Health - Liberia

Read more about Five million children out of school in West Africa due to Ebola
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Finding the Ebola virus’ vulnerable points

Wed, 2014-12-03 12:25 — Norea

Three copies of the Ebola glycoprotein (blue) with antibodies (yellow) latched on to them. Picture by Stanford by Shalini Saxena - Nov 30 2014 - http://arstechnica.com

We know what antibodies stop it in its tracks—we now know where they attach.

The latest Ebola outbreak has dwarfed any that have occurred since the discovery of the virus in 1976; previous outbreaks have had lethality rates of up to 90 percent. Yet no vaccines or therapies are currently approved for human use, which limits our ability to treat patients and contain the outbreak. Mixtures of monoclonal antibodies (see sidebar) are a potential treatment option that has been used experimentally.

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http://www.npr.org/2014/11/30/367544593/in-liberia-ebola-shifts-from-cities-to-villages

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In Liberia, Ebola Shifts From Cities To Villages

Wed, 2014-12-03 12:15 — Norea

Liberia has been a death zone for those exposed to the Ebola virus. NPR's Rachel Martin speaks with correspondent Kelly McEvers about what she saw on the ground, and what she will find hard to forget.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The death toll in the largest Ebola outbreak in history continues to rise in West Africa. Just this past week, the World Health Organization reported 600 new cases in the three hardest hit countries - Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Liberia had been the epicenter of the outbreak. But now the country with the largest number of victims is neighboring Sierra Leone. NPR reporters have been covering the story in both countries. NPR's Kelly McEvers is about to finish nearly two weeks in Liberia. She joins us on the line. Hi, Kelly.

Read the whole interview:

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https://time.com/3611314/u-n-ebola-global-threat-anthony-banbury-bbc/

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U.N. Mission Warns That Ebola Still Poses ‘Huge’ Global Threat

Wed, 2014-12-03 12:11 — Norea

A mother and child stand atop their mattresses in a classroom now used as Ebola isolation ward on Aug. 15, 2014, in Monrovia, Liberia by Elizabeth Barber - Dec. 1, 2014 - time.com

The U.N. mission is urging that the longer the disease is allowed to storm West Africa, the more likely it is that the virus will reappear elsewhere in the world.

The head of the U.N. Ebola mission in West Africa has said there is a “huge risk” of the Ebola outbreak expanding beyond the hard-hit region.

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WHO Says Liberia, Guinea Meeting Ebola Targets

Wed, 2014-12-03 11:57 — Norea

In this file photo taken Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014, a healthcare worker in protective gear is sprayed with disinfectant after working in an Ebola treatment center in the west of Freetown, Sierra Leone

GENEVA — Dec 1, 2014 - by JOHN HEILPRIN Associated Press

Liberia and Guinea have met a Dec. 1 target for isolating 70 percent of people infected with Ebola and safely burying 70 percent of those who die but Sierra Leone has not, the World Health Organization said Monday.

Only last week, the U.N. health agency said only Guinea was on track to meet the targets for getting the Ebola outbreak under control in the three hardest-hit West African countries.

But at a news conference in Geneva, WHO's Dr. Bruce Aylward said the organization had revised its conclusion based on more analysis of its data. Sierra Leone also probably met the targets in the west of the country, he said, and likely will improve to the 70 percent target nationwide "in the coming weeks."

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To halt Ebola's spread, researchers race for data

Wed, 2014-12-03 00:26 — mike kraft

DISCOVER MAGAZINE By Kari Lydersen Dec. 2, 2014
.....redicting the trajectory of Ebola rather than playing catching-up could do much to help prevent and contain the disease. Some experts have called for prioritizing mobile treatment units that can be quickly relocated to the spots most needed. Figuring out where Ebola is likely to strike next or finding emerging hot spots early on would be key to the placement of these treatment centers.

But such modeling requires data, and lots of it. And for stressed healthcare workers on the ground and government and non-profit agencies scrambling to combat a raging epidemic, collecting and disseminating data is often not a high priority.

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Ebola Response Too Slow, Group Warns

Tue, 2014-12-02 16:48 — mike kraft

World Bank Meanwhile lowers growth forecasts.

(See link below to World Bank Report)

ASSOCIATED PRESS Dec. 2, 2014
By JONATHAN PAYE-LAYLEH and SARAH DiLORENZO

MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — The international response to Ebola is still too slow and piecemeal, Doctors Without Borders warned Tuesday, as officials said the disease is crippling the economies of the three West African countries hardest hit....

"Foreign governments have focused primarily on financing or building Ebola case management structures, leaving staffing them up to national authorities, local health care staff and NGOs (non-government organizations) which do not have the expertise required to do so," said the group, which is a primary provider of treatment in the outbreak, said in a statement Tuesday.

It reiterated its call for countries with biological-disaster response teams to deploy them.

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2014 Goals for Ebola Treatment May Not Be Met, U.N. Health Officials Say

Tue, 2014-12-02 16:08 — mike kraft

NEW YORK TIMES By Sheri Fink and Somini Sengupta Dec. 2, 1014

GENEVA — The World Health Organization expressed doubt on Monday about achieving important United Nations benchmarks in battling Ebola, saying the year-end goals of isolating and treating all patients and safely burying all the dead would be major challenges.

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Ebola crisis: Huge risk of spread - UN's Tony Banbury

Mon, 2014-12-01 15:43 — mike kraft

BBC By Mark Doyle Dec. 1, 2014

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone --The head of the UN Ebola response mission in West Africa has told the BBC there is still a "huge risk" the deadly disease could spread to other parts of the world.

Tony Banbury declined to say if targets he had set in the fight against Ebola, to be achieved by Monday, had been met.

The targets were for the proportion of people being treated and for the safe burial of highly infectious bodies.

In October, Mr Banbury told the UN Security Council that by 1 December, "70% of all those infected by the disease must be under treatment and 70% of the victims safely buried if the outbreak is to be successfully arrested".

Mr Banbury said the 70% targets were being met in "the vast majority" of areas in the three worst-affected countries - Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

"But in some areas", he said, "including here in Sierra Leone - especially in the capital Freetown and in the town of Port Loko - we are falling short. And it is in those areas where we really need to focus our assets and our capabilities".

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