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Monday, July 7, 2014

Sierra Leone News: Bo people should not be doubtful about Ebola-BDC Chair

The Bo District Chairman, has appealed to the people of Bo not to have any doubts whatsoever about the existence and reality of the Ebola virus in the country.
Joseph Munda Rogers made his remarks in his capacity as chairman of an awareness-raising march pass on Thursday, 3rd July organized by the eleven Members of Parliament representing the district.
He said most of what he hears from members of public relating to the Ebola virus, are indicative of the “wrong perceptions” many people have about the virus in Bo and the entire country. He called on the people to appreciate whatever they are told about the Ebola virus, while he stressed the deadliness of the virus on its victims.
“Don’t be Doubting Thomases on Ebola. The disease is in Sierra Leone and it is becoming “a plaque”,” he stressed in the Mende lingua franca.
He therefore applauded the awareness-raising move by the team of Parliamentarians representing constituencies in the Bo district as “a proof of the existence of the virus” and a move to raise the awareness level of the people in order to guide and guard against infection.

The march pass which attracted students and youth organizations passed through major thoroughfares in Bo city. The marchers displayed banners and placards with inscriptions highlighting the existence of Ebola and guiding against infection. The marchers who had assembled at three meeting points in Bo later converged at the Coronation Field where speeches were made.
Member of Parliament for Constituency 67 in the Bo City, Hon. Swaliho Koroma in his brief speech told the people that he and his colleagues believe that Ebola is real and that it is in the country. He expressed delight that so far, the “evil hands of the virus” have not been stretched to the districts. He called for general precautions to avoid contraction of the virus.

He said those with wrong perceptions about the virus could cause more harm than good to the general population if they continue propagating their doubtful thoughts about the existence of the virus. “Such skepticism could be dangerous for the health and safeguard of many people in the future,” Hon. Koroma maintained.
He said they are in the district as a team to confirm the existence of the virus in the country and to educate the people on how to prevent contracting the virus.

Representing Constituency 075, Hon. Kuyembeh stated that Ebola since its entry into the country has killed more people in their region and prayed that it does not any toll on Bo district.
The Bo District Medical Officer, Dr. Alhaji Salieu Turay gave a lengthy appraisal of the virus and how it attacks its victims. He informed the eager crowd however that despite the fatal state of the virus, “it can be cured”, but emphasized that this can only be achieved when the sickness is detected earlier. The sickness he explained to the people has stages 1, 2 and 3.
He informed that it is only in Kenema that a well-equipped laboratory exists to diagnose and analyze the Ebola virus. He cautioned the people to avoid those things that can cause contraction of the virus and encouraged them to report symptoms earlier to the hospital.
By Jenkins Bawoh
Monday July 07, 2014 http://awoko.org/2014/07/07/sierra-leone-news-bo-people-should-not-be-doubtful-about-ebola-bdc-chair/

U.S. citizen in Ghana tests negative for Ebola

ACCRA Mon Jul 7, 2014 6:15pm EDT

(Reuters) - A U.S. citizen suspected of having Ebola because he fell ill after visiting West African states battling the disease has tested negative, a senior Ministry of Health official told Reuters on Monday.
The man, who has not being named, is in quarantine at Nyaho clinic in Accra and the blood tests were conducted at Noguchi Memorial Institute of Medical Research in the city.
"It is negative," Badu Sarkodie, head of disease surveillance at the Ghana Health Service, told Reuters, adding that further tests would be conducted.
Health officials have called for regional action to halt the world's deadliest outbreak of the disease, which has spread across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, killing at least 467 people since February.
The highly contagious Ebola virus causes fever, vomiting, bleeding and diarrhoea and kills up to 90 percent of those it infects. It is transmitted through contact with blood or other fluids.
A previous suspected Ebola case in Ghana also tested negative in April. link.reuters.com/fyj32w
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/07/us-health-ebola-ghana-idUSKBN0FC0ZF20140707

Reported Case of Ebola Not Confirmed Yet - MoH

Jul 07, 2014 at 3:13pm
The Ministry of Health has denied that there is an Ebola case at a private clinic in Accra.

In a statement, the P.R. O of the Ministry, Tony Goodman said, the suspected fever case recorded at the facility has not been confirmed as Ebola.

According to him, the sample has been sent to the Noguchi Memorial Research Centre for examination and the result is expected to be out by close of today.

