Africa

WASHINGTON POST  by Ashoka Mukpo *                                         Aug. 7,  2015                      

“If it bleeds, it leads.” That’s the cliché in journalism that describes why a certain kind of tragedy tends to dominate the news cycle. One year ago today, the World Health Organization declared Ebola an “international health emergency.” But today, coverage of West Africa is beginning its drift into media disinterest as Ebola cases wane. International attention has now largely disappeared along with the sight of biohazard suits and ambulances.....

But it would be a mistake to celebrate victory over Ebola and return to the pre-outbreak status quo. The lessons of Ebola reach beyond the preparedness of West African health systems to confront crises, touching on issues that have been critical for the region in recent years: peace, security and how responsive governments are to society’s most vulnerable members. These lessons must be understood before a post-outbreak aid and development agenda is designed....

submitted by George Hurlburt

Graves dug in Freetown, Sierra Leone, to cope with those dying from Ebola in late 2014.  Mads Nissen/Panos

The world is ill-prepared for the next epidemic or pandemic. But the horror of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa may drive change.

nature.com - by Declan Butler - August 5, 2015

If there was one point last year when public-health experts held their breath, it was when a Liberian man infected with Ebola virus flew to Lagos, Nigeria, in July. Ebola was already raging uncontrolled through impoverished countries in West Africa, killing half of those it infected. Now a vomiting man had carried it straight to the heart of Africa's largest megacity — with 21 million inhabitants, many of whom live in slums. Experts were horrified at the prospect that the virus might rip through the city — and then, because Lagos is an international travel hub, spread farther afield.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS by CLARENCE ROY-MACAULAY  Aug. 6, 2015

FREETOWN -- Sierra Leone has only four recorded cases of Ebola, the West African nation's head of Ebola said Thursday, adding that he is hopeful the countdown to zero can soon begin.

Two of the cases have proven negative after treatments, and the other two, in the north Tonkolili district, are in treatment, said National Emergency Response Center chief Alfred Palo Conteh....

The Tonkolili district remains a worry, he said. Authorities last week quarantined 500 people after a man died from Ebola. The district had not had a single case of Ebola in five months. The victim contracted the disease in the capital, traveled to his home village, and was treated for a fever at the local hospital but authorities didn't call the Ebola emergency number.

He didn't have a burial that followed special procedures required for Ebola victims, and the man's mother and brother contracted the virus.

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http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/sierra-leone-ebola-head-country-cases-32920853

REUTERS  by Stephanie Nebehay                           Aug. 4, 2015

Guinea and Sierra Leone each recorded a single cases of Ebola in the past week, putting a year-end goal of ending the deadly epidemic within reach, although risks remain, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

Tight surveillance and tracing contacts of infected people remain crucial, WHO Assistant-Director Bruce Aylward said. They are especially challenging during the heavy rains in August.

In the previous week to July 26, the two countries had seven confirmed cases, which was the lowest in the past year up until then, according to the WHO.

Read complete story.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/04/us-health-ebola-who-idUSKCN0Q91JM20150804