health workers] from the neck up. So when the hand goes to the face in an unconscious movement, it doesn't touch anything.
"31 clinicians and 48 staff touched their T-zones (eyes, nose, and mouth) a mean of 19 times in 2 hours (range, 0-105 times); clinicians did so significantly less often than staff." ref: Elder NC, Sawyer W, Pallerla H, Khaja S, Blacker M. Hand hygiene and face touching in family medicine offices: a Cincinnati Area Research and Improvement Group (CARInG) network study. J Am Board Fam Med. 2014 May-Jun;27(3):339-46. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2014.03.130242.]
Although in slang, Africans apparently often call these "moon suits", the ones pictured here and used in the field fall far short of the "moon suits" used in Biosecurity Level 4 labs, which are airtight, have their own air supply, and are kept at a positive pressure.
Another issue with the suits is that because they are fluid-resistant they are also air-resistant, and they become uncomfortable in the African heat. Sprecher says, "It's hotter than hell. You're unable to wear the PPE for more than 30 or 40 minutes in tropical heat."
Trenchard also asks Armand Sprecher how the West African medical community is reacting to the news of Dr Khan's infection. "It's shaking things up. A lot of people know Dr Khan.... He took great pleasure in his work and brought an infectious enthusiasm." Please get well soon, Dr Khan. We need you back in the field leading efforts to treat patients and contain this virus. Our prayers and best wishes go out to Dr Khan, and all those afflicted with the Ebola virus, and all of the people of Western Africa who are struggling to stop this terrible outbreak. We also thank all of the courageous health workers of the MSF and WHO who are working on the front lines of this important viral battle to keep us safe.
[byline: "HoundDog"]
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[The 1st imported case to a country outside the 3-country region, Nigeria, has been confirmed in Lagos, the country's commercial capital and a mega-city of 21 million people. Unfortunately, it is likely that there will be more. This case never left the airport, but must have had close contact with many people there who have travelled into the city.
There is an updated map of the situation before this case, with graphs showing the epidemic curves in the 3 countries, from the NGO Samaritan's Purse, at http://reliefweb.int/map/liberia/ebola- ... -24-update. It shows that Guinea-Bissau, across the north western border of Guinea, must also be at risk.
Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are among the poorest, least governed states in the world. About half of the nations' adults are illiterate. In 2011, the government of Guinea spent on average USD 7 per capita on health. In Liberia, the government spends USD 18 per capita on health. In Sierra Leone, the government spent USD 13 per capita last year (2013) on health (ref: Garrett L. http://www.kspr.com/news/nationworld/ga ... 6_27130872). - Mod.JW
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/46.]
******************************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
In this posting:
[1] Nigeria: 1st case, ex Liberia, fatal
[2] Sierra Leone: WHO regional director visit
[3] Sierra Leone: official
[4] Sierra Leone: lost contacts
[5] Protective suit limitations
******
[1] Nigeria: 1st case, ex Liberia, fatal
Date: Fri 25 Jul 2014
Source: AP [edited]
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/nigeria- ... bola-death
Nigeria confirms 1st Ebola death
--------------------------------
West Africa's current Ebola outbreak has spread to a 4th country, after a Liberian man vomited and had diarrhea and a high fever on an airplane to Nigeria. As soon as the plane landed on Tuesday [22 Jul 2014], the 40 year old Liberian was moved into an isolation ward and he died on Friday [25 Jul 2014]. It is the 1st case of Ebola to be confirmed in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, since the current outbreak began in West Africa earlier this year [2014], according to Nigerian health minister Onyebuchi Chukwu.
"All ports of entry into Nigeria, including airports, seaports and land boarders, are placed on red alert," he said. "Ministry of Health specialists have been positioned in all entry points. Active surveillance has also been stepped up." Authorities are currently investigating all persons who may have come into contact with the deceased, said Chukwu. "We have already got in touch with all the passengers," he said. "We are monitoring and investigating."
The man, a Liberian government official, arrived in Nigeria on Tuesday [22 Jul 2014] to attend an international conference and died early Friday [25 Jul 2014]. Blood tests for ebolavirus returned positive from the Lagos University Teaching Hospital later in the day. Ebola, one of the world's most deadly and contagious diseases, has killed at least 660 and infected 1093 in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and now Nigeria, according to the World Health Organization.
[byline: Heather Murdock]
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[2] Sierra Leone: WHO regional director visit
Date: Wed 23 Jul 2014
Source: WHO press release [edited]
http://www.afro.who.int/en/media-centre ... ssion.html
WHO urges Sierra Leone's president to boost community engagement to stop Ebola transmission
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The World Health Organization's regional director for Africa Dr Luis Sambo continued his visit to the 3 West African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. On the 2nd leg of his visit, the regional director arrived in Sierra Leone on Tuesday, 22 Jul 2014, to get more insight, review current outbreak response and challenges, and explore the best ways to rapidly contain the Ebola virus disease [EVD] outbreak in West Africa. Dr Sambo held a series of high level official meetings with the president of Sierra Leone HE Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, the Inter-ministerial Taskforce on Ebola comprising of strategic cabinet ministers, donor partners, the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC), and the United Nations Country Team, respectively.
President Koroma, during his meeting with Dr Sambo, thanked WHO and the international community for their continued support prior to and during the outbreak. He expressed concerns over the continued outbreak of EVD in the country and called on WHO and partners to strengthen their support to contain the disease. Furthermore, he requested international support to train national staff to be deployed in the field, noting that this is the 1st time the country is experiencing the EVD outbreak.
Addressing the head of state, Dr Sambo appreciated the president's leadership and called for urgent government action to engage communities for behaviour change at the household level to stop the emergence of new cases of infection. He also expressed concerns about the significant number of health workers that have been infected with EVD and the need for continued training and mentoring of staff, especially on matters of infection prevention and control. The regional director assured the president of the commitment from the WHO director general and staff to articulate the international partnership to contain the outbreak in Sierra Leone.
In his meeting with development partners including donors and UN agencies, Dr Sambo informed his audience about the challenges being experienced in controlling the ongoing epidemic. He encouraged them to pool their resources to stop the transmission and "get the number of new infections to zero," he added. Responding to Dr Sambo, the partners pledged their commitment and suggested ways of improving the national response. Furthermore, they requested the urgent finalization of the Accelerated National Ebola Response Plan.
Sierra Leone declared the confirmation of the 1st case of EVD on 25 May 2014. As of 23 Jul 2014, a total of 427 cases have been confirmed positive for EVD and 144 confirmed deaths in 7 districts. WHO continues to provide support to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Sierra Leone in all areas of the response.
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[3] Sierra Leone: official
Date: Thu 24 Jul 2014
Source: Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone [edited]
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ministry ... 4805403702
Ebola outbreak update
---------------------
As of today, 24 Jul 2014, we have 108 cumulative number of survivors, 435 confirmed Ebola cases and 146 Ebola confirmed deaths. 65 patients are currently admitted at the Ebola treatment centers in Kenema and Kailahun.
The Ministry of Health and Sanitization and the World Health Organization have established a dedicated Ebola Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at the WHO Country Office in Freetown. The EOC is co-directed by the minister of health, Ms Miata Kargbo, and the WHO representative for Sierra Leone, Dr Jacob Mufunda, and consists of leaders and partners involved in our fight against Ebola.
