01 August 2014 (Primary Source) Obama says Ebola outbreak must be taken seriously, US taking precautions for US-Africa summit

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama says he is taking the Ebola outbreak in Africa seriously. He says the United States is taking precautions for next week's U.S.-African summit in the nation's capital.

He says the federal Centers for Disease Control is working with international health organizations to provide assistance to the affected countries. He says this outbreak is more aggressive than in the past.

Administration officials said the leaders of Liberia and Sierra Leone had cancelled their trip to Washington for the gathering of African leaders.

U.S. health officials on Thursday warned Americans not to travel to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, where the Ebola virus has killed more than 700 people this year. The current outbreak is the largest since the disease first emerged in Africa nearly 40 years ago.

01 August 2014 (Primary Source) "Ebola outbreak: end of epidemic could be in sight, says scientist"

Prof Chris Witty of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine says the epidemic has already peaked in Guinea and will hopefully begin to decline across other countries in the near future. The end of the Ebola epidemic may be in sight, with the disease already peaking in the county where the outbreak originated, the Department for International Development’s chief scientist has claimed.

Chris Witty, a DFID advisor and Professor of Public and International health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said Guinea had already seen the worst of the outbreak and cases were now beginning to decrease.

Although the number of infections is continuing to rise in Sierra Leone and Liberia, Prof Witty said the situation was likely to peak soon and then the epidemic would begin to decline.

“The outbreak is very unusual,” he said in a podcast.

“All previous outbreaks have tended to die out after a relatively short period of time and a much smaller number of cases. This is the largest outbreak of Ebola that so far has been recorded.“The situation is moving very quickly. The numbers are increasing in Sierra Leone but they appear to have peaked in Guinea where the epidemic first started.

“What we hope is that with good management and good control we should be able to start to see the peak of the epidemic and then it will start to decrease.”

The epidemic has, so far, claimed the lives of 826 people.

The UK has never had a case of Ebola but border staff are on alert to watch for signs of the disease at immigration points.

On Sunday night a woman in her 70s was tested for the virus after dying shortly after arriving at Gatwick Airport from West Africa. However the test came back negative.

Liberia and Sierra Leone have declared national emergencies with Liberia closing all schools and putting all non-essential government workers on compulsory 30 day leave.

Some airlines have stopped flying into infected West African countries, although British airlines said they would continue to travel.

Public Health England (PHE) warned health officials to be on the look-out for any unexplained illness in people returning from the affected countries.

The Royal Air Force is also on standby to bring back UK citizens infected with the disease in Africa.

Shipping bodies including the London based International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) issued new guidelines to merchant vessels yesterday.

Captains were told to give ‘careful consideration’ to allowing shore leave in ports affected by the disease.

Ebola first appeared in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks - in Nzara, Sudan; and in Yambuku, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The latter was in a village situated near the Ebola River, from which the disease takes its name.

It is introduced into the human population through close contact with the sweat, blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals such as chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines.

The virus then spreads in the community through human-to-human transmission.

Symptoms begin with fever, muscle pain and a sore throat, then rapidly escalate to vomiting, diarrhoea and internal and external bleeding. The incubation period can be up to 21 days.

Health workers tackling the outbreak in the region have been especially vulnerable to contracting the disease.

“The biggest problem with Ebola is the panic is causes, and it tends to lead to people worrying about travelling. It can lead to people worrying about going to work,” added Prof Witty.

“It’s not possible to catch Ebola just from sitting next to someone, You can only catch it by coming into contact directly with them or their body fluids like vomit or diarrhoea.

“The great majority of people who live in the affected areas will not get Ebola at any point.

“So it’s much less infectious than many people imagine and just being in the same room as someone with Ebola is not actually a particular risk.”

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Source: The Telegraph (2014-08-01) Ebola outbreak: end of epidemic could be in sight, says scientist, Link to Original. Retrieval by Monica Green.

25 March 2014 (Primary Source) Ebola Hits Capital

CAPE TOWN: The deadly Ebola virus has spread from southern Guinea to the capital Conakry, the United Nations Children's Fund says.

At least 59 people were reported killed by the virus in the West African nation, where health officials say the outbreak has reached epidemic proportions.

Guinea's Ministry of Health registered almost 100 infections since the virus was first reported last month, according to Radio France Internationale. DPA

24 March 2014 (Primary Source) Ebola Virus Toll hits 34

CONAKRY: Guinea has identified the Ebola virus as the source of a highly contagious epidemic raging through its southern forests, as the death toll rose to 34.

Experts in the west African nation had been unable to identify the disease, whose symptoms - diarrhoea, vomiting and bleeding - were first observed six weeks ago, but scientists in the French city of Lyon confirmed it was Ebola, the Guinean health ministry said. "Up to today we have identified 49 cases with 34 deaths," said Sakoba Keita, the ministry's chief disease prevention officer.

To date, no treatment or vaccine is available for Ebola, which kills between 25 per cent and 90 per cent of those who fall sick, depending on the strain of the virus, according to the World Health Organisation. The disease is transmitted by direct contact with blood, faeces or sweat, or by sexual contact.

Medical aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said in a statement it would strengthen its team of 24 doctors, nurses, logisticians and experts in hygiene and sanitation already in Guinea.

