Situation Report

Volunteers knocking on doors and advising people to wash their hands as a precaution against the Ebola virus.  Photo - UNHCR

submitted by Gavin Macgregor-Skinner

allafrica.com - by Stephen D. Kollie - February 3, 2015

Monrovia — Despite tremendous efforts by the government of Liberia and international partners aimed at eradicating the deadly Ebola virus, it seems the fight is becoming difficult to reach an end as new cases of Ebola are again being reported in the country.

For the past few days, Liberia, which was recording dozens of Ebola cases daily was only battling with the last five confirmed Ebola cases, but that record is now on a slippery path as five new Ebola cases have been reported in the St. Paul Bridge Community in Montserrado County.

Addressing the Ministry of Information daily Ebola press briefing, Assistant Health Minister and Head of the Incident Management System Tolbert Nyenswah explained that the government has identified a fresh Ebola outbreak in the St. Paul Bridge area, describing it as "the St. Paul bridge cluster infection chain."

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THE PRESS ASSOCIATION                               Feb. 4, 2015
LONDON --A British nurse who contracted Ebola while working in Sierra Leone possibly caught the virus by wearing a visor and not goggles, an investigation has suggested.
Press Association - Save the Children said Pauline Cafferkey, pictured on her return to health, may have contracted Ebola by wearing a visor rather than goggles when treating patients in Sierra Leone

The report by Save the Children said it cannot be completely certain how Pauline Cafferkey contracted Ebola but said both pieces of equipment are "equally safe".

The nurse, from Cambuslang in South Lanarkshire, had volunteered with the charity at the Ebola Treatment Centre (ETC) in Kerry Town before returning to the UK in December....

Save the Children published the findings of an independent review into the possible causes of how the 39-year-old caught the virus. The report said both visors and goggles are safe but there are slight differences in the type of clothing worn with each and in the protocols for putting them on and removing them....

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ASSOCIATED PRESS BY CLARENCE ROY-MACAULAY                                                           Feb. 3, 2015

FREETOWN  --Although Ebola cases are declining in West Africa, Sierra Leone officials are worried that the president's decision to lift travel restrictions may re-ignite the spread of the deadly disease.

President Ernest Bai Koroma two weeks ago announced a relaxation of travel restrictions to support economic activity. Some officials agreed that the closure of roads hurt the economy. Others felt it was too soon.

"It was slightly too early," Freetown Mayor Franklyn Bode Gibson said Tuesday. "We do not know who is safe and who is not," and a second outbreak of the disease would be distrastrous. Gibson saidhe will call for a meeting this week with the National Ebola Response Center to register his disappointment about the re-opening of district roads.

A worker at a UNICEF-supported Interim Care Center plays with 19-month-old Ebola survivor Tamba in Gueckedou, Forest Region, Guinea on January 11, 2015.  Tamba's mother died of Ebola, then his father abandoned him for fear of catching the disease himself.  UNICEF is working to break down the stigma around Ebola so children like Tamba still have homes to go to.

cnn.com - by Diana Magnay - January 30, 2015

Liberia (CNN) - First, the good news: Ebola is in decline.

2014 was a year of profound fear for communities living with -- and dying of -- the disease; of health workers making the ultimate sacrifice, dying as they tried to save; of apocalyptic forecasts as to the disease's possible spread. . .

. . . Ebola is still critically dangerous. Hotspots remain.

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