An imam gives information on Ebola during Friday prayers at a mosque in Conakry, Guinea, on April 11, 2014
(AFP Photo/Cellou Binani)

reliefweb.int - Conakry, Guinea - February 10, 2015

Around a dozen Guineans were wounded Monday in clashes with police after the arrest of an imam who led funeral prayers for a suspected victim of Ebola.

Demonstrators put up barricades, burned tyres and overturned rubbish bins in the capital Conakry, before using sticks and stones to attack officers who responded with tear gas and baton charges.

"They came for the third imam of our mosque because yesterday he led the funeral prayers in the mosque here for a relative who died a natural death," a protester told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"For the Guinean authorities no one can now die a natural death. All those who die have inevitably died of Ebola," he said.

A policeman told AFP that the officers wanted simply to question the imam on the cause of death and the conditions at the burial.

"It is especially important to know that he didn't have Ebola to ensure the safety of his family and neighbours, including potential contacts," he said.

A Red Cross truck carrying the body a woman who died of the Ebola virus drives in the Aberdeen district of Freetown, Sierra Leone, in this file photo taken on October 14, 2014.  Credit: Reuters/Josephus Olu-Mammah

reuters.com - by Misha Hussain - February 10, 2015

LOLA, Guinea (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - When Red Cross pickups crawl through the streets of the Guinean town of Lola in search of Ebola victims, crowds of women gather to shoo the medical workers away, young boys throw stones and angry men reach for their machetes.

In the country where West Africa's Ebola outbreak began, hostility towards aid workers - fueled by ever more far-fetched rumors - is undermining efforts to contain the deadly virus. . .

. . . Concerns about violence directed at aid teams comes as the number of new cases of Ebola rose at the start of February in all three of West Africa's worst-hit countries - Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone - ending previously encouraging declines.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Pope Francis (CNS)

catholicherald.co.uk - by Conor Gaffey - February 9, 2015

Protecting the environment is a Christian duty not just reserved for ‘green’ activists, Pope Francis said today.

The Pope tackled the topic of creation in his morning homily at Casa Santa Marta, warning that Christians must be the protectors of the natural world, not its masters. . .

. . . The Pope is expected to release his eagerly anticipated encyclical on the environment in June or July ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference to be held in Paris in December.

On his flight from Sri Lanka to Manila in January, Francis was reported to have said that human beings are largely to blame for climate change.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Brazil's samba filled streets during Carnival usually attract millions of visitors. | Photo: Reuters

telesurtv.net - February 7, 2015

Brazil's worsening drought has been linked to both climate change and deforestation which have limited rainfall, say experts.

Several cities in the southeast of Brazil have called off Carnival this year due to a serious drought that has plagued the region for months and shows no signs of abating. . .

. . . at least 15 cities and towns in the southeastern states of Minas Gerais and San Paolo have already called off all or parts of their Carnival festivities because of the region's water crisis. Both states have been suffering from drought for more than a year, with the water situation worsening. This has been the regions' worst drought in at least eight years.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLES IN THE LINKS BELOW:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/brazilian-drought-leaves-carnival-awash-in-doubt-1422402594

Investigations yield insights into Ebola outbreak's early months

cidrap.umn.edu - by Lisa Schnirring - December 30, 2014

With West Africa's Ebola epidemic passing the 1-year mark, two new reports yielded details about factors that fueled the event, including bats in a hollow tree that may have infected the index patient, a young Guinean child, and a silent chain of transmission that caused the disease to flare again in May after cases had sharply dropped off.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

See also:

Dec 30 EMBO Molecular Medicine study

Dec 29 New York Times story

Dec 30 WHO timeline

Dec 30 WHO situation summary

Eric Gweah, 25, grieves as he watches members of a burial team carry the body of his father, Ofori Gweah, 62 in Monrovia, Liberia.  Photo - Daniel Berehulak

nytimes - by Rick Gladstone - February 5, 2015

Officials from the United Nations and the World Health Organization expressed concern on Thursday over data showing the first weekly rise in new Ebola cases this year, countering the downward trend in the disease that has ravaged three West African nations.

The 124 new cases — 39 in Guinea, five in Liberia and 80 in Sierra Leone for the week ended Feb. 1 — amounted to a relatively small increase from the 99 new cases the week before, and paled in comparison with the hundreds of new cases per week that traumatized those countries and alarmed the world in the later months of 2014. . .

. . . However, the weekly increase in new cases, although small, was worrisome for a few reasons, said Dr. Bruce Aylward, the World Health Organization special representative on Ebola, and Dr. David Nabarro, the United Nations special envoy on Ebola.

A health worker checks the temperature of a man arriving at Bata Airport, January 14, 2015. 
Credit: Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

reuters.com - Reporting by Saliou Samb; Writing by Bate Felix; Editing by Angus MacSwan - February 6, 2015

(Reuters) - The number of people sick with Ebola fever has doubled in Guinea in the past week following the discovery of cases previously unknown to health authorities, a Guinea health official said on Friday.

