America ‘Aware’, But Mute Over Cancelling Liberian Officials Visa

Written by FPA Staff Writer

Published: 25 July 2014

“We are aware of reports that several Liberian government officials had their U.S. visas cancelled recently. Under U.S. law, we cannot comment on individual visa cases. That said, the partnership between the United States and Liberia remains strong. We have worked together through many difficult times. We are committed to supporting Liberia and her people as they seek to foster democracy and economic growth and to rebuild the country.” - U.S. Embassy Statement

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Monrovia — The United States Embassy in Monrovia says it is aware of reports that several Liberian government officials had their U.S. visas cancelled recently, but says under U.S. law, it cannot comment on individual visa cases.

“That said, the partnership between the United States and Liberia remains strong. We have worked together through many difficult times. We are committed to supporting Liberia and her people as they seek to foster democracy and economic growth and to rebuild the country,” the embassy said in a statement Thursday.

A FrontPageAfrica revelation this week reported that three officials, including Associate Supreme Court Justice Kabineh J’aneh, Youth and Sports Minister Eugene Nagbe, and Senator Geraldine Doe-Sheriff were denied entry either en route or upon entry in the U.S. after they were granted visas by the embassy in Monrovia in diplomatic passports. The trio had some affiliation with different rebel groups during Liberia’s civil war, which lasted from 1989 to 2003.

Brown Denies Visa Revoke

Information Minister Lewis Brown confirmed that three senior Liberian government official’s one from each branch of the government visas have been revoked by the United States government. The Minister said the government of Liberia like any other responsible government around the world will write the U.S. government inquiring why those senior officials’ visas were revoked.

Said Brown: “We are hearing all sorts of speculations, some claiming that my visa has been revoked. These are all speculations that are totally untrue.” Responding to questions that the US has requested President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to present the blueprint of all those accused of war and economic crimes, the Minister described the comment as totally False, noting that the U.S. government respects Liberia as a sovereign state.

Sources told FrontPageAfrica this week that J’aneh was told his visa was canceled upon arrival in France en route to the United States. Mr. Nagbe learned of his visa revocation after arriving in the United States, while Doe-Sheriff was stopped in Accra, Ghana. Information Minister Lewis Brown described the incidents as serious in an interview with the Voice of America Wednesday and acknowledged that the Liberian government had made inquiries to the U.S.

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“So far, we have made the proper representation through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the American Embassy accredited near our capital seeking information on the revocation of visas of at least three individuals who are serving at very high levels in the government.  We are still waiting for feedback from the embassy,” Brown was quoted as saying

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The VOA quoted Brown as saying that the government remains hopeful the visa issue is simply the result of a misunderstanding.  “We know that at least three senior officials’ visas were revoked. It is within the purview of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make such representation and to get the information.  Until we do, we’d like to think there may have been some misunderstanding, a processing issue perhaps,” he said.

But despite Brown’s hopeful tone, diplomatic observers say, the issue could be deeper, coming on the heels of the arrest and detention in May this year of Jucontee Thomas Woewiyu, Charles Taylor’s former Defense Minister, leading many to conclude that the Obama administration may be ready to go after Liberians accused of war crimes.

Woewiyu was arrested last May in Newark, New Jersey and charged with “lying on his application for U.S. citizenship by not disclosing his alleged affiliation with a violent political group in Liberia”, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

In 2012, the U.S. government deported George Boley, former leader of the Liberia Peace Council, and was found to have recruited and used child soldiers in military operations undertaken by the Peace Council during the country’s civil war. ICE said Boley’s deportation was the first removal order it had obtained under the Child Soldiers Accountability Act of 2008.

In 2009, a court in Miami convicted the son of former President Taylor on six counts of committing acts of torture and conspiracy to commit torture. Chuckie Taylor was the commander of the notorious Anti-Terrorism Unit that suppressed opposition to his father’s regime and was sentenced him to 97 years. Brown told the VOA that he was unaware whether the visa revocations were part of an overall US commitment to root out alleged human rights violators who may be trying to seek refuge in the United States.

“We’ve heard about all these speculations; we do not rush to any conclusion.  And so, what we want to do is to, as we’ve done, do a formal request for information about what may, or may not, have occurred. I think people are running to conclusions and may find it totally unnecessary in the end,” Brown said. The U.S. embassy’s response comes on the eve of President Sirleaf’s travel to Washington for next month’s US-Africa summit.

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — An Ebola outbreak that has left more than 660 people dead across West Africa has spread to the continent's most populous nation after a Liberian man with a high fever vomited aboard an airplane to Nigeria and then died there, officials said Friday.

The 40-year-old man had recently lost his sister to Ebola in Liberia, health officials there said. It was not immediately clear how he managed to board a flight, but he was moved into an isolation ward upon arrival in Nigeria on Tuesday and died on Friday.
Nigerian Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said it was the first case of Ebola to be confirmed in Nigeria since the current outbreak emerged this year. The disease already has hit Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
"All ports of entry into Nigeria, including airports, seaports and land borders, are placed on red alert," he said. "Ministry of Health specialists have been positioned in all entry points. Active surveillance has also been stepped up."
Authorities are investigating anyone who may have come into contact with the deceased, Chukwu said.
"We have already gotten in touch with all the passengers," he said. "We are monitoring and investigating."
Liberia's Chief Medical Officer Bernice Dahn identified the Ebola victim as a government official with the finance ministry.
"When his sister died, his workmates were kind of afraid for him to be around," she said. "We received several calls from workmates on whether it was advisable for him to go to work."
The man told health officials that he had not had any physical contact with his sister, and based on his explanation, he initially was told to report back to work but was advised not to travel. He later was asked to stay home for 21 days but apparently continued working.
He flew to Nigeria to attend an international conference. Blood tests for Ebola returned positive from the Lagos University Teaching Hospital later Tuesday.

US officials are closely monitoring the outbreak of deadly Ebola virus which has now reached Nigeria, and is working with governments and aid groups to try to stop the spread.  “Our thoughts and prayers are with those fighting the virus,” Will Stevens, spokesman for the State Department’s Africa bureau, told AFP.  “The US government continues to provide a comprehensive, multi-agency response to assist those countries affected by the Ebola virus outbreak,” he added, saying multiple US agencies were “contributing to the outbreak response efforts.”  As of July 20, the number of Ebola cases recorded in the months-long epidemic stood at 1,093, including more than 660 deaths, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).  Liberia has seen 127 fatalities, and there have also been hundreds of cases recorded in Guinea and Sierra Leone.  But there were growing international concerns after a Liberian national died Friday in quarantine in Lagos, confirmation that the virus has reached Africa’s most populous country.  US agencies including from the Center for Disease Control, and Pentagon bodies like the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) have been lending their expertise to local health officials and international specialists.

