New studies clarify what drugs help, hurt for COVID-19 Fresh studies give more information about what treatments do or don’t work for COVID-19, with high-quality methods that give reliable results. British researchers on Friday published their... AP NEWS

LONDON --Fresh studies give more information about what treatments do or don’t work for COVID-19, with high-quality methods that give reliable results.

A guide to WHO’s guidance on COVID-19

There’s a lot of information out there about how governments, health professionals and the general public should respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. WHO has published guidance and advice every step of the way. 

During health emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic, one of WHO’s most vital roles is to gather data and research from around the world, evaluate it, and then advise countries on how to respond.

More than 150 countries sign up for global vaccine plan LONDON (AP) — More than 70 rich countries have signed up to a global coronavirus vaccine initiative intended to ensure that any effective shots are fairly distributed around the world - but which... AP NEWS

 Associated Press   July 15, 2020

By Masria Cheng

We Can Protect the Economy From Pandemics. Why Didn't We? A virologist helped crack an impossible problem: how to insure against the economic fallout from devastating viral outbreaks. The plan was ingenious. Yet we're still in this mess. Evan Ratliff Wired

A virologist helped crack an impossible problem: how to insure against the economic fallout from devastating viral outbreaks. The plan was ingenious. Yet we're still in this mess.

IOM offices in South Sudan. Credit: IOM

abcnews.go.com - by Morgan Winsor - October 31, 2019

The United Nations migration agency has halted Ebola screenings at five border crossings in East Africa after three of its aid workers were killed.

The International Organization for Migration said several of its volunteers were caught in the crossfire during clashes between rival groups on Saturday morning in South Sudan's Central Equatoria region. Two men and one woman died, and two male volunteers sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

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CLICK HERE - OCHA - South Sudan: Three humanitarian workers killed

CLICK HERE - IOM halts Ebola screening after aid workers killed in South Sudan

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Impacts of environmental and socio-economic factors on emergence and epidemic potential of Ebola in Africa

cnn.com - by Jen Christensen - October 15, 2019

The climate crisis is going to raise the risk that Ebola will spread farther and reach areas previously unaffected by the virus, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications . . .

 . . . In west and central Africa, where outbreaks have traditionally clustered, outbreaks would happen more frequently and spread farther, via airlines, to previously unaffected areas, the researchers suggested. Using the current network of airline flights in their model, the study suggests that there is a high risk of Ebola spreading to China, Russia, India, Europe and the United States.

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fda.gov - October 10, 2019

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowed marketing of a rapid diagnostic test (RDT) to detect Ebola virus antigens (proteins) in human blood from certain living individuals and samples from certain recently deceased individuals suspected to have died from Ebola (cadaveric oral fluid). The OraQuick Ebola Rapid Antigen Test is the first rapid diagnostic test the FDA has allowed to be marketed in the U.S. for the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). The test provides a rapid, presumptive diagnosis that must be confirmed.

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ALSO SEE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WITHIN THE LINKS BELOW . . .

OraQuick Ebola Rapid Antigen Test (8 page .PDF document)
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cdrh_docs/pdf19/DEN190025.pdf

FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

CLICK HERE - WHO - STATEMENT - Cases of Undiagnosed Febrile Illness – United Republic of Tanzania

statnews.com - by Helen Branswell - September 21, 2019

The World Health Organization issued an extraordinary statement Saturday raising concerns about possible unreported Ebola cases in Tanzania and urging the country to provide patient samples for testing at an outside laboratory.

The statement relates to a Tanzanian doctor who died Sept. 8 after returning to her country from Uganda; she reportedly had Ebola-like symptoms. Several contacts of the woman became sick, though Tanzanian authorities have insisted they tested negative for Ebola. 

But the country has not shared the tests so they can be validated at an outside laboratory, as suggested under the International Health Regulations, a treaty designed to protect the world from spread of infectious diseases.

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A health worker wearing Ebola protection gear at a Biosecure Emergency Care Unit treatment center in Beni, Democratic Republic of Congo.CreditCreditBaz Ratner/Reuters

Donald G. McNeil Jr. - NYTimes - August 12th 2019

In a development that transforms the fight against Ebola, two experimental treatments are working so well that they will now be offered to all patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo, scientists announced on Monday.

The antibody-based treatments are quite powerful — “Now we can say that 90 percent can come out of treatment cured,” one scientist said — that they raise hopes that the disastrous epidemic in eastern Congo can soon be stopped and future outbreaks more easily contained.

GOMA/The Democratic Republic of Congo - Henry Bongyereirwe/UNICEF

thenewhumanitarian.org - by Amy Daffe - August 1, 2019

. . . One year into the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the epidemic is accelerating . . .

. . . Instead of working with local leaders, outsiders arrived spreading messages that have left communities with more questions than answers. Information has not been well-tailored to different community contexts nor appropriately adapted to local languages or social norms.

As a result, cases are being hidden in communities and worryingly the contacts of those that die are largely unknown, making tracing difficult.

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sciencedaily.com - June 13, 2019

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH - PLOS - Estimating undetected Ebola spillovers

An estimated half of Ebola virus disease outbreaks have gone undetected since it was discovered in 1976, according to new research. Although these tend to affect fewer than five patients, the study highlights the need for improved detection and rapid response, in order that outbreaks of Ebola and other public health threats are detected early and consistently.

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ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE - Half of Ebola outbreaks go undetected, study finds

In this Tuesday Feb. 26 2019 photo, health workers give a training presentation about how to detect and prevent the spread of Ebola, in an army barracks outside South Sudan's town of Yei. With the deadly Ebola outbreak in Congo now an international emergency, neighboring South Sudan and its war-weakened health system is a major concern, especially after one case was confirmed near its border. Health experts say there is an urgent need to increase prevention efforts. (AP Photo/ Sam Medrick)

apnews.com - by Sam Mednick - July 20, 2019

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — With the deadly Ebola outbreak in Congo now an international emergency , neighboring South Sudan and its war-weakened health system is a major concern, especially after one case was confirmed near its border. Health experts say there is an urgent need to increase prevention efforts . . .

. . . Health experts worry about what would happen if Ebola reaches South Sudan as the shattered nation tries to recover from a five-year civil war that killed nearly 400,000 people and displaced millions. Many health facilities were badly damaged or destroyed, and unrest continues in parts of the country despite a fragile peace deal signed in September . . .