About two dozen new suspected and confirmed Ebola cases were recorded in the past two weeks, taking the total number to 53 as of Friday, Fode Tass Sylla, a spokesman for Guinea's anti-Ebola task force, said.

Sylla said the increase was expected because health authorities were only now gaining access to faraway villages where inhabitants had previously prevented them from entering.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

allafrica.com - by Winston W. Parley - February 6, 2015

The head for Liberia's Incidence Management System, Tolbert Nyenswah, has disclosed that Lofa and Margibi Counties are faced with renewed threat from the Ebola Virus due to two separate cases that recently entered the two counties from Montserrado.

Mr. Nyenswah, who is also Assistant Health Minister for Preventive Services, told a local radio talk show hosted on Hot FM Thursday morning, February 5, 2015, that Lofa has about 18 contacts just from a single case from Monrovia.

"We are praying that nobody will get sick and we will get confirmed case from Lofa; Lofa is threatened right now because of that case; Margibi is also threatened because somebody left from Monrovia and went in a village in Margibi and died there. And that person was positive," he said yesterday.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Zainab Akiwumi in the radio studio of Radio Maria talking about the need to suspend cultural and traditional practices in times of Ebola, Sierra Leone.  WHO/S. Saporito

WHO’s social mobilization team is using radio to reach communities with information about how to prevent the spread of Ebola in Sierra Leone.

who.int - February 2015

Reaching communities not just physically, but psychologically and emotionally as well

“My work as a social mobilizer is to pass on key messages to convince people to stop the cultural and traditional practices that are fuelling the spread of Ebola,” says Zainab Akiwumi, who leads the WHO social mobilization team in Sierra Leone.

One way to convey Ebola messages is using local radio stations to reach out to the community. “On radio I tell the listeners, you who are listening to me now, take this message and go outside to tell those who did not hear me what I said, as a way to spread it on,” she continues.

submitted by George Hurlburt

The Kabia family grieves as the body of their day-old daughter is removed from their home in the Hill Cut neighborhood of Freetown, Sierra Leone, by a member of a safe burial team. The government mandates that all deaths in Ebola-infested districts be treated as potential Ebola cases and buried in accordance with safety procedures.
Photograph by Pete Muller, Prime for National Geographic

To stop infected bodies from spreading the disease in Sierra Leone, health officials persuaded local leaders to change how villagers mourned.

nationalgeographic.com - by Amy Maxmen - January 30, 2015

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone—A great quarrel followed the death of a pregnant Guinean woman in June. Mourners refused to allow a team of outsiders dressed in what looked like white space suits to bury her Ebola-infected corpse. If she was to be saved from eternal wandering and reach the village of the dead, they insisted, her fetus must be removed.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Unsafe burials have spurred some of the newly reported cases, the WHO said.  UNMEER, Martine Perret / Flickr cc

CLICK HERE - WHO - Ebola Situation Report
4 February 2015

submitted by Stephen Morse

cidrap.umn.edu - by Lisa Schnirring - February 4, 2015

In a sign that West Africa's Ebola response still faces several challenges, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone all reported an uptick in cases last week, the first time this year that all three countries have seen an increase, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today.

Some of the remaining problems include stubborn pockets of community resistance in some areas, the disease's increased reach in Guinea, and widespread transmission in Sierra Leone, the agency said. The WHO warned of an urgent need to curb the outbreak in as many areas as possible, with the approach of the wet season that will make remote areas difficult for responders to reach.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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."

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

THOMPSON REUTERS By Misha Hussain                   Feb. 4, 2015

CONAKRY -- Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) made the "big mistake" of focusing too much on treatment early on in the Ebola epidemic rather than speaking to people about tackling the disease, a senior member of the medical charity said.

 ...With 20 years of experience of treating Ebola, MSF deployed hundreds to the Ebola "hot zones" and was quick to isolate patients and trace their contacts.

However, Claudia Evers, MSF's Ebola emergency coordinator in Guinea, said: "MSF made a big mistake. We advocated for an increase in beds for too long, and everyone listened to MSF."

"Instead of asking for more beds we should have asked for more sensitisation activities," Evers told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview. Evers said the next stage of the Ebola response required a new approach if the disease was to be brought under control, centred on the promotion of good hygiene practices.

Read complete story
http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKBN0L81SM20150204?sp=true

MONROVIA --Assistant Health Minister and head of Liberia’s incident management system, Tolbert Nyensuwah, told journalists in Monrovia on Monday that five confirmed cases had been reported around Monrovia over the past seven days.

According to Minister Nyensuwah, the cases were reported from three communities in the western suburbs of the capital....

He has partially blamed the situation on some infected people refusing to seek treatment despite the availability of treatment centres, noting that a full-scale investigation is underway to ascertain why.

Fead complete story.
http://mobile.english.rfi.fr/africa/20150203-liberia-experimental-vaccines-against-ebola?utm_source=February+4+2015+EN&utm_campaign=2%2F4%2F2015&utm_medium=email

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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