President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia speaks via video on the international response to the Ebola crisis during a Senate subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday. (SAUL LOEB, AFP/Getty Images)

Update Liberian president warns that Ebola still threatens her nation

LOS ANGELES TIMES                                                                                                    Dec. 10, 2014

liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf thanked the Obama administration Wednesday for its efforts in stemming the tide of the country’s Ebola outbreak, but warned that the disease was still a threat in her developing nation.

The American response, a combination of funding and military aid, helped galvanize other countries to join the fight against the epidemic in West Africa, she told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee over video link.

The country’s 13 Ebola treatment centers, some established by the American military, now only have 136 patients total, she said, and the country is seeing an average of 10 new cases per day, as opposed to 100 at the height of the outbreak that centered on Liberia and two other West African countries, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

But the Liberian leader emphasized that despite her nation’s gains, she would not consider the outbreak extinguished until all neighboring countries were free of the disease. As Liberia’s cases decline, both Sierra Leone and Guinea have seen diagnoses increase in recent months. Mali has also seen six deaths from the virus.

“Full eradication will not be secured until the whole region is free from Ebola,” Johnson Sirleaf said.

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http://www.latimes.com/world/africa/la-fg-liberian-president-ebola-20141210-story.html

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Hearing notice and links to testimony

SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS AFRICA SUBCOMMITTEE        DEC. 10, 2014

Hearing today on Ebola, with testimony from the President of Liberia

Link to testimony and broadcast

http://www.foreign.senate.gov/hearings/the-ebola-epidemic-the-keys-to-success-for-the-international-response