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Re: Liberia - Media reports of Possible Ebola cases - 2 cases confirmed
from a 5 page story on restrictions....Border will remain opened The Ministry continues to shoot down any suggestion that Liberia's border with neighboring Guinea should be closed despite other countries move to do so like the recent closure of the Senegalese border with Guinea. "WHO does not permit for us to close the country, the international health regulations are made by the countries, by the Ministers that meet in Geneva every year, they are the ones that put the law and say don't close the country when you have a situation like this; but we put people in a special place and prevent them from leaving from there so that they do not contaminate other people," said Dr. Gwenigale. The government will need US$1.2 Million, as confirmed by Dr. Dahn: "For now it will require US$ 1.2 M for the intervention. We are looking at the different categories of intervention, education, which is the health promotion component, the case management, th... http://allafrica.com/stories/201404010982.html?page=5
Re: Liberia - Ebola: 7 suspect/confirmed cases, 4 deaths as of April 2, 2014
h/t Crof & Reliefweb
UNICEF-Liberia
Ebola Outbreak: SitRep #8
2 April 2014
Key Points
• The total number of suspected and confirmed Ebola cases reported in Liberia has risen to 14, and related
deaths have risen to six1
• The number of confirmed cases still stands at two, including one patient who died last week in Lofa County
and one patient who is in isolation at a hospital in Margibi County
• Samples from the new suspected cases have been taken for testing in Guinea
• A small team from MSF is arriving from Guinea today to discuss extending MSF support to Liberia with
funding from ECHO, which has committed 800,000 EURO to the response in the sub-region
• A small team of experts from the United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) will arrive in the coming
days to provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MoHSW)
• UNICEF’s Deputy Representative held separate meetings with the Minister of Health and an ECHO
representative to discuss past, present and future collaboration to control the outbreak
• UNICEF C4D materials are now in circulation in Lofa, Margibi and Montserrado Counties, and are being
utilized by County Health Teams, workers and volunteers, as well as key partner organizations
Situation Overview
At the daily meeting of the National Task Force (NTF) on Health Emergencies, relevant staff from the MoHSW
and key partners provided the following updates:
SURVEILLANCE, VERIFICATION AND CASE MANAGEMENT:
• The number of suspected and confirmed Ebola cases reported in Liberia has risen to 14, while related
deaths have risen to six. The new cases include the following:2
o A woman in Foya, Lofa County (deceased)3
o A hunter treated at a hospital in Tappita, Nimba County (deceased)
o Four patients at Phebe Hospital in Bong County (under observation, may have Lassa fever, patients
include one nine-year-old child)
o A patient in Saclepea, Nimba County4
• Counties of high concern for Ebola now include Lofa, Bong, Nimba, Margibi and Montserrado.
• The woman who tested positive for Ebola in Foya, Lofa County, before travelling to Margibi County on
Monday (31 March) is in a newly established isolation unit at Firestone Duside Hospital, Margibi County.
Her two children and husband are under quarantine for a period of 21 days in a housing unit not far from
the hospital; samples have been taken from each of them for testing; and county health authorities have
sensitized the family and as well as the community to the importance of the quarantine.
• The taxi driver who transported the woman remains under surveillance and a sample has been taken from
him for testing. A MoHSW surveillance officer is also tracking a second taxi driver and a motorbike rider
who both transported the infected woman after she arrived in the Montserrado/Margibi area.
• A small team from MSF will land at Roberts International Airport (RIA) in Margibi County this afternoon to
discuss extending MSF support in case management to the MoHSW. Meanwhile, MSF has facilitated the
establishment of a second Institut Pasteur lab in Guékédou, Guinea, to complement the existing lab in
Conakry. A number of new samples from Liberia are being sent to these labs for testing.
1 These figures were as of 8 AM on 2 April.
2 Again, these figures are as of 8 AM on 2 April.
3 Like the confirmed Ebola patient under treatment at Firestone Duside Hospital in Margibi County, this woman reportedly
had contact with the woman who tested positive for Ebola before succumbing to the disease last week.
4This patient reportedly came from Guinea.
...
Re: Liberia - Ebola: 14 suspect/confirmed cases, 6 deaths as of April 2, 2014
13 Nurses quarantined in Lofa
Thursday, 03 April 2014 00:14 Edwin G. Genoway, Jr.
At least about thirteen nurses at the Foyah Borma Hospital in Foyah District and Telewoyon Hospital, Vionjama, all in Lofa County have been quarantined.
The nurses, one of which is said to be showing symptom of the deadly Ebola virus that have spread across from neighboring Guinea here, all at one point came in contact with the two sisters, one already deceased, at the two hospitals.