US officials are closely monitoring the outbreak of deadly Ebola virus which has now reached Nigeria, and is working with governments and aid groups to try to stop the spread.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with those fighting the virus,” Will Stevens, spokesman for the State Department’s Africa bureau, told AFP.
“The US government continues to provide a comprehensive, multi-agency response to assist those countries affected by the Ebola virus outbreak,” he added, saying multiple US agencies were “contributing to the outbreak response efforts.”
As of July 20, the number of Ebola cases recorded in the months-long epidemic stood at 1,093, including more than 660 deaths, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Liberia has seen 127 fatalities, and there have also been hundreds of cases recorded in Guinea and Sierra Leone.
But there were growing international concerns after a Liberian national died Friday in quarantine in Lagos, confirmation that the virus has reached Africa’s most populous country.
US agencies including from the Center for Disease Control, and Pentagon bodies like the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) have been lending their expertise to local health officials and international specialists.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/07/us-monitoring-ebola-outbeak-aiding-bid-stop-spread/#sthash.dGvUmnLP.dpuf

The passenger was said to have  fever, and vomiting with  diarrhea on arrival at the airport and was handed over by the airline to the Port health Services of the Federal ministry of Health, who quickly isolated him and transported him  to the hospital to avoid contact with the general public.  But after the confirmation of the results by other laboratories outside Nigeria and despite the urgent specialized barrier nursing care provided for the patient in a Lagos Hospital, the patient unfortunately passed away in the early hours of Friday.  As part of effort to contain the spread of the virus, the health Minister said certain measures had already been taken by the Ministry, which include: tracing and investigating all the passengers the patient came with; placing all ports of entry under red alert in line with WHO regulations; equipped all government tertiary health institutions in Nigeria to handle any emergency that may arise from the disease and providing supportive drugs and medical consumables  at all entry points and stepping up collaboration with all the States of the federation.  ‘‘I want to assure the general public that the FMOH is presently working with other ministries, agencies and international organizations as well as the Lagos State Government to prevent the possible spread of the virus.  ‘‘Emergency operation centres had been established and coordinated by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC of the federal Ministry of health in collaboration with an inter ministerial committee set up by the President,’’ he added. -

The passenger was said to have  fever, and vomiting with  diarrhea on arrival at the airport and was handed over by the airline to the Port health Services of the Federal ministry of Health, who quickly isolated him and transported him  to the hospital to avoid contact with the general public.
But after the confirmation of the results by other laboratories outside Nigeria and despite the urgent specialized barrier nursing care provided for the patient in a Lagos Hospital, the patient unfortunately passed away in the early hours of Friday.
As part of effort to contain the spread of the virus, the health Minister said certain measures had already been taken by the Ministry, which include: tracing and investigating all the passengers the patient came with; placing all ports of entry under red alert in line with WHO regulations; equipped all government tertiary health institutions in Nigeria to handle any emergency that may arise from the disease and providing supportive drugs and medical consumables  at all entry points and stepping up collaboration with all the States of the federation.
‘‘I want to assure the general public that the FMOH is presently working with other ministries, agencies and international organizations as well as the Lagos State Government to prevent the possible spread of the virus.
‘‘Emergency operation centres had been established and coordinated by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC of the federal Ministry of health in collaboration with an inter ministerial committee set up by the President,’’ he added.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/07/fg-confirms-ebola-death-lagos-warns-citizens-vigilant/#sthash.lHzuqXvb.dpuf

Nigeria Fears Man Carried Ebola on Jet

Nigerian authorities say they are working to confirm what they fear is the country’s first case of Ebola, in a man who died after flying from Liberia. If it turns out to be true, it would be the first time Ebola has been carried on a jet and would make for a worrying turn in the worst Ebola outbreak yet seen. More than 1,000 people have been infected and more than 600 of them have died in the outbreak in West Africa.

Nigerian Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian citizen, collapsed on Sunday after flying into Lagos. He died after being put into isolation. Officials said Sawyer’s sister had died of Ebola in recent weeks. "His blood sample was taken to the advance laboratory at the Lagos university teaching hospital, which confirmed the diagnosis of the Ebola virus disease in the patient," Chukwu told a news conference on Friday. It’s tricky testing for Ebola and the World Health Organization, which tallies Ebola cases, said it was waiting for the results of a second, confirmatory test. Lagos city health commissioner Jide Idris said officials were only "assuming that it was Ebola" while waiting for confirmation from a lab in Senegal. There are other viral hemorrhagic fevers in Africa that can resemble Ebola, notably Lassa fever, dengue and yellow fever.

As of July 20, there are 405 confirmed cases of Ebola Virus Disease in Sierra Leone, with 133 of those resulting in fatalities. There are 96 survivors. The confirmed cases are in Kailahun, Kenema, Kambia, Port Loko, Bo, and Bonthe districts and the Western Area Urban. The situation is evolving and reported figures are likely to change.

Events in the night of Friday 18th July 2014 saw the escape from Isolated Observation, of a pregnant woman by the name Mariatu (surname and address withheld) from the Princess Christian Maternity Hospital (PCMH) along Fourah Bay Road. According to medical staff who asked not to be named, Mariatu, from her presenting symptoms, was presumed to be a suspected Ebola case. Blood samples were taken from her and sent to Kenema for testing. It was whilst the medical team were awaiting confirmation that she was advised to be kept under observation in isolation from other pregnant patients.

According to numerous residents of Fourah Bay Road, the fracas first happened on Thursday 17th July, when Mariatu's relatives refused the possibility of her being an Ebola patient and vehemently rejected for her to be kept in isolation. Mariatu's relatives and close friends laid siege at the PCMH isolation unit, demanding her release. The police however were called in and managed to quell that riot and send her relatives away that Thursday.

On Friday evening, the relatives came back but with a huge group of well-muscled young men said to have been recruited from places near her residence in Eastern Freetown's Kissy suburbs.

The youths and a loud bunch of women, manhandled the security personnel at the gates, marched to the Isolation room and forcibly helped Mariatu to escape from the hospital. The nurses on duty were threatened and over-powered by the group from Kissy in the east end of Freetown.

One of the nurses on duty was slapped and further threatened for attempting to stop the escape. Mariatu was then put on a motorbike which sped off with her under the pouring rain. This newspaper correspondents were right at the scene as Mariatu was being driven off on an okada under a heavy rainfall.

"If this lady is found to be positive when the test results are out, it is obvious that the okada rider who drove off with her under the pouring rain, other close relatives and friends who touched her, stand the risk of being infected," a resident of Fourah Bay Road, Madam Rahman pondered.

"With all the reports about Ebola, if these people still do not believe this is a security threat to all of us, they will not come back to the hospital even if they get infected. They are the ones who will hide and continue spreading the disease until the situation gets worse. It is only when they start dying that they will believe. May God help us in this country and give our authorities the wisdom to handle this deadly plague," John Koroma, a university student visiting his sister said.

Neither the security nor the nurses at the PCMH obliged to grant an interview on record except to confirm the dismal incident that a suspected Ebola patient had left the premises without waiting for her test results to come in.

