Sierra Leone

Do Ebola educators make a difference?

Thu, 2015-01-29 18:00 — mike kraft

THE GUARDIAN by John Momodu Kargbo Jan. 29. 2015

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone -- The initial Ebola case in Tambakha [a remote chiefdom near the Guinea border] coincided with the proper training of the first set of Ebola educators. They were deployed in mid-October to educate local people on the prevention and control of Ebola and to help monitor the advent of newcomers into their communities, possible carriers.

Health workers conduct a campaign raising awareness of the Ebola virus in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Photograph: Tanya Bindra/EPA

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Solutions

Read more about Do Ebola educators make a difference?
Log in or register to post comments

Botswana Doctor Is Named to Lead W.H.O. in Africa

Thu, 2015-01-29 17:40 — mike kraft

NEW YORK TIMES by Donald G. McNeil, Jr. Jan. 27, 2015

A defining moment in the life of Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization’s new regional director for Africa, came when she was 9 and her father realized that her little sister’s mathematics textbook was below even the level he had studied as a poor child on a South African farm.

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Other

Read more about Botswana Doctor Is Named to Lead W.H.O. in Africa
Log in or register to post comments

Ebola outbreak: Virus mutating, scientists warn

Thu, 2015-01-29 07:58 — mike kraft

BBC By Tulip Mazumdar Jan. 29, 2015

Scientists tracking the Ebola outbreak in Guinea say the virus has mutated.

Researchers at the Institut Pasteur in France, which first identified the outbreak last March, are investigating whether it could have become more contagious.

They are tracking how the virus is changing and trying to establish whether it's able to jump more easily from person to person

"We know the virus is changing quite a lot," said human geneticist Dr Anavaj Sakuntabhai.

It's not unusual for viruses to change over a period time. Ebola is an RNA virus - like HIV and influenza - which have a high rate of mutation. That makes the virus more able to adapt and raises the potential for it to become more contagious.

Read complete story.

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-31019097

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Situation Report

Read more about Ebola outbreak: Virus mutating, scientists warn
1 comment
Log in or register to post comments

There's an Ebola Vaccine in Africa. Now What?

Wed, 2015-01-28 22:44 — mike kraft

A scanning electron micrograph of the Ebola virus. The first large-scale trials of an Ebola vaccine are underway in Africa.(NIAID / Flickr)

Unprecedented: In four months, the Ebola vaccine has gone from concept to field trial. Success is not assured.

THE NATIONAL JOURNAL by Brian Resnick Jan. 28, 2015

Detailed description of the problems issues and procedures for fieldingand testing Ebola vaccines in West Africa.

-0-

..."Without the (Ebola) virus circulating, there's no way to prove the vaccine is effective. At current infection rates, trial researchers would need to see 100 cases of Ebola over a four-month period to achieve statistical significance. That time frame may stretch, or fall apart altogether.

"It's a real dilemma," says Margaret Harris, an MD and spokeswoman for the World Health Organization. "It's extremely good news that the cases are coming down, but it does mean we may not have clear phase III data."

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Situation Report

Read more about There's an Ebola Vaccine in Africa. Now What?
Log in or register to post comments

An experimental Ebola vaccine looks promising in a human trial

Wed, 2015-01-28 20:22 — mike kraft

Vaccine was made by introducing an Ebola gene in a chimpanzee cold virus

THE VERGE by Arielle Duhaime-Ross Jan. 28, 2015

An Ebola vaccine produced using a chimpanzee common cold virus appears to be safe to use on humans, according to a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Three different doses of vaccine were tested on healthy humans in the UK, and it was well-tolerated; it triggered high levels of antibody formation without also triggering serious side effects. But until the vaccine is tested in an area where an Ebola risk actually exists, it’s efficacy against the disease will remain a mystery.

Read complete story.
http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/28/7930947/ebola-vaccine-human-trials-results

A Monovalent Chimpanzee Adenovirus Ebola Vaccine — Preliminary Report

New England Journal of Medicine

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Solutions

Situation Report

Read more about An experimental Ebola vaccine looks promising in a human trial
Log in or register to post comments

WHO - Resolution - Executive Board Special Session on Ebola

Wed, 2015-01-28 16:08 — Kathy Gilbeaux

CLICK HERE - WHO - Resolution - Ebola: Ending the current outbreak, strengthening global preparedness and ensuring WHO capacity to prepare for and respond to future large-scale outbreaks and emergencies with health consequences (11 page .PDF report)

