Situation Report

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES  by Morgan Winsor        April 17, 2015

A strange disease has ravaged a small community in western Nigeria, killing at least 14 people in the last 10 days. Residents of the Ikale community in Ondo state have described the mysterious epidemic as more deadly than Ebola and many are afraid to touch the dead, the Daily Post in Nigeria reported.

“We are worried. Our people are dying. We don’t know this sickness,” resident Mary Omogbehinla told the Daily Post on Thursday. “We can’t touch those who have been killed. I have counted about 19, others said 14. God please, have mercy on us.”

Four new patients with symptoms of the strange disease were isolated at a local hospital in Ode Irele. The state’s health commissioner, Dayo Adeyanju, said Thursday the government launched an awareness campaign to encourage residents to report any potential cases of the mysterious ailment. The World Health Organization (WHO), Nigeria’s health ministry and other health agencies were also contacted to help identify the disease and to ensure the cases do not spread, the Daily Post said Thursday.

REUTERS  by Astrid Zweynert                                                                 April 17, 2015

OXFORD, England-- Treating trauma and the mental health issues of Ebola survivors is one of the many challenges facing "exhausted" Liberia, a senior health ministry official said.

Liberia has weathered the worst ever outbreak of Ebola, which has killed more than 10,600 people and infected 25,791, more successfully than its neighbours Sierra Leone and Guinea....

"Our country is exhausted. We still have huge needs," said Miatta Gbanya, deputy incident manager of Ebola response at the Liberian healthy ministry.

"The mental health of survivors, of health care workers need addressing. That's just one thing - there is still a lot to be done," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation....

 The Liberian government has been analysing its response to the Ebola epidemic and ways it could prevent similar outbreaks in the future, including investing some of the aid it has received into the healthcare system, Gbanya said.

Read complete story.

WASHINGTON POST  by Todd C. Frankel                                                        April 16, 2015

Sierra Leonean President Ernest Bai Koroma was ready to talk about something besides Ebola.

Sierra Leonean President Ernest Bai Koroma, left, and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf listen as U.S. President Barack Obama delivers a statement to the news media in the Cabinet Room at the White House April 15, 2015 in Washington, DC. Obama and his counterparts discussed their progress in the fight against the Ebola virus and their efforts to create long-term economic recovery for the West African countries. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

His West African nation is not yet Ebola-free. It is still fighting to rid itself of the feared pathogen, which has killed more than 10,000 people in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia since March 2014. But today the number of new Ebola cases in Sierra Leone has slowed to a trickle. The country recorded just seven new confirmed infections last week. Last November, Sierra Leone was reporting 550 new cases a week.

CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH AND POLICY    by Lisa Schnirring                       April 15, 2015
(Scroll down for full WHO report.)
Ebola progress held steady in Sierra Leone and Liberia last week, but the number of confirmed cases in Guinea increased, with the country's response indicators showing a mixed picture amid sparks of community resistance, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today in its weekly epidemiologic update.

The outbreak region registered 37 confirmed cases last week, up from 30 reported the week before, the WHO said. Guinea's cases increased from 21 to 28, with Sierra Leone reporting 9 lab-confirmed cases, the same as the week before. Liberia hasn't reported any new cases since the middle of March.

Meanwhile, the geographic scope of the outbreak shrank a bit last week, with 8 districts in Guinea and Sierra Leone reporting cases, down from 10 the week before. The hot spots are still located in western Guinea, especially Forecariah district near the border with Sierra Leone. The few cases in Sierra Leone are coming mainly from three western districts in an area that includes the capital city, Freetown.