However, according to an eyewitness Sorie Kamara, whose pregnant wife was also admitted, the escapee's people became angry when they were refused access to see their loved one.

As the matter was being widely discussed on social media, Mr. James Kanu, one of the neighbours of the pregnant woman on Saturday morning, in an exchange with popular musician Nasser Ayoub, stated that the Health officials just wanted to "kill" the pregnant woman. Writing in the local Krio parlance, he stated, (as translated):

"It is lies. They just wanted to kill the family's poor pregnant woman. The lady went to deliver her baby only for her to be told she had Ebola. They locked her up without food and water so she called her people enquiring if they want her to die? That is why her people went to take her away from the hospital. Let these officials get out from in front of citizens. Now commodity prices going up and citizens suffering."

Continuing on Facebook to justify the forceful removal of the patient from the hospital, James Kanu wrote to Nasser Ayoub:

"Nasser believe me that people are now afraid to go to hospital when they develop fever. I know the lady in question. Just that the lady's condition was deplorable with the pregnancy and she was weeping in serious pains according to a close relative".

Meanwhile, still on social media, another eye-witness to the initial fracas, is popular phone-in texter, Tunde Scott who lives next to the hospital. He wrote thus:

"I live next to PCMH and I was fortunate to witness the incident unfolding... I was at PCMH the day before when the riot was on between relatives and medical staffs. One of her relatives was demanding that they must discharge her - 'mekebola go kill wi now naose' - her words. I blame the police at PCMH; why did they allow her to escape? The nurse on duty even received a slap from one of relatives. This is no make-up because I was there up to when the team dealing with suspected Ebola victims arrived in an ambulance at PCMH. Let anyone challenge my facts!"

However, in fairness to the Sierra Leone Police, our press team observed after the incident that adequate security or rather efficient security is not present at the PCMH 'Cottage Hospital'. The police officers on duty were not adequately protected enough to try to restrain an escaping Ebola suspect. Infact, we observed that only one gateman in plain clothes wore gloves that night. The gloves on his hands were stained and filthy giving the impression he had wore them the whole of the day.

In further investigations, this newspaper deployed a team to monitor the hospital on Saturday and Sunday and we can confirm that the security personnel stationed there seem ill-equipped to prevent a repeat of the last two riots at their location by Mariatu's relatives.

There are other serious lapses that need attention apart from the inadequate security. During the two days observation of PCMH, we did not see any chlorine water in tapped buckets or soap for washing of hands of visitors and patients moving in or out of the hospital. There was also no evidence of sanitizers for people moving in and out of the various sections of the facility.

Most importantly also, there was no sensitization presence; (that is a sort of briefing centre where visitors will be given official sensitization on Ebola and how to contain its spread, especially to convince and warn the unbelievers). Neither the security post nor main entrance to the hospital itself, had any form of active sensitisation about Ebola going on. Throughout the whole two days, we did not see anyone stopping PCMH visitors to speak to them about Ebola.

As stated earlier in this report, with the police officers not adequately dressed or protected against contact with an Ebola suspected patient, many observers at the scene told this newspaper that the police should not be blamed for the escape of the suspected Ebola patient.

As we went to press, the Ministry of Health & Sanitation has yesterday Sunday 20th July 2014, issued a statement saying the test results from the escaped patient had now come in and it showed the escaped patient was not an Ebola positive patient.

"The case been (sic) referred to was kept in the Observation unit at PCMH while (sic) her blood sample was taken to the Kenema Lassa Laboratory for the Ebola test. The test result came out negative and that patient was (sic) longer considered suspected Ebola case" stated the Health Ministry last night.

The Ministry also reported that currently the number of Ebola cases confirmed through laboratory testing in Sierra Leone, was now over four hundred (400) in number and have been reported in all four regions of the country.

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So much newsand so litle time..
 
So you think Mali and the Ivory coast have no ebola cases?..It is alll under control?.. it can't get to north america?
Just where DO you get you news from?


.I may have to just post stories on the color red..maybe why BIRDS HAVE FEATHERS... or things the gov't does wrong.. you know..easy stuff
Please take notice of the DONATE BUTTON!

Legislators bicameral legislature of Liberia adopted a resolution to use the funds for events scheduled on July 26, Independence Day of the country in the fight against Ebola.
Members of the House of Representatives passed Thursday document Haute room, noting that if the Senate gave the green light to the resolution, all funds for the feast of the independence of the country would be submitted to the Ministry of Health to create the conditions necessary to contain the spread of the Ebola virus.

WHO says Zambia is not ready to handle the deadly Ebola

WHO says Zambia is not ready to handle the deadly Ebola disease in an event that it broke out.

Infectious Disease Expert specializing in Virology at WHO Africa Regional Office in Congo Brazzaville Francis Kasolo there is little or no information being disseminated to sensitize the Country on Ebola.

He says people are entering the Country through airports, borders and water bodies without screening them or getting any information on the virus.

The medical expert was speaking at a discussion in Lusaka hosted by the Press Freedom Committee of the Post Newspaper.

Dr. Kasolo has urged the Country to come up with Comprehensive Response Plan for deadly disease like Ebola or any other dangerous disease.

He also says the Country should put in place proper isolation facilities as certain diseases like Ebola are highly contagious.

Dr. Kasolo has since welcomed investments being made across the Country in the health sector.

He says 8 hundred people have been hospitalized while 5 hundred people have lost their lives in West Africa because of EBOLA from the time it was reported in March this year.

DR. Kasolo says WHO is working hard to stop some African cultures such as touching the dead before burial as it leads to the spread of Ebola.

He has urged Government to build strong early warning surveillance systems adding that the media should play a key role in disseminating information to communities to be on alert.

Fight Over Ebola Victim in Liberia: Family Demand Corpse at JFK

Published: 11 July 2014

Monrovia - Angry family members of a pregnant woman who died as a result of the deadly Ebola virus protested Friday at Liberia’s referral John F. Kennedy Medical Center, demanding the corpse of their family member.

A senior hospital source told FrontPageAfrica that the woman was rushed to the hospital from the New Kru Town community located on the Bushrod Island, a suburb of Monrovia, one of the communities highly hit by the outbreak of the virus.

The source said the lady died at the JFK hospital and while the Ebola Response team was preparing to take delivery of the body, family members resisted a situation that needed the intervention of the Liberian National Police. Family members claimed that their relative did not die as a consequence of the virus and therefore wanted the body to give their dead a befitting burial.

Following hours of tussle, the police calmed the situation and test later confirmed that the lady died of Ebola. Another second victim was also confirmed dead as a result of the virus at the same hospital. New Kru Town, is one of the communities where cases of Ebola were reported and a nurse Esther Kesselly died while attending to a patient.

The Redemption Hospital located the community nearly shut down after nurses protested unsafe working environment following the death of their colleague. After the death of the Nurse another foreign medical practitioner, Ugandan died as a result of Ebola. The epidemic is spreading fast across Liberia with Lofa and Montserrado counties having more cases than any other part of the country.

