Global Health

29 Nov 2014 - BBC

The number of people killed by the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has risen to 6,928, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says.

The toll has increased by over 1,000 since the WHO's last report on Wednesday, but it includes unreported deaths from earlier in the outbreak.

Experts say the infection rate is more significant that the death toll, as it reflects how the virus is spreading. Infection rates are decreasing in Liberia, but are high in Sierra Leone.

There have been over 16,000 reported cases in Guinea, Sierra and Liberia.

Latest Ebola death tolls

Liberia: 7,244 cases, 4,181 deaths

Sierra Leone: 6,802 cases, 1,463 deaths

Guinea: 2,123 cases, 1,284 deaths

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-30260532

wellcome.ac.uk - November 28, 2014

A rapid, point-of-care diagnostic test for the Ebola virus will be trialled in the coming weeks at the Ebola treatment centre in Conakry, Guinea. The trial is one of six health research projects that have been jointly funded by the Wellcome Trust and the UK government.

The 15-minute Ebola test is six times faster than similar tests currently in use and aims to speed up the diagnosis of Ebola cases. Early detection of Ebola leads to better infection control as medical staff can identify and isolate confirmed cases of Ebola faster, and start treating patients sooner. Ultimately, a faster test could reduce Ebola transmission and mortality.

The project is supported through a joint Department for International Development (DFID) and Wellcome Trust fund for rapid health research during the Ebola outbreak. The six projects are managed by Enhancing Learning & Research for Humanitarian Assistance (ELRHA).

ASSOCIATED PRESS  By MICHELLE FAUL and JAMEY KEATEN Nov. 27, 2014

CONAKRY, Guinea --   ...President Alpha Conde says his government must coordinate the  (expected French)  response, one that aid workers say is confusing and inefficient. Overall the responsibility for the crisis has changed hands several times, from WHO’s regional Africa office, to its headquarters and finally to the U.N. mission.

“It’s difficult for us to understand who is working for (which) WHO” - the local Africa division or the central office in Geneva, said Pascal Piguet, a logistics expert with Doctors Without Borders who leads the Ebola treatment center in the southern town of Gueckedou....

Oyewale Tomori, a professor of virology at Redeemer’s University in Nigeria who sits on WHO’s emergency committee on Ebola, said countries themselves should be coordinating the Ebola control efforts with help from agencies like the U.S. CDC and WHO. “But that’s not happening. We have a very fractured response,” Tomori added....

NEW YORK TIMES   By Jeffrey Gettleman                        Nov.28, 2014

KISSI TOWN, Sierra Leone-- ...While health officials say they are making headway against the Ebola epidemic in neighboring Liberia, the disease is still raging in Sierra Leone, despite the big international push. In November alone, the World Health Organization has reported more than 1,800 new cases in this country, about three times as many as in Liberia, which until recently had been the center of the outbreak....

On Freetown’s outskirts, burly youth are setting up roadblocks. The police are nowhere to be found. The young men barricade the road brandishing digital thermometers. Credit Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times