The EOC will serve as the Sierra Leone national central command and control center for outbreak response activities, and meets every day. The EOC members, under the leadership of the honourable minister of health and sanitation, unanimously decided at the 24 Jul 2014 meeting that the following actions be effected immediately:
- all district medical officers constitute 2 burial teams of 7 members per burial team in their respective districts;
- the regional training for burial teams be completed this weekend (Friday and Saturday [25-26 Jul 2014]) in Bo;
- more health personnel be trained in infection prevention control by MSF [Medecins sans Frontieres] in Kailahun, and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation to provide the finance to support the training;
- all districts to establish EOCs to be chaired by the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and be co-chaired by WHO or the major partner operating in their respective district recommended by WHO.
The EOC wishes the general public and all partners working in the healthcare sector to know that Dr Sheik Umar Khan is still alive and responding to treatment, contrary to social media reports of his demise.
--
communicated by:
Sidie Yahya Tunis
Director, Information Communication Technology (ICT)
Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone
<tunis@health.gov.sl>
******
[4] Sierra Leone: lost contacts
Date: Fri 25 Jul 2014
Source: Reuters [edited]
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/ ... DB20140725
Sierra Leone officials appealed for help on Friday [25 Jul 2014] to trace the 1st known resident in the capital with Ebola virus disease [EVD] whose family forcibly removed her from a Freetown hospital after testing positive for the deadly disease.
Radio stations in Freetown, a city of around 1 million inhabitants, broadcast the appeal on Friday [25 Jul 2014] to locate a woman who tested positive for the disease that has killed 660 people across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since an outbreak was 1st identified in February [2014]. "SK of 25 Old Railway Line, Brima Lane, Wellington," the announcement said. "She is a positive case and her being out there is a risk to all. We need the public to help us locate her."
SK, 32, a resident of the densely populated Wellington neighborhood, had been admitted to an isolation ward while blood samples were tested for the virus, health ministry spokesman Sidi Yahya Tunis said. The results came back on Thursday [24 Jul 2014]. "The family of the patient stormed the hospital and forcefully removed her and took her away," Tunis said. "We are searching for her."
Fighting one of the world's deadliest diseases is straining the region's weak health systems, while a lack of information and suspicion of medical staff has led many to shun treatment.
Dozens unaccounted for
----------------------
Earlier this year [2014], a man in Freetown tested positive for EVD, although he is believed to have caught it elsewhere.
According to health ministry data and officials, dozens of people confirmed by laboratory tests to have EVD are now unaccounted for in Sierra Leone, where the majority of cases have been recorded in the country's east. While international medical organizations have deployed experts to the field in an attempt to contain the outbreak, WHO said poor health infrastructure and a lack of manpower were hindering their efforts. "We're seeing many of these facilities simply don't have enough people to provide the constant level of care needed," WHO spokesman Paul Garwood told a news briefing in Geneva on Friday [25 Jul 2014].
The West African outbreak is the 1st time that EVD, which was 1st discovered in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976, has appeared in heavily populated urban areas and international travel hubs. Cases have already been confirmed in Conakry and Monrovia, the capital cities of Guinea and Liberia.
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail rapporteur Mary Marshall
******
[5] Protective suit limitations
Date: Thu 24 Jul 2014
Source: Daily Kos [edited]
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/2 ... atching-it#
[Photo: health care worker in Kailahun, Sierra Leone wearing protective gear includes goggles and head to toe covering, as well as gloves and boots (http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/07 ... s6-c30.jpg).]
Tommy Trenchard of NPR [National Public Radio, USA] asks, "This suit keeps Ebola out -- so how can a health worker catch it?" ( In response to my article yesterday, "Dr Sheik Umar Khan, Sierra Leone's top Ebola doctor, contracts virus after treating 100 patients" (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/2 ... 0-patients), many have asked, "how could this happen, even though he was taking all the recommended precautions?"
Dr Khan is just one of dozens of health workers who have become infected with the virus while caring for patients even while wearing protective gear called PPE, personal protective equipment. Caring for patients requires much contact, and any exposure to bodily fluids of an infected patient can transmit the virus, so this includes vomit, blood, sweat, mucus, diarrhea, semen, spit, etc.
Dr Khan has said, "Even with the full protective clothing you put on, you are at risk." Taking these suits off safely after exposure is not easy, and health workers are also vulnerable to needle sticks and other exposures such as with blood samples, hospital equipment, and laboratory tests.
Tommy Tranchard spoke with Armand Sprecher of MSF, Medecins Sans Frontieres, known also in English as Doctors Without Borders, about the PPE. The yellow suit that MSF uses is [made of] a woven plastic fiber. And they throw a laminate on it. It's very impervious to fluid. But to work, it has to be used in conjunction with a set of behaviors and procedures.... The presumed way you get sick is virus gets into a mucus membrane inside your mouth, nose or eyes. If you were very, very good about keeping your hands off your face, you could probably get away with more exposed skin above the neck. But we like to cover health workers] from the neck up. So when the hand goes to the face in an unconscious movement, it doesn't touch anything.
"31 clinicians and 48 staff touched their T-zones (eyes, nose, and mouth) a mean of 19 times in 2 hours (range, 0-105 times); clinicians did so significantly less often than staff." ref: Elder NC, Sawyer W, Pallerla H, Khaja S, Blacker M. Hand hygiene and face touching in family medicine offices: a Cincinnati Area Research and Improvement Group (CARInG) network study. J Am Board Fam Med. 2014 May-Jun;27(3):339-46. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2014.03.130242.]
Although in slang, Africans apparently often call these "moon suits", the ones pictured here and used in the field fall far short of the "moon suits" used in Biosecurity Level 4 labs, which are airtight, have their own air supply, and are kept at a positive pressure.
Another issue with the suits is that because they are fluid-resistant they are also air-resistant, and they become uncomfortable in the African heat. Sprecher says, "It's hotter than hell. You're unable to wear the PPE for more than 30 or 40 minutes in tropical heat."
Trenchard also asks Armand Sprecher how the West African medical community is reacting to the news of Dr Khan's infection. "It's shaking things up. A lot of people know Dr Khan.... He took great pleasure in his work and brought an infectious enthusiasm." Please get well soon, Dr Khan. We need you back in the field leading efforts to treat patients and contain this virus. Our prayers and best wishes go out to Dr Khan, and all those afflicted with the Ebola virus, and all of the people of Western Africa who are struggling to stop this terrible outbreak. We also thank all of the courageous health workers of the MSF and WHO who are working on the front lines of this important viral battle to keep us safe.
[byline: "HoundDog"]
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[The 1st imported case to a country outside the 3-country region, Nigeria, has been confirmed in Lagos, the country's commercial capital and a mega-city of 21 million people. Unfortunately, it is likely that there will be more. This case never left the airport, but must have had close contact with many people there who have travelled into the city.
There is an updated map of the situation before this case, with graphs showing the epidemic curves in the 3 countries, from the NGO Samaritan's Purse, at http://reliefweb.int/map/liberia/ebola- ... -24-update. It shows that Guinea-Bissau, across the north western border of Guinea, must also be at risk.
Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are among the poorest, least governed states in the world. About half of the nations' adults are illiterate. In 2011, the government of Guinea spent on average USD 7 per capita on health. In Liberia, the government spends USD 18 per capita on health. In Sierra Leone, the government spent USD 13 per capita last year (2013) on health (ref: Garrett L. http://www.kspr.com/news/nationworld/ga ... 6_27130872). - Mod.JW
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/46.]
-
Birgitt
- Moderator
- Beiträge: 35219
- Registriert: Di 2. Aug 2005, 22:52
- Wohnort: NRW / Südl. Rheinland
- Kontaktdaten:
Ebola-Fieber in Westafrika
EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE - WEST AFRICA (102): NIGERIA, SIERRA LEONE, DRUGS, VACCINE
******************************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
In this posting:
[1] Nigeria: fatality
[2] Sierra Leone: official report
[3] Experimental drugs, vaccines
******
[1] Nigeria: fatality
Date: Fri 25 Jul 2014
Source: Linda Ikeji's Blog [edited]
http://lindaikeji.blogspot.co.uk/2014/0 ... virus.html
According to reports, [PS] died yesterday night [24 Jul 2014] at the First Consultant Medical Centre, Obalende, Lagos where he'd been receiving treatment. His condition was said to have worsened.
[PS], who was an official of the Liberian Ministry of Finance, arrived in Nigeria on [Sun 20 Jul 2014] for a conference.
--
Date: Sat 26 Jul 2014
From: Oyewale Tomori <oyewaletomori@yahoo.com> [edited]
Cross-posted from <nigerianbiomedicalandlifescientists@yahoogroups.co.uk>
To get to Obalende, Ikoyi from the airport, you have to pass through Ikeja, Yaba, Lagos, see http://mapq.st/1nrFW6L, and now it is essential that tracing all who had contact with the case is rapidly and efficiently done.
We are not out of the woods yet, until we cross the time covering exposure/contact and incubation period of the disease.
One aspect we miss out ...did the flight come direct from Liberia or were there stops on the way say Lome, etc.? And who had contact with [the Liberian]? We need to contact other countries where ASKY [Airlines] might have landed and is still landing. I hear also about other airlines -- Arik does direct Abuja-Monrovia-Freetown flights. So we must also mount our surveillance not only in Lagos, but also in Abuja, not forgetting the Idi-Iroko Seme border.
Another point which made me proud of this issue was the laboratory support within the country. The lab in LUTH [Lagos University Teaching Hospital] under Prof Omilabu received samples on 22 Jul 2014 and the next day provided results of a pan-filovirus-family diagnosis. Samples were also sent to Prof Happi's lab at the Redeemer's University late on 23 Jul 2014. The Happi team worked and tested for both pan-filovirus and specific Ebola-Zaire and Ebola-Sudan viruses, and early on 25 Jul 2014 confirmed the isolate as a strain of Ebola-Zaire. Later WHO sent samples to Dakar [Senegal, Institut Pasteur] and it was again confirmed as an Ebola-Zaire isolate. I hear the RUN lab will commence sequencing studies pretty soon. My congratulations to our colleagues in LUTH and RUN for a great job.
--
Prof Oyewale Tomori
The Lord's Cruse
Akobo, Ibadan 200222
PO Box 14232, UI Post Office, Ibadan 200284
Oyo State
Nigeria
<oyewaletomori@yahoo.com>
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[Nigerian health minister Onyebuchi Chukwu was reported as saying "We have already got in touch with all the passengers." See ProMED-mail archive 20140726.2636095.
With regard to this imported case in Lagos, Nigeria, "'The Liberian' was quarantined on arrival and had not entered the city, a Nigerian official told Reuters." (http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/ ... LE20140725. I misconstrued that statement in my comment on ProMED-mail post (101) archive no 20140726.2636095, to mean he never left the airport. However, he was quarantined at a hospital in Ikoyi and never "entered the city". Nevertheless, people who touched him at the airport and on the way to the hospital will have entered the city to go home.
Congratulations to Nigerian labs on their expertise! - Mod.JW
******
[2] Sierra Leone: official report
Date: Fri 25 Jul 2014
Source: Ministry of Health and Sanitation [MOHS], Sierra Leone via SUBMIT INFO tab at top of ProMED-mail home page [edited]
http://promedmail.org
Ebola [virus disease] outbreak update
-------------------------------------
As of today, 25 Jul 2014, we have a cumulative total of 116 survivors, 450 confirmed Ebola virus disease [EVD] cases and 152 Ebola confirmed deaths; 73 patients are currently admitted at the EVD treatment centers in Kenema and Kailahun.
His excellency the president of the republic of Sierra Leone, Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, today [25 Jul 2014] called an emergency DEPAC [emergency presidential development partnership committee] meeting of all development partners to discuss the current EVD outbreak in the country and to present them his government's new strategy to end the disease within the next 60 to 90 days. In that meeting, the president informed the partners of his government's decision to intensify activities and interventions in containing the disease and stopping its spread. The president further informed partners that he has established a presidential taskforce to serve as an oversight for all EVD implemented activities. The taskforce, which will be chaired by him, will comprise all cabinet ministers and key stakeholders directly dealing with activities geared towards stopping the spread of the disease in the country.
The EOC [Emergency Operations Center ] wishes the general public and all partners working in the healthcare sector to know that Dr Sheikh Umar Khan is still stable and responding well to treatment.
--
Sidie Yahya Tunis
Director, Information Communication Technology (ICT)
Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone
<tunis@health.gov.sl>
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[The full report may be seen on the MOHS Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ministry ... 4805403702.
I'm afraid the government of Sierra Leone is over-optimistic that it will be able to end the EVD epidemic in the next 2-3 months. Getting community cooperation is very difficult. Years ago, when I was in CDC, I tried to get the government of Puerto Rico to eliminate dengue from Puerto Rico by mobilizing the public to get rid of mosquito breeding on their properties, but was told by householders, "You gringos think we are stupid! Those worms wriggling in the rain barrel won't turn into mosquitoes!" They have had annual epidemics of dengue there every year since. - Mod.JW]
*******
[3] Experimental drugs, vaccines
Date: Wed 9 Jul 2014 [still very relevant]
Source: City News, Toronto, The Canadian Press report [edited]
http://www.citynews.ca/2014/07/09/ebola ... gs-experts
Ebola virus disease [EVD] outbreak not right for testing experimental vaccines, drugs: experts
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The largest Ebola outbreak in history is defying the containment efforts of affected countries and international response teams, leading to calls from some quarters to use experimental drugs or vaccines to try to stop the deadly virus. But a number of experts -- including the scientist who led the work on a Canadian-made Ebola vaccine -- say deploying untested tools in the current West African outbreak could be disastrous.
They say taking such a risky gamble could further erode local trust in the response teams, undermine their efforts, and even endanger them. And if anyone were to have a bad reaction to one of the experimental therapies, it could jeopardize years of expensive and painstaking work spent developing tools with which to fight Ebola and its cousin, the Marburgvirus. "I get emails basically every 2nd day from someone asking either 'Is there something that you're planning?' or 'Shouldn't you?' And I know I'm not the only one getting those emails," says Dr Heinz Feldmann, an ebolavirus expert who heads the laboratory of virology at the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana.
