Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2016/02/news-scan-feb-03-2016
News Scan for Feb 03, 2016
Saudi MERS case; Sierra Leone Ebola update; WHO crisis response critique
Filed Under:
MERS-CoV; Ebola; Public Health
[h=3]Saudi Arabia confirms MERS case in man who had camel contact[/h] Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) today reported a new MERS-CoV infection in a man who had contact with camels, the second case in 3 days, and agriculture officials said 85% of camels recently tested at a market in Jeddah harbored the virus.
The new case of MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) infection involves a 78-year-old Saudi man in Taif in southwestern Saudi Arabia, the MOH reported. He is hospitalized in stable condition and is not a healthcare worker. The agency said he had contact with camels, a known risk factor.
The country's previous case was in a 43-year-old man in Riyadh whose probable cause of infection was still being investigated when his case was confirmed on Feb 1. Today's case brings the country's MERS total to 1,290, of which 551 proved fatal, the MOH said. Six patients are still being treated.
The animal testing, meanwhile, involved 112 camels at the Al-Inam Central Market in Jeddah, Arab News reported today. Of 112 camels tested in an Agriculture Ministry study, 85% were found to carry MERS-CoV. Undersecretary for animal resources Habed bin Abdulaziz Al-Batshaan said preventive measures must continue to be taken by camel dealers, with mandatory use of masks and gloves.
Feb 3 MOH update
Feb 1 CIDRAP News scan on previous case
Feb 3 Arab News story
[h=3]Search continues for some high-risk Ebola contacts in Sierra Leone[/h] In the wake of two Ebola cases reported from Sierra Leone's Tonkolili district last month, which ended its Ebola-free status, 112 contacts are still under monitoring, with most completing the process today, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today in its regular update on West Africa's Ebola outbreak.
Four close contacts who lived with the most recent case-patient when she fell ill, though, will be monitored until Feb 11.
Efforts are still under way to locate 48 of the contacts, all believed to be in Kambia. The WHO said 18 of them are high-risk contacts, and efforts to locate all of the missing ones will continue for 21 more days.
The most recent case-patient in the two-person family cluster is still being treated in an Ebola treatment center in Freetown. She is the aunt of the index case, a 22-year-old woman whose illness wasn't detected until after she died.
Feb 3 WHO Ebola update
[h=3]International group dissects WHO failings, offers reform steps[/h] In the latest salvo directed against the WHO's ability to respond well to global health crises after the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, an international group of leading public health experts last week in BMJ spelled out the organization's shortcomings and listed six broad areas for reform.
The group lays out six examples of what is wrong with the WHO, based on failed response to not only the 2014-15 Ebola epidemic but also eight other emergencies, from African unrest in 2005 and 2006 to the Syrian refugee crisis of recent years:
Jan 28 BMJ commentary
News Scan for Feb 03, 2016
Saudi MERS case; Sierra Leone Ebola update; WHO crisis response critique
Filed Under:
MERS-CoV; Ebola; Public Health
[h=3]Saudi Arabia confirms MERS case in man who had camel contact[/h] Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) today reported a new MERS-CoV infection in a man who had contact with camels, the second case in 3 days, and agriculture officials said 85% of camels recently tested at a market in Jeddah harbored the virus.
The new case of MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) infection involves a 78-year-old Saudi man in Taif in southwestern Saudi Arabia, the MOH reported. He is hospitalized in stable condition and is not a healthcare worker. The agency said he had contact with camels, a known risk factor.
The country's previous case was in a 43-year-old man in Riyadh whose probable cause of infection was still being investigated when his case was confirmed on Feb 1. Today's case brings the country's MERS total to 1,290, of which 551 proved fatal, the MOH said. Six patients are still being treated.
The animal testing, meanwhile, involved 112 camels at the Al-Inam Central Market in Jeddah, Arab News reported today. Of 112 camels tested in an Agriculture Ministry study, 85% were found to carry MERS-CoV. Undersecretary for animal resources Habed bin Abdulaziz Al-Batshaan said preventive measures must continue to be taken by camel dealers, with mandatory use of masks and gloves.
Feb 3 MOH update
Feb 1 CIDRAP News scan on previous case
Feb 3 Arab News story
[h=3]Search continues for some high-risk Ebola contacts in Sierra Leone[/h] In the wake of two Ebola cases reported from Sierra Leone's Tonkolili district last month, which ended its Ebola-free status, 112 contacts are still under monitoring, with most completing the process today, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today in its regular update on West Africa's Ebola outbreak.
Four close contacts who lived with the most recent case-patient when she fell ill, though, will be monitored until Feb 11.
Efforts are still under way to locate 48 of the contacts, all believed to be in Kambia. The WHO said 18 of them are high-risk contacts, and efforts to locate all of the missing ones will continue for 21 more days.
The most recent case-patient in the two-person family cluster is still being treated in an Ebola treatment center in Freetown. She is the aunt of the index case, a 22-year-old woman whose illness wasn't detected until after she died.
Feb 3 WHO Ebola update
[h=3]International group dissects WHO failings, offers reform steps[/h] In the latest salvo directed against the WHO's ability to respond well to global health crises after the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, an international group of leading public health experts last week in BMJ spelled out the organization's shortcomings and listed six broad areas for reform.
The group lays out six examples of what is wrong with the WHO, based on failed response to not only the 2014-15 Ebola epidemic but also eight other emergencies, from African unrest in 2005 and 2006 to the Syrian refugee crisis of recent years:
- Prioritizing political over technical considerations
- Failing to promote based on merit, and failing to emphasize crisis response competencies
- Being aloof from non-government groups
- Lacking internal and external accountability
- Undertaking restructure and reform with no observable leap in performance
- Not having sufficient flexible funding for crisis functions
Jan 28 BMJ commentary