We begin with a notable absence, via the Associated Press:
At 1 month, US Ebola monitors finding no cases
For three weeks, Dr. John Fankhauser and his family lived in two RVs in a meadow in North Carolina, watching movies, playing cards and huddling around a fire pit — with no other campers around.
But their isolation was interrupted each morning by a visit from a public health nurse, who came to ask Fankhauser how he was feeling and to watch him take his temperature.
The doctor is one of the more than 2,600 people who have undergone the 21-day ritual ordered by the federal government to guard against cases of Ebola from entering the country from West Africa. Now, anyone who has traveled from four West African nations is monitored for three weeks for fever and other signs of the disease.
The program reaches the one-month mark on Thursday, and so far, it hasn’t found any cases of Ebola.
On to the medical front with Punch Nigeria:
China approves new Ebola prevention drugs
China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) has approved three home-grown Ebola test reagents to be used in prevention of the spread of the virus.
The three test reagent products are made by Daan Gene Co., Ltd of Sun Yat-Sen University, Shenzhen Puruikang and Shanghai ZJ Bio-Tech Co., Ltd respectively. The products will be reserved for contingency situations, said CFDA.
The statement did not detail how fast the reagent can diagnose the Ebola virus infection but according to a Friday report from China News Service, the product from Puruikang has high sensitivity and accuracy.
From Agence France-Presse, an etiological approach:
Research on bats could help develop drugs against Ebola
Program notes:
In Africa’s only biosafety level 4 laboratory, scientists have been carrying out experiments on bats to understand how virus like Ebola are being transmitted, and how some of them resist to it.
From the Associated Press, a beneficiary of tragedy:
Ebola scare boosts business for Ala company
The Ebola scare has subsided in the United States, at least temporarily, but an Alabama manufacturer is still trying to catch up with a glut of orders for gear to protect against the disease.
Located in north Alabama, the family-owned Kappler Inc. of Guntersville typically gets only a few orders annually for the type of suit needed by health workers who are in contact with Ebola patients.
That changed once the disease showed up in Texas, Kappler vice president of marketing Dennis Sanders said. Quickly, orders were flooding in for thousands of the company’s Provent 10,000 coverall.
“It happened, literally, overnight,” he said. “We took orders in a couple of days that exceeded the orders we’ve had on that particular product in two or three years.”
And from the Japan Times, more of the same:
ASDF on mission to deliver Ebola suits to West Africa
The government decided on Friday to deliver 20,000 protective suits to West Africa via the Air Self-Defense Force next week, part of a donation of 700,000 suits to help Ebola-hit countries in the region.
The delivery will mark the first time an SDF plane has been dispatched as part of the international effort to combat the deadly disease, which is ravaging the region.
“We will supply about 700,000 sets of protective gear, based on requests from Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Mali,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Friday at his regular news conference.
A clarion call from the U.N. Press Center:
‘The world is on the side of those who are involved in this fight’ against Ebola – UN envoy
The top United Nations officials leading the fight against Ebola have made an appeal for people who possess skills that are “quite rare” to join the global effort, such as those who can provide patient care, undertake contact tracing and analyze how the outbreak is evolving in remote areas of the virus-affected countries, saying that “deploying more people to the districts is our highest priority.”
“These skills are quite rare in our world today because there are not thousands and thousands of people who are really experienced in Ebola and its management,” Dr. David Nabarro, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Envoy on Ebola, said in an interview with the Department of Public Information at the headquarters of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) in Accra, Ghana.
“And so what we’re doing is looking very hard for the best people in the world and encouraging them to come and work with the governments of the affected countries,” Dr. Nabarro said.
Dr. Nabarro gave the interview together with UNMEER chief Anthony Banbury, in the lead-up to the 1 December target set by the mission, which aims to try to get 70 per cent of the cases isolated and treated, and 70 per cent of the deceased safely buried within 60 days from the beginning of October to 1 December.
And the ghost at the banquet, via RFI:
Ebola Casts Shadow Over French-Speaking Countries’ Summit in Dakar
The Ebola epidemic is casting a shadow over the 15th summit of French-speaking nations in the Dakar this weekend. The Senegalese capital has been a hive of activity in the runup to the event.
The 15th Sommet de la Francophonie was planned to mark a turning point in the life of the organisation with the election of a new secretary general and the definition of a new agenda for women’s and youth empowerment.
But the Ebola epidemic in west Africa is set to change the dynamics of the summit. Senegal has nothing in common with some of the spendthrift leaders it will be hosting.