In the meantime, Mr. Goodman said, precautionary measures have been taken to ensure that it does not spread if it turns out to be true http://www.gbcghana.com/1.1775592

Nyaho fever case not yet proven to be Ebola – Health Ministry

 Monday, 7 July 2014

The Ministry of Health says the Noguchi Memorial Research Centre has not confirmed the suspected fever case recorded at the Nyaho Clinic yet.

It says it has put in place every precautionary measure at that clinic, including additional support of Public Health staff from the Ministry, “to quarantine patient and clinical staff [and] supply of protective gowns for staff of that hospital.”

The Ministry says it has also directed that the case should remain at that clinic and re-treated until otherwise, while “we wait for the laboratory result from the Noguchi Memorial Research Centre.”

A statement signed by the Ministry’s Public Relations Officer, Tony Goodman said: “We expect the general public to remain calm as we wait for the result from the blood sample taken for test.”

“We will like to assure the general public that we have everything under control,” it added. http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=315868

Ebola outbreak: Ghana tests US man


A US citizen is being tested for the Ebola virus in Ghana, which has had no confirmed cases of the virus in the current West African outbreak.
The man has been quarantined at the private Nyaho Clinic in the capital, Accra, health officials say.
The virus has so far killed more than 460 people since it broke out in Guinea in February and spread to neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone.
It is the world's deadliest outbreak to date and there is no cure for Ebola.
The US embassy in Accra said it had been informed that a US citizen was being tested but would not give any more details, Reuters news agency reports.
'Under control' The man was believed to have visited Guinea and Sierra Leone in recent weeks.
Ghana's health ministry said it had put in place "precautionary measures" and people should stay calm.
Staff at the clinic had also been quarantined and provided with protective clothing, it added in a statement. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-28192398

The Ministry of Health -Suspected Ebola case in Ghana

Suspected Ebola case in Ghana
The Ministry of Health wishes to inform the general public that the suspected fever case recorded at the Nyaho Clinic has not been confirmed yet by Noguchi Memorial Research Centre.

Meanwhile the Ministry has put in place every precautionary measures at that clinic include additional support of Public Health staff from the Ministry, directive to quarantine patient and clinical staff, supply of protective gowns for staff of that hospital

The Ministry has also directed that the case remain at that clinic and retreated until otherwise whilst we wait for the laboratory result from the Noguchi Memorial Research Centre.

We expect the general public to remain calm as we wait for the result from the blood sample taken for test

We will like to assure the general public that we have everything under control.
Signed:
Tony Goodman
Public Relations Officer
Ministry of Health

 http://www.citifmonline.com/2014/07/06/ebola-alert-nugochi-yet-to-confirm-nyaho-fever-case-moh/

Marc Poncin, MSF Emergency Coordinator Ebola: "We are unable to work"

Mon, July 7th 2014, 4:59  
Marc Poncin, Coordinator activities   Médecins Sans Frontières against the Ebola epidemic in Guinea, said Saturday that prevents them from working in Conakry and in several localities of the country.
 

He said that it is especially Gueckedou, the epicenter of the epidemic, that people are hostile to health workers, including those of Doctors Without Borders. "20 villages Gueckedou deny access to health actors" said Marc Poncin. "But that is not all. This is a part of the population," he said.
Coordinator for the hostility to health actors means that there are people who are not yet convinced of the existence of the disease.
Given the situation, Marc Poncin reassured that the institution will not give in to discouragement. Rather, it will continue the sensitization to convince the skeptics. In this work, Doctors Without Borders calls for the support of the Guinean authorities to access populations. "We discussed it with the authority to have access to people,"   said Marc Poncin which listed some four areas of the country where the health players are not welcome among some citizens.    Among these cities, the capital Conakry, Boffa and Gueckedou.
Medical personnel wipe hostility as they are among the first victims of the disease. Twenty of them died trying to save lives.
  The epidemic now totals 194 deaths of 292 confirmed cases, according to the latest statistics provided by the National Committee for response.   However, treatment centers have successfully cured 98 patients.

Suspected Ebola case reported in Accra

Monday, 7 July 2014
An American (name withheld) has been quarantined at the Nyaho clinic in Accra for a suspected Ebola case.

Citi News sources at the Health Ministry say the American who reported at the hospital with fever had previously visited Guinea and Sierra Leone...
 The Health Ministry in a statement said “the suspected fever case recorded at the Nyaho Clinic has not been confirmed yet by Noguchi Memorial Research Centre”.

It further stated that: “the Ministry has put in place every precautionary measure at that clinic, including additional support of Public Health staff from the Ministry, directive to quarantine patient and clinical staff, supply of protective gowns for the staff of that hospital”.

