Conakry

TIME MAGAZINE                                         Nov. 5, 2014

by Alice Park

As the world waits for new treatrments and a vaccine. doctors in Guinea have found the best way to help patients survive Ebola.

... from the tragic illness and mortality emerge some important lessons from the region.The latest, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, details the cases that first appeared in Guinea’s capital city of Conakry between March and April. Unlike in other parts of the region, where the mortality rate from Ebola averages around 60% to 70%, in Conakry it has remained around 43%.

REUTERS                                                                                    Nov. 5, 2014
(WASHINGTON) - The World Bank's private sector arm pledged $450 million on Wednesday to support trade, investment and employment in the three West African countries affected the most by the deadly Ebola outbreak.

The announcement from the bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC) brings total World Bank commitments for Ebola to nearly $1 billion in the past three months, an unprecedented rapid response for a development institution that has been accused of dragging its feet on project approval in the past.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, a doctor and anthropologist, said 

"The fear swirling around Ebola has the potential to do long-term harm to businesses globally, and especially in the Ebola-affected countries," Kim said in a statement. "IFC .. will find ways to help boost trade and investment in West Africa, which will be essential to ensure that private companies continue to operate and sustain employment under difficult circumstances."

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Air Force personnel helped with the construction of the Monrovia Medical Unit (MMU) in Monrovia, Liberia. (Maj. Adrien Adams / AFRICOM)

MILITARY TIMES                                                                         Nov. 4, 2014 

By Patricia Kime

The Pentagon has no plans to scale back its response to the Ebola outbreak, Defense Department spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said Tuesday.

The rate of new Ebola infections in Liberia has dropped sharply in the past several weeks, according to the World Health Organization, prompting questions as to whether the U.S. military needs to follow through on plans to build 17 medical treatment facilities in that country.

But despite the decline in cases, Kirby told reporters in a Pentagon news conference that DoD will proceed to build the 100-bed facilities unless told otherwise.

Kirby said the recent decline in the number of cases is “promising, but no one is taking that for granted. The history of the disease is the numbers fluctuate.”

UPDATE: Spanish nurse's press conference after her release

BBC                                                                                         Nov. 5, 2014

Ms Romero recovered after being given a variety of treatments including blood plasma from survivor Paciencia Melgar.

An antiviral drug was also given to Ms Romero but the hospital was unable to say which method had been successful.

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http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29913739

-0-   Earlier story 

ASSOCIATED PRESS                                 NOV. 4, 2014
MADRID --A Spanish nursing assistant who recovered from Ebola is to be discharged from a Madrid hospital a month after she was admitted with the virus.