Ebola News 2/16

[Buster's Uncle]

Liberia reopens dozens of schools as Ebola wanes
Reuters
By James Harding Giahyue  2 hours ago



MONROVIA (Reuters) - Thousands of Liberian children in pristine uniforms flocked back to school on Monday as classrooms opened their doors for the first time after a six-month hiatus designed to stem the spread of the worst Ebola outbreak in history.

Dozens of schools reopened, in a sign the outbreak is ebbing in Liberia, once its epicenter. The epidemic has killed more than 9,000 people there and in Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The closures were yet another setback for a country whose health system and economy, based on diamonds, coffee and cocoa, were devastated by the virus.

At the peak last summer, Ebola patients were collapsing outside overflowing hospitals but now there are only a handful of new cases a week.

In the sunny courtyard of a Catholic school in the Congo Town district of the capital Monrovia, hundreds of students gathered to hear the principal's welcome. Medics took children's temperatures and told them not to stand too close together.

"I feel very great being in school in the first day, most especially after a long period of time waiting for this day," said teenager Faith Sayeh.

But in the classrooms there were some empty desks as parents kept their children at home while other schools remained closed.

"Only one of my seven children I have registered," said Lindsay Seakor, who lost her job last August due to the epidemic and says she cannot afford to pay for books and uniforms.

Some schools opened on Monday but had to send students home by mid-morning because teachers failed to turn up. George Wuo, a regional director of the ministry of education, said all schools in the country would have to open by March 2 or face fines.

Neighboring Guinea reopened most of its schools in January, but some parents have withdrawn children amid rumors schools were infected with the virus.

Sierra Leone hopes to open schools by the end of next month. Around 30 have been converted into treatment centers and will have to be emptied and decontaminated first.

In Liberia, some of about a million enrolled students have been following lessons by radio.

"Authorities in the three countries are looking at catch-up sessions and cancelling some school vacations. It will be challenging," said Sayo Aoki, education specialist in Ebola Emergencies at the U.N. Children's Fund.

(Additional reporting and writing by Emma Farge; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg and Andrew Roche)


http://news.yahoo.com/liberia-reopens-dozens-schools-ebola-wanes-164021632.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia target zero new Ebola cases in 60 days
Reuters  7 hours ago



A health worker injects a woman with an Ebola vaccine during a trial in Monrovia, February 2, 2015. REUTERS/James Giahyue



CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, the three states hardest hit by an epidemic of Ebola, said on Monday they had set a target of reducing the number of new cases to zero within 60 days.

The worst Ebola epidemic in history broke out in late 2013 in Guinea and has killed more than 9,000 people in all. Its spread is slowing but the World Heath Organization (WHO) warned of complacency after a recent spike in cases.

"The heads of state and the governments of the Mano River Union recognise the effort deployed by the states and the international community which has led to a decline in Ebola. They want to achieve zero new Ebola cases in 60 days from 15th Feb. 2015," Guinea's presidency said in a statement.

However, the number of new Ebola cases increased for the second consecutive week, with 144 new confirmed cases reported in the week to Feb. 8, the WHO said on its website.

Guinea reported 65 new confirmed cases, compared with 39 the week before. Sierra Leone had 76 new confirmed cases while Liberia continues to report a low number of new confirmed cases.

Guinean President Alpha Conde has announced a national plan to have no Ebola cases by early March.


http://news.yahoo.com/guinea-sierra-leone-liberia-target-zero-ebola-cases-111024487.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Schools reopen as Liberia turns page on Ebola epidemic
AFP
By Zoom Dosso  28 minutes ago



Students stand in line before heading to their classrooms at Don Bosco High School in the Liberian capital Monrovia on February 16, 2015 (AFP Photo/Zoom Dosso)



Monrovia (AFP) - Children trickled back to school in Liberia on Monday after the restart of lessons that had been delayed for months by the deadly Ebola outbreak, as the country begins to turn the page on the crisis.

The school term began a day after the leaders of Liberia and Sierra Leone, in their first trips abroad since the peak of the epidemic, vowed at a summit in Guinea to eradicate the virus by mid-April.

"Of course I am very happy to be back to school, though most of our friends did not come today. But I am sure they will soon," said Fatima Sherif, 18, at Kendenja High School, in the capital Monrovia.

"I am not afraid because everyone in Liberia today knows the danger called Ebola. No one wants to die so we have no choice but to respect the rules given by health authorities."

Fears over Ebola had kept Liberian schools closed since the July-August holidays.

Ebola, one of the deadliest pathogens known to man, is spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person showing symptoms such as fever or vomiting.



