Guinea

Ebola: Are cases levelling off?

Mon, 2014-11-03 15:01 — mike kraft

BBC Nov. 1, 2014

By James Gallagher Health editor, BBC News website

LONDON--There is growing - but certainly guarded - talk within the World Health Organization that the overall number of new cases is levelling off.

...Dr Christopher Dye, the director of strategy in the office of the director general at the World Health Organization, has the challenge of predicting the spread of Ebola.

"Things clearly have changed with respect to the trajectory of the epidemic," he told the BBC News website....

Dr Dye added: "When we look at the total epidemic now, with the best information we have got available I would guardedly say that the case incidence per week is not going to get larger than it is at the moment, so around 1,000 cases per week.

"We know there's under-reporting so we have to emphasise caution, but broadly we're out of this big epidemic growth phase seen in August and September."

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http://www.bbc.com/news/health-29847058

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Ebola outbreak: UK aid ship docks in Sierra Leone

Thu, 2014-10-30 21:41 — mike kraft

The Argus arrives with supplies and medical personnel to assist Serra Leone

BBC Oct. 30, 2010

By AndrewHarding

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone-- A British Navy support ship ship has arrived in Sierra Leone to help deal with the deadly Ebola outbreak in the West African country.

Royal Fleet Auxiliary Argus is carrying food, medical equipment, three helicipeters and 32 pick-up trucks, to help keep hard-pressed Ebola treatment centres going.

Doctors, nurses and military personnel are also on board.

The BBC's Africa correspondent Andrew Harding said it would act as an offshore base for the aid effort. and described it as an "important moment".

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http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-29836657

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Insurance companies now write Ebola exclusions into policies; offer Ebola-related products

Mon, 2014-10-27 14:43 — mike kraft

HOMELAND SECURITY NEWS WIRE Oct. 27, 2014

U.S. and British insurance companies have begun to write Ebola exclusions into their policies for hospitals, event organizers, airliners, and other businesses vulnerable to disruption from the disease.

As a result, new policies and renewals will become more expensive for firms looking to insure business travel to West Africa or to cover the risk of losses from Ebola-driven business interruptions (BI).The cost of insuring an event against Ebola, for example, would likely be triple the amount of normal cancellation insurance — if the venue was in a region not known to be affected by the virus.

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http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20141027-insurance-companies-now-write-ebola-exclusions-into-policies-offer-ebolarelated-products

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WHO says Ebola vaccine plans accelerating as trials advance

Fri, 2014-10-24 18:23 — mike kraft

WHO ANNOUNCES EBOLA VACCINE TRIALS WILL BE SPEEDED UP TO DECEMBER.
THREE RELATED STORIES. (Scroll down)

REUTERS OCT. 24

By Stephanie Nebehay and Kate Kelland

GENEVA/LONDON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Trials of Ebola vaccines could begin in West Africa in December, a month earlier than expected, and hundreds of thousands of doses should be available for use by the middle of next year, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

Vaccines are being developed and made ready in record time by drugmakers working with regulators, the U.N. health agency said, but questions remain about their safety and efficacy which can only be settled by full clinical trials.

"Vaccine is not a magic bullet, but when ready they may be a good part of the effort to turn the tide against the epidemic," senior WHO official Marie-Paule Kieny told a news briefing after a meeting in Geneva of industry executives, global health experts, drug regulators and funders.

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UK pledges £80m more aid to tackle Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone

Fri, 2014-10-24 01:23 — mike kraft

UPDATE: EUROPEAN UNION ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL FUNDING, NAMES AN EBOLA COORDINATOR

NEW YORK TIMES

By James Kanter and Andrew Higgins OCT. 24, 2014

BRUSSELS--

... Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, announced tody that Christos Stylianides, the coming European commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management, would be named Ebola coordinator.

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European Leaders Scramble to Upgrade Response to Ebola Crisis

Thu, 2014-10-09 14:30 — mike kraft

NEW YORK TIMES

By ANDREW HIGGINS OCT. 9, 2014

BRUSSELS — When the Ebolavirus was first identified in March as the cause of a series of mysterious deaths in the remote forests of Guinea, Europe moved quickly to battle a disease that has now infected more than 7,000 Africans and already killed around half of those. It mobilized more money and health workers than the United States, China or anyone else for West Africa.

But, proud of its long record as the world’s biggest donor of humanitarian aid, Europe has since suffered a blow to its self-image of can-do generosity. Its own efforts to contain the lethal virus have been overshadowed by President Obama’s announcement last month that he was sending 3,000 troops to West Africa to build hospitals and otherwise help in the fight against Ebola.

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Ebola outbreak: UK sending 750 troops to Sierra Leone

Thu, 2014-10-09 00:14 — mike kraft

UK and Israel send additional assistance. Two stories

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and U.S. Secretary of State Kerry urged all nations to boost their response to combat the Ebola virus

BRITAIN SENDS 750 MILITARY PERSONNEL AND MEDICAL SHIP

BBC Oct. 8, 2014

The UK is sending 750 military personnel to Sierra Leone to help deal with the deadly Ebola outbreak, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has confirmed.

The UK will also send medical ship the RFA Argus and three helicopters. The personnel will be deployed next week.

It comes as Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said it was "now entirely possible that someone with Ebola will come to the UK either by one route or another".

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http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-29542129

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