Ebola News 2/12

[Buster's Uncle]

UK military health workers tested for Ebola discharged from hospital
Reuters  5 minutes ago



LONDON (Reuters) - Two British military healthcare workers who were flown home after their possible exposure to the Ebola virus have been discharged from hospital, government agency Public Health England said on Thursday.

The Royal Free Hospital in London admitted the two workers on Jan. 31 and Feb. 2 after they had received needle injuries in two separate incidents in Sierra Leone, where they were helping to combat the Ebola epidemic.

Public Health England said neither had shown any symptoms of the virus.

"The individuals will receive ongoing monitoring and support while residing in appropriate private accommodation close to the Royal Free. The risk to the public from Ebola remains very low," the agency said in a statement.

The worst Ebola epidemic in history broke out in late 2013 in West Africa, where it has killed close to 10,000 people. The spread of the virus began to slow late last year, but the World Heath Organization warned against complacency this week after a recent spike in new cases.

(Reporting by Sam Wilkin; editing by Stephen Addison)


http://news.yahoo.com/uk-military-health-workers-tested-ebola-discharged-hospital-155218068.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Ebola-hit Guinea asks for funds for creaking health sector
Reuters
By Misha Hussain  12 minutes ago



CONAKRY (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - International donors wishing to help Guinea fight Ebola should use their money to strengthen the West African country's health system and help it tackle future epidemics instead of building more Ebola treatment centers, a government official said.

The worst ever outbreak of Ebola has killed at least 9,177 people out of 22,894 recorded cases, mainly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, which have some of the weakest healthcare and disease surveillance systems in the world.

The World Health Organization said on Wednesday the number of new Ebola cases rose for the second week in a row in West Africa, nearly doubling in Guinea, suggesting declines earlier this year had stalled.

"We already have over 400 beds (in Ebola treatment centers), but the attendance is among the lowest of the epidemic, so let's leave it at that," government spokesman Fode Tass Sylla told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview in Conakry.

"Help us strengthen the health system, because after Ebola, all these treatment centers will disappear and Guinea will still be too weak to deal with the next epidemic," Sylla said, adding that the government was in talks with all funding partners.

Guinea will need an estimated $296 million to eliminate Ebola and an additional $642 million to improve its health system to prevent future epidemics, according to a national action plan to combat the deadly virus.

Guinea has only 3,435 hospital beds for a population of nearly 11.5 million and only one doctor for every 100,000 people, according to an Oxfam report in November.

In the country where West Africa's Ebola outbreak began, it can take aid workers up to six hours to move patients from remote villages to treatment centers over treacherous roads.

"We have to strengthen hospital and health posts in rural areas by training staff and stocking medicines and equipment. We need to reinforce the sanitary service and make sure messages on TV and radio reach the remotest communities," Sylla said.

The latest treatment center, a 50-bed facility funded by the French government in Beyla, southeast Guinea, was completed in January when cases appeared to be declining. Guinea has asked for its operating costs to be reallocated, aid sources say.

"Donors are not flexible or quick enough to react to the fast-changing dynamics of this Ebola outbreak. They've allocated money for a purpose, and the money has to be spent no matter what," said the head of a major medical charity, who declined to be identified.

"When planning an Ebola treatment center, donors have to budget for the center to run at full capacity for at least 6 months, so if it's empty, there's money left over from what would have been used for the day-to-day running of the center," the aid worker said.

(Editing by Katie Nguyen)


http://news.yahoo.com/ebola-hit-guinea-asks-funds-creaking-health-sector-162730238.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Red Cross Ebola teams in Guinea attacked 10 times a month
Reuters  8 hours ago



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. REUTERS/Baz Ratner



CONAKRY (Reuters) - Red Cross teams in Ebola-hit Guinea have been attacked on average 10 times a month over the past year, the charity said on Thursday, warning that the violence was hampering efforts to contain the disease.

In the most recent incident last Sunday in the town of Forecariah about 60 kilometers (40 miles) southeast of Conakry, two Red Cross volunteers were beaten while trying to conduct a safe burial, the charity said.

Ending traditional burials is seen as crucial to stopping the spread of the latest outbreak, which has killed more than 9,100 people, mainly in West Africa, because rituals often involve extensive contact with highly contagious corpses.

"As long as people have misconceptions about how Ebola is spread, and continue to prevent volunteers from doing their work, we will not stop the disease," said Youssouf Traore, president of the Red Cross Society of Guinea.

The number of new cases in Guinea nearly doubled last week to 64, the World Health Organization said, jeopardizing a government plan to get to zero new cases by early March.

Officials say that locals especially around the capital Conakry continued to hide sick friends and relatives from authorities.

