BBC                                                                                                                       Dec. 22 2014

Spending cuts imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may have contributed to the rapid spread of Ebola in three West African states, UK-based researchers say.

                      Sierra Leone, along with Liberia and Guinea, have poor health facilities

It had led to "under-funded, insufficiently staffed, and poorly prepared health systems" in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, they said.

The IMF denied the allegation.

"A major reason why the Ebola outbreak spread so rapidly was the weakness of healthcare systems in the region, and it would be unfortunate if underlying causes were overlooked," said Cambridge University sociologist and lead study author Alexander Kentikelenis....

The IMF said in a statement that health spending in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone had, in fact, increased in the 2010-2013 period.

Image: A picture of people on ice and snow. Caption reads: Enjoy it while you can. Image: Thomas A. Brown and Simon T. Belt

slate.com - December 12th, 2014 - Eric Holthaus

Ice has been a relatively constant feature of the Arctic for most of the past 36 million years, but there have been some gaps. Scientists aren’t exactly sure what happened during the most recent major ice-free period, but it’s often considered an analog to our future, warmer Earth. The only difference is, the gap in Arctic sea ice that scientists believe will happen by midcentury is being caused by us.*

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

REUTERS   by    Emma Farge                                                                                                 Dec. 21, 2014       
KOIDU, Sierra Leone -- The rapid response team has arrived and the chaos is easing, but medics in a remote Sierra Leonean district are struggling to control a local Ebola outbreak when it's too late to nip it in the bud.

Health workers rest outside a quarantine zone at a Red Cross facility in the town of Koidu, Kono district in Eastern Sierra Leone December 19, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Baz Ratner

A deployment of medical workers and equipment to Kono District has been the fastest so far in Sierra Leone, a country with nearly half the total Ebola cases,- under a strategy of tackling epidemic hotspots before they get too big.

But officials say responses need to be yet faster to fight the fever that has killed more than 7,000 people across West Africa.

WASHINGTON POST OP-ED by Claudena Skran                                                                      Dec. 20, 2014

No evacuation plane to the United States or Europe awaited Dr. Thomas Rogers in early December when he fell ill with the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone.

Instead, the highly trained physicianstruggled to be admitted to one of the few Ebola treatment centers in the West African country. After finally securing a bed, Rogers died on Dec. 5 , sharing the tragic course of the Ebola epidemic with his countrymen.

NEW YORK TIMES SUNDAY REVIEW   by Jeffrey Gettleman                                            Dec. 21, 2014

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone --
...Ebola, however much some of its symptoms conjure up a horror film, is usually shockingly simple to treat. The virus is swift and ruthless, hideous and creepy, causing some patients to have bloody vomit, bloody diarrhea or even — in severe cases — bloody eyeballs. Ebola is one of the handful of viruses than can trigger a hemorrhagic fever, with internal bleeding, but in most cases the biggest threat is dehydration, which can be addressed by clean water and basic drugs.

African Union blocks troops rotation over Ebola fears, forcing Sierra Leone to withdraw its 850 soldiers from Somalia.

ALJAZERA     by     Hansa Mohamed                             Dec. 21, 2014

Sierra Leone is withdrawing its troops from Somalia after the African Union blocked the West African country from rotating its soldiers over fears for the Ebola virus.

Sierra Leone sent 850 troops to Somalia for a 12-month deployment to fight the al-Qaeda-linked rebel group, al-Shabab, in Somalia in 2013.

Their rotation was delayed after a group of 800 soldiers, who were waiting to replace their comrades in Somalia, were quarantined after one of the soldiers was tested positive for Ebola.

"They have to go. We wish they could have stayed but they have been here long. And there is no rotation possible because of the nature of the situation," Maman Sidou, the AU's special representative for Somalia said during a farewell event for the troops held in the port city of Kismayo on Friday.

Volunteers’ anger at restrictions imposed on their return home from west Africa

THE GUARDIAN by Tracy Mcveigh                                                                                   Dec. 21, 2014

As the latest of the six British-built Ebola treatment centres in west Africa admitted its first three patients this weekend, some of the volunteer NHS staff working there over Christmas said they felt insulted by a draconian ramping up of the protocols they have been told they will have to follow when they return to the UK.

A British health worker puts on protective clothes at a Red Cross clinic in eastern Sierra Leone. Photograph: Baz Ratner/Reuters

REUTERS  by James Harding Giahyue                                                                                     Dec. 20, 2014

MONROVIA--Turnout for Liberian parliamentary elections on Saturday appeared to be low as concerns about Ebola kept many voters at home.

Polling stations were largely empty after voting began at 8 a.m. (3.00 a.m. ET) in the seafront capital Monrovia, with voters occasionally drifting in, despite precautions put in place by the National Elections Commission (NEC).

