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  • Ebola: Nigeria awaits WHO’s clearance

    Ebola: Nigeria awaits WHO’s clearance

    •Health experts, stakeholders meet in Abuja tomorrow

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) is expected to declare Nigeria free from the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) soon.

    A statement by the Director of Information, Federal Ministry of Heath, Mrs. Ayotunde Adesugba, said WHO would soon make an official statement on the virus.

    Nigeria has controlled the spread of the virus, which was brought into the country by a Liberian-American, the late Mr. Patrick Sawyer, in July. Seven deaths were recorded.

    The statement reads: “It is expected that the World Health Organisation (WHO) will soon declare Nigeria free from EVD.”

    Health experts are expected to meet in Abuja tomorrow on the scourge.

    Minister of Health Prof.  Onyebuchi Chukwu will declare open the meeting under the auspices of the Treatment Research Group (TRG).

    Mrs. Adesugba said the meeting would review the efforts made to control the spread of EVD and the resources used, adding that it would also develop a blueprint for research on Ebola and other diseases.

    She said the meeting would mobilise support among the experts and stakeholders, including the organised private sector.

    On August 4, as part of the national response to the EVD outbreak, Prof. Chukwu inaugurated the TRG, which began work based on its terms of reference.

    Nigeria has been hailed for its response to the EVD. Since August 31, no new case of the virus has been reported. It is, therefore, expected that WHO will soon declare the country EVD-free.

     

  • Ebola: Nigeria awaits WHO’s clearance

    •Health experts meet in Abuja tomorrow

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) is expected to declare Nigeria free from the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) soon.

    A statement by the Director of Information, Federal Ministry of Heath, Mrs. Ayotunde Adesugba, said WHO would soon make an official statement on the virus.

    Nigeria has controlled the spread of the virus, which was brought into the country by a Liberian-American, the late Mr. Patrick Sawyer, in July. Seven deaths were recorded.

    The statement reads: “It is expected that the World Health Organisation (WHO) will soon declare Nigeria free from EVD.”

    Health experts are expected to meet in Abuja tomorrow on the scourge.

    Minister of Health Prof.  Onyebuchi Chukwu will open the meeting under the auspices of the Treatment Research Group (TRG).

    Mrs. Adesugba said the meeting would review the efforts made to control the spread of EVD and the resources used, adding that it would also develop a blueprint for research on Ebola and other diseases.

    She said the meeting would mobilise support among the experts and stakeholders, including the organised private sector.

    On August 4, as part of the national response to the EVD outbreak, Chukwu inaugurated the TRG, which began work based on its terms of reference.

    Nigeria has been hailed for its response to the EVD. Since August 31, no new case of the virus has been reported. It is, therefore, expected that WHO would soon declare the country EVD-free.

  • Nigeria awaits WHO clearance on Ebola

    Nigeria awaits WHO clearance on Ebola

    World Health Organization (WHO) is expected to officially declare the Ebola Virus Disease over in Nigeria.

    According to a statement signed by the Director of Information in the Ministry of Health, Mrs. Ayotunde Adesugba, WHO will soon make official declaration on the virus in the country.

    Nigeria has curbed the virus which was imported into the country by one Liberia-American, Patrick Sawyer, in July. The country recorded seven deaths in the process.

    The statement reads, “It is therefore expected that the World Health Organisation (WHO) will soon officially declare the EVD over in Nigeria.”

    Meanwhile, health expert are expected to gather in Abuja on Thursday for a high level stakeholders’ meeting on EVD in the country.

    The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, will declare open the meeting  arranged under the auspices of the Treatment Research Group (TRG) on the Ebola Virus Disease.

    The meeting, according to Adesugba will review the current national efforts, available resources, and develop a roadmap for research on Ebola and other emerging diseases among Nigerians, both in-country and in the Diaspora.

    The outcome of the meeting will help to galvanize support on a common agenda among experts and stakeholders, including the organized private sector,  that share similar concerns on EVD and other diseases in Sub Saharan Africa and globally.

     

  • Ebola death toll ‘passes 3,000’

    Ebola death toll ‘passes 3,000’

    The death toll from an outbreak of Ebola in West Africa has risen to at least 3,091 out of 6,574 probable, suspected and confirmed cases, the World Health Organisation has said.

    Liberia has recorded 1,830 deaths, around three times as many as in either Guinea or Sierra Leone, the two other most affected countries, according to WHO data received up to September 23.

