Resentment and rumor builds against health workers trying to contain Ebola outbreak

July 4, 2014 at 6:28 PM EDT

The latest Ebola outbreak in West Africa is now the largest and deadliest outbreak ever. And unlike outbreaks of the past, it is affecting both rural and urban areas. Jeffrey Brown talks to Laurie Garrett of the Council on Foreign Relations about a recent summit on the outbreak, distrust building against health workers in infected areas and how porous borders make this outbreak so hard to contain.

TRANSCRIPT

JEFFREY BROWN: Late yesterday, I spoke about the situation with Laurie Garrett, author and senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Well, Laurie, since we last spoke in April, there was some thought that this was more under control, but instead the situation seems to have worsened. Give us an overview.LAURIE GARRETT, Council on Foreign Relations: This is the first time we have ever seen an urban as well as rural Ebola outbreak.
It is the first time we have seen Ebola in the capital cities. It is the first time we have seen Ebola crossing borders, now in three countries. And it is the first time we are having an Ebola experience in an area rife with the tensions and the hostilities born out of two really brutal civil wars in Sierra Leone and in Liberia, with spillover into neighboring Guinea.
So these are three small, deeply impoverished West African countries where, in the best of times, they are hard-pressed to meet the public health needs of their people and now to have what is officially designated an out-of-control epidemic on their hands.
JEFFREY BROWN: I am sorry, but remind us now a little bit of what Ebola is and how it is transmitted.
LAURIE GARRETT: Ebola is a virus, of course.
And it first is known to have appeared in 1976 in a country that was then called Zaire, now Democratic Republic of Congo. It has sporadically appeared a few times since then. I was in the epidemic in 1995 in Zaire.
And it’s a virus that attacks the actual lining, so sort of integrity linings of capillary, blood vessels and so on, punching little microscopic holes in the blood linings, so that slowly but surely, molecule by molecule, the blood starts to leak out of the bloodstream.
And when it does that, you go into hemorrhaging. It may start out as internal bleeding, but it can eventually be that you are bleeding from your eyes, your nose, every orifice and in your brain, so that you become quite deranged.
There is no real treatment, just palliative care, and there is certainly no cure, and there is no vaccine.
JEFFREY BROWN: Is it — you were talking about the spread. Is it correct that authorities really don’t quite have a handle on how many people are at risk at this point?
LAURIE GARRETT: We have a number of problems with this.
One is that this is a heavy-duty Ebola — I mean, malaria area. So you already have lots of people walking around with high fevers and other kinds of symptoms that could confuse diagnosis of Ebola. And it is also a region that is known for Lassa fever, another viral, terrible disorder carried by rats, symptomatically, in the beginning, very similar, and some Lassa patients will also hemorrhage.
So you have difficulty in making a proper diagnosis. And we’re now getting reports from all over Sierra Leone, from all over Liberia, all over Guinea, of people turned away from hospitals for routine care simply because they have a fever or simply because they seem dizzy and a little out of it, as, of course, would be a symptom of malaria.
And as a result, we have widespread fear and rage building in the population against the health care systems, because the system is afraid to take the contaminated patients into the facilities.
JEFFREY BROWN: And all of that is clearly making it harder for health care workers to do anything.
LAURIE GARRETT: Well, it is making it hard for everybody.
I mean, even the Red Cross has now abandoned parts of Guinea because their workers are getting physically attacked. Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors of the World, have also been brought under violent attack. And even the health workers from the given countries have been brought under attack.
Partly, it is a general fearfulness from the population, widespread crazy rumors, such as the doctors are infecting people, or the other side, meaning the old wounds of the civil war, your opponents from those days, the people that came and chopped your children’s arms off or stabbed your grandmother, these people are spreading an evil omen through, and you have to stay away because they are running the hospitals.
All of this is making the problem absolutely catastrophic.
JEFFREY BROWN: And what about on the medical — from the medical community. What are the theories on why it has spread to so many different countries and to urban areas, for example, as opposed to in the past?
LAURIE GARRETT: Well, first of all, in the past, when I was in Kikwit — Kikwit is a big city — – quote, unquote — “city,” with no infrastructure of any kind, but more than 400,000 people.
However, incredibly difficult to get to, no airport, no real highways or anything to get in and out. So there was never any real risk that it was going to leave the area. And that’s pretty much been the case with every prior outbreak.
What makes this very unique is that in this part of West Africa, a rain forest swathe cuts across all three of these countries. And it is a swathe inhabited by the bats that normally carry this virus. Something has been going on in that rain forest. And for some reason, the bats are coming in proximity with monkeys or whatever the humans have secondarily come in contact with in order to become infected.
And there may have been more than one introduction from the bat rain forest normal area for the virus into the human population. So the first problem, is all three countries have this rain forest, this habitat.
The second problem is the borders are very porous between these three countries, and there are a lot of ethnic groups that really don’t have any respect for the boundaries. They have frequently flowed, as we saw with the famous civil war led by Charles Taylor, a bona fide war criminal, because he readily crossed the borders between Sierra Leone and Liberia, and made his war a two-country war.
JEFFREY BROWN: All right, Laurie Garrett, thanks so much.
LAURIE GARRETT: Thank you. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/resentment-rumor-builds-health-workers-trying-contain-ebola-outbreak/

Fear works against health workers trying to contain Ebola

The Lancet: Sierra Leone researchers call for improved health surveillance and communication around Ebola crisis

Researchers working in Sierra Leone today [Saturday 5 July] suggest priority actions needed to tackle the ongoing Ebola crisis in West Africa. In a letter to The Lancet, the researchers call for improvements in access to diagnostic technologies and health-care resources, as well as improved disease surveillance and health communication.
At present, there is little incentive for patients to seek professional diagnosis of suspected Ebola, say the authors, with most people with febrile (fever-causing) illnesses in Sierra Leone treated at home, and the true extent of the outbreak therefore very difficult to determine. Moreover, disease surveillance systems in the region are inadequate, despite research (conducted by the authors and others) suggesting that mobile phones and smartphones can be effectively deployed in routine collection of surveillance data.
The authors also highlight a shortage of medical personnel and access to healthcare facilities for most people in the region, writing that, "The relatively few physicians, nurses, and healthcare providers attending to these underserved populations often have poor access to basic personal protective equipment, and might therefore be understandably unwilling to provide direct care for patients suspected to have Ebola. There is an urgent need to provide reliable and constant access to personal protective equipment in health-care centres across the region." 

