Ebola: Decline encouraging, but critical gaps remain

MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES                                                                         Jan. 26, 2015

A downward trend of new cases is reported in Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Ebola management centres across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, with just over 50 patients currently in its eight centres. While this is a promising development, the medical-humanitarian organisation cautions that loss of vigilance now would jeopardise the progress made in stemming the epidemic.

“This decline is an opportunity to focus efforts on addressing the serious weaknesses that remain in the response,” says Brice de la Vingne, MSF Director of Operations.  “We are on the right track, but reaching zero cases will be difficult unless significant improvements are made in alerting new cases and tracing those who have been in contact with them.”

The World Health Organization reported last week that only about half of new cases in both Guinea and Liberia are from known Ebola contacts, while in Sierra Leone there is no data available.  “A single new case is enough to reignite an outbreak,” continues de la Vingne. “Until everyone who has come into contact with Ebola has been identified, we cannot rest easy.”

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http://www.msf.org/article/ebola-decline-encouraging-critical-gaps-remain