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AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT CONSIDERS SENDING HEALH WORKERS TO WEST AFRICA; MEANWHILE BANS VISAS FOR VISITORS FROM EBOLA-AFFLICTED COUNTRIES

THE GUARDIAN                                          Oct. 27, 2014

The Australian government is reconsidering its previous decision not to send health workers to West Africa. It seeks reassurances that any stricked Australian health workers can receive treatment in Western facilities.

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) president, Brian Owler, said the UK and US were building “state of the art” treatment centres in west Africa for international healthcare workers and he expected Australia would be able to strike an agreement.

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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/27/australia-seeks-hospital-back-up-volunteers-ebola-hit-countries

MELBOURNE HERALD                                Oct.  27, 2014

Meanwhile Immigration Minister Scott Morrison told Parliament that immigration had been suspended from West African Countries afflicted with Ebola and no new visas were being processed.

AFRICAN COUNTRIES SENDING MORE VOLUNTEERS TO HELP COUNTER WEST AFRICA'S EBOLA OUTBREAK

THE AFRICA REPORT                                             OCT. 24, 2014

In response to an urgent appeal by the African Union for medical staff to avert West Africa's health crisis, Ethiopia has pledged to send 200 volunteer health workers to countries hit by the Ebola outbreak.

DRCongo  and Nigeria have also announced plans to respond to AU's call for member countries to show solidarity in the fight against Ebola.

                                                                                                                         Reuters

Ethiopia also has pledged over $500,000 to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the three affected countries.

Head of African Union commission, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, told journalists in Sierra Leone that   ..."Several African member states have pledged to send in a number of health workers to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, including DR Congo, which will send around 1,000 workers in three groups."

THE ECONOMIST                          Oct. 25, 2014

With at least 4,500 people dead, public-health authorities in west Africa and worldwide are struggling to contain Ebola. Borders have been closed, air passengers screened, schools suspended. But a promising tool for epidemiologists lies unused: mobile cell phone data.

When people make mobile-phone calls, the network generates a call data record (CDR) containing such information as the phone numbers of the caller and receiver, the time of the call and the tower that handled it—which gives a rough indication of the device’s location. This information provides researchers with an insight into mobility patterns...

MALI KEEPS BORDERS OPEN WITH GUINEA AS MAURITANIA CLOSES ITS BORDER WITH MALI

REUTERS                                         OCT. 25, 2014

BAMAKO--Mali will not close its borders with neighbouring Guinea after its first Ebola-related death, president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita says.

A two-year-old girl infected with the disease was brought across the frontier by her grandmother and died in Mali this week.

Mr Keita said that the incident showed it was impossible to completely seal his country off from Ebola but said he remained calm as the girl's journey and potential contacts had already been traced.

It comes as Mauritania has closed its border with Mali after the Ebola case was confirmed in Mali's western region, two Mauritanian officials said on Saturday.There is little accurate data but border closures by West African states trying to protect themselves from the epidemic have had a crippling effect on regional economies.

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-26/mali-to-keep-guinea-border-open-despite-ebola-death/5841918