While most of these discussions are happening within scientific circles, the director of Britain's Wellcome Trust recently aired the issue publicly. Dr Jeremy Farrar, an infectious diseases expert, has questioned why the therapies that are furthest along in the developmental pipeline aren't being used. He suggests if this outbreak were occurring in the developed world, there would be no debate. "Imagine if you take a region of Canada, America, Europe, and you had 450 people dying of a viral hemorrhagic fever. It would just be unacceptable -- and it's unacceptable in West Africa," Farrar says.
He notes the Canadian-made Ebola vaccine -- a project Feldmann led a decade ago when he worked at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg -- was released under emergency use provisions in 2009 when a German researcher pricked herself with a needle containing ebolavirus. She survived, but it was never clear if it was because of the vaccine or because she was not infected. "We moved heaven and earth to help a German lab technician. Why is it different because this is West Africa?" Farrar asks.
A small community of researchers, mostly based in Canada and the USA, has been working for years on vaccines and drugs to protect against or treat these viruses, which are among the deadliest known to humankind. The viruses are transmitted through contact with bodily fluids. People caring for the dying -- or preparing their bodies for burial -- are often infected. With little to offer medically, the main job of response teams is to break the chains of transmission by figuring out who is infected and isolating them. But these efforts are often met with distrust. Rumours emerge that the Western doctors are harvesting organs; people hide cases or flee -- extending the range of the epidemic.
A number of vaccines are in various stages of development. Studies done in non-human primates suggest they could both prevent illness and improve survival chances [even] if given after infection. There are also a number of therapies in the works, including antibody combinations that look promising in animal testing. But the researchers have always been stymied by the challenges of getting regulatory approval for these interventions, which cannot follow the traditional pathways to licensure. Most drugs or vaccines can only make it to market once large scale studies show they are both safe and effective. But the only way the world will learn if ebolavirus and Marburgvirus vaccines and drugs work is by using them in an outbreak -- a reality rife with ethical concerns and logistical problems.
In the current context, with response teams struggling to gain the co-operation of fearful locals, word that experimental treatments were to be used could further exacerbate an already taxing situation, says Dr Armand Sprecher, of Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders). The organization warned recently that the outbreak was out of control and said it [MSF] was stretched to its limits. "I would hate to cause more problems than we solve in the short run," Sprecher says. "Right now people are at their wits end just to deliver the care that we're able to provide."
Dr David Heymann, a professor of infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, says after this outbreak is contained, the WHO, ebolavirus researchers, the countries they work in, and the countries which are prone to these epidemics need to sit down and plan how they will deploy and test these therapies the next time. They need to have the study protocols ready to be signed. "It would be unethical to roll it out now, in my opinion," says Heymann, a former assistant director general at the WHO and a member of the team that responded to the 1st Ebola virus disease outbreak in 1976. Feldmann agrees with Heymann's idea. Over the years he has been frustrated by the inability to get these needed tools approved. But he says he has been persuaded by friends working on the current response that using untested and unlicenced medical interventions now would be a mistake.
One was blunt about how badly awry such an effort could go. "He said 'Anything injectable would be a disaster.' He thinks the rumour that we're just spreading the disease is going to be out there before we even start," Feldmann says. "I think as bad as it sounds -- and I really don't feel good about saying this -- I have the feeling they have to find a way to end this one without (experimental) therapy."
[byline: Helen Branswell, Canadian Press]
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail rapporteur Mary Marshall
[It is unfortunate that it is not advisable to test experimental drugs and vaccines for ebolaviruses during this outbreak, but given the levels of fear and mistrust of both government and foreign intervention in the region, it is understandable. - Mod.JW]
******************************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
In this posting:
[1] Nigeria: fatality
[2] Sierra Leone: official report
[3] Experimental drugs, vaccines
******
[1] Nigeria: fatality
Date: Fri 25 Jul 2014
Source: Linda Ikeji's Blog [edited]
http://lindaikeji.blogspot.co.uk/2014/0 ... virus.html
According to reports, [PS] died yesterday night [24 Jul 2014] at the First Consultant Medical Centre, Obalende, Lagos where he'd been receiving treatment. His condition was said to have worsened.
[PS], who was an official of the Liberian Ministry of Finance, arrived in Nigeria on [Sun 20 Jul 2014] for a conference.
--
Date: Sat 26 Jul 2014
From: Oyewale Tomori <oyewaletomori@yahoo.com> [edited]
Cross-posted from <nigerianbiomedicalandlifescientists@yahoogroups.co.uk>
To get to Obalende, Ikoyi from the airport, you have to pass through Ikeja, Yaba, Lagos, see http://mapq.st/1nrFW6L, and now it is essential that tracing all who had contact with the case is rapidly and efficiently done.
We are not out of the woods yet, until we cross the time covering exposure/contact and incubation period of the disease.
One aspect we miss out ...did the flight come direct from Liberia or were there stops on the way say Lome, etc.? And who had contact with [the Liberian]? We need to contact other countries where ASKY [Airlines] might have landed and is still landing. I hear also about other airlines -- Arik does direct Abuja-Monrovia-Freetown flights. So we must also mount our surveillance not only in Lagos, but also in Abuja, not forgetting the Idi-Iroko Seme border.
Another point which made me proud of this issue was the laboratory support within the country. The lab in LUTH [Lagos University Teaching Hospital] under Prof Omilabu received samples on 22 Jul 2014 and the next day provided results of a pan-filovirus-family diagnosis. Samples were also sent to Prof Happi's lab at the Redeemer's University late on 23 Jul 2014. The Happi team worked and tested for both pan-filovirus and specific Ebola-Zaire and Ebola-Sudan viruses, and early on 25 Jul 2014 confirmed the isolate as a strain of Ebola-Zaire. Later WHO sent samples to Dakar [Senegal, Institut Pasteur] and it was again confirmed as an Ebola-Zaire isolate. I hear the RUN lab will commence sequencing studies pretty soon. My congratulations to our colleagues in LUTH and RUN for a great job.
--
Prof Oyewale Tomori
The Lord's Cruse
Akobo, Ibadan 200222
PO Box 14232, UI Post Office, Ibadan 200284
Oyo State
Nigeria
<oyewaletomori@yahoo.com>
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[Nigerian health minister Onyebuchi Chukwu was reported as saying "We have already got in touch with all the passengers." See ProMED-mail archive 20140726.2636095.
With regard to this imported case in Lagos, Nigeria, "'The Liberian' was quarantined on arrival and had not entered the city, a Nigerian official told Reuters." (http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/ ... LE20140725. I misconstrued that statement in my comment on ProMED-mail post (101) archive no 20140726.2636095, to mean he never left the airport. However, he was quarantined at a hospital in Ikoyi and never "entered the city". Nevertheless, people who touched him at the airport and on the way to the hospital will have entered the city to go home.
Congratulations to Nigerian labs on their expertise! - Mod.JW
******
[2] Sierra Leone: official report
Date: Fri 25 Jul 2014
Source: Ministry of Health and Sanitation [MOHS], Sierra Leone via SUBMIT INFO tab at top of ProMED-mail home page [edited]
http://promedmail.org
Ebola [virus disease] outbreak update
-------------------------------------
As of today, 25 Jul 2014, we have a cumulative total of 116 survivors, 450 confirmed Ebola virus disease [EVD] cases and 152 Ebola confirmed deaths; 73 patients are currently admitted at the EVD treatment centers in Kenema and Kailahun.