My Father

THOMAS WATKINS Sr

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Posted 8 hours ago

WATKINS, Thomas Edward Sr., of Mechanicsville, Va., Tommy left this earth to be with his Heavenly Father on June 23, 2014. He was born on March 29, 1942. He was preceded in death by his mother, Emma Jane Guerrant; father, Edward L. Watkins; and an infant son. He is survived by his loving wife, Elizabeth Ann Hudert Watkins; his sister, Kathleen Watkins Tyler and her husband, Fred Tyler Jr.; his children, Thomas E. Watkins Jr. (Brenda), Cheryl W. Furr (Gary), Melanie W. Warren (Roy), Tracy E. Watkins ( Michelle), Jeanine W. Layton (Brian), Jessica E. Dennie (Joe) and James C. Lord (Shelly); and many grandchildren, great- grandchildren, nieces, nephews and close cousins. Tommy retired after 22 plus years with the USPS. He held several patents at the post office for the many parts he developed over the years. He always enjoyed the challenge of learning something new. Tommy's friends are often quoted stating, "What a smart and talented man!" He had a strong love for technology, mechanics, music and fishing. In his early years, he devised and invented many creative adventures with his best friend, Teddy Frederickson. And later owned S&W High Performance and a shared passion for award winning drag racing with his friend Glenn Stone. In recent years, he renewed that love of mechanics and racing with good friend, Chester Houghtaling. Tommy will be greatly missed by his family and friends. A memorial and celebration of life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, any memorial contributions may be made to Elizabeth A. Watkins.

A Letter to Mr. Sidie Y Tunis

· Jul 9th, 2014 ·

Dear Mr. Tunis,
Thanks very much for keeping your compatriots informed about the Ebola epidemic.  We expected such from Ministries of Health and Sanitation and Information and Broadcasting at the unset of the outbreak.
Meanwhile, while your daily update is keeping us abreast with OFFICIAL figures,  it’s still leaving us with many unanswered questions regarding the killer disease. We know that you are assigned at the head office of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Freetown and could not go all over the country to crosscheck information. But now that you are serving as source of information regarding Ebola,  we expect you to know more than everyone. The epidemic has claimed many innocent lives including poorly trained and less-informed personnel who tried to stop it at the initial stage.  Your daily update is not showing any sign of reduction regardless the fact that the figures are (very) OFFICIAL.  Which means we shouldn’t be only taking your OFFICIAL figures for granted but rather go deeper into analysing the causes of and preventive measures to Ebola. So Mr. Tunis, can you please help us to answer the following questions:
What kind of preventive measures are we using?
When Ebola broke out in neighbouring Guinea, our government claimed to be well prepared ahead of any eventuality. Can you please tell us what was the preventive measure put in place by your ministry at that time? Knowing fully well that Ebola could rapidly spread  if the victims are not isolated/quarantined,  what kind of preventive measures the government was following by transporting the patients from one place to another – from Kailahun down to Kenema?  Your laboratory test results are released a day or two later, which means there is no on-the-site test technic. We know that Ebola has symptoms which are typical for malaria, cholera and other viral hemorrhagic fever.  So what specific symptom are your medical personnel checking for at roadblocks such as Bandama?   We are told that the sporadic test of passengers at those roadblocks basically aims at weeding out people with higher temperatures, which is also a true symptom of malaria, hypertension etc.  This technically tells that you may have quarantined  many non-ebola patients.
 Don’t you think 1 (true) Ebola patient quarantined together with 10 malaria and hypertensive patients could change the figure (infect the others) unintentionally? That brings me to the question: how are they quarantined? Are the quarantine booths  partitioned?
Your updates mentioned that you have discharged quite a few patients who you believe were earlier tested positive (perhaps of malaria, who knows?).  What is the message are you telling the discharged patients – particularly the men?  Do they know that Ebola can be transmitted sexually and men who survived it could transmit it for nearly two months?
How many people in Kailahun and Kenema are aware of the following measures?

Wash your hands frequently. As with other infectious diseases, one of the most important preventive measures for Ebola virus is frequent hand-washing. Use soap and water, or use alcohol-based hand rubs containing at least 60 percent alcohol when soap and water aren't available.

Avoid bush meat. In Sierra Leone, wild animals, including nonhuman primates, are sold in local markets. Avoid buying or eating any of these animals.

Avoid contact with infected people. In particular, caregivers should avoid contact with the person's body fluids and tissues, including blood, semen, vaginal secretions and saliva. People with Ebola are most contagious in the later stages of the disease.

Follow infection-control procedures. If you're a health care worker, wear protective clothing — such as gloves, masks, gowns and eye shields. Keep infected people isolated from others. Carefully disinfect and dispose of needles and other instruments. Injection needles and syringes should not be reused.

Don't handle remains. It’s religious, cultural and traditional to wash bodies in Sierra Leone before buried. The bodies of people who have died of Ebola or are still contagious. Specially organized and trained teams should bury the remains, using appropriate safety equipment.

How transparent is the fight against Ebola?
A press release from State House on 3^rd July informed us that President Koroma and his cabinet ministers and their deputies have decided to donate part of their salaries to the consolidated fund to fight against Ebola. Ministers are to donate 50% and deputies 25% of their salaries for July. If the release is not intended to distract public attention from the lacklustre and unprofessional  manner the government has handled the Ebola epidemic, the Accountant General must have been ordered to pay the ministers and their deputies (NOW) so that the fund could be used against Ebola. We would like to know what is the exact figure in that account now?
Some private citizens are responding to President Kaoroma’s though late but wake up call to fight Ebola.  Foreign partners are also pumping in with medical supplies, personnel and physical money.
There is the ongoing vuvuzilla noise that the government has donated millions, if not billion, to fight Ebola in Kailahun. The ordinary citizen would like to know what is the actual breakdown of that fund? Who paid what and when? We know that there is no vaccine or specific cure for Ebola, the patients can be only helped with either oral rehydration therapy or intravenous fluids. Medical personnel deployed across the region are either aid agents or government employees, which means none is paid from the donation funds. The above triggers the questions: what is specifically being done with the donated funds?   Who is administering it?
In anticipation of your clear response to the above questions, I wish to take this opportunity to that you and colleagues for the tireless fight against the most dangerous disease in our life time.
Kind regards

Advice on #Ebola from the U.S. Embassy in Freetown

2014-07-12

United State Embassy - In order to help our Embassy Community better understand some of the key points about the Ebola virus we have consulted with our medical specialists at the U.S. State Department and assembled this list of bullet points worded in plain language for easy comprehension. Our medical specialists remind everyone that they should be following the guideline from the Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization.

• The suspected reservoirs for Ebola are fruit bats.

• Transmission to humans is thought to originate from infected bats or primates that have become infected by bats.

• Undercooked infected bat and primate (bush) meat transmits the virus to humans.

• Human to human transmission is only achieved by physical contact with a person who is acutely and gravely ill from the Ebola virus or their body fluids.