Finally, the authors suggest that early disease control policies to restrict border crossings and sales of bushmeat have been ineffective. They write that, "What is certain is that these policies (and the ways that they were communicated) raised anxiety and, in some places, fuelled rumours that led to counter-productive behaviours. Improved communication by health officials with the media, community leaders, health professionals, and the general public is necessary to reduce misinformation and improve compliance with prevention and control measures that have been proven effective." http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-07/tl-tls070314.php

Urgency for total involvement in fight against Ebola

Friday, 04 July 2014 00:00 

  ND Editorial Tean  

I from all indications, the Ebola Virus Disease or EVD may now be spreading at an alarming rate in Liberia and the Mano River Union basis. And unless there is TOTAL INVOLVEMENT by all sectors of the Liberian society, we may be in a long battle with the EVD at our disadvantage. The urgent need for the concerted efforts of all societal stakeholders to include political parties, civil society organizations, academic institutions, Community Leaders, Liberia Marketing Association, the Media, Transport Unions, banking institutions, as well as the business community, among others,  must be emphasized.

While we appreciate the efforts of the Government of Liberia, through the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and its international partners in the fight against the Ebola Virus Disease from the initial stage to present, it is now a matter of urgency for the total involvement of all stakeholders of the Liberian Society in these efforts to raid the nation of this deadly disease. Our concern for these efforts comes against the backdrop of the alarming increase in the number of people killed by the virus in West Africa to 467, as reported by the World Health Organization or WHO.

According to the WHO, Sixty-eight of the deaths had been recorded since 23 June 2014, while the number of cases had risen from 635 on 23 June to 759, a 20% increase- the largest outbreak, in terms of cases, deaths and geographical spread to affect Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. In Monrovia, the EVD has now struck several suburban townships and municipalities, including New Kru Town, Paynesville, as well as Central Monrovia, among a few others, in addition to the northwestern county of Lofa with a reported death toll of 30.

More scaring and worrisome, is the latest report of the death of the Head of Surgeon at the government-run Redemption Hospital in the Borough of New Kru Town (name withheld) on Tuesday after he had been quarantined at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Sinkor, where he was being monitored up to his demise. He is reported to have died after treating a health worker, who died of Ebola at Redemption.

The female health worker on duty died at the Redemption Hospital recently after she supervised an Ebola patient admitted at the hospital. The sudden death of Esther Kesselee led Health Ministry authorities in Monrovia to shut down the Redemption Hospital and transferred all patients to other government hospitals in the capital.

With the solidarity expressed by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf for the staff and Nurses at the hospital after the death of Madam Kesselee during a visit to the Redemption Hospital on June 17, 2014, it is incumbent upon all societal stakeholders to join the aware campaign, in every manner and form, with more vigour to save our population and nation.

We must face the reality; Ebola-a haemorrhagic fever that has no cure, is spread by contact with the fluids of infected people or animals, such as urine, sweat and blood. And considering the nature of the Liberian society, it is about time as a matter of urgency, that we all join President Sirleaf and the Government of Liberia, through the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and international partners ‘to fight this Ebola war’ to victory. http://www.thenewdawnliberia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12059:-urgency-for-total-involvement-in-fight-against-ebola&catid=28:editorial&Itemid=67

 Ebola-related deaths from New Kru Town have reached seven with the Head Surgeon at Redemption Hospital being the latest. http://www.thenewdawnliberia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12042:-ebola-kills-doctor-at-redemption-hospital&catid=46:health&Itemid=60

10 Nurses quarantined at C.H. Rennie Hospital

Friday, 04 July 2014 00:00 Ramsey N. Singbeh, Jr. in Kakata

The Margibi County Health Team in collaboration with the Administration of the Charles Rennie Hospital in Kakata has listed 10 nurses from the C. H. Rennie Hospital and several others to be closely observed for suspected symptoms of the Ebola Virus Disease in Margibi.
(L-R) C. H. Rennie Medical Director Dr. Adolphus Yeiah & Margibi County Health Officer, Dr. Hawa Kromah

The decision came days after these people were noticed to have come in contact with a student of the Kakata Rural Teacher Training Institute (Michael Tengbeh) who died recent from Ebola at the C.H. Rennie Hospital. Speaking to this paper at the C.H. Rennie Hospital in Kakata on July 2, 2014, County Health Officer Dr. Hawa Kromah, said the nurses are currently out of work from the Hospital and are being observed for 21 days.

Dr. Kromah said there are other people who also came in contact with the late Michael Tengbeh prior to his death, including trainees from the Kakata Rural Teacher Training Institute (KRTTI) most especially his roommates and others from the community.

She further disclosed that while the victim was alive, he visited a health center in Kakata for treatment before he was subsequently admitted at the C.H. Rennie Hospital where he died eventually. She indicated that the administration of the KRTTI has been informed about the issue and the names and contacts of those fellow roommates (students) are already identified for close monitoring.

The Margibi County Health Officer said the students from KRTTI who are listed have all abandoned campus and they will only return for graduation, which is scheduled this month. For the rest of the people, she said they have been earmarked and are also needed for observation to make sure that they are not Ebola positive.

The Medical Director of the C.H. Rennie Hospital, Dr. Adolphus Yeiah, said the hospital has had series of meetings with the Margibi County Administration to contain the situation. Dr. Yeiah warned that Ebola as a disease is real and people should not overlook its existence, adding that many people believe that Ebola is not real. He said there is a need that everyone helps in containing the virus in Margibi County and Liberia at large in order to save lives.

The Medical Director said people should not be afraid to go to the hospital for treatment or to report suspicious sicknesses, dismissing rumor circulating in the county that whenever a patient goes to the C.H. Rennie Hospital for regular medication he or she can be detained falsely for suspected Ebola symptoms. He said this has made many people afraid to go to the hospital for treatment. 
http://www.thenewdawnliberia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12060:-10-nurses-quarantined-at-ch-rennie-hospital&catid=46:health&Itemid=60

The Andromeda Strain - Scientist who discovered Ebola virus says 'We're running out of time'

7/4/2014 (5 hours ago)

 Body-melting virus killing hundreds virtually unchecked in West Africa

The scientist who discovered the Ebola virus. Dr. Peter Piot says that the current outbreak of the body-melting virus in West Africa, in which 467 people have died, is "unprecedented." Piot also said that "because of the greater awareness, there is hope. But we're running out of time."

The current Ebola outbreak in West Africa outbreak is "already a mega-crisis," Dr. Peter Piot says.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) -- "One, [this is] the first time in West Africa that we have such an outbreak," Piot told TV journalists. "Secondly, it is the first time that three countries are involved. And thirdly it's the first time that we have outbreaks in capitals, in capital cities."

