Situation Report

BLOOMBERG  NEWS                                  Nov. 4, 2014
By Jason Gale and Makiko Kitamura

The countries most affected by the Ebola outbreak in West Africa are still lacking about three-fourths of the treatment beds needed for patients, the World Health Organizationsaid.

As many as 4,388 beds are required in 50 Ebola treatment units across Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, and there are now 1,126 beds, about 25 percent of the necessary capacity, Fadela Chaib, a WHO spokeswoman, told reporters in Geneva today. Twelve of 28 laboratories needed are operational, and 20 more foreign medical teams are needed to staff existing treatment centers, she said.

While empty beds exist at some treatment centers in Liberia, it’s important to maintain overcapacity as new cases can appear anywhere across the country, Bruce Aylward, the WHO’s assistant-general in charge of Ebola responses, said last week. International responders to the crisis have a Dec. 1 target to isolate 70 percent of cases and bury 70 percent of dead bodies safely.

WASHINGTON POST                           NOV. 3, 2014

By Lenny Bernstein

MONROVIA, Liberia — The rate of new Ebola infections here has declined so sharply in recent weeks that even some of the busiest treatment facilities are now only half-full and officials are reassessing the scale of the response needed to quell the epidemic....

No one tracking the outbreak is close to declaring the deadly hemorrhagic disease vanquished, and all are wary that the virus, which has receded at times over the past seven months, could suddenly flare again in this impoverished country, the epicenter of the West African Ebola catastrophe.

But five days after the World Health Organization said new infections were declining in Liberia, a 157-bed treatment center in the city of Foya, where the epidemic began seven months ago, held no patients Monday, according to a nurse there. The same facility received no new admissions last Wednesday, the most recent day for which government statistics were available...

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Dr. Sampson Azoakoi, Bong County Health Officer

liberianobserver.com - October 30, 2014

Bong County Health Officer, Dr. Sampson Azoakoi, has stated that Ebola cases are still high in the county despite frantic efforts by the County Health Team, the County Leadership and partners to fight the deadly virus there. . .

. . .The County Health Officer informed the gathering that the Ebola cases began to increase in the county from week ten when the disease engulfed the entire county.

Dr. Azoakoi told the Taskforce that he believes the rapid spread of the disease is the direct result of the refusal of local residents to adhere to measures announced by health authorities.

“If we do not change our behavior of how to treat this deadly disease, it will surely live with us for a long period of time despite firm commitment of the international community to fight the virus,” Dr. Azoakoi declared shaking his head in disappointment.