    Reuters reports that an outbreak that began in a remote corner of Guinea has taken hold of much of neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone, prompting warnings that tens of thousands of people may die from the worst outbreak of the disease on record.

    The WHO update said Liberia had reported six confirmed cases of Ebola and four deaths in the Grand Cru district, which is near the border with Ivory Coast and had not previously recorded any case of Ebola.

    The district of Kindia in Guinea also reported its first confirmed case, the WHO said, a day after it said the spread of Ebola appeared to have stabilised in that country.

    Nigeria and Senegal, the two other nations that have had confirmed cases of Ebola in the region, have not recorded any new cases or deaths in the last few weeks.

  • ‘Ebola could strike 20,000 in six weeks’

    ‘Ebola could strike 20,000 in six weeks’

    The Ebola outbreak in West Africa could infect 20,000 people as early as November unless rigorous infection control measures are implemented, and might “rumble on” for years in a holding pattern, researchers said on Tuesday.

    In an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, experts from the World Health Organization and Imperial College said that infections will continue climbing exponentially unless patients are isolated, contacts traced and communities enlisted.

    The WHO, in an initial roadmap issued on August 28, predicted that the virus could strike 20,000 people within the next nine months.

    The current death toll is at least 2,811 out of 5,864 cases, the United Nations’ agency said.

    The latest study, marking six months from March 23, when the WHO said it was informed of the Ebola outbreak in southeastern Guinea, reflects projections based on the data from a third wave of the virus in Guinea, Sierra Leone and worst-hit Liberia, Reuters reports.

    “With exponential growth, you’ll see that the case numbers per week go up so that by the second of November, over these three countries our best estimate is over 20,000 cases, confirmed and suspected cases, ” Reuters quoted Dr. Christopher Dye, the WHO director of strategy, and co-author of article, as saying at a briefing.

    Nearly 10,000 of those would be in Liberia, 5,000 in Sierra Leone and nearly 6,000 in Guinea, he said. But those numbers would only come about with no enhanced infection control.

  • Nigeria has contained Ebola, says WHO

    Nigeria has contained Ebola, says WHO

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) has hailed Nigeria for containing the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).

    The deadliest Ebola epidemic ever has now killed 2,793 in West Africa, it said yesterday, adding that Senegal too had basically contained it.

    The UN health agency, which also published the results of the latest meeting of its Ebola emergency committee, said 5,762 people had been infected in five West African countries as of September 18.

    Guinea, where the outbreak began at the start of the year, and neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone by far account for most of the cases and continue to see ballooning numbers.

    Liberia has been especially hard-hit, with 3,022 cases and 1,578 deaths alone.

    At the same time, “the outbreaks in Senegal and Nigeria are pretty much contained”,  WHO said in a statement.

    Senegal has not reported any new cases of the deadly virus since it registered its first and only case on August 29 — a Guinean student who has since recovered.

    Nigeria, where 21 people have been infected, eight of whom have died, has not reported new cases since September 8, WHO pointed out

    The incubation period for Ebola is 21 days and double that time must pass without any new cases arising before a country can be deemed transmission-free.

    The WHO said a meeting of its Ebola emergency committee last week had determined that the outbreak remained a “public health emergency of international concern”.

    The committee had reiterated its opposition to general bans on international travel or trade, although people infected with Ebola or who had had contact with Ebola patients should not be permitted to travel, WHO said.

    Blocking flights to or from affected areas and other travel restrictions only serve to “isolate affected countries, resulting in detrimental economic consequences, and hinder relief and response efforts risking further international spread,” it warned.

    The emergency committee also stressed that in cases where measures like quarantines are deemed necessary, countries must ensure that “they are proportionate and evidence-based, and that accurate information, essential services and commodities, including food and water, are provided to the affected populations.”

    It also insisted that “adequate security measures” should be put in place to ensure the safety and protection of healthcare workers, who face high infection rates and sometimes violence from frustrated and frightened populations.

    Last week, eight members of an Ebola education team said to include local health officials and journalists, were found dead after they were attacked by angry locals in southern Guinea.

    The emergency committee urged the affected countries to ramp up their response to the outbreak and called on all countries to strengthen their preparedness through simulations and personnel training.

  • Ebola contained in Senegal, Nigeria – WHO

    Ebola contained in Senegal, Nigeria – WHO

    Two of the five countries affected by the world’s worst ever Ebola outbreak are managing to halt the spread of the disease, the World Health Organization said on Monday, although the overall death toll rose to 2,793 out of 5,762 cases.