Traore said he thought hostility towards the charity was due to rumors that it had been disinfecting schools and vaccinating children, amid fears this was part of a plot to infect locals with the virus.

President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he was bringing back nearly all U.S. troops fighting the Ebola epidemic in West Africa and marking a new phase in the battle to help countries "get to zero" cases. Guinea has the longest way to go in ending the outbreak, he added.

(Reporting by Misha Hussain, West Africa correspondent for the Thomson Reuters Foundation; Writing by Emma Farge; Editing by Crispian Balmer)


http://news.yahoo.com/red-cross-ebola-teams-guinea-attacked-10-times-122057196.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Delay in schools restart announced in error: Liberia
AFP  8 hours ago



Classrooms were shut six months ago in Liberia to limit the spread of the Ebola virus as the epidemic neared its peak, but lessons had been due to restart next week -- before a two-week delay was announced on Wednesday (AFP Photo/Zoom Dosso)



Monrovia (AFP) - Education chiefs apologised on Thursday for wrongly announcing a postponement of the reopening of Ebola-hit Liberia's schools, blaming the mix-up on "problems at the ministry".

Classrooms were shut six months ago to limit the spread of the virus as the epidemic neared its peak, but lessons had been due to restart next week -- before a two-week delay was announced on Wednesday.

"We had some problems at the ministry. I ask all schools to disregard yesterday's release. We are sorry about that," the deputy education minister Ramsey Fomoyan told the state-run ELBC radio station.

The reopening has become something of a saga, with the initial date of February 2 extended to February 16 and then March 2, before the latest delay was withdrawn.

Fomoyan apologised for the timetable being changed so many times.

Liberia and its neighbours Guinea and Sierra Leone are battling the deadliest Ebola outbreak on record.

Schools in all three countries were closed last year over the outbreak, which has killed more than 9,000 people.

Although there has been a recent spike of cases in Guinea and Sierra Leone, the overall trend has been significant slowdown in new infections, paving the way for a gradual return to normal.

In Guinea, children returned to school on January 19 while Sierra Leone has said it will restart classes on March 30.


http://news.yahoo.com/delay-schools-restart-announced-error-liberia-114541052.html

[Buster's Uncle]

West Africa sees spike in Ebola cases as decline stalls: WHO
Reuters
By Saliou Samb and Emma Farge  14 hours ago



British health workers lift a newly admitted Ebola patient onto a wheeled stretcher in to the Kerry town Ebola treatment centre outside Freetown December 22, 2014. REUTERS/Baz Ratner



CONAKRY/DAKAR (Reuters) - The number of new Ebola cases rose for the second week in a row in West Africa, nearly doubling in Guinea, suggesting declines in the disease seen earlier this year had stalled, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday.

Efforts to wipe out the deadly virus were being hampered by people's mistrust of health workers, and the number of people continuing to hide sick friends and relatives from authorities, particularly in Guinea's capital Conakry, officials said.

West Africa recorded 144 new confirmed cases of Ebola in the week to Feb. 8 compared with 124 the previous week, the WHO said in a report.

"Despite improvements in case finding and management, burial practices, and community engagement, the decline in case incidence has stalled," the U.N. agency said.

In Guinea, where the outbreak began, there were 64 new cases compared with 39 the previous week.

"The main threat to achieving our goal of zero cases in 60 days is this resistance in Conakry," Dr. Sakoba Keita, national coordinator for the fight against the epidemic in Guinea, said.

Guinea's President Alpha Conde has announced a plan to have no Ebola cases by early March.

But in an illustration of the remaining challenges, youths from the Conakry suburb of Yimbaya spilled onto the streets on Monday, burning tyres after an imam suspected of conducting a secret Ebola burial was detained by authorities.

The U.N. said this week that 70 schools across the country had been unable to open because of local suspicions of medical kits being distributed to students.

The worst outbreak on record has now killed at least 9,177 people out of 22,894 recorded cases, mainly in the three worst-affected West African nations, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Sierra Leone remains the country with the highest transmission, although case numbers dropped week-on-week to 76 from 80. Liberia, once the epicentre of the outbreak, reported just three cases in the same period.

President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he was bringing back nearly all U.S. troops fighting the Ebola epidemic in West Africa and marking a new phase in the battle to help countries "get to zero" cases. Guinea has the longest way to go in ending the outbreak, he added.

Obama said wealthy countries needed to invest to ensure that poor nations have basic health systems to detect and fight diseases.

"This is not charity," he said in a speech at the White House. "The investments we make overseas are in our self-interest."


http://news.yahoo.com/west-africa-sees-spike-ebola-cases-decline-stalls-063310301.html