We begin with the latest numbers, via Reuters:
Ebola case numbers top 20,000, deaths approach 8,000 – WHO
The number of people infected by Ebola in the three countries worst affected by the outbreak has passed 20,000, with more than 7,842 deaths in the epidemic so far, the World Health Organization said on Monday.
Cumulative case numbers in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea stood at 20,081, the WHO said in a statement. More than a third are laboratory-confirmed cases in Sierra Leone, which has become the worst-hit country in the worst outbreak of the disease on record.
A breakdown from the World Health Organization:
The Wire offers a year-end overview:
The Ebola Crisis That Never Ended
On the same day that the World Health Organization announced that 20,000 people have been infected with the virus, Scotland got its first case.
It may have receded from the American public consciousness, but the biggest Ebola outbreak on record isn’t over.
On Monday, the World Health Organization issued a statement in which it determined that the total number of known cases in the three hardest-hit West African countries—Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea—had passed 20,000. The agency added that the death toll in the outbreak was nearing 8,000.
Around the same time as the statement, Scotland announced its first confirmed case, a health worker who had been working in Sierra Leone.
That Scottish case, via the Guardian:
Ebola case confirmed in Glasgow
Healthcare worker flew from Sierra Leone to Glasgow via Heathrow on Sunday and has been isolated after falling ill
A Scottish nurse is being treated in an isolation unit in Glasgow after being diagnosed with the Ebola virus hours after arriving home from west Africa via a British Airways flight from Heathrow.
The healthcare worker was admitted to Gartnavel hospital after feeling unwell with a fever at 7.50am on Monday morning, having flown into the city at 11.30pm on Sunday following two months working as a volunteer in Sierra Leone with the Save the Children charity to help combat the epidemic.
It is the first case of Ebola to be diagnosed on UK soil.
Health experts treating the nurse said she was “quite stable” and showing few signs causing clinical concern, raising hopes she will survive the disease.
The latest vaccine news from Reuters:
FDA approves Roche Ebola test for emergency use
Roche Holding AG said U.S. health regulators have approved its Ebola test for emergency use in response to the world’s worst outbreak of the disease in West Africa.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Roche’s LightMix Ebola Zaire rRT-PCR Test for use on patients with signs and symptoms of Ebola Zaire virus infection, the Swiss drugmaker said in a statement.
Roche said the LightMix test can generate results in just over three hours, helping to detect the virus quickly so treatment can start as soon as possible.
Under the emergency use designation, certain laboratories in the United States and other countries have been authorized to use the test for a limited period to detect the type of Ebola that has been spreading in West Africa.
On to Liberia with a post-election assessment from the Liberian Observer:
As 2014 Special Senatorial Election Results Finally Emerge Ellen Loses ‘Majority’ in Senate
The final results of the just ended Special Senatorial Election seem to foreshadow a steep journey ahead for President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, as many of her fellow partisans who fought unsuccessfully to maintain their incumbency in the Senate will no longer be around.
Among the 12 senators that stood for reelection, only two return, causing the Executive Mansion to lose about seven strong confidants from the team which was considered “the engine of Madam Sirleaf’s legislative success story” on Capitol Hill.
Even though senators Isaac W. Nyenabo, Frederick D.Cherue and Cletus S. Wortoson of Grand Gedeh, River Gee and Grand Kru counties, respectively, did not seek reelection, their absence from the Senate clearly indicates the difficult circumstances the President has to struggle with while trying to make new friends in an effort to replace them.
Particularly for Senator Isaac Nyenabo, who now leads Liberia’s agenda at the level of Ambassador to the European Union (EU) and Brussels, Madam Sirleaf will certainly miss his skillfull navigation of the Legislature and ability to lobby to manipulate and achieve the interest of the President.
A new outbreak from the London Daily Mail:
Dozens more Ebola cases erupt on Liberia’s border with Sierra Leone due to locals sticking to tradition of washing bodies as infection rate in West Africa passes 20,000
Infection rates had been declining in Liberia with just 121 in three weeks
But 49 cases have emerged in just one area, Grand Cape Mount County
Officials fear body-washing religious rites could be partly responsible
Today it emerged more than 20,000 people infected since start of outbreak
World Health Organisation said death toll now stands at 7,842 worldwide
More from AllAfrica:
Liberia: ‘More Confirmed Cases of Ebola in Cape Mount’
Grand Cape Mount has reported an alarming upsurge of the deadly Ebola virus with 49 new cases registered so far.
The Head of the Incident Management System (IMS) and Assistant Minister for Preventive Services at the Ministry of Health, Tolbert Nyenswah, making the disclosure yesterday at the office of IMS in Monrovia, said that of the 49 new cases reported, 27 were confirmed, 13 suspected and 9 probable, putting Cape Mount in the Red County Category second to Montserrado in the country.
