Africa Resilience Initiative

NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO  by Michaeleen Doucleff              Jan. 2, 2015

...Scientists think bats likely triggered the entire Ebola epidemic in West Africa....

So now the big question is: Where else in the world is Ebola hiding out in bats? Where could the next big outbreak occur?

Ecologists found signs of Ebola in a Rousettus leschenaultii fruit bat. These bats are widespread across south Asia, from India to China. Kevin Olival/EcoHealth Alliance

.. ecologist Kevin Olival at EcoHealth Alliance in New York City... hunts down another virus in bats, called Nipah. In humans, it causes inflammation in the brain and comas....

Nipah has outbreaks every few years in Bangladesh. So Olival went there back in 2010 and captured a bunch of bats. Many had signs of Nipah in their blood. Others had something surprising: "There's antibodies to something related to Ebola Zaire."

THE ECONOMIST                                                                                                    Jan. 1, 2015
THE first reported case in the Ebola outbreak ravaging west Africa dates back to December 2013, in Guéckédou, a forested area of Guinea near the border with Liberia and Sierra Leone. Travellers took it across the border: by late March, Liberia had reported eight suspected cases and Sierra Leone six. By the end of June 759 people had been infected and 467 people had died from the disease, making this the worst ever Ebola outbreak. The numbers keep climbing. As of December 28th, 20,206 cases and 7,905 deaths had been reported worldwide, the vast majority of them in these same three countries. Many suspect these estimates are badly undercooked.
See complete set of graphs.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2015/01/ebola-graphics

REUTERS                                                                                                             Dec. 31, 2014

GENEVA - The Ebola virus is still spreading in West Africa, especially in Sierra Leone, and the number of known cases globally has now exceeded 20,000, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.

The death toll from the outbreak, which has been mostly confined to West Africa, has risen to 7,905, the WHO said, following 317 fatalities recorded since it last issued figures on Dec. 24.

The number of known cases, including fatalities, totalled 20,206 at year-end, it said.

 However, the number of cases in Sierra Leone over a three-week period has fallen below 1,000 for the first time since Sept. 28, suggesting the spread of the disease is slowing. In neighbouring Guinea, the three-week total rose for a second week to 346, suggesting the epidemic is growing there.

Read complete story.

http://news.yahoo.com/ebola-spreads-sierra-leone-global-cases-top-20-085657794.html;_ylt=AwrBJSA9_qVUoU0AoXTQtDMD

UNITED NATIONS NEWS CENTRE                                                                         Dec. 31, 2014
The number of Ebola cases is fluctuating in Guinea, decreasing in Liberia and showing signs the increase has slowed in Sierra Leone, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) reported today as the UN development agency said it is helping the Liberian Government build border posts to cut the cross-border spread of infection in West Africa.

Patients who recover from the Ebola virus disease tie a ribbon to the tree on leaving the Maforki Ebola Treatment Centre in Port Loko, Sierra Leone. UN Photo/Martine Perret

“Infections in Liberia’s Eastern border region have spiked recently as tight-knit cross-border communities spread the disease across the often porous border,” the UN Development Programme (UNDP) said in a press release, adding that 49 new Ebola cases had been recorded in the border county of Grand Cape Mount in December, including 12 in the past four days.