The non-governmental organization Doctors Without Borders warns that the outbreak in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia is now "out of control." The spread of the virus has grown exponentially since being discovered in that part of the world at the beginning of 2014.

"With this strain of Ebola, you've got like a ninety percent chance of dying. That's spectacular by any standard - one of the most lethal viruses that exist."

In describing the onslaught of the disease, Piot warns of the slow, agonizing death. "Ebola virus infection starts with something that looks like the flu - headache, fever, maybe diarrhea. But then you can develop very fast bleeding that's uncontrollable, and that's how people die."

There is hope - while there is no cure for Ebola, Piot says that this ordinarily would make the disease easy to fight. "You need really close contact to become infected. So just being on the bus with someone with Ebola, that's not a problem."

Simple hygienic measures like washing with soap and water, not re-using syringes, and avoiding contact with infected corpses are sufficient to stop spread of the disease, Piot said.

"This is an epidemic of dysfunctional health systems . Fear of the virus, and the lack of trust in government, in the health system, is as bad as the actual virus."

The dysfunctional health care system in the affected countries are to blame, Piot says. ". A person is infected, is hospitalized, and infects other patients and particularly health care workers.

"They're buried somewhere; around that funeral, people are infected when they touch the body, and so on. And then they get ill, and then they go somewhere else, and then they go to relatives in town, maybe because they hope to have better health care. That's how it spreads."

The current outbreak is "already a mega-crisis," Piot said.

"For me, this is a reason for a state of emergency, you know, in these countries."

"You need a combination of nearly military type of control measures - isolation, quarantine of those who are the diseased - but also their relatives, to make sure that they're not spreading the infection.

"And, secondly, community mobilization. Information can save lives here."
http://www.catholic.org/news/international/africa/story.php?id=56075 

In Pictures: The deadly Ebola virus

Ebola's effects go far beyond the death toll - in Sierra Leone it has spread fear and left whole families ostracized. Tommy Trenchard Last updated: 03 Jul 2014 10:35

Kenema, Sierra Leone - The current outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa was recently branded the worst on record, having killed over 400 in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. But the effect of the disease goes far beyond the death toll. In Sierra Leone it has spread fear and division, destroyed livelihoods and left whole families ostracised. Last Friday, Hawa Daboh lost her stepfather to the disease. He had been a working in the laboratory of the local hospital in Kenema. The rest of the family was tested and shown to be Ebola negative. But medical staff refused to give them proof of their negative status. Without it, they have been ostracised by the community. Life is tough for the children, who have been asked to leave school and are unable to visit their friends. The family says anyone who tries to visit neighbouring compounds is kicked out. The women in the family used to garner some income trading at the market. But now that they carry the stigma of Ebola, nobody will buy from them. Health workers like Hawa's stepfather are particularly at risk. Seven workers at the Kenema government hospital have already died from the disease. When Al Jazeera visited on Monday, workers from the Ebola ward were on strike, demanding better financial compensation for the risks they take. Staff here face discrimination from both sides. They are treated with fear by many, because of their association with the disease. Many others, however, still do not believe Ebola exists, often citing theories that it is part of a plot to raise money or even steal body parts. From these people, they have received open hostility. The government is trying hard to change perceptions about Ebola. Too many are avoiding treatment, fearing the rumours, and dozens of patients have escaped from hospitals and clinics. The UN is spreading the message that the disease is not a death sentence. Early diagnosis and treatment offer the best chance of survival. Without it, says survivor Adikali Kamara, he would almost certainly be dead.

View As Slideshow >> /Tommy Trenchard/Al Jazeera Hawa Daboh, who lives with her large family in a suburb of Kenema, lost her stepfather to Ebola. /Tommy Trenchard/Al Jazeera The one death has impacted the entire family, leaving them stigmatised and alone. /Tommy Trenchard/Al Jazeera The entire family was tested for the disease, but the results were negative. /Tommy Trenchard/Al Jazeera Despite this, the children were ordered to leave school, while nobody will buy the women's products at the market. /Tommy Trenchard/Al Jazeera The disease spreads easily - a neighbouring household has seen seven people infected. /Tommy Trenchard/Al Jazeera Health workers, who regularly are in close contact with the disease, have been hit particularly hard. /Tommy Trenchard/Al Jazeera When Al Jazeera visited the hospital in Kenema, the workers from the Ebola ward were on strike over pay and bonuses. /Tommy Trenchard/Al Jazeera They health workers say the 100,000 leones ($23) they receive as a bonus is not sufficient compensation for the risks they face. /Tommy Trenchard/Al Jazeera Despite taking precautions, seven health workers at the Kenema hospital have already died from the disease. /Tommy Trenchard/Al Jazeera Health workers, too, face the stigma of being associated with the disease. This woman said she had been kicked out by her husband as a result of her work. /Tommy Trenchard/Al Jazeera Nurse Sheku stands by the empty ward for men. All non-Ebola patients fled three days ago. /Tommy Trenchard/Al Jazeera Many people still do not believe the disease is real. Rumours abound that it is a cover for a cult that steals body parts. "They think we kill people," says Rachael Musa (R). /Tommy Trenchard/Al Jazeera Everyone is trying to spread the same message: Ebola is real but it is not necessarily a death sentence. Adikali Kamara believed the disease was real and got tested early. He survived, and was discharged a week later.  http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2014/07/pictures-deadly-ebola-virus-2014729177174711.html

Ebola epidemic unlikely to spread beyond Africa..he says

Deadliest outbreak of the disease still a challenge to contain

By Daniel Schwartz, CBC News Posted: Jul 04, 2014 5:00 AM ET

"Because we take common sense measures when we see someone who is ill — we keep our distance, we try not to touch them, we avoid contact — even before anybody knows what was wrong with that particular person, they would probably take these common sense approaches to avoid contact with them," explains Jagatic...  What if we don't know they are ill??? http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/ebola-epidemic-unlikely-to-spread-beyond-africa-1.2695879

Celebrating those on the front lines of the Ebola outbreak this 4th of July

Posted by Pardis Sabeti of National Geographic Emerging Explorers in Explorers Journal on July 4, 2014

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It is July 4th, and Stephen Gire and Nathan Yozwiak from my team are observing America’s holiday in Sierra Leone, bringing supplies and aid to our partners fighting the spread of Ebola virus in their country (Image 1). My thoughts are with them, with the patients and their families, and with all of the individuals on the front line of this battle against one of the most dangerous pathogens humanity has ever seen.
Despite so much press coverage on the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, little has been told of the extraordinary bravery, sacrifice and of the truly outstanding work of the men and women fighting this deadly disease. This is as brilliant, dedicated, and prepared a team as you will find anywhere on the planet. And while they do need our help and resources as global partners fighting a virus that is ‘out of control’, they also deserve our praise for their outstanding and heroic effort.
Over our blogs to come we hope to tell their stories. To begin, I want to highlight just a few institutions and individuals:

•  The Kenema Government Hospital (KGH) in Sierra Leone, one of the only centers in the world that has diagnosis and treatment on-site for Bio-safety Level 4 (BL-4) viruses. The team there has been combatting another devastating BL-4 disease, Lassa fever, for the last 40 years, beginning well before the Civil War. They have developed clinical and high-tech research facilities and practices to diagnose, treat, and research BL-4 agents (Image 2).
•  
• Members of our team from Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and the US, who all jumped into action when the outbreak of Ebola was first reported in West Africa, setting up diagnostic capacity on site, well before the outbreak reached Sierra Leone.
•  
• Augustine Goba and the diagnostic team at KGH. Augustine, a native Sierra Leonean and brilliant scientist, diagnosed the first case of Ebola in Sierra Leone on May 25, (Image 3) using an assay designed by Dr. Kristian Andersen on our team (used alongside standard-of-care assays) allowing scientists at KGH to catch the outbreak at its inception. Members of Augustine’s team, working in partnership with the WHO, USAMRIID, and Metabiota, have diagnosed 176 Ebola cases in country and tested hundreds more.
•  
• Lansanna Kanneh and the exceptional outreach team that led the immediate response. There is no better outreach team in the world, and I have witnessed first hand how they masterfully engage villages throughout the country and educate the populations about Lassa virus and ways to combat its spread (Image 4). They are working now to reach individuals throughout Sierra Leone to educate them about the devastating new virus Ebola in their country.
•  
• The people of Sierra Leone. While great praise should be given to the outreach team, the people they are working with deserve praise too. Their level of engagement in outreach efforts is unlike anything I have seen in the United States. They are amazing and warm, and deeply interested in learning (Image 5). I had the great fortune of being welcomed into these villages where I shared a tent with the brilliant ecologist Dr. Lina Moses (Image 6); Lina has been working in Sierra Leone for many years and has been on site since the epidemic broke to support efforts.
• Dr. Humarr Kahn and the clinical team at KGH. These fearless and tireless individuals have been working around the clock since May 25th, converting spaces to house ~50 Ebola patients at a time, and risking their own lives at every stage to help others.
•  
• The Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation and government leadership, which has shown exceptional support at every stage. I am personally grateful to Professor Sahr Gevao and Dr. Brima Kargbo, who supported our efforts in country and abroad. Thanks to their leadership we were able to rapidly sequence virus from the first 14 Ebola cases and 35 suspected cases at high depth and have already made this available to the global community. The longest part of this process was sending the samples to the US, and with the support of the NIH and World Bank, and the leadership of Dr. Christian Happi of Nigeria, we will be soon shifting this effort to West Africa.

There are many more heroes that can be named here, but we hope to share their stories with you all soon.

• 

  Image 1. Nathan Yozwiak and Stephen Gire with trunks packed in preparation for their trip to Sierra Leone

  

  Image 2. The high-tech research lab at Kenema Government Hospital where they have been routinely diagnosing and characterizing another Bio-safety level 4 virus, Lassa virus, and are now diagnosing Ebola.

  

  Image 3. Augustine Goba, director of the Kenema Government Hospital diagnostic lab, in the process of performing the Ebola diagnostic test.

  

  Image 4. Lansanneh Kanneh of the outreach team leading an educational talk on Lassa fever in village in Sierra Leone.

  

  Image 5. The amazing warm and friendly people of Sierra Leone who welcome the outreach team and us into their villages for outreach and education on these devasting viruses.

  

  Image 6. Lina Moses and I in a tent, staying overnight in a village in Sierra Leone with the outreach team.  http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2014/07/04/celebrating-those-on-the-front-lines-of-the-ebola-outbreak-this-4th-of-july/

UN seeks to calm Ebola fears in W.Africa

By Nana Boakye-Yiadom July 2, 2014 4:27 PM

 Accra (AFP) - The United Nations reassured west Africa on Wednesday that the world's deadliest-ever Ebola epidemic could be stopped in its tracks, telling the region's health ministers: "We can handle this."

 ...

"These kinds of outbreaks, these diseases, can be stopped," Keiji Fukuda, assistant director-general for health security at the WHO, told AFP, as 11 west African health ministers gathered for a two-day conference in Accra on combatting the killer pathogen.

"This is not a unique situation -- we have faced it many times -- so I'm quite confident that we can handle this.

"This is, however, the most complicated Ebola outbreak ever because it is spreading so fast in both urban and rural areas."...

.. Despite the efforts of the UN agency and other health workers, there has been a "significant increase" in the rate of new cases and deaths in recent weeks, the organisation added...  http://news.yahoo.com/w-african-nations-crisis-talks-ebola-spreads-040642690.html

 Joseph Milton Lebbie on July 4, 2014.
 The outbreak of the notorious and much dreaded Ebola killer disease has spread fear right across Sierra Leone and almost everybody is now concerned.  Latest report states that yesterday, 3rd July, thousands of people from all the eleven chiefdoms in the southern district of Bo, marched through the principal streets of Bo City to raise awareness on the Ebola outbreak.  What was described as a five-thousand-man-Anti-Ebola-March reportedly attracted all the Members of Parliament, Paramount Chiefs and other traditional authorities, school pupils, drivers and other people from all works of life all of whom processed from the Bo City Centre to the historic Coronation Field where various stakeholders delivered anti-Ebola messages aimed at raising the awareness of the people on the disease. - http://www.sierraexpressmedia.com/archives/68719

Thousands march against Ebola in Sierra Leone

By: Joseph Milton Lebbie on July 4, 2014.

The outbreak of the notorious and much dreaded Ebola killer disease has spread fear right across Sierra Leone and almost everybody is now concerned.

Latest report states that yesterday, 3^rd July, thousands of people from all the eleven chiefdoms in the southern district of Bo, marched through the principal streets of Bo City to raise awareness on the Ebola outbreak.

What was described as a five-thousand-man-Anti-Ebola-March reportedly attracted all the Members of Parliament, Paramount Chiefs and other traditional authorities, school pupils, drivers and other people from all works of life all of whom processed from the Bo City Centre to the historic Coronation Field where various stakeholders delivered anti-Ebolamessages aimed at raising the awareness of the people on the disease.