It urged the general public to remain calm as it awaits the resu.. http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=315764

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Nyaho Clinic Records Ghana’s First Ebola Case?

Via 233 Live News: Nyaho Clinic Records Ghana’s First Ebola Case? Excerpt:
Unconfirmed reports reaching 233livenews indicates that, Nyaho Clinic, a private hospital in Accra has recorded Ghana’s first case of the deadly Ebola virus. 
It is reported that a patient (rumored to be from Guinea) is said to have died of the disease at the hospital. All staff and medical officers who attended to the victim have since been quarantined. 
A source at hospital revealed that the case has been reported to the Noguchi Institute for tests to confirm the virus strain since the hospital cannot independently confirm the victim died of ebola virus. http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/2014/07/an-ebola-case-in-ghana.html


Nyaho Clinic Records Ghana’s First Ebola Case?


Nyaho ClinicUnconfirmed reports reaching 233livenews indicates that, Nyaho Clinic, a private hospital in Accra has recorded Ghana’s first case of the deadly Ebola virus.
It is reported that a patient (rumored to be from Guinea) is said to have died of the disease at the hospital. All staff and medical officers who attended to the victim have since been quarantined.

A source at hospital revealed that the case has been reported to the Noguchi Institute for tests to confirm the virus strain since the hospital cannot independently confirm the victim died of ebola virus.
The unnamed capricious ebola virus strain has since February 2014 spread throughout Guinea and beyond the nation’s borders in West Africa. At least 779 infections and over 500 deaths have so far been reported.
Sierra Leone, Mali and Ghana identified suspected cases by mid-April, but all clinical samples of suspected cases tested negative for the ebola virus. http://233livenews.wordpress.com/2014/07/06/nyaho-clinic-records-ghanas-first-ebola-case/

British Ebola outbreak: Doctors order to look out for deadly symptoms as killer virus hits UK

Every GP in the country has been ordered to look out for symptoms of the killer ebola virus in a scramble to stop the world’s deadliest outbreak taking hold in Britain.
Doctors have been sent new guidelines on how to deal with suspected cases of the virus, which kills nine out ten people it infects and is now sweeping through west Africa.
British health officials have been dispatched to the affected areas in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, while Britain’s port authorities have also been put on alert.
Although health officials say the risk is slight, they are concerned about people returning here after visiting their families in west Africa and Sierra Leone in particular. They are also worried about an influx of visitors from the region this month for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Prof David Haymann, head of global health security at the think-tank Chatham House, said: ‘The virus appears to be stable but there’s a huge family of fever viruses and there’s always a chance of a mutation.’
The virus was first detected in 1976 when it killed 280 people in the Congo. It causes death through multiple organ failure and internal bleeding and there is still no cure or vaccine.
It is spread through contact with bodily fluids but there is some evidence it can be transmitted through water droplets in the air.
The death toll from the latest outbreak is said to be 467 although experts fear this is a gross underestimate.
Prof Dilys Morgan, from Public Health England, said: ‘Because the incubation period is up to 21 days there’s a slight risk that cases may turn up in the UK but that risk is very low.’ http://metro.co.uk/2014/07/06/british-ebola-outbreak-doctors-order-to-look-out-for-deadly-symptoms-as-killer-virus-hits-uk-4789186/

Suspected Ebola case in Ghana


akwasi sarpong

@akwasisarpong Journalist at BBC World Service. My tweets=my views.

Accra, London, Africa, World


Followed by FAO Newsroom.




  1. akwasi sarpong@akwasisarpong 52m
    For latest on suspected #ebola virus investigation in #Gha by Ministry of Health ff @BBCAfrica's @Sammy_Darko in Accra. Results tomorrow
    Details
  2. akwasi sarpong@akwasisarpong 1h
    Public asked to be calm as "we wait for the result from the blood sample taken for test". "...we have everything under control." Signed:PRO
 Suspected patient returned from guinea.
": Statement suspected fever case recorded at Nyaho Clinic not confirmed yet by Noguchi Centre."

 
ebola: incident happened in a private hospital mostly patronized by the rich..
ebola: patient returned from Guinea two weeks ago, identified as an American

   ·  1h
's health ministry says it has put "precautionary"measures at Nyaho clinic including support of Public Health staff from the Ministry

's health ministry says it has put "precautionary"measures at Nyaho clinic including support of Public Health staff from the Ministry  

Nana Boakye-Yiadom

@boakyecitifm

African Story Challenge Winner| Radio France International Correspondent |AFP| Dep. Dir. News Programming,Citi FM| Business News| nanaboakye4@yahoo.co.uk

Ebola in Guinea: the latest statistics of the epidemic ...