His excellency the president of the republic of Sierra Leone, Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, today [25 Jul 2014] called an emergency DEPAC [emergency presidential development partnership committee] meeting of all development partners to discuss the current EVD outbreak in the country and to present them his government's new strategy to end the disease within the next 60 to 90 days. In that meeting, the president informed the partners of his government's decision to intensify activities and interventions in containing the disease and stopping its spread. The president further informed partners that he has established a presidential taskforce to serve as an oversight for all EVD implemented activities. The taskforce, which will be chaired by him, will comprise all cabinet ministers and key stakeholders directly dealing with activities geared towards stopping the spread of the disease in the country.
The EOC [Emergency Operations Center ] wishes the general public and all partners working in the healthcare sector to know that Dr Sheikh Umar Khan is still stable and responding well to treatment.
--
Sidie Yahya Tunis
Director, Information Communication Technology (ICT)
Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone
<tunis@health.gov.sl>
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[The full report may be seen on the MOHS Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ministry ... 4805403702.
I'm afraid the government of Sierra Leone is over-optimistic that it will be able to end the EVD epidemic in the next 2-3 months. Getting community cooperation is very difficult. Years ago, when I was in CDC, I tried to get the government of Puerto Rico to eliminate dengue from Puerto Rico by mobilizing the public to get rid of mosquito breeding on their properties, but was told by householders, "You gringos think we are stupid! Those worms wriggling in the rain barrel won't turn into mosquitoes!" They have had annual epidemics of dengue there every year since. - Mod.JW]
*******
[3] Experimental drugs, vaccines
Date: Wed 9 Jul 2014 [still very relevant]
Source: City News, Toronto, The Canadian Press report [edited]
http://www.citynews.ca/2014/07/09/ebola ... gs-experts
Ebola virus disease [EVD] outbreak not right for testing experimental vaccines, drugs: experts
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The largest Ebola outbreak in history is defying the containment efforts of affected countries and international response teams, leading to calls from some quarters to use experimental drugs or vaccines to try to stop the deadly virus. But a number of experts -- including the scientist who led the work on a Canadian-made Ebola vaccine -- say deploying untested tools in the current West African outbreak could be disastrous.
They say taking such a risky gamble could further erode local trust in the response teams, undermine their efforts, and even endanger them. And if anyone were to have a bad reaction to one of the experimental therapies, it could jeopardize years of expensive and painstaking work spent developing tools with which to fight Ebola and its cousin, the Marburgvirus. "I get emails basically every 2nd day from someone asking either 'Is there something that you're planning?' or 'Shouldn't you?' And I know I'm not the only one getting those emails," says Dr Heinz Feldmann, an ebolavirus expert who heads the laboratory of virology at the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana.
While most of these discussions are happening within scientific circles, the director of Britain's Wellcome Trust recently aired the issue publicly. Dr Jeremy Farrar, an infectious diseases expert, has questioned why the therapies that are furthest along in the developmental pipeline aren't being used. He suggests if this outbreak were occurring in the developed world, there would be no debate. "Imagine if you take a region of Canada, America, Europe, and you had 450 people dying of a viral hemorrhagic fever. It would just be unacceptable -- and it's unacceptable in West Africa," Farrar says.
He notes the Canadian-made Ebola vaccine -- a project Feldmann led a decade ago when he worked at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg -- was released under emergency use provisions in 2009 when a German researcher pricked herself with a needle containing ebolavirus. She survived, but it was never clear if it was because of the vaccine or because she was not infected. "We moved heaven and earth to help a German lab technician. Why is it different because this is West Africa?" Farrar asks.
A small community of researchers, mostly based in Canada and the USA, has been working for years on vaccines and drugs to protect against or treat these viruses, which are among the deadliest known to humankind. The viruses are transmitted through contact with bodily fluids. People caring for the dying -- or preparing their bodies for burial -- are often infected. With little to offer medically, the main job of response teams is to break the chains of transmission by figuring out who is infected and isolating them. But these efforts are often met with distrust. Rumours emerge that the Western doctors are harvesting organs; people hide cases or flee -- extending the range of the epidemic.
A number of vaccines are in various stages of development. Studies done in non-human primates suggest they could both prevent illness and improve survival chances [even] if given after infection. There are also a number of therapies in the works, including antibody combinations that look promising in animal testing. But the researchers have always been stymied by the challenges of getting regulatory approval for these interventions, which cannot follow the traditional pathways to licensure. Most drugs or vaccines can only make it to market once large scale studies show they are both safe and effective. But the only way the world will learn if ebolavirus and Marburgvirus vaccines and drugs work is by using them in an outbreak -- a reality rife with ethical concerns and logistical problems.
In the current context, with response teams struggling to gain the co-operation of fearful locals, word that experimental treatments were to be used could further exacerbate an already taxing situation, says Dr Armand Sprecher, of Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders). The organization warned recently that the outbreak was out of control and said it [MSF] was stretched to its limits. "I would hate to cause more problems than we solve in the short run," Sprecher says. "Right now people are at their wits end just to deliver the care that we're able to provide."
Dr David Heymann, a professor of infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, says after this outbreak is contained, the WHO, ebolavirus researchers, the countries they work in, and the countries which are prone to these epidemics need to sit down and plan how they will deploy and test these therapies the next time. They need to have the study protocols ready to be signed. "It would be unethical to roll it out now, in my opinion," says Heymann, a former assistant director general at the WHO and a member of the team that responded to the 1st Ebola virus disease outbreak in 1976. Feldmann agrees with Heymann's idea. Over the years he has been frustrated by the inability to get these needed tools approved. But he says he has been persuaded by friends working on the current response that using untested and unlicenced medical interventions now would be a mistake.
One was blunt about how badly awry such an effort could go. "He said 'Anything injectable would be a disaster.' He thinks the rumour that we're just spreading the disease is going to be out there before we even start," Feldmann says. "I think as bad as it sounds -- and I really don't feel good about saying this -- I have the feeling they have to find a way to end this one without (experimental) therapy."
[byline: Helen Branswell, Canadian Press]
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail rapporteur Mary Marshall
[It is unfortunate that it is not advisable to test experimental drugs and vaccines for ebolaviruses during this outbreak, but given the levels of fear and mistrust of both government and foreign intervention in the region, it is understandable. - Mod.JW]
-
Birgitt
- Moderator
- Beiträge: 35219
- Registriert: Di 2. Aug 2005, 22:52
- Wohnort: NRW / Südl. Rheinland
- Kontaktdaten:
Ebola-Fieber in Westafrika
EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE - WEST AFRICA (103): SIERRA LEONE
*****************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
In this posting:
[1,2] Liberia: doctors stricken
[3] Sierra Leone: protests
[4] Sierra Leone: riots
[5] Sierra Leone: official update
******
[1] Liberia: doctors stricken
Date: Saturday 26 July 2014
Source: Associated Press [edited]
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014 ... tive-ebola
A US doctor working with Ebola virus disease [EVD] patients in Liberia has tested positive for the deadly virus. The aid organisation Samaritan's Purse issued a news release on Saturday [26 Jul 2014] saying Dr Kent Brantly was being treated at a hospital in Monrovia, the capital. Brantly had been serving as medical director for the aid organisation's case management centre there.