On to Guinea, first with a notable visit, via the Associated Press:
French president cheered in Ebola-stricken Guinea
French President Francois Hollande brought a message of hope to Guinea on Friday, where thousands of residents lined the roads while clapping, drumming and dancing to catch a glimpse of the first Western leader to visit a country hard hit by Ebola.
Guinean President Alpha Conde greeted his French counterpart at the airport and said that if Hollande could visit the country, then anybody could.
“There is hope,” said Hollande, “The hope of those who have been cured. The hope that we can control this epidemic … The very fact that hope exists.”
From the Associated Press again, problems on the ground:
Ebola aid dogged by coordination lags in Guinea
Eight months into West Africa’s Ebola outbreak, aid efforts in Guinea still suffer from poor coordination, hampering deployments of international support to help quell a virus that has killed more than 1,200 people in the former French colony, officials and medical aid providers say.
With such a deadly and panic-inspiring health emergency, any aid project was bound to face hurdles. Millions of dollars in aid from the U.S., Europe, China, the U.N. and elsewhere have poured into a relatively poor West African region known for instability and poor governance. A frenzied public reaction— widened by fears of infection following the evacuation of patients to the U.S. and Europe — has increased international pressure for quick action.
The often discombobulated effort hasn’t only been seen in Guinea. The region-wide response has been criticized as slow and organizationally complicated. But Guinea’s outbreak has attracted less attention because its cases have come in smaller, unpredictable waves in contrast to explosive surges in nearby Liberia and Sierra Leone.
And the Guardian covers a trial run:
15-minute Ebola test trialled in Guinea
Device can diagnose infection six times faster than methods currently used in west Africa
Trials of a device that can diagnose an Ebola infection within 15 minutes are about to start in Guinea.
The test, which can analyse blood or saliva samples, is six times faster than those being used in west Africa at the moment. Faster results mean those infected can be isolated more quickly and can receive earlier treatment, which may improve their chances of survival.
Dr Val Snewin, of the Wellcome Trust, which is funding the development and trials of the device, said: “A reliable 15-minute test that can confirm cases of Ebola would be a key tool for effective management of the Ebola outbreak, allowing patients to be identified, isolated and cared for as soon as possible. It not only gives patients a better chance of survival, but it prevents transmission of the virus to other people.
“This pilot study is particularly promising because researchers have considered how to make the test suitable for use in remote field hospitals, where resources – such as electricity and cold storage – are often in short supply.”
On to Sierra Leone with grim news from the New York Times:
Despite Aid Push, Ebola Is Raging in Sierra Leone
While health officials say they are making headway against the Ebola epidemic in neighboring Liberia, the disease is still raging in Sierra Leone, despite the big international push. In November alone, the World Health Organization has reported more than 1,800 new cases in this country, about three times as many as in Liberia, which until recently had been the center of the outbreak.
More than six weeks ago, international health officials conceded that they were overwhelmed in Sierra Leone and reluctantly announced a Plan B. Until enough hospital beds could be built here, they pledged to at least help families tend to their sick loved ones at home.
The health officials admitted Plan B was a major defeat, but said the approach would only be temporary and promised to supply basics like protective gloves, painkillers and rehydration salts.
A call provoked from the Guardian:
Boost Ebola aid to Sierra Leone, Justine Greening told
Open letter calls on international development secretary to increase response to outbreak to avoid ‘catastrophic loss of life’
Justine Greening, the international development secretary, has been warned by senior medical professionals that Sierra Leone risks “a public health disaster” worse than Ebola unless UK efforts to contain the virus are significantly stepped up.
In an open letter signed by 53 doctors, charity representatives and a former British diplomat, Greening is told the government needs to quickly review operations in Sierra Leone to avert further crisis.
The signatories warn that, unless a comprehensive response to the crisis is adopted, “health services will collapse entirely”, resulting in a “public health disaster that will eclipse the Ebola outbreak itself and provide the perfect incubator for further outbreaks”.
The Guardian has posted the full text and signatories here.
From StarAfrica, professional anxiety:
S/Leone: Junior doctors express concern over high deaths among colleagues
An umbrella body representing junior doctors in Sierra Leone has expressed concern over frequent cases of doctors getting infected with the Ebola virus and demanded action from the government to limit, if not stop it.The junior Doctors Association of Sierra Leone (JUDASIL) says the number of health care workers getting infected and dying of the disease has become “very alarming”, especially among their colleague doctors.
