Solutions

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Food Security

Thu, 2014-09-25 22:58 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Gary Vroegindewey - September 24, 2014
Mike,
WFP has increased food availability
http://www.wfp.org/news/news-release/international-financial-institutions-provide-us217-million-help-meet-food-needs-eb
http://www.wfp.org/countries/sierra-leone/stories/wfp-steps-up-assistance-to-meet-urgent-food-needs-of-families-and-communities-affected-by-ebola
Global Food Security Index will provide baseline Sierra Leone as an example.
http://foodsecurityindex.eiu.com/Country/Details#Sierra%20Leone
Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS)
tracks marketing prices and other indicators of food insecurity Sierra Leone as an example
http://www.fews.net/west-africa/sierra-leone/remote-monitoring-report/september-2014

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London Group Plans to Start First Clinical Tests of Ebola Drugs in West Africa

Tue, 2014-09-23 21:49 — mike kraft

Washington Post

by Abby Ohlheiser September 23 at 11:45 AM

London based scientists, working with international aid groups, are planning to start the first clinical trials in West Africa for drugs to treat Eboa. The trials could begin in a matter of months.

Wellcome Trust's $5 million initiative will include drugs from Mapp Biopharmaceutical, Sarepta and Tekmira, according to Reuters. Mapp makes zMapp, the experimental cocktail administered to two Americans who contracted the disease in Liberia. Tekmira recently gained the approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to use its TKM-Ebola treatment on confirmed or suspected cases of the disease.

Both drugs are still in the experimental phase; researchers have not yet determined the safety or effectiveness of the treatments.

Text of full story:

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Africa

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Contagion

Disaster Response

Disaster Risk Reduction

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http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-ebola-may-be-endemic-in-people-20140922-story.html

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EBOLA MAY BECOME ENDEMIC TO WEST AFRICA WITH 71 PER CENT INFECTION RATE--WHO STUDY

Tue, 2014-09-23 18:47 — mike kraft

LOS ANGLES TIMES September 22, 10:25 PM

by Monte Morin

In a grim assessment of the Ebola epidemic, researchers say the deadly virus threatens to become endemic to West Africa instead of eventually disappearing from humans.

"The current epidemiologic outlook is bleak," wrote a panel of more than 60 World Health Organization experts in a study published Tuesday by the New England Journal of Medicine.

"We must therefore face the possibility that Ebola virus disease will become endemic among the human population of West Africa, a prospect that has never previously been contemplated."

In the absence of new control measures, the authors estimated that the total case load would exceed 20,000 by Nov 2.

Link to full story

Link to New England Journal of Medicine study

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1411100?query=featured_ebola

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http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/reporters-notebook-covering-ebola-nigeria-navigating-corruption/

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Reporter’s Notebook: Covering Ebola in Nigeria while navigating corruption

Mon, 2014-09-22 14:53 — Norea

Tom Adair and Fred de Sam Lazaro, near a police security guard on the streets of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Photo by Nikki See By Fred de Sam Lazaro - Sep 22, 2014 - pbs.org

The story of Ebola in Nigeria is an unusual and frankly rare one about things going right somewhere in Africa, albeit with fingers crossed for fear that it could quickly change.

The numbers are remarkable: just 21 cases of Ebola and eight deaths, in a nation of 170 million, according to the latest World Health Organization report. Compare that to Liberia, with a population of just over 4 million, which has suffered nearly 1500 deaths so far.

Nigeria’s achievement truly hits home for a television crew working “in the trenches” of a country the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency describes as “hobbled by … insecurity and pervasive corruption.”

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http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29231400?ocid=socialflow_twitter

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Obama says Ebola outbreak a 'global security threat'

Wed, 2014-09-17 23:00 — Norea

The WHO says the most urgent immediate need is more medical staff BBC News - 17 September 2014

President Barack Obama has called the Ebola outbreak in West Africa "a threat to global security", as he announced a larger US role in fighting the virus.

The world was looking to the US, Mr Obama said, but added that the outbreak required a "global response".

The measures announced included ordering 3,000 US troops to the region and building new healthcare facilities.

Ebola has killed 2,461 people this year, about half of those infected, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

The announcement came as UN officials called the outbreak a health crisis "unparalleled in modern times".

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/16/us-health-ebola-obama-idUSKBN0HB08S20140916

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Citing security threat, Obama expands U.S. role fighting Ebola

Tue, 2014-09-16 23:00 — Norea

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, September 16, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Larry Downing By Jeff Mason and James Harding Giahyue - Tue Sep 16, 2014 7:28pm EDT - reuters.com

President Barack Obama on Tuesday called West Africa's deadly Ebola outbreak a looming threat to global security and announced a major expansion of the U.S. role in trying to halt its spread, including deployment of 3,000 troops to the region.

"The reality is that this epidemic is going to get worse before it gets better," Obama said at the Atlanta headquarters of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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http://www.philly.com/philly/health/topics/HealthDay691687_20140911_American_Ebola_Survivor_Gives_Blood_to_Infected_Health-Care_Colleague.html

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American Ebola Survivor Gives Blood to Infected Health-Care Colleague

Thu, 2014-09-11 23:00 — Norea

Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter - THURSDAY, Sept. 11, 2014 (HealthDay News)

An American medical missionary who survived infection with Ebola has donated blood to a colleague who's struggling to fight his own infection with the often deadly virus.

Dr. Rick Sacra was given blood transfusions from Dr. Kent Brantly last Friday, shortly after arriving at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. The 51-year-old Sacra has also been given an experimental drug and other treatments, hospital officials said.

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(CLICK HERE FOR AUDIO AND TO READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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UN Delivers Its Strongest Warnings About the Deadly Ebola Outbreak in West Africa

Sat, 2014-08-30 02:40 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Doctors work in a laboratory on collected samples of the Ebola virus at the Centre for Disease Control

Australian Broadcasting Corporation - Sarah Sedghi- 29 Aug 2014

. . . An Australian doctor working in Nigeria says the community is on edge and authorities are doing what they can to ensure the outbreak doesn't escalate further. . .

. . . SARAH SEDGHI: Dr Gavin MacGregor-Skinner has just travelled to Nigeria from his base in the United States to help authorities prepare in case the outbreak worsens.

GAVIN MACGREGOR-SKINNER: A lot of people are saying within their communities that if you put me in the hospital, you put me there to die.

He says the community is afraid.

(ALSO SEE SAME ARTICLE HERE )

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Read more about UN Delivers Its Strongest Warnings About the Deadly Ebola Outbreak in West Africa
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Fears Held Over Ebola's Spread in Worst-Ever Outbreak

Tue, 2014-08-26 02:05 — Kathy Gilbeaux

There are fears Ebola has spread to a fifth country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, as sub-Saharan African authorities take drastic steps to keep population centres safe from the worst-ever Ebola outbreak.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation - Broadcast: 25/08/2014 - Reporter: Martin Cuddihy

. . . GAVIN MACGREGOR-SKINNER, ELIZABETH R. GRIFFIN RESEARCH FOUNDATION: It's heartbreaking. For being involved in infectious diseases prevention and control for years, what I'm hearing on the news, what I'm reading and the conversations that I'm having with colleagues in West Africa, it's absolutely heartbreaking.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: Gavin MacGregor-Skinner is an Australian expert in public health and emergency responses. He's now based in Washington, DC, but is preparing to leave for Nigeria. He says technology is making a big difference in how quickly authorities can react.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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