CLICK HERE - Executive Board Special Session on Ebola - Additional supporting documentation

chathamhouse.org - by Dr. Charles Clift - January 27, 2015

The executive board of the World Health Organization (WHO) agreed a comprehensive resolution on its response to the Ebola crisis in a special session on 25 January. After the WHO was widely criticized for its perceived inadequacies in dealing with the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the resolution asks for a transformation in the way the organization works in health emergencies. The WHO admits there is substance in these criticisms – with Margaret Chan, WHO’s director-general (DG), acknowledging shortcomings in WHO’s ‘administrative, managerial and technical infrastructures’.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Situation Report

Read more about WHO - Resolution - Executive Board Special Session on Ebola
Log in or register to post comments

How Ebola Found Fertile Ground in Sierra Leone's Chaotic Capital

Wed, 2015-01-28 11:30 — mike kraft

Kroo Bay in Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital, became an Ebola hot spot in December. In one of the city's most densely populated areas, residents had a difficult time avoiding contact with people potentially infected with Ebola.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC by Amy Maxman Photos by Pete Muller Jan. 27, 2015
....A close examination of what made Freetown so vulnerable to the outbreak offers critical lessons for the future in fighting Ebola or another major calamity.

Like many developing world cities, Freetown—population 941,000, the largest city in Sierra Leone—lacks the infrastructure to support its impoverished populace, making it prone to tragedy, whether through pestilence, violence, or natural disaster. Despite its congestion, Freetown continues to attract people who come in search of work, school, and the mere promise of electricity. It's no coincidence that typhoid and cholera regularly plague Freetown and that Sierra Leone's civil war climaxed in the city with horrific bloodshed.

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Problem

Situation Report

Read more about How Ebola Found Fertile Ground in Sierra Leone's Chaotic Capital
Log in or register to post comments

African Union vows Ebola fund as Oxfam calls for 'Marshall Plan'

Wed, 2015-01-28 11:01 — mike kraft

AFP Jan. 28, 2015
Addis Ababa - The African Union plans to launch an Ebola fund and disease control centre, officials said Wednesday, as aid agency Oxfam warned leaders needed to keep their promises to boost healthcare systems on the continent.

Oxfam called for a "massive post-Ebola Marshall Plan", referring to the United States aid package to rebuild Europe after World War II....

AU Commissioner for Social Affairs Mustapha Sidiki Kaloko on Wednesday said an African Centre for Disease Control and Prevention would be set up by mid-2015.

"It is a reality, it is going to happen," Kaloko said, with the first phase concentrating on setting up "an early warning system" for the detection of epidemics. "We should be ready the next time. We shouldn't be caught unprepared."

However, its exact location remains undecided.

Read complete story.

http://news.yahoo.com/african-union-pledges-ebola-fund-oxfam-calls-marshall-145446661.html;_ylt=AwrBEiFLBMlUpSsAOxfQtDMD

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Solutions

Read more about African Union vows Ebola fund as Oxfam calls for 'Marshall Plan'
Log in or register to post comments

Lessons from Ebola: Toward a Post-2015 Strategy for Pandemic Response

Tue, 2015-01-27 23:29 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

This event has concluded. View the replay above.

worldbank.org - Date: January 27th 2015 - Location: Georgetown University & Online Time: 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. ET (21:00 - 22:00 GMT)

Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group, will deliver Georgetown’s inaugural Global Futures lecture.

The lecture, “Lessons from Ebola: A post-2015 strategy for pandemic response,” will kick off a semester-long conversation about the “Global Future of Development” at Georgetown as part of the university’s new Global Futures Initiative.

His talk on Jan. 27 will connect ongoing efforts to stop the spread of infection in West Africa with longer-term efforts to improve public health systems that support economic and social development in countries vulnerable to future pandemics.

http://live.worldbank.org/lessons-from-ebola-post-2015

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Solutions

Problem

Situation Report

Read more about Lessons from Ebola: Toward a Post-2015 Strategy for Pandemic Response
Log in or register to post comments

After Ebola, World Bank Chief Proposes Global Insurance Program For Future Outbreaks

Tue, 2015-01-27 23:28 — mike kraft

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES by Kathleen Caulderwood Jan. 27, 2015

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim is proposing emerging nations, developed countries and global aid organizations participate in a kind of insurance system to help pay for health crises like West Africa's Ebola outbreak. “We need to prepare for future pandemics that could become far more deadly and infectious than we we have seen so far with Ebola,” Kim told an audience at Georgetown University on Tuesday. “We must learn the lessons from the Ebola outbreak because there is no doubt we will be faced with other pandemics in the years to come.”

...according to Kim, the recent outbreak could be just the beginning. And world leaders need a plan.

He said World Bank officials informally discussed the possibility of a “pandemic response facility” with the World Health Organization, United Nations and other international actors last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“This could work like insurance policies that people understand, like fire insurance,” Kim said. “The more that you are prepared for a fire, such as having several smoke detectors in your home, the lower the premium you pay.”

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Disaster Risk Reduction

Economics

Health