As at Friday, a total of nine local doctors have been infected with seven of them dead. The latest two are struggling for their lives.
Dr Geraldine George, President of JUDASIL, said Friday that while they have resigned to what they had signed for – treating the sick “they want to see the government also play its part in limiting the risk in getting medics infected.”
After the jump, Australian medics dispatched, a break for street vendors, a mayor’s plea for diligence, and a study launched on the outbreak’s gender-specific impacts, then on to Liberia and a medical warning, government sets a deadline for the outbreak’s end, school reopening pondered, a warning and praise from the African Union, a market shutdown over Ebola worries, long overdue pay of healthcare workers provokes a sit-down, Then onto Nigeria for the troubled plight of a fatality’s family. . .
A modicum of aid from the Guardian:
Ebola: 17 Australian health workers deployed to Sierra Leone
Medical team to work for private company in British-built facility and will be subject to 21 days in quarantine upon their return
A group of 17 Australian healthcare workers have been deployed to Sierra Leone to help set up a treatment centre for Ebola patients.
The medical team has already undertaken training in Canberra and will be given further training upon arrival in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown.
Earlier this month, the Australian government gave $20m to a private company, Aspen Medical, to help operate a British-built facility to treat patients with the deadly disease.
A break for street vendors from StarAfrica:
S/Leone: Ban on petty trading in Freetown withdrawn
Hours before it was supposed to come into effect, the ban on all petty trading activities by the Freetown City Council has been rescinded. Because of the Ebola epidemic, the authorities had resolved to limited human to human contact by restricting operations of overcrowded market places.
Petty Trading being the largest business activity in the city, is seen as one source of possible infections.
The Council, together with traders representatives, agreed to cut off Fridays and Sundays from their menu.
The ban was to have commenced on Friday November 28 but just hours after the news was announced officially, reports came in that the decision has been put on hold.
A mayoral call for diligence from Voice of America:
Sierra Leone Mayor Urges Public to Follow Anti-Ebola Measures
It’s been seven months since the first case of Ebola was discovered in Sierra Leone. The mayor of the capital Freetown, Franklin Bode Gibson, said he has buried a large number of people.
“I can tell you,” he said, “that the Freetown City Council has buried about 2,200 corpses since the start of the disease.”
Officials say of that number, over 1,200 deaths have been caused by the deadly virus. Just this week two medical doctors have died of Ebola — bringing the total number to seven. With over 500 people becoming infected every week, Gibson says he will prepare a new cemetery.
“We’re keeping about 1,000 more spaces [available] for burials…When we exhaust that, we will have to send burials to Allentown in the east, where we are now working on [obtaining] the land,” he said.
And a necessary investigation from StarAfrica:
S/Leone to assess effect of Ebola on gender
The Sierra Leone government, in collaboration with the international aid agencies Oxafam and UN Women will embark on an assessment mission to ascertain how much gender, particularly women, have been affected by the ongoing Ebola epidemic.The survey will not just look at death numbers but also how many bread winners have died, said Charles Vandy, Director of Gender at the Ministry of Gender, Social Welfare and Children’s Affairs.
The idea is to know the extent of the problem at hand and identify ways on how to assist affected families, he said.
“We want to get credible information and once we have that information we want to use it to provide needed services,” he added.
On to Liberia and a medical warning, via the NewDawn in Monrovia:
Ebola doctor warns
The doctor heading a 96-bed Ebola Treatment Unit in Virginia, Jonathan Hartt has warned here that “dehydration could kill Ebola patients” rather than the virus itself, appealing for supplements like juices and biscuits to be added to their meals.
Dr. Hartt, who says he had been working at ELWA-2 ETU before starting operations at the OAU Ebola center on 24th November, told President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf that temperatures under the tents were hot, and patients must be “rehydrated constantly and adequately to keep them surviving.”
“We receive three square meals for the patients- that have been good; but we need some supplements like biscuits and juice. As you can see the atmosphere the temperature is hot under the tent, so we need to make sure that our patients are rehydrated constantly and adequately to keep them surviving, or else, they won’t survive. I mean they will die from dehydration but not Ebola,” he warned.
The government sets a deadline for the outbreak’s end, via the Inquirer:
GOL Resolved To Kick Ebola Out By X-Mas
The Government of Liberia (GOL) says it is launching a major campaign aimed at registering zero case of Ebola in the country by the end of the year. The Government of Liberia (GOL) says it is launching a major campaign aimed at registering zero case of Ebola in the country by the end of the year.