CONAKRY-Doctors Without Borders (MSF) released the latest statistics from the state of Ebola hemorrhagic proud in Guinea. According to this organization, to the date of July 3, 2014, Guinea has recorded 292 confirmed cases of Ebola including 194 deaths and 98 healed, learned Africaguinee.com.
As of July 3, 2014, the number of hospitalized cases in different treatment centers are:
Gueckédou: 6 confirmed cases including 4 Gueckédou and 2 from Sierra Leone.
Conakry: 3 confirmed including 2 from Boffa. The date of the last confirmed case dates back to June 26 in Conakry and 29 June Gueckédou.
According to MSF's what makes a total of seven confirmed cases in treatment centers.
Five (5) previously affected prefectures (Télémélé, Kissidougou Dabola Dinguiraye and Kouroussa) have not notified new cases this week. 
According to Marc Poncin National Emergency Coordinator for Ebola doctor without borders, Gueckédou is the area where the epidemic is still more severe.
'' There has been an upsurge of cases, while in May, we saw that the epidemic was decreasing. So, the quote on the epidemic remains serious Gueckédou perspective. Unfortunately we are facing particular difficulties, access to all areas where the epidemic has he said.
The Minister of Health and Public Hygiene, Rémy Lamah, then handed local authorities to facilitate open access to all areas and villages affected by the epidemic. http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.africaguinee.com%2Farticles%2F2014%2F07%2F06%2Febola-en-guinee-les-dernieres-statistiques-de-l-epidemie%23.U7murysr8tM.twitter

Fighting Ebola At ELWA: ‘Greatest Danger To Our Hospital Staff’


HOW YOU CAN HELP: Consider partnering with ELWA by making a donation to the ELWA Hospital Ebola Response Fund

The first rumors of Ebola in Liberia began to seep into conversation in the middle of March. Before the month closed, there were cases being reported from Lofa, and papers all over the capital city carried headlines with “Ebola” in the title. As the situation grew more serious, ELWA Hospital prepared an isolation unit and prayed it would not be needed.

At first it seemed that the prayers had been answered. The outbreak experienced a short lull, and for a time there were no new confirmed cases in Liberia. But on June 11th, ELWA Hospital received their first suspected case of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), an indication of a resurgence that has lasted weeks and shows signs of continuing for much longer.


“We have an obligation to take care of these patients, in order to maximize their chances for survival and relieve their suffering. There is a need for a place to put them in order to protect their families and the community at large from contracting the disease.”
Dr. Debbie Eisenhut, SIM surgeon in charge of EVD response for ELWA
Jake Buller, Photos by Bethany Fankhauser

Since May 29, at least 33 new cases of EVD have been confirmed, 12 of which were in Montserrado, either in or near the capital city of Monrovia. Five of these cases have been treated at ELWA Hospital in ELWA’s isolation unit. The ward currently has two patients, and both have been confirmed as having EVD.

Right now there are three doctors working with the EVD patients, along with nurses and aides. In addition, these doctors and nurses have support from the outside through their decontamination team. This team gets supplies, helps the doctors and nurses dress in their protective gear, and decontaminates them when they come out as well as mixing the bleach that is used in the process.

Dr. Debbie Eisenhut, a SIM surgeon in charge of the EVD response for ELWA, shares that the workers at the hospital “have an obligation to take care of these patients, in order to maximize their chances for survival and relieve their suffering. There is a need for a place to put them in order to protect their families and the community at large from contracting the disease.”

“The greatest danger to our hospital staff,” she continues, “is the possibility of missing a case of Ebola that comes to our ER. The symptoms of Ebola are very non-specific—fever, gastrointestinal symptoms, headache, fatigue, etc. So great vigilance is needed to realize that a patient might be a suspected case so that he/she can be isolated and not admitted to the regular ward. This takes careful screening and many questions about the history and contacts. We have a protocol in place to minimize the probability of inadvertent admission of an Ebola patient to our regular wards. We also have a security protocol in place in front of the ER to reduce traffic and to help screen patients appropriately. All of this takes vigilance and attention to detail in order to keep our hospital staff safe.”

