Sierra Leone

Ebola Should Be Easy to Treat

Sun, 2014-12-21 16:08 — mike kraft

NEW YORK TIMES SUNDAY REVIEW by Jeffrey Gettleman Dec. 21, 2014

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone --
...Ebola, however much some of its symptoms conjure up a horror film, is usually shockingly simple to treat. The virus is swift and ruthless, hideous and creepy, causing some patients to have bloody vomit, bloody diarrhea or even — in severe cases — bloody eyeballs. Ebola is one of the handful of viruses than can trigger a hemorrhagic fever, with internal bleeding, but in most cases the biggest threat is dehydration, which can be addressed by clean water and basic drugs.

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Ebola death toll close to 7,400, says World Health Organisation

Sat, 2014-12-20 21:50 — mike kraft

The Guardian by Chris Johnston Dec. 20, 2014

(Two items, scroll below.)

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone --The death toll from the worst ever outbreak of Ebola has reached nearly 7,400, with just over 19,000 people infected across west Africa, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, addresses health workers in Sierra Leone. Photograph: Evan Schneider/AFP/Getty Images

Sierra Leone reported 400 new fatalities this week, bringing the death toll there to 2,500. As of 18 December, it had the highest number of people infected by the virus – 8,800 cases, of which 6,900 were confirmed, according to the country’s health ministry.

The WHO is attempting to curb an outbreak in the west of the country, where the disease is spreading fastest, by sending a “massive surge of staff and resources” to the area.

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UN's Ban urges end to discrimination against Ebola workers

Sat, 2014-12-20 14:37 — mike kraft

REUTERS --By Matthew Mpoke Bigg Dec.20, 2014
CONAKRY--U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday urged countries affected by the Ebola virus to avoid discriminating against healthcare workers fighting to end the disease.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has his temperature checked upon arrival at the Roberts International airport in Liberia's capital Monrovia December 19, 2014. Credit: Reuters/James Giahyue

Ban was speaking in Guinea on the second day of a whistle-stop tour aimed at thanking healthcare workers of the countries at the heart of the epidemic....

Ban's tour began in Liberia and Sierra Leone on Friday and will end later on Saturday in Ghana, site of the U.N. Ebola response mission (UNMEER), after a visit to Mali.

"There should be no discrimination for those who have been working or helping with Ebola. Those people are giving all of themselves," Ban told U.N. officials in Conakry.

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Ebola-Stricken Families to Receive Cash Payments

Sat, 2014-12-20 03:55 — mike kraft

TIME MAGAZINE by ALexandra Sifferlin Dec. 19, 2014

In 2015, the three Ebola-affected countries will start offering cash payments for families hit by Ebola, as well as survivors having trouble re-acclimating to society out of stigma for the disease.

Dudu Kromah’s husband died from Ebola. She is looking after ten children, many of them orphans including a 3-month-old baby. She has no income. Carly Learson—Carly Learson / UNDP

Every aspect of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone’s societies have taken a hit from Ebola, and the disease has shocked what were once fragile but growing economies....Every aspect of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone’s societies

“We are seeing a backwards slide of development of about 10 years,” says Boaz Paldi, chief of media and advocacy at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). “The outlook is not good. We are fearful for these countries.”

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Ebola: limitations of correcting misinformation

Fri, 2014-12-19 21:56 — mike kraft

THE LANCET Dec.18, 2014
Communication and social mobilisation strategies to raise awareness about Ebola virus disease and the risk factors for its transmission are central elements in the response to the current Ebola outbreak in west Africa.1 A principle underpinning these efforts is to change risky "behaviour" related to "traditional" practices and "misinformation".

Populations at risk of contracting Ebola virus disease have been exhorted to “put aside, tradition, culture and whatever family rites they have and do the right thing”....Such messages follow logically from clinical and epidemiological framings of contagion.

They pay little attention, however, to the historical, political, economic, and social contexts in which they are delivered....