A student has her body temperature checked as part of an Ebola screening at Don Bosco High School as schools reopen in the Liberian capital Monrovia on February 16, 2015 (AFP Photo/Zoom Dosso)


UNICEF - the United Nations' agency for children -- told AFP pupils were washing their hands before entering schools and were having their temperatures checked.

The agency has been at the forefront of introducing safety measures to combat the spread of the virus, which has claimed more than 9,000 lives across Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

All three countries have seen a dramatic drop in infections compared with the peak of the epidemic in September and October.


- Concerns remain -

Guinea's President Alpha Conde and his Liberian and Sierra Leone counterparts Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Ernest Bai Koroma made a pledge to achieve "zero Ebola infections within 60 days" after day-long talks in the Guinean capital Conakry on Sunday.



Students stand in line before heading to their classrooms at Don Bosco High School in the Liberian capital Monrovia on February 16, 2015 (AFP Photo/Zoom Dosso)


Optimism that the worst is over has been tempered in Sierra Leone and Guinea, however, with the World Health Organization (WHO) reporting the number of new Ebola cases rising for the second week running.

Transmission remains "widespread" in Guinea, which saw 65 new confirmed cases in the week to February 8, and in Sierra Leone, which reported 76, according to the WHO.

Liberia, which has recorded the most deaths and was hardest hit at the height of the epidemic, is leading the recovery, reporting just three new confirmed cases in that same week.

Most private schools in Monrovia have decided to wait another two weeks to open, however, while attendance at state schools was low, according to an AFP correspondent in Monrovia.

"I am happy to be back in school. My parents told me to be very mindful, not to be in contact with friends too much, especially when the person has fever," said Juliet Markor, 15, a student at Don Bosco High School in Monrovia.



A student washes her hands before heading to her classroom at Don Bosco High School as schools reopen in the Liberian capital Monrovia on February 16, 2015 (AFP Photo/Zoom Dosso)


In neighbouring Guinea, more than 1.3 million children have returned to the classroom since last month and nearly all of the country's more than 12,000 schools are now back open, according to UNICEF.

The agency says it has been working closely with the Liberian government and local communities to develop the safety protocols already employed in Guinea.


- 'Deadly challenge' -

Teachers have been trained to implement and monitor the safety measures, while soap and other hygiene materials have been distributed and mass mobilisation campaigns on Ebola prevention have been conducted nationwide.

UNICEF said it was too early to be able to have a clear overview of how many schools had opened across Liberia.

"Typically it can take up to a month before the majority of students are back in the classroom," a spokeswoman in Monrovia told AFP.

UNICEF and its partners are handing out more than 7,200 hygiene kits for over 4,000 Liberian schools, and training 15,000 teachers and school administrators in monitoring of safety protocols.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) aid agency said it was providing training in some of the worst hit areas of Monrovia, where people are still contracting Ebola.

"We are gaining ground in the fight against Ebola, but it remains a deadly challenge -- deadly for health workers but also for children who are desperate to get back to daily life," IRC president David Miliband, a former foreign secretary in Britain, said in a statement.

Sierra Leone plans to reopen its classrooms at the end of March.


http://news.yahoo.com/schools-reopen-liberia-turns-page-ebola-epidemic-004319841.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Ebola-hit nations pledge to eradicate virus in 60 days
AFP
By Mouctar Bah  21 hours ago



A health worker wearing a personal protective equipment works at the Ebola treatment center in Macenta, Guinea, on November 20, 2014 (AFP Photo/Kenzo Tribouillard)



Conakry (AFP) - The leaders of the countries devastated by the west African Ebola outbreak vowed at a summit in Guinea on Sunday to eradicate the virus by mid-April.

The outbreak, which began 14 months ago, has killed more than 9,200 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia and savaged their economies and government finances.

Guinea's President Alpha Conde and his Liberian and Sierra Leone counterparts Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Ernest Bai Koroma made the pledge after day-long closed talks in the Guinean capital Conakry.

Hadja Saran Daraba Kaba, the secretary-general of the Mano River Union bloc grouping the countries, said their presidents "commit to achieving zero Ebola infections within 60 days, effective today".

The summit came with infections having dropped rapidly across the countries, although the World Health Organization says Guinea and Sierra Leone remain a huge concern as both have seen a recent spike in new confirmed cases.

Reading a joint declaration from the leaders, Kaba said they "recognised the efforts that have been made by the member states and the international community which have resulted in the decline of Ebola infections and death rates".



A Guinea's health worker wearing protective suit holds masks at an Ebola Donka treatment centre in Conakry on December 8, 2014 (AFP Photo/Cellou Binani)


The World Bank said in January the economic damage of the epidemic could run to $6.2 billion, trimming an earlier estimate of $25 billion.