The organisation has set up isolation units for suspected cases in the southern region of Nzerekore and is looking for people who may have had contact with the infected.

MSF said it was sending about 33 tonnes of medicines and isolation, sanitation and protective equipment from Belgium and France. Ebola was first discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 1976 and the country has had eight outbreaks.

24 March 2014 (Primary Source) Ebola the source of Guinea epidemic

Conakry: Guinea has identified the Ebola virus as the source of a highly contagious epidemic raging through its southern forests, as the death toll rose to 59 amid fears it may have spread across the border ito Sierra Leone. Experts in the west African nation had been unable to identify the disease, the symptoms of which- diarrhoea, vomiting and bleeding - were first observed six weeks ago, but the Guinean Health Ministry says scientists in the French city of Lyon have confirmed it is Ebola. No treatment or vaccine is available for the disease.

22 March 2014 (Primary Source) Mystery disease wreaks havoc in Guinea

CONAKRY A MYSTERIOUS illness has killed at least 23 people in southern Guinea in six weeks, but the disease has yet to be positively identified, the health ministry announced Thursday.

"A feverish sickness whose first symptoms were observed on February 9 has claimed at least 23 lives, including that of the director of the Macenta district hospital and three staff, out of a total of 36 cases," said Sakoba Keita, the doctor in charge of the ministry's preventive wing.

"The administrative district of Gueckedou is the worst affected, with 13 deaths for 19 cases," Dr Keita added, noting that "the illness is characterised by fever, diarrhoea, vomiting, and bleeding in the cases of some patients".

Medical experts have been sent to the district to try to identify the highly contagious disease, the symptoms of which are similar to those caused by Lassa fever, yellow fever and Ebola.

About 30 test samples have been sent to France for analysis, with results expected "within 48 hours", the doctor said, adding that further samples are due to be examined at the Pasteur Institute in the Senegalese capital Dakar.

Protective measures have been taken on the spot, including quarantine for each of the patients, as well as individual and collective steps affecting the local population.Three thousand health kits intended for medical personnel and residents of high-risk areas are expected from Burkina Faso, while the Swiss branch of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has already sent 100 tonnes of medical equipment.

21 March 2014 (Primary Source) Épidémie de la fièvre virale hémorragique en Guinée: Déclaration du Ministre de la santé

Conakry, 21 mars 2014 – Depuis le 09 février 2014, notre pays a enregistré des cas de maladies fébriles dans certaines préfectures de la Guinée forestière et à Conakry. A ce jour, 49 cas de maladies fébriles dont 29 décès ont été recensés.

Ces cas ont été enregistrés dans les préfectures de Guéckédou, Macenta, Kissidougou et à Conakry. Cette maladie se manifeste par une poussée de fièvre, de diarrhée, des vomissements, une fatigue prononcée et parfois un saignement.

Face à cette situation, le Ministère de la Sante en collaboration avec ses partenaires a envoyé sur le terrain une mission d’investigation rapide pour déterminer la nature de cette maladie. Les premiers résultats confirment la présence d’un virus responsable des fièvres hémorragiques.

Cette maladie qui a déjà causé un nombre important de décès se transmet essentiellement d’une personne malade à une personne saine et aussi par des objets souillés appartenant à des personnes malades ou décédés. Aussi, la consommation de viande d’animaux de brousse infectés peut-elle être également une source de contamination.

CETTE SITUATION AMENE LE GOUVERNEMENT A FAIRE LA PRESENTE DECLARATION D’EPIDEMIE DE FIEVRE VIRALE HEMORRAGIQUE EN GUINEE.

En conséquence le Ministère de la Santé a pris les mesures suivantes:

• Traitement gratuit de tous les malades dans les centres d’isolement,
• Information des populations sur les mesures d’hygiène individuelles et collectives,
• Responsabilisation exclusive du traitement des corps des malades décédés au personnel de santé et à la Croix rouge guinéenne pour limiter la contamination,
• Recensement de toutes les personnes qui ont eu des contacts directs avec les malades décédés et ceux présentant les signes évoqués ci-dessus,
• Diffusion des messages de sensibilisation au niveau des médias (radio, TV, internet).

Mesdames et messieurs, le Gouvernement en cette période d’épidémie invite:

1. Les services de santé:
1. à prendre toutes les dispositions pour informer le personnel médical sur les mesures préventives et le traitement de cette maladie
2. à déclarer tout cas suspect enregistré à la Division prévention et lutte contre la maladie,
3. à informer les malades et leurs familles sur les mesures d’hygiène individuelle et collective,
2. aux populations :
1. de garder leur sérénité car des mesures adéquates sont prises pour le contrôle de cette maladie,
2. de déclarer tout cas suspect aux autorités sanitaires les plus proches,
3. à la pratique des mesures d’hygiènes individuelles et collectives qui sont : l’assainissement des lieux, le lavage des mains avec le savon et le chlore ou de l’eau de javel. 

Le Gouvernement exprime sa satisfaction aux partenaires pour leur soutien depuis le début de cette épidémie et saisit l’occasion pour compter sur les actions qu’ils mèneront à nos côtés pour le contrôle et l’éradication de cette maladie.

JE VOUS REMERCIE

LE MEDECIN COLONNEL REMY LAMAH

Transmis par le Bureau de Presse de la Présidence