Re: Liberia - Ebola: 14 suspect/confirmed cases, 7 deaths as of April 3, 2014
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.
...
continues at
http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefwe...beria SitRep #10 Ebola Fever 4 April 2014.pdf