Samaritan's Purse spokeswoman Melissa Strickland said Brantly's wife and children had been living with him in Africa, but were now in the US. Brantly was quoted in a posting on the organisation's website earlier this year about efforts to maintain an isolation ward for patients. "The hospital is taking great effort to be prepared," Brantly said. "In past ebola outbreaks, many of the casualties have been health care workers who contracted the disease through their work caring for infected individuals."
The disease has already killed 672 in four West African countries since the outbreak began earlier this year.
Last week a Liberian man died of ebola in Lagos, the first confirmed case in Africa's biggest city of 21 million people. Nigerian health authorities, anxious to stop the spread of the disease, are concerned that the sick man had boarded an international flight. They feared other passengers could take the disease beyond Africa due to weak inspection of passengers and the fact ebola's symptoms are similar to other diseases such as malaria and typhoid.
Officials in Togo, where the sick man's flight had a stopover, also went on high alert after learning that ebola could possibly have spread to a fifth country.
Screening people as they enter the country may help slow the spread of the disease, but it is no guarantee ebola won't travel by plane, said Dr Lance Plyler, who heads ebola medical efforts in Liberia for the aid organisation Samaritan's Purse.
An ebola outbreak in Lagos, where many live in cramped conditions, could be a disaster. Nigerian newspapers describe the effort as a "scramble" to contain the threat after the Liberian arrived in Lagos and then died on Friday. International airports in Nigeria are screening passengers arriving from foreign countries for symptoms of ebola, said Yakubu Dati, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria.
Airports in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the three other West African countries affected by the outbreak, have implemented some preventive measures, according to officials in those countries. But none of the safeguards is foolproof. Doctors say health screens could be effective, but EVD has a variable incubation period of between two and 21 days and cannot be diagnosed on the spot.
PS, a consultant for the Liberian ministry of finance, arrived in Nigeria on Tuesday and was immediately detained by health authorities suspecting he might have EVD. Authorities announced on Friday that blood tests from the Lagos University teaching hospital confirmed that he had died of EVD earlier that day. He reportedly did not show EVD symptoms when he boarded the plane.
Nearly 50 other passengers on the flight are being monitored for signs of ebola but are not being kept in isolation, said an employee at Nigeria's ministry of health, who insisted on anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. PS's sister also died of EVD in Liberia, according to Liberian officials, but PS claimed to have had no contact with her. EVD is highly contagious and kills more than 70% of people infected. It is passed by touching bodily fluids of patients even after they die.
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
*****
[2] Liberia: doctors stricken
Date: Sat 26 Jul 2014
Source: Front Page Africa
http://www.frontpageafricaonline.com/in ... l-brisbane
In Monrovia Dr Samuel Brisbane, the chief medical doctor at Liberia's leading hospital, the John F Kennedy Medical Center, has become the latest casualty of the deadly Ebola virus. Dr Brisbane, also a former chief medical doctor at the Firestone Rubber Plantation Hospital had been quarantined along with a physician assistant and Dr Nelson Korkor, the lead doctor at Phebe who was brought down to Monrovia 3 days ago after contracting the virus.
Hospital sources say Dr Brisbane selected to treat himself at home initially in a bid not to spread the virus to others but was brought to the ELWA hospital where the Samaritan Group has been treating serious cases, when the illness worsened, until his death on Saturday.
A hospital official told FrontPageAfrica on Friday that Dr Brisbane and the other ailing health workers were holding onto life, but that Dr Brisbane vomited occasionally. The PA, however, is still said to be deteriorating, a senior hospital administrator told FrontPageAfrica on condition of anonymity. Dr. Brisbane's death comes just a day after the JFK's ER Wing was shut down and patients already in care moved to another floor in the hospital. Health care workers are bearing the brunt of the deadly outbreak.
During programs marking the 167 Independence of Liberia, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf paid homage to the late Dr Sam Mutooro Muhumuza, a Ugandan national, and all the health workers around the country who have made the ultimate sacrifice in saving lives. "To their families, loved ones, associates, we extend our heartfelt sympathy," she said, adding that the government will shortly reach out to the families of the departed health workers to bring them comfort in their times of trials and tribulations.
President Sirleaf expressed appreciation to all the health workers - doctors, nurses, para-medics - who continue to be of service to the Liberian people in the midst of danger to themselves. "We like to say to them how much we appreciate what they do to contribute to helping the country arrest the deadly Ebola disease."
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail rapporteur Mary Marshall
*****
[3] Sierra Leone: protests
Date: Sat 26 Jul 2014
Source: Reuters [edited]
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/ ... NL20140726
Protesters march on Ebola center in Sierra Leone: runaway found
---------------------------------------------------------------
Thousands marched on an Ebola virus disease [EVD] treatment center in Sierra Leone on Friday [25 Jul 2014] after a former nurse alleged that the deadly virus was invented to conceal "cannibalistic rituals" at the ward, a regional police chief said.
Across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, at least 660 people have died from the illness, according to the World Health Organization, placing great strain on the health systems of some of Africa's poorest countries. Sierra Leone now has the highest number of cases, at 454, surpassing neighboring Guinea where the outbreak originated in February [2014].
Angry crowds gathered outside the country's main EVD hospital in Kenema [Eastern Province] in the West African country's remote east where dozens are receiving treatment for the virus and threatened to burn it down and remove the patients. Residents said that police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds and said that a 9 year old boy was shot in the leg by a police bullet. Assistant inspector general Alfred Karrow-Kamara said on Saturday [26 Jul 2014] that the protest was sparked off by a former nurse who had told a crowd at a nearby fish market that "EVD was unreal and a gimmick aimed at carrying out cannibalistic rituals". He said that calm had now been restored to Kenema on Saturday, adding that a strong armed police presence was in place around the clinic and the local police station. Some health workers from the clinic have been reported absent from work because of "misconceptions by some members of the community," according to a local doctor.
Ebola can kill up to 90 per cent of those who catch it -- although the fatality rate of the current outbreak is around 60 per cent. Highly contagious, its symptoms include vomiting and diarrhea as well as internal and external bleeding.
President Ernest Bai Koroma said on Saturday [26 Jul 2014] that the government planned to "intensify activities and interventions in containing the disease and stopping it spread" with a view to ending the disease within 60-90 days. The new strategy will focus on contact tracing, surveillance, communications and social mobilization, psychosocial services, logistics and supplies, according to the president's statement.
WHO has previously said that poor health infrastructure and a lack of manpower were hindering efforts to contain the outbreak in Sierra Leone. Another problem is fear and mistrust of health workers among the local population, many of whom have more faith in traditional medicine.
Runaway found
-------------
Sierra Leone officials appealed for help on Friday [25 Jul 2014] to trace the 1st known resident in the capital with Ebola virus disease [EVD] whose family forcibly removed her from a Freetown hospital after she tested positive for the deadly disease. Amadu Sisi, senior doctor at King Harman hospital, from which the patient originally escaped, said on Saturday [26 Jul 2014] that she had been turned in after seeking refuge in the house of a traditional healer. "Because of media and police pressure they decided to give her up. Maybe they are now convinced it is EVD," he said.
