Situation Report

ICAP Conducts an Assessment of Ebola Community Care Centers in Sierra Leone

Thu, 2015-01-15 22:49 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Stephen Morse

icap.columbia.edu - January 15, 2015

An ICAP team conducted a three-week, rapid assessment of Ebola community care centers (CCCs), a new model of care that aims to break the cycle of household transmission of the Ebola virus.

With funding from the UK Department for International Development (DFID), ICAP team members visited 11 sites across six districts—Bo, Bombali, Kambia, Koinadugu, Port Loko, and Western Area—to assess the safety, effectiveness, acceptability, and operational feasibility of these centers, where patients with symptoms suggestive of Ebola receive care and support as they await diagnosis and transfer to Ebola treatment units or referral for other medical services. . .

. . . Using a 168-item site assessment survey, information was gathered on patient flow, laboratory services, on-site standard operating protocols, and other key operational areas of the community care centers.

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Fast track development of Ebola Vaccines

Thu, 2015-01-15 16:44 — mike kraft

Principles and target product criteria

THE CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DESEASE AND POLICY Jan 12, 2015

The unprecedented morbidity and mortality from the 2013- 2015 Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic in West Africa has challenged every aspect of our global ability to effectively detect, respond to, and control such a rapidly emerging infectious disease crisis.

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Red Cross nurse dies of Ebola in Sierra Leone

Thu, 2015-01-15 15:47 — mike kraft

ASSOCIATED PRESS Jan. 15, 2015

BERLIN — The international Red Cross says a local employee has died of Ebola in Sierra Leone, becoming the first Red Cross worker or volunteer to succumb to the disease there.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said the male nurse who worked at an Ebola treatment center in Kenema, whom it didn't identify, died Tuesday and was confirmed to have been suffering from the disease.

It said Thursday it is investigating how the man became infected and whether it happened at home or at work. The agency said 29 people who had contact with him are being monitored for symptoms.Linke

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http://news.yahoo.com/red-cross-nurse-dies-ebola-sierra-leone-125759456.html

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The Socio-Economic Impacts of Ebola in Liberia

Wed, 2015-01-14 22:14 — Kathy Gilbeaux

worldbank.org

Latest Key findings

nearly half of those working at the start of the Ebola crisis are no longer working, despite improvements in the health situation
Women are particularly vulnerable as the labor market stagnates, with 60 percent of those working at the start of the crisis no longer working
Farmers cite difficulty in organizing work teams given Ebola fears, reducing harvests.

Background

In an effort to measure the economic impact of Ebola on Liberian households, the World Bank, with the Liberian Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services and the Gallup Organization, has conducted three rounds of mobile-phone surveys, in October, November, and December 2014.

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WHO - Executive Board: Special Session on the Ebola Emergency

Wed, 2015-01-14 21:51 — Kathy Gilbeaux

WHO Executive Board will hold a special session on #Ebola on 25 Jan. Documents & information available here http://t.co/b1xAfJjDbg #EB136
— WHO (@WHO) January 12, 2015

(CLICK HERE - SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS AND INFORMATION)

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Ebola Cases Drop Off in West Africa

Wed, 2015-01-14 19:47 — mike kraft

NBC NEWS by Maggie Fox Jan. 14, 2005
The number of new Ebolacases is starting to drop off in the three worst-hit West African countries, and Liberia has only reported 48 cases in the past three weeks, the World Health Organization reported Wednesday.

Guinea and Liberia both reported the fewest new cases since August, WHO says in its latest daily look at Ebola statistics. Sierra Leone is still suffering badly, with 769 new cases over the past 21 days, but that's a decline in reported cases.

"Sierra Leone has now reported a decline in case incidence for the second week running, and recorded its lowest weekly total of new confirmed cases since the week ending 31 August 2014," WHO said.

Overall, 21,261 people have been infected in this ongoing epidemic of Ebola, and 8,414 have died, WHO says.

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/situation-reports/en/

Ebola Situation report

WHO Jan. 14, 2015

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Probe of Ebola burial practices pinpoints risks, triggers changes

Wed, 2015-01-14 16:00 — mike kraft

CENTER FOR DISEASE POLICY AND RESEARCH by Lisa Schnirring Jan. 13, 2015

An early September assessment of burial practices in some of Sierra Leone's Ebola hot spots revealed a host of problems that were probably helping fuel ongoing virus transmission in the country, experts from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Sierra Leone's health ministry reported today.

The team conducted its first assessment in three high-risk areas, focusing on burial practices, cemetery management, and adherence to recommended practices. Then they looked at the issues again the following month on a broader scale ahead of the Sierra Leone government's national rollout of standard procedures for safe and dignified burials. They published their findings in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

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http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2015/01/probe-ebola-burial-practices-pinpoints-risks-triggers-changes

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Most calls to Ebola center are pranks: Sierra Leone official

Wed, 2015-01-14 13:58 — mike kraft

AFP-JIJI Jan. 14, 2014
FREETOWN – Eighty percent of people phoning a toll-free Ebola help number are prank callers, the head of the Ebola Call Centre in Sierra Leone, Reynold Senessie, said Tuesday.

“Such prank calls are affecting the smooth operation of the center,” Senessie said while briefing Palo Conteh, head of the National Ebola Response Centre (NERC), who paid an unannounced visit to the call center.

The good news is that “genuine calls are dwindling and response to such calls have been swift,” he added.

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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/01/14/world/science-health-world/calls-ebola-center-pranks-sierra-leone-official/#.VLa5BXu1f8w
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Use of a Nationwide Call Center for Ebola Response and Monitoring During a 3-Day House-to-House Campaign — Sierra Leone, September 2014

CDC detaied study of call center useage in Sierra Leone

See complete study.

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Canada sends more help to fight Ebola in West Africa

Wed, 2015-01-14 12:30 — mike kraft

TORONTO SUN by Hal Roberts Jan. 13, 2015

OTTAWA — A third mobile lab and two more scientists from the Public Health Agency of Canada are on their way to help fight Ebola in West Africa.

Sean Freeman points out on a map of Africa where he was working at the Red Cross offices in downtown Calgary, Alta. where he has returned from working at the Red Cross Ebola Treatment Centre in Kenema, Sierra Leone. on Monday January 5, 2015. Stuart Dryden/QMI Agency

The doctors will spend a week in Amsterdam and Belgium to train with Doctors without Borders before heading to Sierra Leone on Jan. 18.

"It is our hope that the work of this third mobile laboratory — providing physicians with ongoing information about the health of their patients — will allow health-care workers to provide medical treatments tailored to their patients' needs and ultimately, save more lives," Health Minister Rona Ambrose said in a statement Tuesday.

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http://www.torontosun.com/2015/01/13/canada-sends-more-help-to-fight-ebola-in-west-africa

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Ebola health workers face life or death decision on pregnant women - experts:

Wed, 2015-01-14 12:14 — mike kraft

REUTERS by Kieran Guilbert Jan. 14, 2015

LONDON --Health workers treating women with pregnancy-related problems in Ebola-hit countries have to make life or death decisions for their patients and themselves, experts said on Wednesday.

Health workers have very little time to decide whether a pregnant women with complications is free of Ebola and should have the necessary intervention, or may have Ebola and should have minimal procedures, experts said in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Dr Benjamin Black, a specialist in obstetrics and gynaecology, said poor infrastructure and limited access to laboratory services meant that test results for suspected Ebola patients could take more than 24 hours to arrive, in which time a woman and her foetus may die....

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