Describing it as unfortunate, Minister Nyenswah attributed the increase to migration of people suspected of the virus and the continuous denial by some residents that people are dying of the Ebola epidemic in the country.
Still more from FrontPageAfrica:
‘Alarm’: 49 New Ebola Cases in Cape Mount, Travelers Warned
The Incident Management System an arm of the Liberian government and partners responsible for the containment of the Ebola virus disease in the country has stated that the disease is growing at an alarming rate in Grand Cape Mount County. Speaking to Journalists at the Incident Command Center on Sunday, the head of Liberia’s Ebola response, Mr. Tolbert Nyenswah said a total of 49 cases have been reported in the area and this hike in the number of cases is due to failure to follow health procedures laid out by the government of Liberia. He said the county now joins Montserrado as the two counties with the most Ebola cases.
“The Incident Management System the overarching body of Ebola Virus Disease Response is concerned about the alarming increase of Ebola Virus Disease cases in Grand Cape Mount County,” he said. “In the past 25 days, December 1-25, 2014, forty-nine cases have reported, 27 confirmed, 9 probable, and 13 cases suspected. It puts Grand Cape Mount County in the Red County Category as the epidemiological map shows, second to Montserrado as counties with the highest burden of EVD.”
He said the disease continues to spread of a high level of complacency on the part of community dwellers in gross disregard for the preventative measures that has been laid out by the Ministry of health. Mr. Nyenswah said the migration of suspected and probable cases within and out of the county, continuous denial by community dwellers that people are dying from Ebola. He said despite such denial the bodies that are being tested turn out to be Ebola positive.
Another potential catastrophe from AllAfrica:
Liberia: Ebola Corpse Arrested, 2000 Persons Quarantined
Two thousand persons have been quarantined in Lofe Town, Margibi County, after a corpse transported for burial was confirmed by the County Health Authorities of being Ebola infected.
The Margibi health authorities received a call that a body had been transported from Monrovia for burial, according to the Director of Community Health for Margibi County, Mr. Joseph J. Korhene. He said that the health team and Ebola Task Force, on arriving at the scene on December 18, took a specimen of the corpse that confirmed it to be Ebola positive.
Mr. Korhene, who spoke to this paper on December 23, said that before the health team arrived in Lofe Town, the family had already finished the wake-keeping, which brought together people from eight surrounding villages. He said the infected corpse was that of a woman who had died in the Bushrod Island community near Monrovia.
Mr. Korhene who declined to reveal the identity of the deceased said that her family knew that she had died of Ebola but had decided to bury her without the involvement of the Ebola Task Force anyway.
An admonition from the Monrovia Inquirer:
Liberians, Why All This “Hard-Head” On The Fight Against Ebola?
Every society has certain parlances or phrases that are easily understood or accepted and commonly used in communication among members of that society. They may even be used as idioms. Accordingly, in the Liberian society, there are certain parlances or phrases that convey certain meanings and messages to the people. One of such is “hard-head” which denotes stubbornness or ‘failure to pay heed or take advice for one’s own benefit, survival or something to avoid harm or danger to oneself. This means that whenever this Liberian phrase is used, it normally refers to one who despite warning, advice always fails to make a change in attitude and behavior.
Today, I have decided to use this phrase of “hard-head” because of the latest report I am hearing about the Ebola virus. On Saturday, I was awakened to a call that a neighbor (name withheld) in the proximity of my former office on Gurley Street has fallen victim to the virus. The neighbor, a female, who is a member of a church (name withheld) in which it is said that the virus claimed the lives of others after they reportedly came in contact with a sick person. The story is that the sick person came from Margibi County and sought prayers at the church.
The situation at the church where it is reported that the Ebola virus has hit just right on Gurley Street has left at least four persons dead and two critically ill. According to family members of the last victim, a man who was the first to have fallen prey to a strange illness was believed to be suffering from poison by his family members and was taken to the church for healing.
The story went to say that while at the church during the heat of the Ebola virus, the pastors began laying their hands on him and believing God to deliver the fellow and at a point, one of the pastors who is now ill and said to be at one of the Ebola Treatment Units took the fellow to his home where he spent four days under the condition that he got poisoned from his house therefore he cannot return in that community or house until he is delivered.
From BBC News, preparing the ground:
Ebola outbreak: Liberia opens new cemetery
Liberia has opened a new national cemetery to provide safe burial sites for victims of the Ebola outbreak.
A Liberian official said the 50-acre site in Monrovia, half of which is ready to use, will enable “dignified” burials instead of cremations.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization says the number of people infected by Ebola in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea has now passed 20,000.
On to Sierra Leone with StarAfrica:
New Year ‘Hope Concert’ for Ebola-hit S/Leone
To compensate for the nationwide ban on New Year’s Day celebrations, Sierra Leoneans will be entertained by a special live television concert, organizers say on Monday.Dubbed the ‘Hope Concert 2015?, the performances to involve a dozen local musicians will be staged live and relayed on the national television broadcaster, the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation.