• Transmission among humans is almost exclusively among caregiver family members or health care workers tending to the very ill.

• The virus is easily killed by contact with soap, bleach, sunlight, or drying. A washing machine will kill the virus in clothing saturated with infected body fluids.

• A person can incubate the virus without symptoms for 2-21 days, the average being 5-8 days before becoming ill. THEY ARE NOT CONTAGIOUS until they are acutely ill.

• Only when ill does the viral load express itself first in the blood and then in other bodily fluids (to include vomit, feces, urine, breast milk, semen and sweat).

• If you are walking around you are not infectious to others.

• There are documented cases from Kikwit, DRC of an Ebola outbreak in a village that had the custom of children never touching an ill adult. Children living for days in small one room huts with parents who died from Ebola did not become infected.

• You cannot contract Ebola by handling money, buying local bread or swimming in a pool.

• There is no medical reason to stop flights, close borders, restrict travel or close embassies, businesses or schools.

• As always practice good hand washing techniques, but you will not contract Ebola if you do not touch a dying person. http://www.thenewrisingsun.net/ViewSingleArticle.php?ArticleID=3801   






..This is not on U.S.Embassy website THAT I CAN FIND..

The civil society is active in the fight against Ebola in Guinea

July 12, 2014

As part of the response of civil society against Ebola, the National Council of Civil Society Organizations of Guinea (CNOSG) in partnership with UNICEF and the national response against Ebola Committee held a launching ceremony of a country club kits handwashing in Conakry and in the interior.

Presiding over the ceremony at the bus station in the town Bambeto Ratoma Fatou Balde Senior Vice President of CNOSG said that this action will extend the bus stations in Conakry markets including Enta and Bonfi, wharfs and in 20 prefectures within the country.
For its part, Mory Conde responsible for this project CNOSG told the people present at the bus station in Madina should not minimize this disease because if she catches someone the opportunity to be saved is minimal. We can test other diseases but not Ebola.
"Despite the situation in Guinea forest and riparian countries, road traffic continues. People travel in both directions. We felt that the best way of transporting this Ebola virus are the vehicles of transportation. People come and disembark and embark the bus stations. Have kits handwashing in different bus stations is a sure way to mastering the spread of the disease. If the virus is transported to the descent to the bus station is destroyed, the stage of infection is broken, "says turn Dansa Kourouma President of CNOSG.
Continuing, he said to go to neighboring countries or to leave the majority of our citizens use the road. For example he said Conakry to Bamako, traffic is 75% of population movements in both countries.
"So we installed these kits handwashing in different Conakry and the interior to help curb the spread of this disease," he concluded. http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Faminata.com%2Fla-societe-civile-sactive-dans-la-lutte-contre-la-fievre-ebola-en-guinee%2F
Mamadou Aliou Barry for Aminata.com

Ebola Spreads to Sierra Leone Capital of Freetown as Deaths Rise

By Silas Gbandia Jul 12, 2014 11:24 AM ETThe worst outbreak of Ebola moved to Sierra Leone’s capital of Freetown where an Egyptian was found with the city’s first confirmed case of the disease.
The unidentified Egyptian national had traveled from Kenema, the largest city in the nation’s Eastern Province, and checked into a clinic east of Freetown, Sidie Yahya Tunis, director of Information, Communication and Technology at the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, said by phone today. The person was moved back to the Ebola center in Kenema, he said.
“The Ebola disease usually spreads to other places when suspected or confirmed cases in one community move to another, they abandon treatment centers to stay with relatives or they seek treatment outside the Ebola centers,” Tunis said.... http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-12/ebola-spreads-to-sierra-leone-capital-of-freetown-as-deaths-rise.html

Australia-Local scientists try to tame Ebola

Date

July 12, 2014 - 10:15PM

Research scientist Glenn Marsh working at CSIRO'™s Australian Animal Health Laboratory in Geelong. Photo: Supplied

Scientists at CSIRO’s Australian Animal Health Laboratory in Geelong are playing their part in a global effort to tame the highly infectious Ebola virus wreaking havoc in west Africa.
Since the first live sample of the Ebola virus arrived in Australia last September, CSIRO researchers have been working in a high-security laboratory, one of only a few worldwide where scientists can work with live samples of the most deadly viruses, including Ebola, SARS and Nipah.
‘’Working with Ebola is a fairly new area for us,’’ research scientist Glenn Marsh said.
The first step is to identify a suitable animal species in which to study the virus. This means finding an animal that reacts to Ebola in a similar way to humans – expressing the same incubation period, symptoms, disease progression and outcome.

While internationally primates are the most common animal used to study Ebola, Dr Marsh said the Geelong team had started with pigs. And ferrets, which have a good track record with human respiratory diseases such as influenza, will soon follow.
‘’No one has ever put Ebola into a ferret, so we don’t know what will happen,’’ he said. ‘’But we will be looking for similar symptoms in the ferret to what you would see in humans.’’
Curiously fruit bats, where it is believed the virus originated, can carry the Ebola virus without illness.  In humans Ebola has a 90 per cent fatality rate.
Spread by contact with infected body fluids, early symptoms in humans include fever, muscle pain and a headache. These are followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, impaired kidney and liver function and internal and external bleeding.
Considered the worst Ebola outbreak in history, the latest epidemic in west Africa has been predicted to last for several months.
According to the latest figures from the World Health Organisation, which is monitoring the virus’ deadly impact in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, there have been 844 cases, including 518 deaths.
There is no vaccination or treatment for the virus, although several vaccines are being tested.
The Geelong laboratory operates at the highest biosecurity level. Only when behind air-locked doors, can researchers in protective suits filled with oxygen work with ‘’level-four pathogens’’ – the most dangerous viruses because they remain without a vaccine or cure.
The CSIRO lab holds both types of Ebola. The original strain known as Zaire ebolavirus, which was first identified in Africa in 1976, is behind the latest outbreak. A second strain, Reston ebolavirus, was first described in America in 1990.
While the Zaire ebolavirus has a 90 per cent fatality rate in humans, Reston ebolavirus, which emerged from south-east Asia, causes illness but is not fatal.
‘’It would be great to find an animal model that has a similar response to humans, in that one strain causes disease and the other doesn’t,’’ Dr Marsh said.
A live sample of the Zaire ebolavirus arrived from America last September after ‘’a significant amount of paperwork’’, according to Dr Marsh.
Approval was needed from American departments of agriculture, health and defence and from the department of agriculture and health in Australia.
The live American sample, which arrived in a vial packed in dry ice, will allow local researchers to grow fresh samples in cell cultures as needed. http://www.watoday.com.au/technology/sci-tech/local-scientists-try-to-tame-ebola-20140712-zt4k8.html

Ghana’s borders won’t be closed over Ebola – Minister

 Friday, 11 July 2014

Former Health Minister, Sherry Ayitey says the Ebola scare has not reached the level where borders should be closed to neighbouring countries.

