Situation Report

Deutsche Welle                                                                                          April 7, 2015
BERLIN --Two German federal ministers are on their way to West Africa, to offer Berlin's support as the region recovers from the effects of Ebola. They've also flagged creating specialist teams to deal with future crises.

The lawmakers, Health Minister Hermann Gröhe and Development Minister Gerd Müller...will push for a redevelopment of the affected health systems, and ways to better respond to health disasters in Africa, with a 200-million euro aid package sponsored by Germany.

Müller told the Bild newspaper that a team of "white helmets" - groups of doctors, technicians and specialists - would be set up at Germany's development agency, GIZ, to be sent anywhere in the world in three to five days.

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http://www.dw.de/ebola-german-ministers-talks-up-economic-recovery-in-west-africa/a-18364560

AFP by Rod Mac Johnson                                              April 7, 2015

FREETOWN -- Police in Ebola-hit Sierra Leone raided a funeral and arrested 13 people suspected of organising an unsafe burial, risking spreading the disease, officers said on Tuesday.

Police superintendent Da Samah said "heavily-armed" police arrived just in time to stop a 50-year-old man being interred on the outskirts of Freetown after they were tipped off about the ceremony....

He said those present at the funeral on Thursday last week were arrested because they had no burial permit or other required documents...

Palo Conteh, the national Ebola response chief, said traditional funeral rights involving contact with the dead remained the biggest driver of Ebola transmission.
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http://news.yahoo.com/ebola-hit-sierra-leone-arrests-13-unsafe-burial-132356956.html

cdc.gov - April 3, 2015

In late October 2014, Ebola virus disease (Ebola) was diagnosed in a humanitarian aid worker who recently returned from West Africa to New York City (NYC). . . .

. . . In NYC, the public health response to one Ebola case was resource intensive for a local health department, with participation of more than 500 DOHMH staff members and expenditures of more than $4,300,000 in DOHMH funds. These figures include not only the direct costs of the local public health response (e.g., contact tracing, environmental issues, and health care worker monitoring) but also the indirect costs of increasing citywide preparedness after identifying the one case (e.g., enhancing hospital preparedness, active monitoring of returning travelers, and community outreach).

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REUTERS  by Umaru Fofana                                                                             April l, 2015

FREETOWN-- Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma said on Wednesday authorities would soon start laying off staff recruited to fight Ebola as the numbers of cases decline, but these workers would be employed elsewhere, where possible....

Addressing the country about the outbreak, Koroma said the infection rate was falling "week by week" and the number of treatment facilities and staff would be reduced, despite the need for continued vigilance....

At the peak of the crisis last year, authorities were struggling to recruit local and foreign medics to tackle Ebola, which has killed nearly 500 local health workers in West Africa, according to United Nations statistics.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/02/us-health-ebola-leone-idUSKBN0MT01120150402