- See more at: http://www.sierraexpressmedia.com/archives/68719#sthash.Brff1kvc.dpuf

Thousands march against Ebola in Sierra Leone

By: Joseph Milton Lebbie on July 4, 2014.

The outbreak of the notorious and much dreaded Ebola killer disease has spread fear right across Sierra Leone and almost everybody is now concerned.

Latest report states that yesterday, 3^rd July, thousands of people from all the eleven chiefdoms in the southern district of Bo, marched through the principal streets of Bo City to raise awareness on the Ebola outbreak.

What was described as a five-thousand-man-Anti-Ebola-March reportedly attracted all the Members of Parliament, Paramount Chiefs and other traditional authorities, school pupils, drivers and other people from all works of life all of whom processed from the Bo City Centre to the historic Coronation Field where various stakeholders delivered anti-Ebolamessages aimed at raising the awareness of the people on the disease.

- See more at: http://www.sierraexpressmedia.com/archives/68719#sthash.Brff1kvc.dpuf

Return of Pinoys eyed amid Ebola outbreak

By Vito Barcelo | Jul. 05, 2014 at 12:01am

THE Labor Department on Friday advised the Filipino workers in South Africa to prepare for evacuation following an Ebola outbreak there that has claimed 467 lives.
 The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration also suspended the deployment of newly-hired Filipino workers bound for Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone after the Department of Foreign Affairs  raised the Crisis Alert Level to Alert Level 2 following the Ebola outbreak in those countries.
“I urge [the Filipino workers] in those countries to limit their movements and avoid public places to prevent their exposure to the disease,” Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said.
“It will also be wise for them to prepare for  evacuation. The [Labor Department} is working closely with [Foreign Affairs] in ensuring the safety and well-being of [the Filipinos in those countries.”
POEA records showed that from January 2012 to May 2014, there were 880 Filipino workers in Guinea, 632 in Liberia and 1,979 in Sierra Leone, but no Filipino has been afflicted with the disease...
http://manilastandardtoday.com/2014/07/05/return-of-pinoys-eyed-amid-ebola-outbreak/ 

West Africa: Concrete coordinated action is needed now to stop the spread of Ebola virus disease

Published: 4 July 2014

Geneva/Accra 4 July 2014 - The Red Cross joins ministers of health from eleven West African countries and other partners in calling for an all-out assault on the Ebola virus disease outbreak. It is a commitment needed at all levels, including governments, stakeholders, communities, and religious and opinion leaders if the largest Ebola outbreak in history in terms of number of cases and affected countries is to be stopped.

This commitment was made at the end of a special ministerial meeting on the Ebola virus disease in West Africa convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Accra, Ghana, this week.

Participants believe that no one should be left behind in the fight against Ebola, one of the most contagious diseases which has already claimed the lives of hundreds of people in West Africa. As of 3 July, the cumulative total of Ebola cases in the three affected countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone stands at more than 750, with nearly 500 deaths.

They also warned that this deadly disease could spread beyond the already affected countries if urgent action is not taken.

Participants adopted a common inter-country strategy, calling for an accelerated response to the Ebola virus disease outbreak. The strategy stresses the urgent need to scale up communication efforts, social mobilization, surveillance, contact tracing, case management and cross-border collaboration while calling for more research, especially from African researchers, to pay special attention to the epidemic. Community, religious and opinion leaders also need to be involved to break through the resistance that many humanitarian actors are encountering on the ground.

“This is the first time Ebola has surfaced in West Africa and many people are showing their fears by refusing to admit the existence of the disease and by preventing some aid organizations from entering their communities,” says Dr Ben Adinoyi Adeiza, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) health coordinator in Africa.

This community resistance is exacerbated by rumours and myths about Ebola which can hinder the work of individuals and organisations working to contain the disease.

“We, and other humanitarian organisations, have had several security incident since the beginning of the response,” says Aliou Boly, Ebola operations manager for IFRC in Guinea. “There has been an increasing number of incidents in the last weeks which is hampering the response of our volunteers and staff on the ground. We need to be ensured of their security and safety so they can carry on their humanitarian duties in the best possible way. Education and social mobilization to change behavior are vital to stopping this disease in its tracks and to allay fear and stigma attached to it.”

Participants also called on African governments, ECOWAS (the regional network of 16 countries), and other partners to mobilize and dedicate special funds to the response.

Since the outbreak was first announced, the Red Cross has launched emergency operations in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, through which more than 2,000 volunteers are being trained and mobilized to share key messages of prevention and protection. In neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire, Mali and Senegal, a further 686 volunteers have been sharing similar messages for the past two months, to prepare communities should the virus spread further across the region. Money from the IFRC’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund has been released to support these preparedness efforts.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest volunteer-based humanitarian network, reaching 150 million people each year through its 189 member National Societies. Together, IFRC acts before, during and after disasters and health emergencies to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people. It does so with impartiality as to nationality, race, gender, religious beliefs, class and political opinions. For more information, please visit www.ifrc.org. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.


For further information, please contact:

In Dakar:
·         Moustapha Diallo, senior regional communications officer, IFRC
Mobile: + 221 631 13 486 E-mail: moustapha.diallo@ifrc.org

In Sierra Leone:
·         Katherine Mueller, communications manager, IFRC Africa
Mobile: +251 930 03 3413 E-mail: katherine.mueller@ifrc.org

In Geneva:
·        Benoit Carpentier, senior officer, public communications, IFRC
Mobile : +41 79 213 24 13 E-mail : benoit.carpentier@ifrc.org

http://www.ifrc.org/en/news-and-media/press-releases/africa/ghana/west-africa-concrete-coordinated-action-is-needed-now-to-stop-the-spread-of-ebola-virus-disease/

Ebola Shattering lives in Sierra Leone

Africa: Islam contribute to the spread of the Ebola virus

CNN report on the unprecedented spread uncontrolled and for the first time the Ebola virus in West Africa including Guinea and Sierra Leone. The man who discovered the Ebola virus in 1976, Dr. Peter Piot said that the rapid spread would, among other things due to the superstition of ignorance and poverty: 85% of Muslims in Guinea , 71% of Muslims in Sierra Leone . http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Frevoltes-en-europe.over-blog.com%2Farticle-afrique-l-islam-contribuerait-a-la-propagation-du-virus-ebola-124066110.html

Sierra Leone president, cabinet take salary cut for anti-Ebola fund

Friday, July 4, 2014

Freetown

Sierra Leone’s President Ernest Bai Koroma and his Vice-President and all ministers will forfeit part of their salary for July.
This will be a contribution to a basket fund to fight the deadly Ebola epidemic in the country, the government announced.