[byline: Umaru Fofana and Adam Bailes; Writing by Emma Farge; Editing by Stephen Powell]
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail rapporteur Mary Marshall
******
[4] Sierra Leone: riots
Date: Fri 25 Jul 2014
Source: Bloomberg [edited]
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-2 ... -riot.html
Local people in Kenema rioted and attacked the ebolavirus hospital lab, funded by George Soros, Bill Gates and the Pentagon. The mainstream media and local Sierra Leone police chief claim that a nurse who had warned locals that the lab was putting ebolavirus in circulation was "mentally ill". [In fact,] the country's health ministry announced on its Facebook page that the lab was to be closed, Tulane University was to stop testing for ebolavirus, the CDC was required to deliver an official report on the lab's activities and the CDC and WHO's own documents state that ebolavirus comes from hospitals. [Misinterpretation -- those documents state that ebolavirus spreads from EVD patients in hospitals which do not have effective infection control measures. - Mod.JW.]
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[5] Sierra Leone: official update
Date: Sat 26 Jul 2014
Source: Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone [edited]
Ebola outbreak update
---------------------
As of today, 26 Jul 2014, we have 116 cumulative number of survivors, 458 confirmed Ebola virus disease [EVD] cases and 153 EVD confirmed deaths; 82 patients are currently admitted at the Ebola treatment centers in Kenema and Kailahun.
The Ministry of Health and Sanitization and WHO have established a dedicated Ebola Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at the WHO Country Office in Freetown. The EOC is co-directed by the minister of health, Ms Miata Kargbo, and the WHO representative for Sierra Leone, Dr Jacob Mufunda, and consists of leaders and partners involved in our fight against Ebola.
The EOC will serve as the Sierra Leone national central command and control center for outbreak response activities, and meets every day. The EOC members under the leadership of the honourable minister of health and sanitation unanimously decided at the 24 Jul 2014 meeting that the following actions be effected immediately:
- WHO and MSF to take over the management of the Kenema treatment center;
- WHO and MSF to bring more experts to run the treatment center in Kenema.
WHO's director general, Margaret Chan, has upgraded the Ebola response in West Africa to a Grade 3, the highest level of any emergency response. A Grade 3 involves a multiple country event with a substantial public health consequence that requires a substantial WHO country office response and substantial international partner response. This means partners could deploy resources from other countries into the region.
The EOC wishes the general public and all partners working in the health care sector to know that Dr Sheikh Umar Khan is responding well to treatment.
--
communicated by:
Sidie Yahya Tunis
Director, Information Communication Technology (ICT)
Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone
<tunis@health.gov.sl>
[In Liberia, the sad news is that the 1st international aid expert, a medical doctor, has contracted EVD, and a Liberian doctor has died.
In Sierra Leone, malicious rumours alleging "cannibalistic rituals" at the Kenema EVD treatment ward and that the Kenema lab is putting ebolavirus in circulation are sparking violent confrontations. Or are these 2 different versions of the same riot?
But at least one traditional healer is now convinced that EVD victims should go to a treatment centre.
The flight carrying the fatal case in Nigeria made a stop in Togo en route between Liberia and Nigeria. If any passengers or crew got off there, they are potential contacts. - Mod.JW
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/46.]
*****************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
In this posting:
[1,2] Liberia: doctors stricken
[3] Sierra Leone: protests
[4] Sierra Leone: riots
[5] Sierra Leone: official update
******
[1] Liberia: doctors stricken
Date: Saturday 26 July 2014
Source: Associated Press [edited]
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014 ... tive-ebola
A US doctor working with Ebola virus disease [EVD] patients in Liberia has tested positive for the deadly virus. The aid organisation Samaritan's Purse issued a news release on Saturday [26 Jul 2014] saying Dr Kent Brantly was being treated at a hospital in Monrovia, the capital. Brantly had been serving as medical director for the aid organisation's case management centre there.
Samaritan's Purse spokeswoman Melissa Strickland said Brantly's wife and children had been living with him in Africa, but were now in the US. Brantly was quoted in a posting on the organisation's website earlier this year about efforts to maintain an isolation ward for patients. "The hospital is taking great effort to be prepared," Brantly said. "In past ebola outbreaks, many of the casualties have been health care workers who contracted the disease through their work caring for infected individuals."
The disease has already killed 672 in four West African countries since the outbreak began earlier this year.
Last week a Liberian man died of ebola in Lagos, the first confirmed case in Africa's biggest city of 21 million people. Nigerian health authorities, anxious to stop the spread of the disease, are concerned that the sick man had boarded an international flight. They feared other passengers could take the disease beyond Africa due to weak inspection of passengers and the fact ebola's symptoms are similar to other diseases such as malaria and typhoid.
Officials in Togo, where the sick man's flight had a stopover, also went on high alert after learning that ebola could possibly have spread to a fifth country.
Screening people as they enter the country may help slow the spread of the disease, but it is no guarantee ebola won't travel by plane, said Dr Lance Plyler, who heads ebola medical efforts in Liberia for the aid organisation Samaritan's Purse.
An ebola outbreak in Lagos, where many live in cramped conditions, could be a disaster. Nigerian newspapers describe the effort as a "scramble" to contain the threat after the Liberian arrived in Lagos and then died on Friday. International airports in Nigeria are screening passengers arriving from foreign countries for symptoms of ebola, said Yakubu Dati, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria.
Airports in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the three other West African countries affected by the outbreak, have implemented some preventive measures, according to officials in those countries. But none of the safeguards is foolproof. Doctors say health screens could be effective, but EVD has a variable incubation period of between two and 21 days and cannot be diagnosed on the spot.
PS, a consultant for the Liberian ministry of finance, arrived in Nigeria on Tuesday and was immediately detained by health authorities suspecting he might have EVD. Authorities announced on Friday that blood tests from the Lagos University teaching hospital confirmed that he had died of EVD earlier that day. He reportedly did not show EVD symptoms when he boarded the plane.
Nearly 50 other passengers on the flight are being monitored for signs of ebola but are not being kept in isolation, said an employee at Nigeria's ministry of health, who insisted on anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. PS's sister also died of EVD in Liberia, according to Liberian officials, but PS claimed to have had no contact with her. EVD is highly contagious and kills more than 70% of people infected. It is passed by touching bodily fluids of patients even after they die.
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
*****
[2] Liberia: doctors stricken
Date: Sat 26 Jul 2014
Source: Front Page Africa
http://www.frontpageafricaonline.com/in ... l-brisbane
In Monrovia Dr Samuel Brisbane, the chief medical doctor at Liberia's leading hospital, the John F Kennedy Medical Center, has become the latest casualty of the deadly Ebola virus. Dr Brisbane, also a former chief medical doctor at the Firestone Rubber Plantation Hospital had been quarantined along with a physician assistant and Dr Nelson Korkor, the lead doctor at Phebe who was brought down to Monrovia 3 days ago after contracting the virus.