The nurse whose symptom has become very visible is said to be isolated from the rest who are closely being monitored, sources at the two hospitals told this paper Tuesday.
The two sisters, one of whom had returned from Guinea to Foyah, a district in the northern Liberian town of Lofa and the other already quarantined at the Firestone Hospital were the only known officially reported Ebola cases here so far.
The affected nurses were involved in the treatment of the sisters. Liberia?s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Bernice Dahn is reported to have confirmed the confinement of the nurses in Lofa in an interview on a local FM station Wednesday. The confinement of the 13 nurses which has sparked fears amongst other health workers in Lofa comes amidst the arrival of personal suit for health workers on Wednesday.
The suits which were brought in from Guinea as an emergency package with experts from the French MSF based in Guinea, is ahead of a special flight expected here today with huge consignments of personal body suits for health workers.
Health officials told this paper Wednesday night that the special flights has on it two officials from the US Center for Disease Control or CDC to help monitor and track the virus. The two CDC officials will be embedded at the Ministry of Health.
The arrival of the additional health workers and equipment to help in combating the virus has witnessed a concerted effort and collaboration between the agencies of government so far, at least as far as immediate tax waivers and the issuance of visas for the experts are concerned.
Meanwhile, it is also being reported that health workers from the Kolahun Hospital in Kolahun District, Foyah Borma Hospital in Foyah and the Telewoyon Hospital in Voinjama are refusing to touch patients that are reporting with fever, diarrheal and body ache, fearing that they might be Ebola affected patients.
Nurses and other health workers in the county are calling on government to provide protective materials to prevent them (nurses) from directly coming in contact with the virus. It is also reported that residents of Lofa and Nimba Counties are now taking preventive measures to avoid contracting the virus.
Residents of Foyah are said to be preventing their relatives and children from going to Guinea where the virus originated. Citizens are also said to be restricting their hospitality toward people. The Government of Liberia on Monday announced a number of measures to curtail the spread of the deadly Ebola virus outlining several preventive measures, a day after it confirmed the first two cases of the virus here.
Among the preventive measures are avoiding direct contacts with body fluids of infected persons, which include having sex with suspected persons, not eating dead bush animals and being very careful in handling fresh bush meat. Others include avoiding bathing dead bodies of suspected patients, eating plums/mangoes and other fruits partially eaten by bats, avoid eating monkeys, bats, and bamboos.
?The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare wishes to confirm that two out of the seven samples sent for laboratory analysis of the Ebola Virus in Liberia are positive, indicating that Liberia now has an outbreak of the virus,? the ministry said in a statement issued Monday.
As part of the measures health officials here established hotlines for the public to call and get basic information about the disease. The hotline numbers are 0770198517, 0777549805, 0886530260, and 0886549805.http://www.thenewdawnliberia.com/ind...alth&Itemid=60
Re: Liberia - Ebola: 14 suspect/confirmed cases, 6 deaths as of April 2, 2014
Liberia reports suspected Ebola outbreak unconnected to Guinea
Liberia said on Thursday it was dealing with its first suspected Ebola case thought to be unconnected to the epidemic raging in Guinea and to have originated separately within its borders.
MONROVIA: Liberia said on Thursday it was dealing with its first suspected Ebola case thought to be unconnected to the epidemic raging in Guinea and to have originated separately within its borders.
If confirmed, the case in the eastern town of Tapeta would mark a worrying development in the fight against Ebola, as cases so far have been attributed to people returning with the infection from neighbouring Guinea, where 84 people have died. "We have a case in Tapeta where a hunter who has not had any contact with anyone coming from Guinea got sick," chief medical officer Bernice Dahn said.
"He was rushed to the hospital and died 30 minutes later. He never had any interaction with someone suspected to be a carrier of the virus and he has never gone to Guinea. This an a isolated case."
The fruit bat, thought to be the host of the highly contagious Ebola virus, is a delicacy in the region straddling Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and experts suspect huntsmen may be the source of the outbreak. Tapeta, a small town in the eastern county of Nimba, is 400 kilometres (250 miles) from the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak in southern Guinea, at least a five-hour drive and much further from the border than other suspected cases. "The huntsman has 500 traps in the forest. He felt sick in the forest and was rushed to the hospital," Dahn told AFP, adding that seven new patients brought the total suspected Ebola cases in Liberia to 14.
The tropical virus leads to haemorrhagic fever, and which causes muscle pain, weakness, vomiting, diarrhoea and in severe cases, organ failure and unstoppable bleeding.
Six people have died, she said, since Liberia reported its first cases of haemorrhagic fever last month, raising the previous toll by two.
