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Ngwa Bertrand

05.Mar.2015

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Sierra Leone's vice president has voluntarily quarantined himself after one of his security guards died from Ebola. Vice President Samuel Sam-Sumana on Sunday decided to put himself in quarantine for 21 days following the death of one of his security personnel last Tuesday. It is the first time a high-ranking official is quarantined for fear of spreading the epidemic that according to the most recent figures released by the World Health Organization (WHO) has claimed 9,600 lives in the world.

“This virus has affected thousands of our people and has nearly brought our country to its knees,” said Sam-Sumana in a statement, adding, “We all have a collective responsibility to break the chains of transmission by isolating the sick and reporting all known contacts, by not touching the dead.... We cannot be complacent. We must work together as a nation to end Ebola now.” In reaction to the emergence of new cases of Ebola in recent weeks, Sierra Leone’s president, Ernest Bai Koroma, on Saturday reinstated travel restrictions he recently lifted in order to stimulate economic activity and relax citizens.

According to the WHO, 23,800 confirmed cases mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have been reported since Ebola broke out 14 months ago. Ebola, one of the deadliest viruses known to man, is spread only through direct contact with the body fluids of an infected person. Insuring safe burials of the highly infectious bodies of those who die from the virus has been a main concern in encountering the crisis.

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Ngwa Bertrand

02.Mar.2015

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The first rapid test for Ebola has been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO), marking a potential breakthrough towards ending a deadly epidemic in West Africa. On Friday, WHO approved the test developed by US firm Corgenix Medical Corp, saying that although it is less accurate as the standard test, it is simpler to carryout, does not depend on electricity and shows results in less than 15 minutes.   "It's a first rapid test. It's definitely a breakthrough,” said WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic.

Current Ebola tests are required to be carried out in a laboratory so that blood fragments can be analyzed for the deadly virus’ genetic material. The ReEBOV Antigen Rapid Test analyzes blood for a different element of the virus. The process, which usually took 12 to 24 hours to yield results, is carried out by putting a drop of blood on a paper strip and then waiting for a reaction in a test tube.    West African trials have shown that the test correctly identifies around 92 percent of people who have contracted the virus.

"The big fear has been that the market gets flooded with tests of unknown quality, or unknown performance, and with Ebola you need to know what are the limitations. A false negative has enormous implications. So does a false positive," said Robyn Meurant, from the WHO's department of essential medicines and health products. She went on to say that the new test isn’t perfect but for a rapid test it is quite good.

Meanwhile, the Liberian president said the country plans to remove a night curfew and reopen its borders which were closed to contain the spread of Ebola, as its threat recedes. "President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has ordered the lifting of the curfew imposed nationwide. It takes effect beginning Sunday, February 22, 2015," read a presidential statement. The curfew was initially imposed on August 20 and was observed from 9 p.m. (2100 GMT) to 6 a.m. (0600 GMT), but was later changed to start at midnight. In another sign that life is returning to normal, the West African country’s schools began to reopen this week.Liberia was at one point the epicenter of the Ebola epidemic that has so far infected more than 23,250 people and claimed the lives of over 9,000 in West Africa.

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Ngwa Bertrand

21.Feb.2015

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A new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) says a rise in unsafe burials in Ebola-stricken Sierra Leone and Guinea has resulted in the spread of the epidemic. In its most recent situation report on the 14-month outbreak late Wednesday, the WHO said there were 39 unsafe burials in Guinea and another 45 cases in Sierra Leone during the week to February 15. Ebola, one of the deadliest viruses known to man, is spread only through direct contact with the body fluids of an infected person and therefore insuring safe burials of the highly infectious bodies of those who die from the virus has been a main concern in encountering the crisis.  

The report also warned that over 40 new cases in both countries have been identified only after infected people had died in their communities and not during treatment at official Ebola facilities. “Not only have these individuals not received potentially life-saving treatment, but other members of the community have been put at greater risk of exposure,” the UN agency indicated in its report. After a rise in Ebola cases affiliated to unsafe burials and patients being hidden from authorities, health workers in Sierra Leon started a new round of door-to-door search on Wednesday deep into remote parts of Ebola-hit Port Loko district, the fourth most populous district in the country.

“Teams of health workers backed by security personnel are trekking into outlying areas and knocking on doors of houses ... to check whether people are telling us the truth about not hiding sick people,” said Morlai Dumbuya, a coordinator of the operation. The WHO report further said, as of mid-February, 23,253 people in the world have been infected with Ebola and the epidemic has claimed 9,380 lives, mostly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Guinea and Sierra Leone reported 52 and 74 new Ebola cases respectively in the week leading up to February 15. The numbers in both countries show a small decrease from the previous week. The WHO report also added that as of February 15, a total of 833 health workers have been infected with the deadly virus and 488 of them have died.

 

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Ngwa Bertrand

20.Feb.2015

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A radical new type of vaccine has shown positive results during tests on HIV-positive patients, bolstering hopes of fully protecting humans from AIDS in the future, researchers say. A new type of molecule, used in the vaccine, was engineered by scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in California, which they claim blocks the HIV virus from attaching to cells, the Independent reported on Wednesday. Usually HIV vaccination works by provoking a response in the immune system, but the new vaccine has a different approach.During experiments initially reported in the journal Nature, the researchers discovered that four monkeys injected with the vaccine, which works by altering DNA, were protected for at least 34 weeks from all types of HIV.

Even though the new vaccine still requires human testing, experts have said it represents an “exciting” development in the fight against AIDS. “We are closer than any other approach to universal protection, but we still have hurdles, primarily with safety for giving it to many, many people,” said lead researcher Professor Michael Farzan. The researchers said they hoped to proceed to human testing within the year. The search for a HIV vaccine has been going for over 30 years with only limited success. Scientists’ attempts to develop a significant protective therapy have been thwarted due to the ever-evolving nature of the virus.

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Ngwa Bertrand

19.Feb.2015

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Some 3,600 children have been orphaned due to the Ebola outbreak in the West African countries affected by the epidemic, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says. UNICEF said on Friday that the number covers those who have lost both their parents in the hardest-hit countries – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The Ebola outbreak that began in December last year has left almost 9,000 children with just a single parent and caused a further 3,800 to lose their main carer, UNICEF added.

The agency also confirmed an earlier estimate that put the overall number of children who have lost at least one parent or main caregiver to the deadly epidemic at 16,600 in West Africa by mid-January. "Since overcoming their initial fears and misconceptions about Ebola, families have been showing incredible support, providing care and protection for children whose parents have died," said Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF's regional director for West and Central Africa.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently warned of an increase in the cases of new Ebola infections in West Africa during the last week of January. According to latest WHO figures, 22,525 people have now been affected by the disease, with deaths reaching 9,004.Ebola is a form of hemorrhagic fever, whose symptoms are diarrhea, vomiting, and bleeding. The virus spreads through direct contact with infected blood, feces, or sweat. It can also be spread through sexual contact or the unprotected handling of contaminated corpses.

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Ngwa Bertrand

07.Feb.2015

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