The current isolation unit is small, a converted chapel. But ELWA, with the technical and financial assistance of Samaritan’s Purse, is converting a building of the new hospital into a larger isolation unit with improved care facilities. God willing, it should open sometime next week.

Here are some ways you can pray for Liberia, and ELWA Hospital in particular:
Pray for protection for all of the hospital staff members. Pray that no cases of EVD will be missed in the ER and be inadvertently admitted to the regular wards.

Pray for healing for the patients who have been admitted.

Pray for rest and stamina for those working double duty—doctors, nurses and the workers helping outside the unit. For the missionaries, their regular jobs haven’t stopped. They continue to keep up their regular work even while staffing the Ebola unit.

Praise for all the help—supplies and personnel—that Samaritan’s Purse is providing.

Pray that Liberia will become more aware of the situation. Pray that Liberians will understand what causes EVD and take the proper precautions to prevent its spread.

Minister, Ambassador, others call for prayers against Ebola

By M.B. Jalloh, Press Attaché, Saudi Arabia
Senior Government officials currently in Islam’s holiest city of Mecca have called on Sierra Leone’s Muslim population to take advantage of the holy month of Ramadan, to offer prayers and sacrifices for divine mercy to stop the spread of the Ebola virus in the West African nation.
In a joint appeal to the Muslim Community after Friday, 4th July, 2014 congregational prayers at the Grand Mosque of Mecca (Al-Masjid al-Ḥaram), Sierra Leone’s Minister of Social Welfare who also doubles as Chairman of the 2014 Sierra Leone Hajj Affairs, Hon. Alhaji Moijue Kaikai, Sierra Leone’s Ambassador in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, H.E Alhaji M.S. Kargbo and Special Assistant to H.E The President on Political and Religious Affairs, Hon. Nuru Deen Sankoh –Yillah asked Muslims to multiply their prayers, offer sacrifices and read the Holy Qur’an during this blessed month of Ramadan for the elimination of the deadly virus in their country.. http://www.salonemonitor.net/minister-ambassador-others-call-for-prayers-against-ebola/

INSPECTOR GENERAL SANCTIONS POLICE EFFORTS TO FIGHT EBOLA VIRUS IN SIERRA LEONE

Inspector General of Police, Francis Munu has sanctioned the Sierra Leone Police as an integral part of the effort to fight the Ebola Virus. His statements came in support of the affirmation given to the Police by His Excellency the President in his address to the nation on Tuesday 1st July 2014. In his address, His Excellency recognized the role of the Police as an integral part of the fight against the spread of the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone.
images
He mentioned specifically that while tracing suspected cases and taking them to observation and treatment centres are integral to the fight against the disease, the main way to stop the spread of the virus is by preventing contact with persons with the virus. In the event, the Police force together with health personnel is expected to be at the fore front of combating this scourge in Sierra Leone. President Koroma went on to stress that he had instructed the police to “ensure that all vehicles and their passengers entering and leaving Kailahun and Kenema Districts subject themselves to screening.”

In supporting Government’s efforts to combat the disease, IG Munu has instructed that adequate and appropriate information be released to all rank and file police officers and more specifically for chlorine to be made available at all frontline stations and police posts in the affected areas. He also stressed the need for vigilance within the force and for personnel who are apprised of any suspect situation or casualty to report such cases immediately to local health experts and not to touch or attempt to move such fatalities without proper protective apparel. He noted that this directive is necessary because it has been declared that the virus is at its most vicious stage within a dead body.

Senior members of the Sierra Leone Police also rendered their support to the IGP in a meeting of the police Executive Board Meeting held to discuss the outbreak and the police strategic response. AIG Kalia Sesay, Director of Peacekeeping indicated that the matter of containment should be given a priority and that the Sierra Leone Police must use their best endeavors to support health officials in containing the disease and help in tracing and surrendering of suspected cases for treatment.

Inspector General Munu informed his senior staff that their mandate is now guided by the President’s call for national action and that all stakeholders should not relent in this fight against the deadly disease. He noted particularly that His Excellency has buttressed police powers to uphold the law, specifically in relation to the provisions of the Public Health Order Act of 1960. This law states that anyone who obstructs or interferes with the performance of the medical team in relation to an outbreak such as Ebola is guilty of an offence and liable to punishment.

