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Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Ebola notes by WHO Spokesperson


Report
from World Health Organization
Published on 24 Jun 2014
As of 23 June, In total 599 cases of Ebola virus disease and 369 deaths have been reported across the three countries( Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone).
Guinea: 390 cases of Ebola virus disease and 270 deaths
Liberia: 51 cases of Ebola virus disease and 33 deaths
Sierra Leone: 158 cases of Ebola virus disease and 66 deaths .
New development:
  • WHO and its partners continue to provide the necessary technical expertise to the Ministries of Health to stop community and health facility transmission of the virus.
  • This includes, among others, a high-level advocacy meeting with the governments of the three affected countries to enhance coordination, information management, and communication. The WHO Regional Director, in consultation with the Director General, has established a temporary function of WHO sub-regional EVD outbreak response Coordinator to directly support the affected countries. The Coordinator will be based in Conakry, Guinea.
  • In addition, WHO is planning a high-level meeting for the Ministers of Health in the sub-region to be held 2–3 July in Accra, Ghana, with the objective of ensuring increased political commitment and cross-border collaboration for EVD response activities among the countries in the sub-region.
  • WHO, GOARN, and other partners are also closely supporting the Ministries of Health in deploying additional experts in the various specialities (epidemiology, social mobilization, case management, data management, and logistics, among others) to support the EVD outbreak response efforts.
Ebola out of control?
MSF and WHO work hand in hand to contain the outbreak , including in isolation wards. We share their concerns and frustrations. Much work has been done by the countries themselves, international partners ( including WHO and MSF) to contain it and much still needs to be done.
WHO is concerned as the outbreak continues to spread. Population movement across borders increase the potential for rapid spread of Ebola to new areas, there is a need for international coordination and collaboration.
More than 100 public health experts are working with WHO and its Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) partners, assisting ministries of health and other partners in the 3 countries. This work includes supporting clinical management of patients, contact tracing, disease surveillance, laboratory work, logistics, as well as communications ( including social mobilisation) and sharing of information to help people protect themselves from the disease.
This is a complex outbreak involving multiple locations in 3 countries with a lot of cross-border movement among the communities. The large number of cases in a large city such as Conakry, and the new cases near Monrovia, makes this one of the most challenging Ebola outbreaks ever.

The Ebola outbreak is not over. New cases appear daily in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
WHO is working with a range of partners to contain the outbreak. The outbreak will be considered over in a country after 42 days (2 incubation periods) have passed without a confirmed case (precisely, 42 days since that last confirmed case is placed in isolation – so that s/he cannot infect others).
In addition to caring for current patients, new infections must be prevented in order to contain the outbreak. Raising awareness of the risk factors for infection and the protective measures that should be taken is the only way to stop transmission and subsequent deaths. Close unprotected physical contact with Ebola patients should be avoided, and those who have died from the disease should be promptly and safely buried.
This is the first time an Ebola outbreak has spread across borders to 3 countries making it the largest geographical spread of Ebola and the deadliest outbreak with 599 cases, including 369 deaths as of June 23. The previous largest outbreak occurred in Gulu, Uganda in 2000 with a total of 425 cases, including 224 deaths. So far, this is not the longest running Ebola outbreak.,.. http://reliefweb.int/report/guinea/ebola-notes-who-spokesperson