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Ebola crisis could force Sierra Leone to diversify away from mining

THE GUARDIAN  by                                                          March 10, 2015

As Sierra Leone looks to rebuild after the Ebola epidemic, it may be forced to diversify from a mining-heavy economic base. Falling iron ore prices and the effects of Ebola on the industry signal the need for change, according to the chairman of the Chamber of Mines, who said the diversification could be beneficial.

A mine in Koidu, Sierra Leone. Falling iron ore prices and the Ebola crisis could force changes in the mining sector.Photograph: Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Images

 John Bonoh Sisay said mining companies will also have to change the way they interact with local people, placing a greater emphasis on supporting healthcare systems as part of corporate social responsibility.

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Economist: Some high-tech solutions fail with fight against Ebola in West Africa

THE ECONOMIST                                                                                                   March 9, 2015

As in all Ebola episodes, preventing infection in West Africa during what has been the worst outbreak in history has placed a lot of effort on looking after those dealing with the victims. New high-tech equipment is now available for use by health care workers, but in some countries it may be inappropriate....

Health care workers inside a USAID-funded Ebola clinic in Liberia wearing protective gear. Some of the best protective gear or technology is not available to African countries because of high costs or other conditions.  Photos by Abbas Dulleh • Associated Press,

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First look at hospitalized Ebola survivors' immune cells could guide vaccine design

MEDICALXPRESS                                                                                                 March 9, 2015
Researchers from Emory and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have now obtained a first look at the responses in four Ebola disease survivors who received care at Emory University Hospital in 2014, by closely examining their T and B cells during the acute phase of the disease. The findings reveal surprisingly high levels of , and have implications for the current effort to develop vaccines against Ebola.

The Ebola virus, isolated in November 2014 from patient blood samples obtained in Mali. The virus was isolated on Vero cells in a BSL-4 suite at Rocky Mountain Laboratories. Credit: NIAID

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Postmortem Stability of Ebola Virus

A CDC study suggests that the Ebola virus may still be able to cause disease a week after a person infected with the virus has died.

CDC  EMERGING INFECTIOUSNESS DISEASE JOURNAL        March, 2015
Abstract

The ongoing Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa has highlighted questions regarding stability of the virus and detection of RNA from corpses. We used Ebola virus–infected macaques to model humans who died of Ebola virus disease. Viable virus was isolated 7 days posteuthanasia; viral RNA was detectable for 10 weeks.

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http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/21/5/15-0041_article

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How big data is beating Ebola

Computational epidemiologists at Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) have been working to combat the world’s largest and deadliest outbreak of Ebola. - See more at: http://www.information-age.com/technology/information-management/123459120/how-big-data-beating-ebola#sthash.CTk2zlgo.dpuf
Computational epidemiologists at Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) have been working to combat the world’s largest and deadliest outbreak of Ebola. VBI’s Bryan Lewis writes - See more at: http://www.information-age.com/technology/information-management/123459120/how-big-data-beating-ebola#sthash.CTk2zlgo.dpuf
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Ebola: No Lasting Recovery Without a Special Focus on Women, Says UNDP

      

africa.undp.org - February 27, 2015

CLICK HERE - STUDY - CONFRONTING THE GENDER IMPACT OF EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE IN GUINEA, LIBERIA, AND SIERRA LEONE (9 page .PDF report)

Women need to be at the center of all efforts to help Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone recover from the Ebola crisis, according to a study by UNDP.

The epidemic has affected women disproportionately because of the essential role they play as caretakers, health personnel, farmers and small traders. For instance, as of December 2014, women represented 62 percent of the sick in Guéckédou, Guinea where the epidemic first appeared, and up to 74 percent in Télémilé, north of the capital Conakry.

“Buried in the aggregated impact is the plight of Ebola’s voiceless victims and agents of change—women and children,” say the authors of the study, adding that “Ebola response and recovery, and national development strategies must be gender-sensitive in addressing the associated negative impacts on women and girls.”

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Africa tourism acts to shake off Ebola stigma

AFP  by Marie Julie                                                                                                        March 7, 2015
Berlin - - The impact of the deadly Ebola virus fell mainly on three African countries but tourism has taken a hit across the continent of more than 50 nations as fear has kept many visitors away, tourism chiefs say.

Visitors pass by a poster of flight route information at the 49th International Tourism Fair (ITB Berlin 2015) in Berlin on March 4, 2015 (AFP Photo/Tobias Schwarz)

Some 56 million tourists visited Africa in 2014, a two-percent rise from the previous year, according to UNWTO figures, but growth in Africa lagged behind that in Europe, Asia or the Americas.

Africa had seen a robust 4.8-percent increase in tourists a year earlier.

"Africa... did well (last year) in spite of suffering from the Ebola symptoms which were associated unfairly" with Africa as a whole, Taleb Rifai, head of the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), said at the Berlin tourism fair (ITB).

He said Africa needed support, especially after the Ebola crisis, adding: "It was very unfair the generalisation that happened."

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Sierra Leone's Ebola-quarantined VP expelled from party

AFP                                                                                                                    March 6, 2015

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AFP) — Sierra Leone's Vice President Sam Sumana was expelled from the ruling party on Friday as he spent a sixth day confined to his home under Ebola quarantine.

                                                  Vice-President Samuel Sam-Sumana

The ruling All People's Congress told a news conference in Freetown the action was unconnected to the outbreak and was the result of an investigation lasting several weeks into Sumana's conduct and background.

"The VP has said he was a Muslim but investigations found this to be incorrect," said the party's secretary-general Osman Yansaneh as he laid out a number of accusations against the vice president.

Yansaneh said Sumana's claim to hold a degree from a US university had turned out to be false, and that he was also accused of being responsible for "frequent unrest" in his eastern home district of Kono.

The fourth allegation against Sumana was that he was plotting to set up a breakaway political party, Yansaneh told reporters at the party headquarters.

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Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey allowed to work

THE SCOTSMAN                                                                                                March 6, 2015

PAULINE Cafferkey, the Scottish nurse who contracted Ebola while working in Sierra Leone, is free to continue working while under investigation, a medical council has ruled.

 Pauline Cafferkey flew back to the UK via Casablanca and London Heathrow before landing at Glasgow Airport late on December 28.

She was admitted to hospital in Glasgow early the next morning after feeling feverish, before being diagnosed with the disease.

Last month, Public Health England said it had passed information to the General Medical Council and Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) on three nurses and two doctors after assessing the screening of healthcare workers returning to the UK.

An NMC spokeswoman said:

“The panel decided not to impose an interim order. Pauline Cafferkey is free to practise without restriction.”  The full case is likely to be held later this year.

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