Of the deaths, two are laboratory-confirmed Ebola cases -- a woman who died in hospital in the northern county of Lofa, and her sister who visited her.
The sister was allowed to return home to Monrovia before being hospitalised in the nearby Firestone Hospital, and the authorities had isolated and were monitoring her, her family and others with whom she may have had contact. "I have just received a call that the lady who was at Firestone Hospital after being confirmed Ebola virus positive died this morning," Dahn said.
The tropical virus can be transmitted to humans from wild animals, and between humans through direct contact with another's blood, faeces or sweat. Sexual contact, or the unprotected handling of contaminated corpses, can also lead to infection.
No treatment or vaccine is available, and the World Health Organization said on Wednesday the fatality rate in Guinea so far stands at 65 percent, with the virus mainly hitting adults aged 15 to 59. "We are now keeping surveillance on 44 people who have been in contact with the cases reported," Dahn said.http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...d/1057930.html
Re: Liberia - Ebola: 14 suspect/confirmed cases, 6 deaths as of April 2, 2014
Liberia has reported its first suspected case of Ebola originating from within the country rather than in Guinea
...If confirmed, the case in the eastern town of Tapeta would mark a worrying development in the fight against Ebola, as cases so far have been attributed to people returning with the infection from neighbouring Guinea, where 84 people have died.
"We have a case in Tapeta where a hunter who has not had any contact with anyone coming from Guinea got sick," chief medical officer Bernice Dahn said.
"He was rushed to the hospital and died 30 minutes later. He never had any interaction with someone suspected to be a carrier of the virus and he has never gone to Guinea. This an a isolated case."...http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2...ing-ebola-case
The New Dawn (Monrovia)
Liberia: Ebola Strikes Seven - Health Minister
By Lewis S. Teh, 4 April 2014
The Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Walter T. Gwenigale has disclosed that the deadly Ebola virus has killed seven persons in the country so far. Minister Gwenigale told journalist at the Ministry of Information during its regular press briefing Thursday the first suspected case of the woman who left her family in Firestone to cater to her sick sister in Foya District, Lofa County was also reported dead Wednesday night.
He said 42 cases are being monitored by authority of the ministry, including the death of a hunter in Grand Gedeh County. He also noted that in order to stop the spread of the virus, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has proposed to the Legislature US$1.2m to fight the deadly Ebola virus, as well as help to facilitate the efforts of health workers deployed in every part of the country...
Re: Liberia - Ebola: 14 suspect/confirmed cases, 7 deaths as of April 3, 2014
UNICEF-Liberia
Ebola Outbreak: SitRep #10
4 April 2014
Key Points
Four new suspected Ebola cases and one new Ebola-related death were confirmed by the Ministry of
Health and Social Welfare (MoHSW).
The total number of suspected cases now stands at 18, including seven related deaths
Lofa, Bong, Nimba, Margibi and Montserrado remain the main counties of concern.
The MoHSW has updated its original US$ 1.2 million emergency response budget reflecting
contributions made by various partners to date.
The MoHSW has established a Situation Room to improve its coordination and monitoring efforts and
is seeking to improve communication between Monrovia and the counties.
An expert from the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) arrived in Liberia today.
Together with the MoHSW and other partners, UNICEF has ramped up its Communications for
Development (C4D) initiatives.
Nonetheless, UNICEF continues to face funding gaps for its response efforts in the areas of C4D and
WASH, though DfID has permitted reprogramming of up to US$ 25,000 toward the WASH efforts.
Situation Overview
At the daily meeting of the National Task Force (NTF) on Health Emergencies, relevant staff from the
MoHSW and key partners provided the following updates:
SURVEILLANCE, VERIFICATION AND CASE MANAGEMENT:
The MoHSW confirmed four new suspected cases of Ebola and one additional Ebola-related death.
This brings the total number of suspected cases up to 18 and the related deaths up to seven. Total
confirmed Ebola cases remains stable at two, though additional samples have been sent to the
Bernhard-Nocht Institut of Tropical Medicine laboratory in Gu?k?dou, Guinea.
1
The one additional death reflects that of the woman who tested positive for the Ebola virus, and who
travelled from Lofa County to Margibi County, via Montserrado County, earlier this week. The woman
was being treated at the recently established isolation unit of Duside Hospital at Firestone Rubber
Plantation. It will be recalled that this woman contracted Ebola in Lofa County from her sister, who also
tested positive for the virus and died from the disease.
The Ebola Emergency Coordinator for MSF in Guinea assisted in the burial of the woman at Duside
Hospital to ensure proper procedures were followed.