The President, his deputy and the cabinet will have 50 per cent of their pay sliced, while deputy ministers will contribute 25 per cent of their salaries to a scheme the government is using as an example to shore up support for the cause from within the public but also to demonstrate political commitment to the fight.

A statement from the Office of the President, signed by Secretary to Cabinet Dr Ernest Surrur, said the “voluntary decision” was taken at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

It comes a day after President Koroma’s first ever public pronouncement on the epidemic on Tuesday calling for a ‘national fight’ against the disease which is also ravaging Guinea, where it was first confirmed in West Africa back in February, and Liberia.

As of Wednesday, there were 67 deaths and 211 cases of Ebola, according to Ministry of Health Sanitation figures.  http://www.nation.co.ke/news/africa/Sierra-Leone-president-cabinet-take-salary-cut-for-Ebola-fund/-/1066/2372600/-/sac9pn/-/index.html

said Liberian deputy health minister Bernice Dahn

There is no plan to close borders in a bid to prevent the spread of the disease but instead efforts at the border to educate people about risks should be stepped up, said Liberian deputy health minister Bernice Dahn.
"We believe that closing borders is not an option because we believe it would not work," Dahn said on the sidelines of the conference.
"We urge all parties present at this meeting to turn their promises into immediate concrete action on the ground," Marie-Christine Ferir, emergency desk manager for health charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), said in a statement.. http://news.sudanvisiondaily.com/details.html?rsnpid=237810

OFWs banned from Ebola-affected countries

By Manolo B. Jara July 05, 2014
MANILA: A senior cabinet official announced that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have been banned from seeking deployment in the three West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone due to the Ebola virus scourge. Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz of the Department of Labour and Employment disclosed the ban was imposed by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration as recommended by the Department of Foreign Affairs, which raised Alert Level 2 after the three countries declared an Ebola outbreak. Baldoz clarified the ban covered only newly hired OFWs but those who have existing contracts would still be allowed to enter the three countries.. http://gulftoday.ae/portal/e31ecfec-b9e5-49c8-a1cb-d83654edfdb7.aspx Nevertheless, Baldoz appealed to the OFWs deployed there to take all the necessary precautions against the Ebola virus.

..The coordinator of MSF also recognizes that in some sub-prefectures as Tekoulo where the prefect was recently for awareness sessions, there are reservations. There a few weeks ago, he said, people have cut a bridge that leads in some villages to keep us going..http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fguineenews.org%2F2014%2F07%2Fmarc-poncin-coordinateur-msf-urgence-ebola-reagit%2F%3Futm_source%3DGuinee1%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter

UN: Ebola Outbreak Will Probably Last For Months

    Jul. 3, 2014, 5:18 PM 
  ...The United Nations health agency said on Thursday it expected the worst Ebola outbreak in history to continue its deadly rampage through west Africa for at least "several months".  The highly-contagious tropical bug has infected hundreds of people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, with the latest World Health Organization (WHO) figures showing that confirmed or suspected cases had left 467 people dead and experts fearing it could spread throughout the region.
 Keiji Fukuda, the UN agency's assistant director-general of health security, said at the close of a regional summit of health ministers on the crisis it was "impossible to give a clear answer" on how far the epidemic could spread or when it might begin to retreat.  "I certainly expect that we are going to be dealing with this outbreak minimum for a few months to several months," he told AFP.  "I really hope for us to see a turnaround where we begin to see a decrease in cases in the next several weeks."
 Marie-Christine Ferir, of medical aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF), echoed the assessment, saying the outbreak could "continue for about a few weeks, or perhaps months in certain parts".
 The warning came as health ministers from 12 nations wrapped up two days of talks in Accra with global experts in communicable diseases, with debate raging over the measures required to stop Ebola in its tracks.  They were expected to make a raft of recommendations to regional governments and to WHO on containing the disease, including the launch of a $10 million war chest to boost medical aid in the worst hit regions....

 The death rate for Ebola has been widely but incorrectly reported as "90 percent" by global media and some scientists, probably because around that percentage died in the original outbreak and a subsequent epidemic in neighbouring Congo-Brazzaville in 2003. 'Out of control'  The mortality rate in the west African epidemic is slightly lower than the average, at 61.5 percent, but it dwarves every other outbreak in terms of the geographical spread and the number of cases and deaths.
  MSF said last week the outbreak was "out of control", with more than 60 hotspots.  However, experts say those who receive correct care -- paracetamol to contain fevers, rehydration for diarrhoea and antibiotics for secondary infections -- have a greatly improved chance of survival....
   http://www.businessinsider.com/un-ebola-outbreak-is-likely-to-last-for-months-2014-7

West African Authorities Adopt Common Strategy To Fight Ebola

Published on Jul 3, 2014

West African countries and international health organizations adopted a fresh strategy on Thursday to fight the world's deadliest Ebola epidemic, which has killed hundreds of people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. At a two-day meeting in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, officials committed to better surveillance to detect cases of the virus, enhance cross-border collaboration, better engagement with local communities and closer cooperation with the U.N. Ministers. Ministers also recommended setting up a sub-regional control center in Guinea to coordinate technical support. The decisions involve governments, the United Nations, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, aid agencies and the private sector. According to the World Health Organization, at least 467 people have died of the virus since February. The meeting's final communique made no reference to increased financial support for the effort and there was little detail about how the measures would be implemented.

http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/Reuters/w...
http://www.wochit.com

Tekmira tumbles after FDA puts Ebola drug on clinical hold

10:05 am by Mourad Haroutunian

  The Vancouver, British Colombia-based company said in a statement today that it has received verbal notice from the FDA that the TKM-Ebola Phase I healthy volunteer clinical study has been placed on clinical hold.

Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp. (TSE:TKM), a developer of RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics, crumbled in morning trade after the U. S. Food and Drug Administration  (FDA)Puts its Ebola drug study on hold.
Shares fell 12.4 percent to C$12.81 at 9:33 a.m. in Toronto, paring this year's rally to 52 percent.
The Vancouver, British Colombia-based company said in a statement today that it has received verbal notice from the FDA that the TKM-Ebola Phase I healthy volunteer clinical study has been placed on clinical hold.
This notice applies only to this study, it said.
"We have completed the single ascending dose portion of this study in healthy volunteers without the use of steroid pre-medication," Chief Executive Officer Dr. Mark Murray said in the statement.
"The FDA has requested additional data related to the mechanism of cytokine release, observed at higher doses, which we believe is well understood, and a protocol modification designed to ensure the safety of healthy volunteer subjects, before we proceed with the multiple ascending dose portion of our TKM-Ebola Phase I trial."
"We will continue our dialogue with the FDA, provided for under our Fast Track status, in order to advance the development of this important therapeutic agent."
The TKM-Ebola Phase I clinical trial is a randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled study and involves single ascending doses and multiple ascending doses of TKM-Ebola. The study is assessing the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of administering TKM-Ebola to healthy adult volunteers without administering any steroid pre-medications. http://www.proactiveinvestors.com/companies/news/55171/tekmira-tumbles-after-fda-puts-ebola-drug-on-clinical-hold-55171.html

Fear and ignorance as ebola 'out of control' in parts of west Africa

As death toll from latest outbreak of world’s deadliest virus climbs to 467, health workers battle misinformation and mistrust in effort to contain the disease

Monica Mark in Lagos

Wednesday 2 July 2014 08.34 EDT

When ebola first struck Pujeh, a village deep in Sierra Leone’s forested interior region, residents did what they always do when a mysterious illness brings death: they consulted the traditional healer. But the elderly herbalist soon caught one of the world’s most contagious diseases, and then became a source for spreading it as visitors streamed in.
By the time officials had pinpointed Pujeh as a hotspot for the disease months later, dozens had died. “The people living in these areas said there’s no such thing as ebola,” said a district doctor who spoke on condition of anonymity. “They have their traditional beliefs and their traditional cures and they look up to their traditional leaders. Until we can bring the traditional leaders onside, it will be very difficult to convince them that ebola even exists.”

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As the death toll from the latest outbreak of the world’s deadliest virus climbed to 467 – far exceeding the previous most lethal outbreak which killed 254 people in Congo – officials and health workers are battling a surge of infections propelled by misinformation and doubt about the disease’s existence on one side, and mistrust of scandal-hit governments on the other.
Following a World Health Organisation warning that the illness is “out of control” in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, west African health ministers on Wednesday began a two-day summit in Ghana’s capital of Accra to discuss ways to strengthen regional co-operation. The global health body has also warned four other west African countries – Ivory Coast, Senegal, Mali and Guinea Bissau – to prepare for the possible arrival of travellers carrying the virus.
Some government officials have disputed the WHO’s statement, saying the increasing death toll is a sign of better surveillance. “We are not saying everything is okay but there are fewer people dying in silence now, which is a good thing – the more we can identify when and where there are fatalities, the better we can prevent further cases,” health ministry official Sakouba Keita said from Guinea’s capital of Conakry.
The country has been the hardest hit by the virus, which first appeared there in February, before spreading through the tropical forests that sprawl into Liberia and Sierra Leone. More disturbingly, it has also jumped to all three countries’ densely-populated capitals.
“This is different from other cases just by the fact it’s a cross-border epidemic. Previous outbreaks have been very localised, which makes them easier to isolate and contain. Now for the first time, it’s also affecting urban areas,” said Dr Nestor Ndayimirije, Liberia’s WHO representative who has handled epidemics in several other countries.
Ebola was first identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan in 1976, which suffered simultaneous outbreaks of different strains miles apart.
It was named after Congo’s Ebola river, where its most lethal mutation – the Zaire strain – infected 318 people and killed 280.
.....
Daily reports from Liberia’s ministry of health provide a glimpse of just how big the hurdles are. On the eve of the regional summit, two suspected cases from Voinjama had travelled to the capital Monrovia – but specimens hadn’t been collected because “the county laboratory supervisor could not be found,” internal notes said.
The report also warned of an acute shortage of thermometers among a team dispatched to trace those who might have been in contact with suspects. Many of them feared taking temperatures in case they were exposed to the disease or attacked by locals, it added.

But an alarmingly wide spread is partly down to geography. “The deaths have been increasing because of traditional burial rites in that region,” said Tolbert Nyenswah, Liberia’s deputy chief medical officer. The Kissi ethnicity, found in all three countries, traditionally keep their dead at home for several days, and mourners touch the deceased’s head frequently before burial.
Ebola has a fatality rate of up to 90% and is transmitted through contact with fluids of infected people or animals, like urine, sweat, blood and saliva, even after death.
A doctor in Sierra Leone said patients’ families often attempted to break them out of treatment centres – often successfully. “Some of them are in denial and that it is something they can treat at home, and faith healers are one of the problems for us. When you have patients disappearing like that, you don’t know where the virus will appear next.”

When trader Fiya Lasana was diagnosed with suspected ebola in a clinic in Sierra Leone’s Kailahun district, he was put under quarantine. But convinced he had only malaria, he slipped out. Days later he returned, weak and dazed, for treatment. “My family tried prayers, but that didn’t work, so I returned,” said Lasana, who was declared ebola-free after eleven days.

Liberia’s president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, on Monday issued a warning on state radio that anyone suspected of holding ebola patients in homes or churches would be prosecuted.
The disease has also revealed alarming mistrust between citizens and public office holders in a region with shocking corruption levels.
Ebola was initially viewed as a government conspiracy to depopulate Sierra Leone’s Kailahun district, and fierce resistance to the arrival of health workers culminated in the stoning of a Doctors Without Borders vehicle. In Liberia, many remain adamant the outbreak is a hoax from government officials seeking to distract from a series of recent scandals, or for health officials to rake in public funds.
“I will say this loud, the government of Liberia has come up with a new strategy to divert the Liberian people’s mind,” student Alfred Randall said. “We understand the issue of ebola, ebola is real, we agree the virus is a very terrible virus, but ebola is not in Liberia,” he said.
Health workers at the frontline of the battle – often the first to die – face other challenges. Last week, riots broke out and an ambulance was attacked as family members fought to reclaim a victim’s corpse from a hospital in Kenema, Sierra Leone’s third largest city. On the same day, a three-man burial team was chased out of the Liberian town of Banjol where they went to bury a victim. “We need to find a special place to bury these corpses, if not, the bodies will keep piling up on us,” a member of the team said, adding that families often refused to come forward to identify dead relatives for fear of catching it.
Officials and several hundred researchers who have poured into all three countries have scrambled to disseminate public information, seen as key to containment.
But when the outbreak first began, popular text messages circulating in Guinea said an antidote could be found in a concoction of hot chocolate, coffee, milk, raw onions and sugar.
“Ebola, ebola, ebola. I hear it everywhere,” said Adama Sherry from behind her market stall in Sierra Leone’s Tombo, a fishing village as yet unaffected by the virus. Sherry admitted she couldn’t list the symptoms, causes or precautions.
Nearby, a local school had recently emptied out when word spread of routine blood tests being carried out – rumour had it that the needles would infect children with ebola.
Liberia’s health ministry has begun putting images of ebola-ravaged corpses in newspapers and on television. “They are very graphic but it is working – people are starting to see that ebola is not just a spiritual thing that you can cure through going to church,” Nyenswah, the deputy chief medical officer, said.
Ironically, survivors often face a “second disease” of stigmatisation. Aissata Bangoura’s family have refused to speak to her since her husband died in March, even though she has been declared virus-free.
“During my husband’s wake, I was left standing by myself. People I have known my whole life didn’t want to approach me. As far as they’re concerned, I’m a widow and a leper,” she said.
• Donal MacCrann in Tombo, Sierra Leone and Wade Williams in Monrovia, Liberia contributed to this report http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/02/-sp-ebola-out-of-control-west-africa

Ugandan doctor dies of Ebola in Liberia

Publish Date: Jul 02, 2014

Dr. Samuel Muhumuza Mutoro and his wife and baby during happier days.

