Africa

MEDGADGET                                                                                   Aug. 20, 2015

BOSTON --At the 250^th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society this week, researchers from MIT, Harvard Med School, and the FDA are showing off a new field test that can quickly screen people for Ebola, yellow fever, and dengue. While the researchers don’t claim their technique to be as accurate as PCR and ELISA, it is nevertheless an excellent tool in poor areas of the world where these diseases tend to thrive.

The test doesn’t require any water or electricity nor any complicated and expensive equipment. It works similar to pregnancy tests, providing a color readout that signals whether a disease is detected that is easily readable by just about anyone.

THE GUARDIAN   by Sarah Bosley                              Aug. 20, 2015
FREETOWN--The long-running Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leoneis all but over after nearly 13,500 cases and almost 4,000 deaths, those fighting the disease believe.

             People celebrate being released from Ebola quarantine on 14 August 2015. Photograph: Sunday Alamba/AP

The last case in Sierra Leone was an eight-month-old child, who was hospitalised nearly two weeks ago and died four days later.

None of the 29 people who had contact with the child and were moved from the densely packed Freetown slum of Magazine Wharf to a voluntary quarantine facility have so far shown signs of illness.

globalcommunities.org - August 13, 2015

100% of 284 Open Defecation-Free Liberian communities reported they were Ebola-free

Research evidence points to a strong correlation between Community-Led Total Sanitation and Open Defecation-Free status and reduced risk of Ebola

Global Communities today released results of a study to examine whether communities in Liberia stood a better chance of resisting Ebola during the outbreak of the past 18 months if they participated in efforts to achieve Open Defecation Free (ODF) status. The study confirmed that a representative sample drawn from 284 Liberian communities that achieved ODF status by participating in the Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) process were Ebola-free despite their proximity to Ebola hotspots. Communities that began but did not complete the CLTS process also experienced significant protection and were 17 times less likely to experience Ebola Virus Disease infections.

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The deadly virus overwhelmed Sierra Leone's key agricultural district, leaving thousands of farms, and their farmers, abandoned. The impact of that lost harvest has shaken the economy — and its food supply.

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR  by Ryan Lenora Brown                    Aug. 16, 2015

Kailahun, Sierra Leone —...Today, the Ebola virus appears to be in retreat. Massive tented treatment centers built by international donors stand vacant and ghostly across the countryside, unnecessary to cope with the single-digit numbers of new cases recorded in recent weeks. Schools, closed for nearly nine months, have reopened. On weekend mornings, Freetown’s Atlantic Ocean beaches are once again thronged with joggers, pick-up soccer games, and informal aerobics classes, as fears fade of passing Ebola through physical contact.

Lahai Momoh, a buying agent for cacao in the eastern Sierra Leonean town of Kenema, seen here talking on his cellphone in August 2015, says 2014 was the worst year of his career due to the country's Ebola outbreak.