The four new cases include the following:
o A health worker who treated the original woman who tested positive for Ebola before passing away
in Foya, Lofa County.
o The one-year-old son of the woman who recently died at Duside Hospital in Margibi County.
o The motorbike rider who transported the woman who died at Duside Hospital from her home in
Margibi County to the hospital. The location of the motorbike rider was unknown at the time of the
meeting, classifying him as a runaway.
o A three-year-old boy hospitalized in Sanniquellie, Nimba County, who reportedly recently travelled
to Liberia from Guinea. Note that as of now, the child is only presenting with fever, indicating may
not have Ebola.
A total of 21 specimens have been collected for testing to date. Several of these specimens are en
route to Guinea for testing.
o The Ebola Emergency Coordinator for MSF in Guinea is departing for Guinea today. While on the
ground, the representative assisted in a training of 60 health workers from Nimba, Bong and
Margibi Counties in Kakata, Margibi County and visited the Duside Hospital at Firestone Rubber
Plantationt and made suggestions for improvement of its isolation unit.
o Oversaw the burial of the additional Ebola-related death at Duside Hospital.
o Distributed one Ebola kit for use by the MoHSW and partners in managing an isolation unit.
With the support of ECHO, MSF reiterated its plan to dispatch additional experts as well as Ebola kits
from Europe, with the kits likely to arrive on Sunday.
1
According to an MSF press release dated 3 April, the two laboratories in Guinea are run by two different
institutions: the one in Conakry is run by Institut Pasteur, while the one in Gu?k?dou is run by the Bernhard-Nocht
Institut of Tropical Medicine.
Re: Liberia - Ebola: 18 suspect/confirmed cases, 7 deaths as of April 4, 2014
Legislature Bans Hunting, For Now?
Sat, 04/05/2014 - 10:15 admin
-Calls for Early Easter Break for All Schools; Houses to Close on Tuesday
By:
J. Burgess Carter (With an assist from Keith Neville A. Best)
Days following the unanimous vote by Senators to call on President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to declare a state of emergency and close borders with neighboring countries, the House and Senate appear to have settled on another means of containing the deadly Ebola virus at a local level.
An authoritative source within the leadership of the two Houses told our legislative reporter Thursday, April 3, that after almost two hours of joint leadership discussion, the two houses agreed that a moratorium be placed on all hunting activities until the country is free of the Ebola virus.
Among other decisions taken by the Legislators during a closed-door meeting, was one that could bid (ask) school authorities declare an early Easter break for all schools in the country---a decision, apparently prompted by steps some families have already begun taking. Such a measure is considered questionable (problematic, doubtful) by some; ?a rather alarmist (panicky, historical) way of trying to keep children out of harm?s way,? they volunteered.
...
Ebola Claims Another Victim
Sat, 04/05/2014 - 11:24 admin
-As Experts Arrive in the Country to Help Battle the Plague
By:
William Q. Harmon
The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MoH&SW) has disclosed that the remaining sister who provided one of the two blood samples that were tested positive out of seven sent to Lyon, France for laboratory testing, has died.
On Sunday, March 30, Health and Social Welfare Minister, Dr. (MD) Walter Traub Gwenigale told the Daily Observer the Ebola virus was in the country and had claimed a life, which was the sister of the lady, who passed late Wednesday evening.
...
He said another 25-year-old young man, who was suspected of contracting the virus has also died in Tappita, Nimba County, though he said that health practitioners are still investigating his death to ascertain the truth as to if it is Ebola related.
?Also under investigation is the death of a Bassa man in Grand Gedeh, who was suspected of having the virus. We have to take this thing very seriously. It saddens me that people are saying that we are only looking for money to enrich ourselves,? he lamented.
...
The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) of Liberia has reported 18 suspected and 2 confirmed cases of EBV, including 7 deaths, since 24 March (CFR 31%); 7 patients are currently in an isolation unit while 2 suspected cases have been discharged.
Four new clinically compatible cases were reported on 4 April.
One of the suspected cases is in a health care worker.
Both of the laboratory confirmed cases, sisters from Lofa County, have died.
The suspected cases include a hunter treated at a hospital in Tapita, Nimba County, who died shortly after presenting to the health facility and a 3 year old boy with a clinically compatible illness who had travelled from Guinea.
The deceased hunter gave no history of contact with known cases in Liberia or Guinea and his exposure is being investigated to exclude transmission from an animal source (bush meat).
The laboratory results for both of these suspected cases are pending.
The MOHSW has placed 46 contacts under medical observation, including those of the second confirmed case who travelled from Foyah, Lofa Country, to Monrovia, Montserrado Country, and then to Firestone in Margibi County.