However, the epidemic "will continue to cripple the economies of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone even as transmission rates in the three countries show significant signs of slowing," it said.


- Worst case scenario 'far away' -

The International Monetary Fund announced 10 days ago $100 million in debt relief for the three countries and said it was preparing another $160 million in concessional loans.

The leaders agreed to formulate a joint economic recovery plan to present at a conference on Ebola to be held by the European Union in Brussels on March 3, the Guinean presidency said in a statement.

"This comprehensive plan covers topics that affect virtually all key areas of development: education, agriculture, industry, trade, health and social action that will focus on the issue of the management of Ebola orphans and impoverished families," it added.

Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the head of the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency response, said the dramatic drop in infections from the October peak showed that "the worst disaster scenario now seems far away".

"The number of new cases per week declined from an alarming level of nearly 1,000 in the bad times of the crisis to 145 confirmed cases in the course of the last week in the three countries," he said.

"However, despite the significant decrease of cases we must always remember that it all started with one case. We know how on the basis of experiences in the fight against polio, for example, that it is easier to go from 100 to 10 than from 10 to 0."

In a sign of the fragility of the recovery, Sierra Leone was forced to place 700 homes in the capital under quarantine on Friday, less than a month after it had lifted all restrictions on movement.

The government said the properties had been locked down in Aberdeen, a fishing and tourist district of Freetown, after the death of a fisherman who tested positive for Ebola.


http://news.yahoo.com/ebola-hit-nations-pledge-eradicate-virus-60-days-215913320.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Ebola cases prompt mini-quarantine in Sierra Leone capital
Associated Press
By CLARENCE ROY-MACAULAY  February 14, 2015 4:25 PM



In this Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014 file photo, healthcare workers load a man suspected of suffering from the Ebola virus onto an ambulance in Kenema, Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone imposed a quarantine in a fishing district of the capital city, Freetown, after at least five new Ebola cases were confirmed there, an official said Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015. (AP Photo/ Tanya Bindra, File)



FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Sierra Leone imposed a quarantine in a fishing district of the capital city, Freetown, after at least five new Ebola cases were confirmed there, an official said Saturday.

The measure, imposed Friday, affects the coastal district of Aberdeen, which contains both upscale hotels and informal settlements, said OB Sisay, director of the Situation Room at the National Ebola Response Center. At least some of the new cases included fishermen who had gone out in a boat but returned complaining of stomach pains and were sent to a hospital for tests.

A control center has been established in the area, and contact tracing and surveillance officers have been deployed, Sisay said.

Sierra Leone has seen nearly 11,000 confirmed, probable and suspected Ebola cases during the worst Ebola outbreak in history, the most of any country, according to the World Health Organization. Despite a drop in cases, transmission in Sierra Leone remains widespread, with 76 new cases confirmed in the previous week, WHO said Wednesday .

The need for a quarantine is further evidence that getting to zero cases will be "a bumpy ride," Sisay said.

In Guinea the coordinator of the country's fight against Ebola, Dr. Sakoba Keita, appealed for calm Saturday after mobs attacked facilities used by health workers in two locations.

In Dabola, in the center of the country, crowds on Friday ransacked a Red Cross office and burned a vehicle in response to reports that disinfectant used in schools was actually the Ebola virus, resident Djibril Diallo said. And in Faranah, a town about 100 kilometers away from Dabola, similar rumors incited crowds to burn a Doctors Without Borders vehicle and attack Red Cross facilities, Keita said.

Wednesday's update from WHO noted that security was an issue in Guinea, with one-third of Ebola-affected prefectures "reporting at least one security incident" in the first week of February. The country has also seen "a sharp increase" of cases — 65 compared to 39 the previous week.

"We are very, very far from the end of the outbreak," Iza Ciglenecki from Doctors Without Borders told reporters at a science conference Saturday in San Jose, California. She called the ongoing outbreak so unprecedented that "it's like a Hollywood movie."

Unlike other diseases, where doctors are satisfied to get infections down to a low rate, with Ebola the only way to stop it is to get the number of cases down to zero, said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Doctors have started looking at how better to handle future outbreaks, stressing the need for better and permanent local health systems. World Health Organization assistant director general Keiji Fukuda said international organizations and countries have to act faster and said the Ebola response may have been hampered by "high levels of fear."

___

Associated Press writer Boubacar Diallo in Conakry, Guinea, and AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein in San Jose, California, contributed to this report.


http://news.yahoo.com/ebola-cases-prompt-mini-quarantine-sierra-leone-capital-100947217.html