Viewers will have the chance to see their favorite artists perform even if they cannot be there physically, providing some form of compensation, the major sponsor of the event, mobile operator Airtel Sierra Leone, said.
The New Year is often ushered in with a highly festive mood in Sierra Leone but the Ebola epidemic has prompted the authorities to introduce a state of emergency.
Voice of America covers the crackdown:
Sierra Leone Intensifies Ebola Fight
It’s been a year since a small boy died of Ebola in a remote part of southeastern Guinea. Scientists say he was the first known case of this ongoing regional epidemic. Guinea has since reported at least 2597 cases but it’s the country’s neighbors, Sierra Leone and Liberia, that have been the hardest hit. Sierra Leone started a fresh push against the virus in mid-December.
Sierra Leone is concentrating its efforts in the north and west of the country.
The government prohibited public gatherings at Christmas. The northern district of Port Loko marked the holiday by declaring a lockdown as health workers went door to door.
Health ministry spokesman Sidie Y Tunis said that’s ongoing.
“It is just a restriction of movement of people so they will be able to reach out to people to actually sensitize and educate more and to be able to bring out sick people within our communities. That is actually still going on. And part of the process is not allowing people to enter the city or to leave the district because they do not want disruptions in their activities,” he said.
The World Health Organization said transmission remained “most intense” in the west, including the capital Freetown.
On to Guinea with some good news for front line fighters from the United Nations Development Program:
UNDP makes emergency payments to Ebola health workers in Guinea
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has made additional incentive payments to 758 health personnel working in four Ebola treatment units in Guinea, ensuring their life-saving work can continue without any interruption.
UNDP was requested by Guinea’s National Coordination Unit against Ebola to complete existing salaries with incentive pay for the French Red Cross, Doctors without Borders and Alima, three Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) operating Ebola Treatment Units (ETUs) in Donka, Macenta, Kissidougou and Nzérékoré.
“Staff are motivated. UNDP has already taken important measures and have created a good strategy. This has made a fundamental difference,” said Pélé Bilivogui, General Secretary of the National Ebola Response from the Guinean Ministry of Health.
Working with the UN Mission or Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) and the World Bank, UNDP supported to Ministry of Health to harmonize payrolls, and ensure the USD 220,000 was deposited in local banks so that health workers could retrieve it easily. In Macenta, the payment was disbursed in cash because there was no banking facility nearby.
“Today, as many as 8,000 workers are being paid and supported to fight Ebola and that number may eventually go up to 25,000. As many as fifteen different national and international agencies and donors are currently engaged in the process. Harmonizing this huge financial effort in a very short period of time is crucial,” said Marc Wajnsztok, the UNDP Technical Adviser for payments to Ebola Workers.
And from IRIN, a broader prognosis:
Universal health coverage – Ebola reveals the gaps
West Africa’s Ebola epidemic has cruelly exposed the weaknesses of health systems in the countries where it struck. It was understandable that they were not prepared for Ebola, which has never been reported in the region before, but the director of the World Health Organization (WHO), Margaret Chan, says what they lacked was a robust public health infrastructure to deal with the unexpected.
“This requires good background data on the usual,” she says, “so that the unusual stands out. [It means] making good quality care accessible and affordable to everyone, and not just to wealthy people living in urban areas; having enough facilities available in the right places with enough well trained staff and uninterrupted supplies of essential medicines; diagnostic capacity that returns rapid and reliable results; and information systems that pinpoint gaps and direct strategies and resources towards unmet needs.”
Chan was speaking on what had been designated as the first Universal Health Coverage Day (on 12 December), setting out an ambitious check-list for health systems which can cope with whatever is thrown at them. This is clearly a challenge in any developing country, but much more of a challenge in fragile states like those currently affected by Ebola.
Nick Hooton is a research, policy and practice adviser with the ReBuild Consortium which works on how to strengthen health systems in post-conflict states. He told IRIN that although research still had to be done, the post-conflict environment was almost certainly a reason why the disease spread so fast. “Undoubtedly the systems are very poor,” he says, “and the staffing levels are very low, but there are also subtler factors at work, issues about trust and things like that. This is a disease which has been well controlled in other places, and yet got massively out of control. If you look at the DRC [Democratic republic of Congo] and northern Uganda, there is no great supply of health professionals there either. So we are talking about things like a breakdown in the links between the communities and the public services which take a long time to build up again.”
Hooton stresses that addressing these underlying weaknesses is crucial: “It’s Ebola this time, but it could be SARS next time, or some other disease. There is absolutely a need for a disease response – Ebola is a horrible disease and it is out of control – but to stamp out the disease and leave the systems as they were is not doing any favours to anyone.”
And to conclude, a video that answers some of esnl’s own jouranlistic questions, from CBC News’s The National:
How do you safely cover Ebola?
Program notes:
The National’s Adrienne Arsenault discusses her experience covering the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