IG Munu also reiterated the police duty to protect life and their mandate to uphold the law by drawing senior staff attention to the President’s ban on all Lumas or trade fairs until the virus has been effectively contained. This task, he told his senior staff is to be disseminated to all local police units across the country. The police, he added are central to this battle against Ebola and he encouraged all rank and file of the sierra Leone police to adhere to medical and public health guidelines at all times

Inspector General Munu also confirmed that the Sierra Leone Police is sending one police support unit to Kenema to increase the number of police necessary to operationalize the President’s directives. The Sierra Leone Police will also deploy two additional police vehicles to Daru and Kailahun to support medical staff and to deal with any incidence of public disorder that may occur. These measures the Inspector General of Police added are in addition to putting together an operational plan for any ensuing public disorder. 
Finally, the IG confirmed that in complementing government’s efforts across the country, the police is carrying out its own internal sensitization on how to handle the disease and prevent police personnel from getting infected by the virus. http://standardtimespress.org/?p=5251

Sierra Leone News: Ebola wahala…Man jailed for obstruction of Ebola staff

A-55 year old businessman, Sani Mohamed of Mano Junction in Nongowa Chiefdom in Kenema District was on Wednesday, 2nd July 2014 convicted for behaving in a “disorderly manner” thereby obstructing the work of a medical personnel working on Ebola.
The accused man was sentenced to one month imprisonment or pay a fine of Le 10, 000 (one hundred and fifty thousand Leones) at his first and last appearance before presiding Magistrate, Alhaji S. Koroma in the Kenema Magistrate Court
According to the particulars of offence, the accused on Wednesday 25th June, 2014 at Mano Junction checkpoint did behave in a disorderly manner there by obstructing the work of a medical personnel working on Ebola.
He was arrested for his misbehaviour and charged to court on two counts charges to wit: behaving disorderly contrary to Section 12 of the Public Order Act No.46 of 1965 as amended by Section 15 of Act No. 2 of 1973, count two for obstruction contrary to Section 39 (1) of Police Act No. 7 of 1964. He was found guilty of the offence and he pleaded for mercy. The matter was prosecuted by Assistant Superintendent of Police, Sahr Didi Lahai of the Legal and Justice Support Department of the Kenema Police Division.
By Saffa Moriba
Friday July 04, 2014 http://awoko.org/2014/07/04/sierra-leone-news-ebola-wahalaman-jailed-for-obstruction-of-ebola-staff/

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Kenya Health officials on high alert over Ebola


Saturday, July 5, 2014


In Summary

  • Kenya Airways has regular weekly flights to and from West African countries, which are currently at the epicentre of the deadly outbreak.
  • About 759 people have been infected with the virus in Guinea, Liberia and Sierre Leone and 467 of them have since died.
By MIKE MWANIKI
Public health officials and nurses at the Eldoret, Kisumu, Moi and Jomo Kenyatta international airports are on high alert following the outbreak of the deadly Ebola that has so far killed 467 people in West Africa.
Ministry of Health Directorate of Preventive and Promotive Diseases Head William Maina on Saturday said the airport health officials were carrying out random sampling of passengers who were arriving from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to guard against what has become the world’s deadliest disease outbreak.
They are asking the travellers some questions and checking if they had any fever. At the same time, we have acquired the necessary protective gear as a precaution,” Dr Maina said in a telephone interview.
Currently, Kenya Airways has regular weekly flights to and from West African countries, which are currently at the epicentre of the deadly outbreak.
At the same time, Dr Maina announced that a joint response team comprising of officials from the World Health Organisation, Centre for Disease Control, Kenya Medical Research Institute and Ministry of Health was on stand-by.
The team is led by an Epidemiologist in the Ministry of Health’s disease control unit, Dr Ian Njeru.
On Friday, health ministers from 11 West African countries adopted a common strategy to fight the deadly disease.
At an emergency meeting in Ghana, the ministers promised to better collaboration to fight what has become the world’s deadliest outbreak, killing people in a short time.
About 759 people have been infected with the virus in Guinea, Liberia and Sierre Leone and 467 of them have since died.

Africa Battles To Stop Deadly Spread Of Ebola

Sky News is given exclusive access as medics in West Africa battle to contain the worst ever outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus.