“You cannot stop people from moving, you can’t! Because it hasn’t reached the situation where we have to close our borders,” She said.

More than 500 people have died from the disease in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea-Bissau since the outbreak of the deadly virus in February.

Ghana has not recorded any case. The disease is known to kill 90 percent of persons who get infected within days.

West African leaders on Thursday agree to set up a fund to deal with the spread of the Ebola Virus Disease in the sub-region at the end of the 45th ECOWAS Summit of Heads of State and Government in Accra.

The leaders, in principle, also agreed to abolish resident permits, which would see the introduction of new biometric identity cards for all ECOWAS citizens for easy identification across borders.

This according to critics would not only increase the socio-economic pressure on countries which are attractive destinations in the sub-region, but will also contribute to the spread of the Ebola virus.

But Madam Sherry Ayitey noted in an interview with Citi News, “there is a fear but then we have to be in the position that we can manage the border control. We just have to follow the WHO health program and people will be safe.” http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=316594

How to Ignore a Plague

Escaped Ebola patients, besieged hospitals, and deadly denial in West Africa

By Umaru Fofana

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In the doorway of an Ebola isolation facility in Kenema, Sierra Leone, stood a group of 10 or so patients. I could see them from a distance—I’d been advised by the medics not to get too close since I was not wearing protective clothing. They were mostly women, but I also saw two children: a boy and a girl. Ebola was eating him up. I was later told that the boy’s name was Kinnie, and that he was five years old. I shouted across to him, but he was too emaciated and weak to reply.

Inside the isolation wards were dozens of people who had tested positive for the rampaging hemorrhagic fever, including at least five nurses. They had apparently been infected by patients who had not been suspected of carrying the virus. Until recently, health workers didn’t use protective gloves unless they knew they were treating a confirmed case of Ebola—even though the virus is hard to diagnose, easily transmitted through bodily fluids, and Sierra Leone is in the middle of an outbreak that has stricken more than 300 and killed 92. One of the nurses died a few days ago. Her name was Sarah, and she got married last December. She was a few weeks pregnant.

Despite the danger facing these medical workers, they are being blamed for the disease by the public—a public so poorly informed about Ebola that many didn’t know of its existence before the outbreak began.

A few yards from the isolation facility lay the main wards of the Kenema Government Hospital. Many patients there fled after one of the nurses tested positive, headed for who knows where. And a couple of days after I visited, a colleague of mine watched relatives of Ebola patients pelt the hospital itself with stones. Confirmed Ebola cases are quarantined, and the attackers accused the nurses of sorcery and demanded their sick relatives be released to them — if they were dead, they said, they wanted the bodies to bury themselves. Such is the respect and reverence people have for the dead that the way Ebola victims are laid to rest is hard for most to stomach. Medics place them into a bag, and bury them without ceremony in a mass grave. The confrontation became so violent that police used tear gas to disperse the crowds, and have remained in and around the hospital since.

It is amazing—shocking—to see the denial of so many people here. Just 500 yards from the hospital, a group of revelers stood outside a video center (as cinemas are known here), pulling on cigarettes and even sharing the same butt. Backslapping and hugging having just come from the unventilated room. Sweating profusely in the 90-degree heat. There are other such video centers throughout Kenema, all over Sierra Leone. Beneath the veneer of that excitement and camaraderie lies the acrid reality that Ebola is tearing the country apart. 

 The next day, at the Holy Trinity Secondary School, I saw scores of high school kids playing soccer. Some had removed their white uniforms to avoid them getting dirty, and their bodies glistened. The longer they played, the more they sweated, and the more dangerous the game became for them. But they were either oblivious to the dangers of a virus that can kill nine in 10, often by internal bleeding and organ failure, or they did not care.

Kenema hosts the only Ebola-testing laboratory in the country, one of the best in the world, run by the U.S.-based Metabiota and Tulane University. And yet some people here are even questioning the existence of the disease. At a roadside store selling candies and sodas, I talked with a high school student who gave his name only as Konneh. “Ebola is unreal,” he told me. He peeled a banana and guffawed before biting into it. “I have not seen anyone who has suffered from or died of it,” he said as he munched.

There are other conspiracy theories flying fast and thick. My mother fell ill last week, while I was on a short trip abroad. She was vomiting and needed to see a medic, but some of my relatives advised her against going to hospital. They had heard rumors of a desperate attempt to stem the spread of Ebola: patients with signs of the disease, which include symptoms as broad as fever, were being injected with poison by health workers. It was only after my return that I could persuade her to seek treatment.

Three days after the hospital was attacked—and more than a month after the outbreak began—President Ernest Bai Koroma finally ended his curious silence, and addressed the nation. He said that “the national efforts of patriotic citizens from all regions, all political parties and districts must not be derailed by a misguided few.” He added: “Anyone who knowingly harbors an Ebola victim without notifying health authorities is also guilty of an offense and we will ensure that the full penalty of the law is meted out on them.” But he fell short of declaring the disease a public health emergency, which would have put the country’s resources toward the fight, and he has yet to visit any of the areas affected.

Koroma’s slow response recalls the civil war of the 1990s. Like Ebola, it started abroad, in Liberia, and snaked across the border. The army was ill-prepared; war was strange to the soldiers; many ordinary people took it lightly—I dare say, scornfully. It was not until fighting reached Freetown that the government made a serious effort to end it. By then, tens of thousands were dead. With the casualties in neighboring countries, the death toll from the current Ebola outbreak has already topped 500, and figures keep rising every day. No one knows how many more have died outside of health facilities, or are mistakenly being treated for another disease. The World Health Organization has described the situation in the region as “out of control.”

People who actually acknowledge the situation are uncertain about what to do now. At my wife’s church—she’s Catholic—the body of Christ as epitomized by bread is now dipped into wine by a glove-wearing priest. Handshakes have been minimized in mosques in this Muslim-dominated country. “It is the hard tradition-breaking sacrifices we have been forced to make,” a Friday worshiper told me. At one restaurant I visited, the owner had placed a bottle of chlorinated water at the door; everyone who entered was asked to wash their hands with it. But the chemical has become hard to find, and the owner of the restaurant told me that the price of chlorine has tripled.

Meanwhile, suspected Ebola patients are doing exactly what public health workers would like them not to do, which is to move around and potentially infect others. Almost 60 have disappeared after testing positive, officials say. “They may have died somewhere after infecting others,” one doctor told me, looking worried. One of the escapees was a man named Mohamed Swarray, who fled Kenema last month for Freetown, the capital, where he went into hiding. Police found him a week or so later, after he was spotted by someone who knew him in Kenema, and who had heard the announcements on local radio calling for information on his whereabouts. By then Swarray had visited a hospital in the capital, and may have infected the nurse who treated him. (The authorities are also on the lookout for his mother with whom he is believed to have escaped.)

