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The fight to save the last Ebola-free district in Sierra Leone

Fri, 2014-10-10 16:01 — mike kraft

THE WASHINGTON POST OCT. 10, 2014

By Todd C. Franke

... The last region in Sierra Leone untouched by Ebola sits in the rugged, mountainous north, in a place called the Koinadugu district. It is a poor place, dependent on small farms and gold mines, the largest of the country’s 14 districts by land size and home to 265,000 residents. The district borders Guinea, where the current Ebola outbreak began and first spilled over into Sierra Leone. Koinadugu is surrounded by districts dealing with hundreds of Ebola cases.

But Koinadugu has kept the virus at bay.

Momoh Konte, shown at his office in Freetown, returned to Sierra Leone from Washington to help his home district fight against Ebola. (Photo by Tanya Bindra for The Washington Post)

It is a remarkable feat, a source of pride for district residents, a source of hope for the entire struggling nation, and a curiosity to epidemiologists tracking the worst Ebola outbreak in history...

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/small-drugmakers-try-to-scale-up-to-meet-ebola-crisis/2014/10/09/a594dec2-4fee-11e4-babe-e91da079cb8a_story.html

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Small drugmakers can't scale up quickly enough to get ahead of the virus

Fri, 2014-10-10 15:41 — mike kraft

Two overviews of efforts by drug makers to produce Ebola medication.

WASHINGTON POST Oct. 10, 014

by Lenny Bernstein and Brady Dennis

WASHINGTON ..."It takes time. You end up with a situation where the companies weren't set up to ramp up productio. You don't just go from that to making 10,000 does overnight." -- Prof. Thomas Galsbert, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

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SCIENCE INSIDER Oct. 8, 2014

By Jon Cohen and Kai Kupferschmidt

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CDC Develops Ebola Modeling Tool While WHO Trains Health Workers

Thu, 2014-10-09 23:56 — mike kraft

HOMELAND SECURITY TODAY Oct. 9, 2014

By Kylie Bull, Managing Editor

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed a dynamic modeling tool called Ebola Response that allows for estimations of projected cases over time in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The Ebola Response modeling tool can construct scenarios to illustrate how control and prevention interventions can slow and eventually stop the Ebola epidemic. Importantly, it can help public health and other planners make more informed decisions about emergency response resources to help bring the outbreak under control. The new tool allows input of data reflective of the current situation on the ground in affected countries and communities.

The Ebola Response modeling tool is intended to help local governments and international responders generate short-term estimates of the Ebola situations in countries, districts and villages. The tool, in the form of a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, is to be made freely available online.

Meanwhile, in Liberia, the World Health Organization (WHO) has established a new training program for health workers on Ebola care.

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UK to introduce Ebola screening as death of Briton reported in Macedonia

Thu, 2014-10-09 23:30 — mike kraft

THE GUARDIAN Oct. 9, 2014

By Robert Booth

London --Travellers arriving at Heathrow and Gatwick airports from west Africa are to be screened for symptoms of Ebola, Downing Street announced on Thursday night after a day of confusion over the government’s response to the virus that has claimed more than 3,800 lives.

People travelling from the worst-affected countries – Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea – will face a questionnaire about their recent travel history, who they have been in contact with and their onward travel arrangements.

People travelling from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea will be screened for Ebola symptoms.Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

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http://www.voanews.com/content/ebola-mobile-technology-contacts-tracing-magpi/2477835.html

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Mobile Technology Key to Containing Ebola in West Africa

Thu, 2014-10-09 14:08 — mike kraft

VOICE OF AMERICA

BY Kim Lewis October 09, 2014

Description of the use of contract tracing and a mobile data collection and messaging software tool that expedites vital information to people in Africa and other regions of the world, in crisis situations.

Workers inside a call center, where people can phone to state their concerns about the Ebola virus, in the city of Monrovia, Liberia, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014

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West Africa: Companies Fill Gaps in Ebola Response

Thu, 2014-10-09 01:03 — mike kraft

All Africa Oct. 7, 2014

New York dateline article by Tami Hultman contains a description of what some companies are doing to help counter the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

ArceloMittal employee in Liberia

Photo: Tami Hultman/AllAfrica

The story described contacts with various companies and said:

"The prompt corporate response is the result of a months-long preparatory process to coordinate actions that began with aggressive programs information and education programs. Since March, when the Ebola threat re-emerged in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, after a relatively small rural outbreak earlier in the year, companies with operations in the area had been preparing for an emerging crisis."

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http://news.yahoo.com/eu-sends-ebola-airlift-west-africa-191524011.html?utm_source=October+8+2014+EN&utm_campaign=10%2F8%2F2014&utm_medium=email

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EU sends Ebola airlift to West Africa

Wed, 2014-10-08 11:53 — mike kraft

AFP OCT. 8, 2014

Brussels (AFP) - The European Union said Tuesday it is urgently airlifting relief goods to West Africa to combat the Ebola crisis, as the disease threatened its shores with an infection in Spain.

Three 747 jumbo jet cargo planes carrying 100 tonnes of aid will be sent to the worst-affected countries of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, the European Commission said.

The first plane leaves on Friday for Freetown carrying personal protection equipment including masks and gloves and medicines.

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