WHO reports another Ebola case in UgandaThe number of probable and confirmed Ebola fever cases in Uganda has increased by one, to 24, since Aug 10, while the death toll was unchanged at 16, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in an update yesterday. The count of lab-confirmed cases also stayed the same, at 10, the WHO said. Forty-three people, including one confirmed case-patient, have been discharged from the Kagadi isolation facility after treatment and recovery, the agency said. The patients received counseling before their discharge and have been reintegrated into their communities. The WHO said counseling of people in the patients' communities has been very important in that it "has allayed fears and reduced stigma, enabling them to be accepted back in the community." All reports of suspected cases outside Kibaale district have been investigated and ruled out, officials said. Meanwhile, social mobilization teams composed of Red Cross volunteers and village health teams have reached most of the households in the affected subcounties of Kibaale district.
Aug 14 WHO statement
DoD tells two companies to suspend work on Ebola drugs
The US Department of Defense (DoD) recently told two companies that are testing treatments for Ebola virus infections to suspend the research because of funding constraints, the companies said. The treatments are being developed by Sarepta Therapeutics (formerly AVI BioPharma), based in Cambridge, Mass., and Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp., based in Vancouver, B.C. In an Aug 7 statement, Sarepta officials said they received the stop-work order on Aug 2, while Tekmira reported the DoD order in a statement yesterday. Tekmira said it expects further word from DoD officials on the future of the program by Sep 1. Sarepta officials said the suspension does not apply to their DoD-funded work on a Marburg virus treatment. Meanwhile, experts quoted in a BBC News report today said availability of an Ebola vaccine is years away at best, even though vaccines have been tested successfully in animals. Gene Olinger, a virologist at the US Army Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Maryland, told the BBC, "With the current funding, if it doesn't change, I would say there should be a vaccine in five to seven years. It could double or triple it if the funding goes away." Also, Heinz Feldmann, MD, PhD, of Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Montana, a leading authority on Ebola, commented, "It is hard to say when a vaccine might be available, if ever." Uncertainty over funding and lack of interest from large pharmaceutical companies were cited as obstacles to vaccine development.
Aug 7 Sarepta Therapeutics statement
Aug 14 Tekmira statement
Aug 15 BBC News story
[link to www.cidrap.umn.edu]