Subsequently the government is calling on citizens and residents alike to continue the precautionary measures put in place by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in a bid to kick Ebola out of the country by the end of the year.
Information Minister, Lewis G. Brown told the weekly Ministry of Information Press Conference yesterday that with renewed vigor Liberians should work hard by observing the Ministry of Health’s prevention measures to kick Ebola out of Liberia, saying, “This could be the best New Year’s gift that we could give each other.”
School reopening pondered, from the NewDawn:
Senate debates reopening of schools
If all goes well as it relates to the slowdown of the Ebola Virus Disease, all institutions of learning here are expected to commence operations by January, 2015. Due to the rapid spread of the Ebola Virus Disease, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf on 30 July announced the closure of all institutions of learning here and declared a State of Emergency, couple with the imposition of curfew for 90 days. Though, the State of Emergency has ended, but government has not make any pronouncement about the reopening of academic and vocational schools here.
Briefing his colleagues recently in plenary of the Liberian Senate, about the status of institutions of learning, Senate Chairman on Education, Senator Dallas Gueh, said that the Liberian government through the Ministry of Education and National Commission on Higher Education is concluding discussions on the reopening of schools in the country.
Senator Gueh of Rivercess County said that there are series of consultations ongoing with both local and international partners on the reopening of schools. Sen. Gueh noted that the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf administration is deeply worried about the closure and subsequently delay in the reopening of schools and other institutions that are molding the minds of young Liberians.
A warning and praise from the African Union, via the Inquirer:
AU Ebola Mission Cautions Against Complacency…Lauds LNP For Efforts
The Head of Mission of the African Union Support to Ebola Outbreak in West Africa Maj. General and dr. Julius Oketta has praised the resilience of the people of Liberia in their endeavor to fight the deadly Ebola Virus from the Country, but warned Liberians to avoid sources of Ebola. The AU Ebola Envoy said while the country is significantly progressing in the fight against the spread of the deadly virus, it will be helpful for Liberians to avoid complacency and work for the betterment of the country in the wake of the deadly outbreak which claimed the lives of many Liberians.
Dr. Okettasaid , the sources of the virus must be avoided during this time of the political campaign, and called on Liberians to avoid crowded areas including beaches which he said may lead to some one contacting the virus at the detriment of the entire country.
He maintained that the AU will continue to support the country’s efforts in fighting the virus and help it return to its normal status.
A market shutdown over Ebola worries, from the Liberia News Agency:
Camp 3 Market In Cape Mount Shut Down
Health and Internal Affairs ministries authorities in Grand Cape Mount County have closed down the Camp Three Market in Tewor District as part of measures to contain the spread of the Ebola virus.
According to the Liberia News Agency correspondent in the county, the Superintendent of the County, Imam Mohammed A.Paasewe, and the head of the County Health Team, Dr.Lorraine Cooper, made the disclosure at the county Ebola Task Force meeting held in Robertsport recently.
Superintendent Paasewe, who is also the Chairman of the County Ebola Task Force, and Dr. Cooper said they decided to close down the market to avoid body contact amidst the Ebola outbreak because the market is usually overcrowded on every Tuesday which is the market day there.
And long overdue pay of healthcare workers provokes a sit-down, via the News:
GOL, Partners Brainstorm On Ebola Payment Modalities
The Liberian Government, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nations Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) has begun brainstorming on the Ebola response processes relative to salary payments to health workers.
UNDP Coordinator for Salary Payments for Ebola Response Workers (ERW), Stuart Kefford said the initiative is to ensure that all Ebola response workers are paid on time.
Speaking Tuesday in Monrovia, Mr. Kefford said efforts are in response to the United Nations Secretary General’s request for UNDP to closely work with governments in the affected countries to identify ERWs and seek better payment modalities.
Then onto Nigeria for the troubled plight of a fatality’s family from Punch Nigeria:
Ebola victim’s father decries neglect of family
Chief Sam Ejelonu, the father of Justina, the first Nigerian nurse, who died of Ebola virus disease, has decried alleged inhuman treatment to his family by his daughter’s employer.
Justina, who was employed by the First Consultants Medical Centre, Lagos, died on Aug. 12, following her contact with the index Ebola case in Nigeria, the late Mr Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian.
Ejelonu made the allegation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Owerri.
He said that since the death of Justina, no member of staff of the hospital had visited the family.