Hospital sources say Dr Brisbane selected to treat himself at home initially in a bid not to spread the virus to others but was brought to the ELWA hospital where the Samaritan Group has been treating serious cases, when the illness worsened, until his death on Saturday.
A hospital official told FrontPageAfrica on Friday that Dr Brisbane and the other ailing health workers were holding onto life, but that Dr Brisbane vomited occasionally. The PA, however, is still said to be deteriorating, a senior hospital administrator told FrontPageAfrica on condition of anonymity. Dr. Brisbane's death comes just a day after the JFK's ER Wing was shut down and patients already in care moved to another floor in the hospital. Health care workers are bearing the brunt of the deadly outbreak.
During programs marking the 167 Independence of Liberia, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf paid homage to the late Dr Sam Mutooro Muhumuza, a Ugandan national, and all the health workers around the country who have made the ultimate sacrifice in saving lives. "To their families, loved ones, associates, we extend our heartfelt sympathy," she said, adding that the government will shortly reach out to the families of the departed health workers to bring them comfort in their times of trials and tribulations.
President Sirleaf expressed appreciation to all the health workers - doctors, nurses, para-medics - who continue to be of service to the Liberian people in the midst of danger to themselves. "We like to say to them how much we appreciate what they do to contribute to helping the country arrest the deadly Ebola disease."
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail rapporteur Mary Marshall
*****
[3] Sierra Leone: protests
Date: Sat 26 Jul 2014
Source: Reuters [edited]
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/ ... NL20140726
Protesters march on Ebola center in Sierra Leone: runaway found
---------------------------------------------------------------
Thousands marched on an Ebola virus disease [EVD] treatment center in Sierra Leone on Friday [25 Jul 2014] after a former nurse alleged that the deadly virus was invented to conceal "cannibalistic rituals" at the ward, a regional police chief said.
Across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, at least 660 people have died from the illness, according to the World Health Organization, placing great strain on the health systems of some of Africa's poorest countries. Sierra Leone now has the highest number of cases, at 454, surpassing neighboring Guinea where the outbreak originated in February [2014].
Angry crowds gathered outside the country's main EVD hospital in Kenema [Eastern Province] in the West African country's remote east where dozens are receiving treatment for the virus and threatened to burn it down and remove the patients. Residents said that police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds and said that a 9 year old boy was shot in the leg by a police bullet. Assistant inspector general Alfred Karrow-Kamara said on Saturday [26 Jul 2014] that the protest was sparked off by a former nurse who had told a crowd at a nearby fish market that "EVD was unreal and a gimmick aimed at carrying out cannibalistic rituals". He said that calm had now been restored to Kenema on Saturday, adding that a strong armed police presence was in place around the clinic and the local police station. Some health workers from the clinic have been reported absent from work because of "misconceptions by some members of the community," according to a local doctor.
Ebola can kill up to 90 per cent of those who catch it -- although the fatality rate of the current outbreak is around 60 per cent. Highly contagious, its symptoms include vomiting and diarrhea as well as internal and external bleeding.
President Ernest Bai Koroma said on Saturday [26 Jul 2014] that the government planned to "intensify activities and interventions in containing the disease and stopping it spread" with a view to ending the disease within 60-90 days. The new strategy will focus on contact tracing, surveillance, communications and social mobilization, psychosocial services, logistics and supplies, according to the president's statement.
WHO has previously said that poor health infrastructure and a lack of manpower were hindering efforts to contain the outbreak in Sierra Leone. Another problem is fear and mistrust of health workers among the local population, many of whom have more faith in traditional medicine.
Runaway found
-------------
Sierra Leone officials appealed for help on Friday [25 Jul 2014] to trace the 1st known resident in the capital with Ebola virus disease [EVD] whose family forcibly removed her from a Freetown hospital after she tested positive for the deadly disease. Amadu Sisi, senior doctor at King Harman hospital, from which the patient originally escaped, said on Saturday [26 Jul 2014] that she had been turned in after seeking refuge in the house of a traditional healer. "Because of media and police pressure they decided to give her up. Maybe they are now convinced it is EVD," he said.
[byline: Umaru Fofana and Adam Bailes; Writing by Emma Farge; Editing by Stephen Powell]
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail rapporteur Mary Marshall
******
[4] Sierra Leone: riots
Date: Fri 25 Jul 2014
Source: Bloomberg [edited]
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-2 ... -riot.html
Local people in Kenema rioted and attacked the ebolavirus hospital lab, funded by George Soros, Bill Gates and the Pentagon. The mainstream media and local Sierra Leone police chief claim that a nurse who had warned locals that the lab was putting ebolavirus in circulation was "mentally ill". [In fact,] the country's health ministry announced on its Facebook page that the lab was to be closed, Tulane University was to stop testing for ebolavirus, the CDC was required to deliver an official report on the lab's activities and the CDC and WHO's own documents state that ebolavirus comes from hospitals. [Misinterpretation -- those documents state that ebolavirus spreads from EVD patients in hospitals which do not have effective infection control measures. - Mod.JW.]
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[5] Sierra Leone: official update
Date: Sat 26 Jul 2014
Source: Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone [edited]
Ebola outbreak update
---------------------
As of today, 26 Jul 2014, we have 116 cumulative number of survivors, 458 confirmed Ebola virus disease [EVD] cases and 153 EVD confirmed deaths; 82 patients are currently admitted at the Ebola treatment centers in Kenema and Kailahun.
The Ministry of Health and Sanitization and WHO have established a dedicated Ebola Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at the WHO Country Office in Freetown. The EOC is co-directed by the minister of health, Ms Miata Kargbo, and the WHO representative for Sierra Leone, Dr Jacob Mufunda, and consists of leaders and partners involved in our fight against Ebola.
The EOC will serve as the Sierra Leone national central command and control center for outbreak response activities, and meets every day. The EOC members under the leadership of the honourable minister of health and sanitation unanimously decided at the 24 Jul 2014 meeting that the following actions be effected immediately:
- WHO and MSF to take over the management of the Kenema treatment center;
- WHO and MSF to bring more experts to run the treatment center in Kenema.
WHO's director general, Margaret Chan, has upgraded the Ebola response in West Africa to a Grade 3, the highest level of any emergency response. A Grade 3 involves a multiple country event with a substantial public health consequence that requires a substantial WHO country office response and substantial international partner response. This means partners could deploy resources from other countries into the region.
The EOC wishes the general public and all partners working in the health care sector to know that Dr Sheikh Umar Khan is responding well to treatment.
--
communicated by:
Sidie Yahya Tunis
Director, Information Communication Technology (ICT)
Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone
<tunis@health.gov.sl>
[In Liberia, the sad news is that the 1st international aid expert, a medical doctor, has contracted EVD, and a Liberian doctor has died.
In Sierra Leone, malicious rumours alleging "cannibalistic rituals" at the Kenema EVD treatment ward and that the Kenema lab is putting ebolavirus in circulation are sparking violent confrontations. Or are these 2 different versions of the same riot?
But at least one traditional healer is now convinced that EVD victims should go to a treatment centre.
The flight carrying the fatal case in Nigeria made a stop in Togo en route between Liberia and Nigeria. If any passengers or crew got off there, they are potential contacts. - Mod.JW
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/46.]