A total of 21 clinical samples have been sent to Conakry, Guinea, for laboratory testing. Counties of concern for EVD in Liberia include Lofa, Bong, Nimba, Margibi and Montserrado.
In response, Liberia has been scaling up activities to prevent the further spread of EVD. The National Task Force is conducting daily coordination meetings with response partners.
WHO continues to provide technical expertise to the MOHSW, including public communications, providing a high level briefing on EVD prevention and control to the joint session of both houses of parliament and mobilising experts in epidemiology and infection prevention and control.
The WHO Country Office in Liberia is working closely with the MOHSW to carry out needs assessments in areas such as procurement and the supply chain for critical materials and equipment need in the response to the outbreak.
WHO is also working with the health information systems team at the MOHSW to further develop templates for case-based data collection and to track technical assistance.
Additional deployments of regional experts, and partners in GOARN, are planned to support coordination activities, infection prevention and control, risk communications and social mobilisation.
At the request of the MOHSW and WHO, the Metabiota Laboratory in Kenema, Sierra Leone, will install Real-Time Zaire ebolavirus-specific PCR, a pan-filo PCR, Lassa virus PCR, yellow fever and Marburg virus PCRs among other assays. This technology is being transferred from its laboratory in Kenema, Sierra Leone. Metabiota will also provide training to laboratory staff in Liberia.
Medical supplies and equipment have been provided by WHO, UNHCR, MSF, Save the Children and other partners, including personal protective equipment for health care facilities.
Seven isolation units have been established in 5 counties.
M?decins Sans Fronti?res (MSF) is conducting training for health care workers in the affected counties on case management, including on setting up isolation facilities.
An additional 60 HCWs have been trained in Margibi County. Community education and social mobilisation activities have been strongly supported by the media and telecommunications sectors in Liberia.
Local government officials, community and religious leaders and traditional healers have been approached to support the MOHSW in prevention and control activities; however, additional resources are needed to expand surveillance and health promotion and social mobilisation activities to schools, religious gatherings, market places and work places. Plans are also underway to mobilise the public through house-to-house visits.
...
Twitter: @RonanKelly13
The views expressed are mine alone and do not represent the views of my employer or any other person or organization.
Re: Liberia - Ebola: 20 suspect/confirmed cases, 7 deaths as of April 4, 2014
EBOLA MANHUNT: BIKER LIKELY CARRYING VIRUS ON THE RUN
Written by FPA Reporter
Published: 07 April 2014
Monrovia ? The motorcyclist who drove the last victim of the deadly Ebola virus in Liberia is reported to be ailing and the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare wants the public help in finding him before he spread it on to others.
Health Minister Dr. Walter Gwenigale made the disclosure last Friday shortly after the World Health Organization (WHO) presented a consignment of protective gears to Liberia to aid health workers in the fight against the killer virus.
?The motorcycle driver who drove that sick woman to firestone and the woman has already died, that motorcycle driver is sick,? the minister said.
...
Additionally, authorities are said to be on the lookout for at least 40 persons who may or may not have crossed path with the deceased woman. Until her death, the woman and her family were being quarantined in their home until they could be moved to an appropriate facility. Although the Health Ministry has been monitoring those who came in contact with the woman, including the taxi driver, the failure of authorities to find the motorcyclist could hamper attempts by health authorities to stop the deadly virus in its tracks.
...
Re: Liberia - Ebola: 20 suspect/confirmed cases, 7 deaths as of April 4, 2014
UNMIL @UNMILNews 3m
If you or someone you know shows #Ebola symptoms call #Liberia Disease Prevention & Control immediately at 0886520581 #AskEbola
UNMIL @UNMILNews 25m
#Liberia's Bureau of Immigration & Naturalization has distributed gloves & masks to all officers on border in response to #Ebola threat.
UNMIL @UNMILNews 3h
LIVE: Tune in now to UNMIL Radio 91.5FM for a special update on #Ebola in #Liberia. Updates will air every Mon-Fri from 12:10pm-12:40pm.
Re: Liberia - Ebola: 20 suspect/confirmed cases, 7 deaths as of April 4, 2014
Ebola virus disease, West Africa (Situation as of 7 April 2014)
...
As of 7 April, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) of Liberia has reported a cumulative total of 5 laboratory confirmed cases and 16 suspected and probable cases of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), including 10 deaths. All 5 laboratory confirmed cases have died. The most recent death is in a probable case of EVD from Montserrado. Three cases have occurred in health care workers, all of whom have died. The date of onset of the most recent confirmed case is 6 April, with 6 patients currently hospitalised. At present 28 contacts remain under medical observation.
...
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