Alex Crawford Ebola Virus In Liberia
Video: Africa Battles To Stop Ebola Virus

The worst Ebola outbreak ever is spreading and will almost certainly extend across West Africa unless there is cross-country co-operation and urgent international assistance.
The porous borders between Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone has meant the disease is not being contained and now risks spreading even further.
Health workers at the epicentre, where the borders of the three countries meet, have made an urgent appeal through Sky News for immediate international help to try to control the virus.
Ebola outbreak
The latest outbreak has spread to three countries
Philip Azumah, the Foya district health officer, said: "We need help now, or the virus will spread and kill more people."
It is difficult to determine exactly how many people have already died from the disease given the cross-border contamination and lack of accounting.
But it is already clear there are many more deaths than any previous outbreak.
Aid organisation Doctors Without Borders has already said it is the largest outbreak on record, with the highest number of deaths.
Across the three countries, more than 400 have died in this latest outbreak, with no sign of the disease being halted.
And for the first time the disease has spread to highly populated areas including cities such as Guinea's capital, Conakry.
At one of the high-risk infection centres set up in Foya, in Liberia, the medics insisted we, like them, took extreme precautions.
This included wearing two layers of protective head-to-toe clothing featuring one waterproof all-in-one outfit, face and head masks, double gloves, thick plastic aprons, sturdy goggles and rubber boots.
Among the victims was a nurse who contracted Ebola after caring for a person who later died from the virus.
Nurse Elizabeth Smith was lying on a bed next to another nurse who had contracted Ebola from the same patient they had both treated.
Alex Crawford Ebola Virus In Liberia
Elizabeth Smith was too weak to raise her head
But Ms Smith was significantly weaker than her co-worker. She did not raise her head as we entered and her bed was soaked in blood.
Neither woman had realised they were treating a patient with Ebola, so had taken none of the precautions their colleagues were now taking.
Two of them sprayed Ms Smith with disinfectant, down her legs, her feet, her hands and arms as they stood arms-length away in their head-to-toe protective clothing and visors. Gingerly, they took her arms and helped her to her feet, before escorting her down the tent corridor to the high-risk area.
Here, every patient is a confirmed Ebola case and the odds are that 90% of them will die.
The frightening deadliness of Ebola, plus the ignorance around it and the lack of a cure, has thrown the medical staff in this area into a panic.
Francis Forndia, administrator for Foya-Borma Hospital, where medical staff have died after treating victims, told us his workers simply fled after nurses began dying.
"It is hard to get them to return, but we have managed to persuade some to come back by explaining to them how needed they are," he said.
Mr Azumah is co-ordinating the health battle against Ebola in this area. He tells me the first recent outbreak in Liberia was in March, when an infected woman travelled to Foya from Guinea.
She died two days after being admitted to the sole and tiny hospital in Foya. By the time of her death, she had infected eleven people in hospital alone.
Two of them were nurses who went on to die. The remaining nine somehow managed to survive.
Alex Crawford Ebola Virus In Liberia
Officials say cultural traditions have helped spread the virus
Then Liberia went a solid three weeks without an incident and believed they were clear - until the end of May.
This time, a woman from Sierra Leone, probably out of fear, gave misleading information about where she had come from.
She told investigators she was local, which was true, but did not mention she had in fact spent some time in an infected area of Sierra Leone.
This time the consequences were much more widespread. She had infected a stream of people, six of whom died.
They are still trying to trace all those she may have been in contact with.
There have since been other outbreaks in Voinjamma and the Liberian capital, Monrovia, while Guinea and Sierra Leone continue to register deaths, too.
Mr Azumah said: "In our culture, it is the habit to wash the dead body, look after it for a week in the home, kiss and touch it, even eat meals with the dead body - and we believe this has led to the virus spreading.
"Also people are keeping the illnesses and deaths secret if they suspect Ebola."
By alerting the authorities to possible Ebola, people risk being ostracised by their communities.
There is even a fear among these poverty stricken communities that the visiting health workers are spreading the virus.
But what seems significant is that, in Liberia at least, one of the poorest countries in the world, they are largely coping with this virulent disease on their own - with very little outside help evident.
http://news.sky.com/story/1293312/africa-battles-to-stop-deadly-spread-of-ebola 

Ebola outbreak is 'out of control' in parts of Africa, warns MSF

07.05.2014 9:10 a.m. - 9:10 a.m. Updated on 07/05/2014

Only humanitarian organization operating in hazardous areas in the west of the continent, MSF tries to avoid regional epidemic.