Staff with temperature guns at polling stations checked voters for any signs of the hemorrhagic fever, which is spread via bodily fluids. Voters were obliged to wash their hands with chlorine solution, to stand at least three feet apart in the queue, and bring their own pens to mark the ballot paper, officials said.

Read complete story.

The Guardian    by Chris Johnston                                        Dec. 20, 2014

(Two items, scroll below.)

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone --The death toll from the worst ever outbreak of Ebola has reached nearly 7,400, with just over 19,000 people infected across west Africa, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, addresses health workers in Sierra Leone. Photograph: Evan Schneider/AFP/Getty Images

Sierra Leone reported 400 new fatalities this week, bringing the death toll there to 2,500. As of 18 December, it had the highest number of people infected by the virus – 8,800 cases, of which 6,900 were confirmed, according to the country’s health ministry.

The WHO is attempting to curb an outbreak in the west of the country, where the disease is spreading fastest, by sending a “massive surge of staff and resources” to the area.

REUTERS --By Matthew Mpoke Bigg                                 Dec.20, 2014
CONAKRY--U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday urged countries affected by the Ebola virus to avoid discriminating against healthcare workers fighting to end the disease.

Ban was speaking in Guinea on the second day of a whistle-stop tour aimed at thanking healthcare workers of the countries at the heart of the epidemic....

Ban's tour began in Liberia and Sierra Leone on Friday and will end later on Saturday in Ghana, site of the U.N. Ebola response mission (UNMEER), after a visit to Mali.

"There should be no discrimination for those who have been working or helping with Ebola. Those people are giving all of themselves," Ban told U.N. officials in Conakry.

Read complete story.

TIME MAGAZINE by ALexandra Sifferlin                                                                            Dec. 19, 2014

In 2015, the three Ebola-affected countries will start offering cash payments for families hit by Ebola, as well as survivors having trouble re-acclimating to society out of stigma for the disease.

Dudu Kromah’s husband died from Ebola. She is looking after ten children, many of them orphans including a 3-month-old baby. She has no income. Carly Learson—Carly Learson / UNDP

Every aspect of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone’s societies have taken a hit from Ebola, and the disease has shocked what were once fragile but growing economies....Every aspect of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone’s societies

“We are seeing a backwards slide of development of about 10 years,” says Boaz Paldi, chief of media and advocacy at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). “The outlook is not good. We are fearful for these countries.”

csis.org - Center for Strategic and International Studies

The CSIS podcast “Ebola in West Africa” has been named by Apple as one of its “Best of 2014” podcasts on iTunes U.

“Ebola in West Africa” was produced by Sahil Angelo, a young professional who works in the CSIS Global Health Policy Center in conjunction with our team of multi-media professionals in the CSIS Ideas Lab.

CSIS multimedia is available on iTunes, iTunes U and on www.CSIS.org/multimedia

CLICK HERE - iTunes - Ebola in West Africa

CLICK HERE - Tweet - iTunes U - Best of 2014

CDC                                                                                                                Dec. 19, 2014

 The 2014 Ebola epidemic is the largest in history, affecting multiple countries in West Africa. Two imported cases, including one death, and two locally acquired cases in healthcare workers have been reported in the US. CDC and partners are taking precautions to prevent the further spread of Ebola within the US

CDC/OSTLTS Public Health Law Program and Office of the Associate Director for Policy compiled an Interim Table of State Ebola Screening and Monitoring Policies for Asymptomatic Individuals[PDF 826KB] to help law and policy makers prepare for and respond to Ebola-related situations.

See complete report.

http://www.cdc.gov/phlp/publications/topic/ebola.html

THE LANCET                                                                                                              Dec.18, 2014
Communication and social mobilisation strategies to raise awareness about Ebola virus disease and the risk factors for its transmission are central elements in the response to the current Ebola outbreak in west Africa.1 A principle underpinning these efforts is to change risky "behaviour" related to "traditional" practices and "misinformation".

 Populations at risk of contracting Ebola virus disease have been exhorted to “put aside, tradition, culture and whatever family rites they have and do the right thing”....Such messages follow logically from clinical and epidemiological framings of contagion.

They pay little attention, however, to the historical, political, economic, and social contexts in which they are delivered....

Read the complete article.

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2814%2962382-5/fulltext

WASHINGTON POST      by Kevin Sieff                                                                                      Dec. 19, 2014

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — To find Andrew Kondoh, walk through the gates of this city’s largest cemetery, where teams in moonsuits bury more than 50 bodies in white plastic bags each day. Look for the man with the wispy goatee and big belly, who is overseeing one of the world’s most chaotic, dangerous graveyards as if he’s done it all before.

That’s because he has.