I was standing outside the Kenema hospital when a new-looking ambulance raced into the hospital compound, sirens blaring. The driver wound down his window and asked shakily in a local language where the Ebola ward was. I pointed it out, and the driver meandered toward it, dodging the potholes made muddy by the country’s rainy season. I was curious as to how an ambulance in this part of the country could not know where the Ebola ward was, and suspected they must have come from Freetown. Moments later I saw Mohamed Swarray being guided to the isolation ward by a nurse in protective clothing. He looked hopeless and forlorn, as if he were being led to the gallows. https://medium.com/matter/how-to-ignore-a-plague-14ea08694cc

Liberia: JFK Nurses Abandon JFK ER Ward Over Suspected Ebola Death

By Wade C. L. Williams, 11 July 2014Panic is brewing among health workers including doctors and nurses in Liberia as the Ebola virus continues to spread and claim lives. At the John F. Kennedy Medical Center the country’s leading referral hospital, health workers abandoned duties in the emergency ward after a patient who was brought in very sick died.
Health authorities in Monrovia speaking to FrontPageAfrica confirmed the incident and stated that everything is being done to put the situation under control.
“There was a death that occurred there and it is true the people were running away from there; but our case management team went there to put the issue under control,” Assistant health minister for curative services Tolbert Nyenswah told FrontPageAfrica Friday following the incident at the hospital.
“The person was sick and taken there and died there but it was not a health worker. The patient was showing signs of Ebola so the health workers did not want to go in contact with them, so our team went in.”
The JFK scare comes at a time when nurses and patients have abandoned the Redemption Hospital in New Kru Town over similar fears.
Since the outbreak of the new round of the disease was reported in early June, health workers who have been in the frontline fighting the disease by giving care to sick people have been at risk with ten deaths reported in health practitioners who have succumbed to the deadly virus. Recently a Ugandan Doctor died after being infected with the virus. Many health workers have abandoned duties because they are afraid of coming in contact with people infected with the disease but the ministry of health argues that all is being done to minimize the risk to healthcare providers by training people in over 500 health facilities across the country.
“We did all of the facilities and provided them with gloves, disposable gowns, chlorine and other assorted materials and the training still continued for other facilities,” said Nyenswah.
New cases
Despite the fight against the virus, the cases continues to rise with Bomi becoming one of the new counties to report cases, joining Montserrado, Lofa and Margibi counties as counties with persons infected by the virus.
“One case has been confirmed from Bomi. As of today in Liberia we have one hundred and thirty seven cases with confirmed cases of 54. Out of the confirmed cases, one in Bomi, 39 in Lofa, one in Margibi and 23 in Montserrado,” he said.
Continued Nyenswah: “If you combine cumulative, confirmed, probable and suspected cases, we have 137, of that number, one in Bomi, 87 in Lofa 3 in Margibi and 66 in Montserrado.”
Despite the rise in the death of health workers and the growing panic among nurses and doctors, Assistant Minister Nyenswah said there has been no reported death among health workers in the last few days but the number of deaths in persons affected by the disease continues to rise.
“In about four to five days we have not reported any new case in health workers, so the cases in health workers still remain ten, with nine deaths in health workers,” he said.
“The number of deaths has hit 85 now, with confirmed 40 cases confirmed in the number of deaths,” he said.
He said the ministry is following up on people who might have come in direct contact with people infected with the virus by either caring for them or touching them.
“Contacts tracing is going on. We have line-listed 364 contacts and we are currently following up 305 of the 364,” he said.
“It means, on a daily basis, these people might have come in contact with an infected person; so we are doing the 21 days of follow-up. Out of the 364 contacts, 134 are in Lofa County, 28 in Margibi and 202 in Montserrado County.”
Not under control
Minister Nyenswah said Liberia is still battling the deadly virus and it is still finding it difficult to contain it, but is optimistic that Liberia will find a way to overcome the disease.
“It is not under control, because if an outbreak is under control, then you are not reporting new cases;do the outbreak is still active,” he said.
“We have not stabilized the transmission of cases yet. We are still reporting new cases, in the context of public health outbreak, if an outbreak is not being controlled or contained yet, that’s how we call it.” http://allafrica.com/stories/201407111593.html?viewall=1

Sierra Leone: Race against time to control the Ebola outbreak

11.07.2014

Sylvain Cherkaoui/Cosmos

Kailahun. Sierra Leone. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Ebola Treatment Center. In the high-risk zone a nurse takes the temperature of a patient.

Over the last two weeks, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has treated more than 70 patients with symptoms resembling those of Ebola in Kailahun treatment centre, eastern Sierra Leone. MSF is concerned about a possible increase in patients in the coming weeks, as teams on the ground are starting working to find people sick with the virus. Jump to video Jump to gallery
“To accommodate growing patient numbers, MSF has expanded the capacity of the treatment centre from 32 to 65 beds”, says MSF emergency coordinator Anja Wolz.
Beyond medical treatment, controlling the outbreak will require the deployment of large numbers of people to train healthcare personnel in infection control measures, to follow up with and trace cases and their contacts, to set up an epidemiological surveillance network, and to promote public health messages.
Because of limited human resources, MSF is concentrating its efforts on treating patients and educating communities about the disease, with more than 150 national and international staff now working on the outbreak in Sierra Leone. 

MSF concerned about hidden cases

MSF teams are racing against time to stop the spread of the disease. “We’re under massive time pressure: the longer it takes to find and follow up with people who have come in contact with sick people, the more difficult it will be to control the outbreak,” says Wolz.
At the moment, the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation (WHO) are starting to reinforce teams for contact tracing. Indeed, patients still need to be identified – nearly 40 were reported in just one village in Ngolahun (Eastern Province, Sierra Leone). “We still have no idea how many villages are affected. I’m afraid we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg,” says Wolz.

Specialised treatment facilities

By setting up treatment centres and transit units close to affected villages, MSF can treat patients quickly, and reduce the risk of infection in local hospitals and the in the community. In the transit units in Koindu and Daru, patients showing symptoms are isolated while waiting for the results of their tests.
The Zaire strain of Ebola virus can kill up to 90% of patients, but if patients receive treatment at the first signs of the disease, they have better chance to survive.

Education is indispensable

Ebola creates fear inside communities, and sick people are often stigmatised. "Families can be driven out of their villages, and sick people can be cast out to die on their own,” says Wolz. Psychological support is provided to patients and their families.

Photo: Joffrey Monnier/MSF

The MSF teams organise participatory health promotion activities with healed patients. To reduce fear, they are also conducting sensitisation campaigns to inform people on how the virus spreads. As such, they are encouraging people to flag up cases of haemorrhagic fever, to avoid contact with people sick with the virus and not to touch the dead body of someone who had been ill with Ebola.

The Ebola outbreak that is currently sweeping through West Africa is reaching an unprecedented scale in terms of its geographical spread, the number of cases and the number of victims. According to the WHO, there have been 848 cases of Ebola and 518 deaths in Guinea, Sierra Leone and in Liberia since the beginning of the outbreak. http://www.msf.ie/article/sierra-leone-race-against-time-control-ebola-outbreak
The 2 and 3 July 2014, 11 Ministers of Health from the region, the WHO and international organisations met in Accra (Ghana) to evaluate the situation and take measures to stop the outbreak.

