Situation Report

THE GUARDIAN by Lisa O'Carroll                                 Jan, 10, 2015

A district in Sierra Leone has been declared Ebola-free, the first to be given the all-clear after 42 days with zero recorded cases of the virus.

Red Cross workers load a suspected Ebola case into an ambulance in Freetown, Sierra Leone, in September. Freetown still has a relatively large number of cases. Photograph: Michael Duff/AP

Pujehun, in the south-east of the country, was hit by Ebola in August and suffered 24 deaths from 31 cases – but it has not had a recorded case since 26 November. This means it has achieved the World Health Organisation’s benchmark for Ebola-free status.

The CDC’s Karen Williams, right, instructs Kwan Kew Lai to wash her hands before each step in the process before she removes her protective suit at an Ebola-treatment training session in Anniston, Ala.
Steve Gates for The Wall Street Journal

cdc.gov - January 7, 2015

Making the decision to volunteer in an Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) in West Africa shows a lot of courage and takes support from friends, loved ones, and other healthcare workers. It also requires the knowledge and skills to safely treat very sick patients in a challenging environment. CDC understands that healthcare workers preparing to deploy to West Africa need to know the infection prevention and control principles necessary for working in an ETU. To help meet this need, CDC offers an introductory training course at the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, Alabama.

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(ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE - Oct. 8, 2014)

ASSOCIATED PRESS  by Maria Cheng                                                                          Jan. 9, 2015
LONDON --The World Health Organizationsays the two leading Ebola vaccines appear safe and will soon be tested in healthy volunteers in West Africa.

After an expert meeting this week, WHO said there is now enough information to conclude that the two most advanced Ebola vaccines ? one made by GlaxoSmithKline and the other licensed by Merck and NewLink ? have "an acceptable safety profile."

In a press briefing on Friday, Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, who heads WHO's Ebola vaccine efforts, said "the cupboard (for Ebola vaccines) is filling up rapidly."

She said further trials in healthy people in West Africa, including health workers, are scheduled to start soon. Kieny added several other vaccines were being developed in the U.S., Russia and elsewhere.

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http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/leading-ebola-vaccines-safe-tests-starting-28107527

THE DAILY OBSERVER   by Gloria T. Tamba                                                        Jan. 8, 2015

(Two stories. Scroll down.)

MONROVIA -The United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) Special Representative to the Secretary General (SRSG), Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, has called on the Liberian government, as well as other Ebola-affected countries, for regional collaboration to battle the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD)....

Head of UNMEER Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed (second right) meets in Monrovia with Special Representative for Liberia, Karin Landgren (second left), to discuss cooperation on Ebola between the two UN entities. Photo: UNMEER/Simon Ruf

According to him, Liberia has made great progress in the fight against the deadly virus, but said that a lot needs to be done. He called on health authorities of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, the three hardest hit Ebola-affected countries in West Africa, to carry on regional collaboration by handling Ebola matters in a unique way that could eradicate the killer virus.