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http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2814%2962382-5/fulltext

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Ebola Survivors Fight Prejudice

Fri, 2014-12-19 01:23 — mike kraft

Organizations seek to help patients reintegrate into society after recovering

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN by Erika Check Hayden and Nature magazine Dec. 18, 2014

Katima Kamara survived Ebola. Now she cares for children as a nurse at an Ebola treatment center in Kenema, Sierra Leone. But Kamara’s neighbours are wary of her, despite her bill of good health. Some call her home the ‘Ebola compound’ and avoid taking water from her well.

Kamara’s story is not unusual. Across Sierra Leone, Ebola survivors are working as nurses, caregivers, counsellors, organizers and outreach workers, seeking to halt the spread of the disease that threatened their lives. But they also fight discrimination and stigma, lingering health problems and poverty—a legacy of the ongoing Ebola epidemic that is only now beginning to be addressed, seven months after the virus emerged in the country....

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Ebola total tops 18,000, with hints of slowing in Sierra Leone

Fri, 2014-12-19 01:00 — mike kraft

CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH AND POLICY by Lisa Schnirring Dec. 17, 2014

Sierra Leone's rising Ebola activity seems to be slowing as a major effort to knock down the disease gets under way; disease incidence is still fluctuating in Guinea and cases continue to decline in Liberia, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today in its latest update.

The global Ebola total as of Dec 14 has reached 18,603 cases, along with 6,915 reported deaths, the WHO said. Numbers reflect an increase of 661 infections and 527 deaths since the last report Dec 10. Sierra Leone, with 327 new cases, accounted for more than half the increase, while Guinea reported 76 more. Liberia reported eight new confirmed cases, but its total includes only those reported as of Dec 9.

The WHO said progress is occurring in all three of the hardest-hit countries toward the United Nations' goal of isolating and treating 100% of Ebola patients and safely burying 100% of those who die from the disease by Jan 1. All countries now have enough treatment beds, though some are unevenly distributed, resulting in shortages in some areas, the WHO said.

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Ebola leaves hundreds of thousands facing hunger in three worst-hit countries

Thu, 2014-12-18 16:44 — mike kraft

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION (FAO) Dec. 17, 2014

The number of people facing food insecurity due to the Ebola epidemic in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone could top one million by March 2015 unless access to food is drastically improved and measures are put in place to safeguard crop and livestock production, two UN agencies warned today.

The disease's impact is potentially devastating in the three countries already coping with chronic food insecurity, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) said in three country reports published today.

Border closures, quarantines, hunting bans and other restrictions are seriously hindering people's access to food, threatening their livelihoods, disrupting food markets and processing chains, and exacerbating shortages stemming from crop losses in areas with the highest Ebola infection rates, the FAO-WFP reports stressed.

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http://www.fao.org/emergencies/fao-in-action/stories/stories-detail/en/c/273018/

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11th Sierra Leonean Doctor Dies From Ebola

Thu, 2014-12-18 14:57 — mike kraft

ASSOCIATED PRESS by Clarence Roy-Macaulay Dec. 18, 2014

FREETOWN —One of Sierra Leone's most senior physicians died Thursday from Ebola, the 11th doctor in the country to succumb to the disease, a health official said.

...Dr. Victor Willoughby tested positive for Ebola on Saturday and was being treated at a clinic near the capital run by the medical charity Emergency, said Dr. Brima Kargbo, the country's chief medical officer....

The 67-year-old died Thursday morning, just hours after an experimental drug arrived in the country for him. The arrival of ZMAb, developed in Canada, had raised hopes for Willoughby's survival. But he died before a dose could be administered, said Kargbo. ZMAb is related to ZMapp, another experimental drug that has been used to treat some Ebola patients. The drugs' efficacy in treating Ebola has not yet been proven....

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http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/11th-sierra-leonean-doctor-dies-ebola-27684697

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Lessons From an Outbreak: How Ebola Shaped 2014

Wed, 2014-12-17 22:26 — mike kraft

Interviews with experts on what to take away from the devastation of the disease.

THE ATLANTIC by Julie Beck Dec. 17, 2014

...While some in the Western media criticized West Africans' fear of health workers and resistance to public-health measures, the United States got a small taste of Ebola panic when Thomas Eric Duncan became the first case diagnosed in the country in September, followed by three other cases this fall. Duncan was the only patient to die in the U.S., and the panic died down quietly.

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