Ebola kills 500 in West Africa within 6 months

Published on Friday, 11 July 2014 05:00

The Ebola disease has claimed about 500 lives in three West African countries in less than six months, ECOWAS Heads of State and governments were told in Accra yesterday at the commencement of a two-day summit.

Chairman of ECOWAS and Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama who disclosed this at the session, did not name the affected countries but said the authority was deeply concerned with the situation.
“I wish to express our deep concern about the unprecedented outbreak of Ebola in three member states of our community. Evidence has shown that in less than six months, the decease has claimed the lives of almost 500 people,” he said.
Mahama urged member states to provide the resources required to fight the disease, saying, “We must scale up efforts to defeat the deadly disease. We must exercise vigilance and avoid any panic on misinformation.”
He also charged medical and research centres in the sub-region to help in developing vaccines and cure for the disease. Leaders at the session also discussed the proposed biometric identity cards for ECOWAS citizens to aide easy identification and movement for trade purposes.
They identified Illegal check points, unnecessary documentation requirements, substantial informal payments at borders and transit fees as huddles hindering free trade. http://dailytrust.com.ng/news/28995-ebola-kills-500-in-west-africa-within-6-months

Ebola deaths surge in Sierra Leone and Liberia: WHO

GENEVA Fri Jul 11, 2014 4:07am EDT

(Reuters) - Ebola continues to rage in Sierra Leone, Liberia and to a lesser extent in Guinea, with a combined 44 new cases and 21 deaths between July 6-8, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
This brought the total in West Africa's first outbreak of the deadly viral disease to 888 cases including 539 deaths since February, the United Nations agency said.
"The epidemic trend in Liberia and Sierra Leone remains precarious with high numbers of new cases and deaths being reported," the WHO said. Just one confirmed new case had been reported during the past week in Guinea, where the WHO said it was closely monitoring the situation. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/11/us-health-ebola-idUSKBN0FG0JQ20140711?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews&rpc=401
 

Kazakhstan Authorities recommend Kazakh travellers returning from Africa to undergo Ebola test

11 July 2014, 12:52

Authorities recommend Kazakh travellers returning from Africa to undergo Ebola test

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - Kazakh authorities recommend people returning from Africa to undergo medial testes for Ebola."Committee of Tourism Industry under the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies of Kazakhstan reminds people to undergo tests and visit doctors after returning from Africa. Ministry urges tour operators and travel agents to inform travellers about the epidemiological situation and warn about the security measures", the press-service of the Committee informs...  http://www.inform.kz/eng/article/2676853

Ebola scare: Body of American to be flown to USA

hattip to Pathfinder

The body of the American expatriate at the centre of the Ebola virus scare is to be flown back to the United States of America (USA). The expatriate, who is said to have travelled to one of the infected countries in the sub-region, died on Monday, July 7, 2014.

The body is to be released to the American Embassy in Ghana. A source at the Ministry of Health (MoH), who disclosed this to the Daily Graphic, said the four nurses who were also quarantined after they had come into contact with the American before his death were released on Tuesday evening.

No Ebola in Ghana

The release of the followed four tests conducted by the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) which proved that the patient did not suffer from Ebola fever.

Although the American, who died at the Nyaho Medical Centre, on Sunday, July 6, 2014, presented symptoms suggestive of haemorrhagic fever, all the test conducted on him proved that he did not have Ebola fever.
...
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePag....php?ID=316342

AML on Ebola community campaigns AML on Ebola community campaign

 July 10, 2014

  African Minerals Limited continues with its awareness raising campaigns on Ebola as part of its health and safety commitment to employees and communities at the mines, port and rail operations in Tonkolili and Pepel, north of the country. 

  The initiative, being undertaken by the community relations department with support from all other departments at AML, was inspired by the recent visit of the chairman, Frank Timis, who came in the country at the height of the Ebola outbreak and gave his moral support to the government and people of Sierra Leone. He spent days meeting with his employees and local authorities to encourage confidence and give help respectively.  The latest of such sensitization moves, especially in relocated communities in the Kalasonsogia, Sambaya and Kafesimira chiefdoms, were done in local languages and with simple messages on the nature of the sickness, its symptoms, its effects on people and society and most importantly how it could be avoided.
  Local authorities, community youth groups and other stakeholders were capacitated to mobilise their people at Court Barries, community halls, chief compounds and open fields where megaphones, videos and huge speakers, were used to pass on the messages. The activity, which started on Wednesday 2July in these chiefdoms, would end on 14 July.  “We use video messages compiled by the ministry of health in collaboration with UNFPA and the Sierra Leone Red Cross, to pass the message across to our local communities. We started at new Ferengbaia, targeting relocated communities of Foria, Wondugu and Feregbaia”, said Isata Tejan, a nurse in the community relations department.  She explained that the messages were well understood based on the type of questions people asked about the disease at the end of the meetings, adding that they started by targeting school children and later met with chiefdom elders, ‘mammy queens’, young men and women... -http://www.sierraexpressmedia.com/archives/68884

AML on Ebola community campaigns

By: SEM Contributor on July 10, 2014.

African Minerals Limited continues with its awareness raising campaigns on Ebola as part of its health and safety commitment to employees and communities at the mines, port and rail operations in Tonkolili and Pepel, north of the country.  (Photo: Nurse Isata engages school children)

The initiative, being undertaken by the community relations department with support from all other departments at AML, was inspired by the recent visit of the chairman, Frank Timis, who came in the country at the height of the Ebola outbreak and gave his moral support to the government and people of Sierra Leone. He spent days meeting with his employees and local authorities to encourage confidence and give help respectively.

The latest of such sensitization moves, especially in relocated communities in the Kalasonsogia, Sambaya and Kafesimira chiefdoms, were done in local languages and with simple messages on the nature of the sickness, its symptoms, its effects on people and society and most importantly how it could be avoided.

Local authorities, community youth groups and other stakeholders were capacitated to mobilise their people at Court Barries, community halls, chief compounds and open fields where megaphones, videos and huge speakers, were used to pass on the messages. The activity, which started on Wednesday 2July in these chiefdoms, would end on 14 July.

“We use video messages compiled by the ministry of health in collaboration with UNFPA and the Sierra Leone Red Cross, to pass the message across to our local communities. We started at new Ferengbaia, targeting relocated communities of Foria, Wondugu and Feregbaia”, said Isata Tejan, a nurse in the community relations department.

She explained that the messages were well understood based on the type of questions people asked about the disease at the end of the meetings, adding that they started by targeting school children and later met with chiefdom elders, ‘mammy queens’, young men and women.

- See more at: http://www.sierraexpressmedia.com/archives/68884#sthash.VMPeTSch.dpuf