With the exponential increase in the number of cases of Ebola in West Africa, the international medical organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warns against the risk of a regional epidemic.
"The outbreak is out of control," said the BBC Brazil Mariano Lugli, MSF director of operations in Switzerland.
The team leads Lugli humanitarian assistance in the region since February. With nearly 300 professionals in the field, the organization has helped approximately 500 patients and is at the limit of its operational capacity.
Surto de Ebola é o maior da história já matou quase 500 pessoas em três países da África Ocidental (Foto: BBC) Ebola outbreak is the largest in history has killed nearly 500 people in three countries in West Africa (Photo: BBC)
In four months, the Ebola outbreak which originated in Guinea has spread to two neighboring countries, Liberia and Sierra Leone .
"There is a constant and intense movement of people across borders in this region and the cases are rapidly spreading to other provinces and countries," said Lugli.
The disease has spread to more than 60 different locations in West Africa and has not yet reached its peak.
"In general, this should have happened between two and five months, but it is impossible to predict especially because now there is a variant of the virus that causes hemorrhagic fever and is very dangerous," said Lugli...
 It is estimated that each infected person keep in touch with at least 20 other individuals, which should also be isolated and monitored for control of Ebola. Another common situation is complicated by the careless handling of bodies of victims of the disease...  http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fg1.globo.com%2Fciencia-e-saude%2Fnoticia%2F2014%2F07%2Fsurto-de-ebola-esta-fora-de-controle-em-partes-da-africa-alerta-msf.html

Ebola spread in large cities threatens millions

  • Aid Coordinator Lindis Hurum MSF is concerned that you have no system to identify who they Ebola sufferers have been in contact with Monrovia in Liberia. It makes it very difficult to stop the epidemic.
    PHOTO: Christian Nestler / MSF

Ebola spread in large cities threatens millions

Ebola infection is confirmed in a million towns of Conakry and Monrovia. - We do not control and I'm very worried, says Lindis Hurum in MSF.
Aid Coordinator Lindis Hurum of Norway visited two days ago a hospital in Monrovia where three people were isolated because they assume they are infected with Ebola. Two of them are health professionals who have been infected in their work. Statistically, they have only 10 to 30 percent chance of survival.
- They have very tough. The only contact they have with people with health professionals wearing full protective clothing, Hurum said by telephone from Liberia's capital, with a population of 1 million people.

Many health workers are dead

Her colleague, nurse Sissel Overvoll, returned home yesterday to Norway after his second a month long stay in the three countries. She has provided health care to Ebola sick people, and have found that many of the patients have died. In some cases, entire families.
She confirms that many health workers have become ill and died.
Very many health professionals have been killed, says nurse Sissel Overvoll in MSF. She came back Thursday from Africa. She has worked with Ebola victims in both Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
PHOTO: MSF
- I have no numbers, but I can confirm that many health professionals have lost their lives in all three countries, says Overvoll. The main reason is that the symptoms of Ebola are similar to the symptoms associated with other diseases, such as malaria. This does not take health professionals the necessary precautions.

Have not control

Ebola infection which first appeared in Liberia's neighboring Guinea in February, is now threatening the population in both Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The outbreak is the worst in history, with 763 cases and 468 dead so far.
Hurum said she is very concerned about the situation in Monrovia.
- We are definitely not the situation under control. We see new suspected cases every day, she says.
It is very important to get an overview of who the sick have been in contact with after they were infected, so that you can monitor them, but in Monrovia, this system is not good enough, according to Hurum.
To see ebola virus out.
- It is brand new that something like this pops up in a capital city. We need help from the WHO and from other organizations and must be mobilized even more the next day. A spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO) claims there is a system in Monrovia to identify who the sick have been in contact with, but admits that it's hard to get a good overview.
- When people move when it is difficult to follow all contacts, said Fadel Chaib, spokeswoman for WHO.

Crisis Meeting

WHO concluded yesterday a two-day emergency meeting about the Ebola epidemic in Accra, Ghana. Delegates from 11 countries in the region were invited to put a game plan on how to assist the sick and infect vulnerable, not to mention prevent a further spread.
WHO points out four reasons why the epidemic has become so serious:
1 infection has occurred in a border area where it is common for people traveling between countries.
2 Health professionals have met resistance in some communities. Thus, they have not been isolated potential disease carriers, and the infection is passed on.
3 The symptoms reminiscent of other diseases. The sick remain at home and are treated by the family, which can be infected by Ebola.
4 Local tradition dictates that grieving relatives and other kisses and hugs the body during funerals. Thus, they can even become infected.

Serious Threat

Health ministers from the 11 countries that were at the WHO meeting agreed that they faced "a serious threat" that required immediate action. Therefore, countries must now work together more closely. Local leaders, both religious and political will is mobilized to get out the message about how people should relate to the disease.
More will be done to identify the sick and the people they have infected. More health professionals should be inserted in the fight against the epidemic. More money should be put into fighting infection.
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