Woman dies of Ebola as new Liberia cases emerge

[tetano]

A woman in Liberia has died of Ebola just three months after the West African nation was declared free of the virus.
The unidentified 30-year-old victim had become unwell and was taken to a clinic in Paynesville, east of the capital Monrovia.
She was later moved to a hospital in the city and died on Thursday.
It is the first new case in Liberia since January when the epidemic was declared over after 42 days without a new case, and a month after the last two Ebola patients left hospital.
Forty-two days represents twice the length of the incubation period - the time between catching Ebola and getting its symptoms.

http://news.sky.com/story/1671134/woman-dies-of-ebola-as-new-liberia-case-emerges

[Pathfinder]

Life | Fri Apr 1, 2016 10:54am EDT Related: WORLD, HEALTH, AFRICA

Liberia suffers new Ebola death, months after outbreak declared over

MONROVIA | BY ALPHONSO TOWEH

A woman has died of Ebola in Liberia, months after the West African nation was declared free of the virus and weeks after neighboring Guinea also recorded a new flare-up, health officials said on Friday.

The 30-year-old woman was being brought to a hospital in the capital Monrovia on Thursday after falling ill, but died before she arrived, separate statements from Liberia's health ministry and the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

A health official said that she had previously been admitted to a clinic in Paynesville, just east of Monrovia.

"Her blood specimens were taken and tested positive of Ebola. Investigations are ongoing to identify the source of transmission and the line-listing of contacts," the health ministry statement said.
...

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-ebola-liberia-idUSKCN0WY4I3

[tetano]

Liberia confirms 2nd new Ebola case, possibly from Guinea

MONROVIA, Liberia ? A second case of Ebola has been confirmed in Liberia months after the country had been declared free from transmissions, health officials said Sunday.
The 5-year-old son of the 30-year-old woman who died Thursday from Ebola has been taken to a treatment center in Monrovia, said Deputy Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah. Authorities are now checking everyone the woman was in contact with and 10 health care workers from the hospital where the woman died are under observation.
There are strong indications the woman came from Guinea when the border was closed, Nyenswah said. The woman, who died on arrival at a hospital Thursday, travelled with three of her children.
?We are investigating in both Guinea and Liberia how she entered,? he said. ?But knowing the porous border we are not surprised; she entered Liberia before getting sick or manifesting signs and symptoms.?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/once-ebola-free-liberia-confirms-2nd-case/2016/04/03/0f54784e-f986-11e5-813a-90ab563f0dde_story.html

[Pathfinder]

Liberia and Guinea step up coordination to stem new cases of Ebola

Update from the field
7 April 2016

WHO and Ministry of Health teams in Guinea and Liberia have established epidemiological links between new Ebola cases in Liberia and a current flare-up of Ebola in neighbouring Guinea following intensified case investigations and contact tracing.

Door-to-door health monitoring visits are conducted in Koropara, Guinea
WHO Guinea/Lancei Tour?

Investigation teams in Guinea had been searching for the wife and three young children of a man who died of Ebola last month in the southern prefecture of Macenta. The family members were considered high-risk contacts. It is now believed that the wife travelled to Liberia with her children after her husband’s death to join relatives who live in the capital, Monrovia. It is there that she reportedly developed symptoms. She initially sought care in local clinics and died en route to a Monrovia hospital on 31 March. Two of her sons, a five-year old and a two-year old, have since tested positive for Ebola and are being treated at an Ebola care facility in Monrovia.

Rapid response in Liberia

Liberian health authorities immediately reactivated the country’s emergency response mechanisms, and with support from WHO, CDC and other partners, set to work identifying, isolating and monitoring contacts of the confirmed cases, strengthening infection prevention and disease control measures and stepping up community outreach.

More than 100 contacts of the confirmed cases have been identified in Liberia and placed under voluntary medical observation. Affected households have been offered food, water, hygiene supplies and counselling. Preparations are underway for vaccination of contacts with the Ebola vaccine to prevent potential spread of the virus.

Liberian and Guinean authorities, with support from WHO, are organizing a meeting in the coming days to share information and more closely coordinate emergency response efforts and cross-border surveillance.

• Emergency response to Ebola flare underway in Liberia. Case investigation widens to Guinea

Vaccination of Ebola contacts in Guinea

A large-scale government-led response continues in Guinea’s prefectures of Nz?r?kor? and Macenta, where there have been 9 Ebola cases since the flare-up began in late February. Eight people have died and one 11-year old child remains in treatment in an Ebola care centre.
To date, over 1,400 people who may have been in contact with the confirmed cases and contacts of theirs have been vaccinated with the Ebola vaccine.

• WHO coordinating vaccination of contacts to contain Ebola flare-up in Guinea

Ebola flare-ups anticipated

Tests from blood samples of the confirmed cases indicate the source of the virus is from a single and known transmission chain – suggesting exposure to infected body fluids from a survivor – rather than a re-introduction of Ebola virus from the wild animal population.
WHO has stressed that flare-ups of Ebola like this one are likely to occur for some time, due to virus persistence in some survivors. WHO says Ebola-affected countries must remain ready to respond and maintain strong prevention, surveillance and survivor care programmes.

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/liberia-guinea-flareups-update/en/