 PHOTO/Fred Turyakira

newvision

By Clare Muhindo & Taddeo Bwambale

A Ugandan senior surgeon has succumbed to the Ebola virus in Liberia where he had been working for three years as a health specialist.
Dr. Samuel Muhumuza Mutoro died on Tuesday at the John F. Kennedy Medical Centre, Liberia’s biggest hospital in Monrovia where he was being treated.
Muhumuza was a surgeon assigned to Redemption Hospital in New Kru Town on a contract with the Liberian government and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
At the time of his death, Muhumuza is said to have volunteered to treat a colleague who was infected with Ebola, thereby exposing himself to the deadly disease.
His wife, Diana Namusoke, a mother of three, told New Vision that the family was notified about his death by an official from Liberia’s government

Rev Jehoida Mutoro of South Rwenzori Diocese, the only brother of the deceased said the bereaved family have been advised against travelling to Liberia as earlier planned.
A requiem mass is scheduled this morning at 9:00am at Mbarara University of Science and Technology.

Costa Bwambale, a brother-in-law of the deceased, described the Muhumuza as a ‘very determined’ person, who even repeated class in order to achieve his dream of becoming a medical doctor

It is believed that yesterday Muhumuza’s remains were disposed of immediately since World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines recommend the immediate disposal of Ebola victims.

At his home in Mbaguta cell, Ruharo, in Mbarara neighbours gathered and held a wake to commiserate with the relatives.

With his earnings from Liberia, he had started the construction of a storeyed residential structure in Ruharo town suburbs. http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/657141-ugandan-doctor-dies-of-ebola-in-liberia.html

Liberia: Ebola - Who Calls Emergency Talks On Outbreak

By Press Release, 3 July 2014

 Health ministers from 11 African countries are meeting in Accra, Ghana, in an attempt to "get a grip" on the deadly and worsening Ebola outbreak.
So far, 763 people have been infected with the virus - and 468 of these have died.
Most of the cases have been in Guinea where the outbreak started.
But it has since spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone and is now the biggest and most deadly Ebola outbreak the world has seen, say officials.

Health officials from those countries, as well as Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Senegal, and Uganda will attend the meeting.
"We're hoping to take decisions about how to enhance collaboration and responses [of these countries] so we can get a grip and halt this outbreak," said WHO spokesman Daniel Epstein
"We need a strong response, especially along the shared border areas where commercial and social activities continue between Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. That's unlikely to stop."
As a virologist at Public Health England, I spent a month at the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak in April.
I was working for the WHO in south-east Guinea as part of the EU mobile laboratory team testing blood samples for the Ebola virus and confirming whether patients were infected or not.
When patients come into the MSF isolation facility, some walk in if they are in the early stage of the disease; others are more seriously ill and need an ambulance.
I also went out into the remote villages to help trace people who might be ill and help inform communities about the virus.
It is very challenging work. There is a lot of misunderstanding and mistrust of foreign nationals coming in and trying to help.
The biggest problem we had was people were not forthcoming about sick members of the community and getting them to the isolation centre. Some families were even hiding sick relatives and bodies.
The WHO says travel restrictions are highly unlikely, and in any case unenforceable. These are porous borders where people travel freely to see family and friends.
Ebola kills up to 90% of those infected. There is no vaccine or cure. It spreads through contact with an infected person's bodily fluids.
The way to stop an outbreak is to isolate those who have it and ensure no-one else is exposed. Medical staff are following up on hundreds of people who have had contact with infected patients. They have to be closely monitored for 21 days before they can be given the all clear.
Ebola is a haemorrhagic fever, which can start suddenly with the onset of high temperature, diarrhoea and vomiting. Some people fight the virus and survive, but most do not. They start bleeding internally and externally and eventually their organs shut down.
Increasing hostility.
Understandably, there is a great deal of fear in these communities and that is hindering the international effort to bring the virus under control, say experts.
The medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) is working with the World Health Organization and the Guinea Ministry of Health. It has four isolation facilities in Guinea and more than 300 international and local staff.

Tulip Mazumdar: "It is the worst Ebola outbreak in history"
"We are seeing an increasing level of hostility borne out of fear in some communities," said Dr Bart Janssens, MSF director of operations.
"We can no longer go into a number of villages any more to follow up on people who have been in contact with Ebola patients."
The charity says health ministers from affected countries need to urgently improve public understanding of the disease.
"This requires an important mobilisation of all possible community leaders from bottom to top, because we cannot do this alone"
"We are now dealing with an extraordinary situation so we need more resources to fight the epidemic and we need extra help to convince communities to change their attitudes towards the virus." http://allafrica.com/stories/201407031208.html?viewall=1

Ebola: Gov’t warns Ugandans on West Africa travels

Publish Date: Jul 03, 2014
 hakana Rugunda

newvision

By Taddeo Bwambale

Government has advised Ugandans to limit their travels to Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone which have been hit by Ebola epidemic.

At least 467 people have died from the epidemic out of 759 reported cases, according to the World Health Organisation.

“The public is advised to limit their travel to any of the affected countries until the situation is contained,” health minister, Dr Ruhakana said at a press briefing on the threat on Thursday.

He, however, said Uganda has not issued a travel ban to three countries. He advised travellers to observe precautionary measures instituted by the respective countries.

The minister cautioned Ugandans with relatives living in the affected countries to ‘keep on the alert in case their relatives return to the country’ during this period.

Government has stepped up disease surveillance checks at border points, especially for people coming from the affected countries.

No single case of Ebola has been reported in Uganda since the last outbreak in 2012 in which four at least four people died. http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/657181-ebola-gov-t-warns-ugandans-on-west-africa-travels.html