    “On the whole, the outbreaks in Senegal and Nigeria are pretty much contained. There were no new deaths in Guinea, four in Sierra Leone and 39 in Liberia,” Reuters quoted WHO as saying in a statement.

    A separate Ebola outbreak has killed 40 people in Democratic Republic of Congo, where there have been 71 cases, the United Nations’ agency added.

  • Killings show mistrust in Ebola fight – WHO

    Killings show mistrust in Ebola fight – WHO

    The killing in Guinea of eight people trying to educate locals about Ebola showed how many rural populations in West Africa mistrust authorities after years of instability and conflict, the World Health Organisation said on Friday.

    Eight bodies were found after an attack on a team visiting remote southeastern Guinea, a government spokesman said on Thursday, showing the dangers faced by health workers fighting the deadly virus that is surrounded by suspicion and stigma.

    Guinea was crippled by decades of corruption and political instability, and the other countries worst hit by the outbreak, Sierra Leone and Liberia, suffered civil wars in the 1990s, Reuters says.

    The legacy of these traumas now poses a risk to health workers battling Ebola, WHO expert Pierre Formenty said.

    “This population in the forested area has really suffered a lot in the last 20 years. They are in a post-conflict behaviour, there is lack of trust obviously between these populations and the different governments for the three countries,” Formenty told a news briefing in Geneva upon return from Liberia.

    Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are reeling from the Ebola epidemic that has killed at least 2,630 since March, including eight in Nigeria, according to WHO figures.

    “We need to continue the combat against Ebola, we need to investigate these murders, but it should not stop us. We should continue the dialogue with the community, we should continue to explain our work, continue to show our empathy with the victims, with the families, with the communities,” Formenty said.

  • Killings in Guinea show mistrust in Africa Ebola fight – WHO

    Killings in Guinea show mistrust in Africa Ebola fight – WHO

    The killing in Guinea of eight people trying to educate locals about Ebola showed how much rural populations in West Africa mistrust authorities after years of instability and conflict, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said yesterday.

    Eight bodies were found after an attack on a team visiting remote southeastern Guinea, a government spokesman said on Thursday, showing the dangers faced by health workers fighting the deadly virus that is surrounded by suspicion and stigma.

    Guinea was crippled by decades of corruption and political instability, and the other countries worst hit by the outbreak, Sierra Leone and Liberia, suffered civil wars in the 1990s. The legacy of these traumas now poses a risk to health workers battling Ebola, WHO expert Pierre Formenty said.

    “This population in the forested area has really suffered a lot in the last 20 years. They are in a post-conflict behaviour, there is lack of trust obviously between these populations and the different governments for the three countries,” Formenty told a news briefing in Geneva upon return from Liberia.

    Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are reeling from the Ebola epidemic that has killed at least 2,630 since March, including eight in Nigeria, according to WHO figures.

    “We need to continue the combat against Ebola, we need to investigate these murders, but it should not stop us. We should continue the dialogue with the community, we should continue to explain our work, continue to show our empathy with the victims, with the families, with the communities,” Formenty said.

    “Without that we will not be able to make our messages understood by the population. And we will not be able to control it (the outbreak),” he said.

    Asked whether the WHO epidemiologists and other aid workers would take extra security measures, he said: “Vis-a-vis the additional precautions, the zero risk does not exist.

    “We have of course security training, a battery of security measures. But things like that can happen.We all know that and we still want to continue to fight and stop this outbreak.”

    The virus is spreading in the Liberian capital Monrovia, where there is a high number of cases and a “vacuum” of authority in many areas of the city of around one million, Formenty said.

    “We are trying to help also some communities who have started to develop home care interventions,” he said

    “Because at the moment the number of beds available in Monrovia are not enough to cope with the number of probable cases that have been detected,” he said.

  • Ebola death toll hits 2,622

    At least 2,622 people have died in the worst outbreak of Ebola virus in history, which has so far infected at least 5,335 people in West Africa, the World Health Organisation said on Thursday.

    In an update on the epidemic, which is raging through Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia and has spread into Nigeria and Senegal, the WHO said there were no signs yet of it slowing.

    “The upward epidemic trend continues in the three countries that have widespread and intense transmission – Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone,” Reuters quoted WHO as saying on Thursday.

    It added that a surge in Ebola in Liberia is being driven primarily by a continued increase in the number of cases reported in the capital, Monrovia.