Small Rise in New Cases Shows Ebola Hanging On

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.

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(CLICK HERE - WHO - SITUATION REPORT - DATA AS OF FEBRUARY 1, 2015)