International response must adapt to changing epidemic pattern.

Published on MSF’s website, November 10, 2014

Photo: Martin Zinggl/MSF The incredible story of 6 young survivors, all coming from the same village (Nyokotahun).

Monrovia – While the number of new Ebola cases reported in Liberia has declined in recent weeks, the outbreak is far from over and new hotspots continue to emerge across the country, the international medical humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said today, warning that the international aid response must rapidly adapt to this new phase of the epidemic, or risk undermining progress made against Ebola.

Unlike in neighbouring Guinea and Sierra Leone, where cases are on the rise, MSF teams in Liberia are witnessing a decline in the number of Ebola patients admitted to case management centres (CMCs) for the first time since the beginning of the Ebola epidemic. At present, MSF’s 250-bed ELWA3 CMC in Monrovia is treating around 50 patients. In Foya, in northern Liberia, the number of patients reached zero on October 30, with no confirmed cases since that date. Case numbers could again rise, as they have in Guinea, where, following two significant dips in admissions to MSF facilities, patient numbers are again increasing.

 

Full article

http://www.msf.org/article/ebola-hard-won-gains-liberia-must-not-be-undermined

After leaving Freetown, capital of Ebola-plagued Sierra Leone, for the airport by hydrofoil, I reflected on how I felt when undertaking this route at the start of my journey. It was night, and there was no electricity. We were disorientated by sensory overload: while trying to become accustomed to the darkness and warm, humid air, we were also contemplating getting used to frequent hand-washing and keeping a distance between ourselves, not touching each other or objects if at all possible.

The excitement was tangible, in the roar of the hydrofoil and the bellowing wind, but at the same time, laced with some fear – of the unknown, and of the invisible threat of Ebola.

Over the weeks in Kailahun, Ebola became visible.

Not in the ubiquitous laboratory slide photo we’ve all seen, nor in any apparent spattering on the yellow hazmat suits – which as a non-clinician, I didn’t get to wear. It might have been easier if it had presented in that way.

Source

http://eboladigest.blogspot.fr/

Full article

http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20141107095524531

A Doctors Without Borders (MSF), health worker in protective clothing carries a child suspected of having Ebola in the MSF treatment center on Oct. 5 in Paynesville, Liberia. The girl and her mother, showing symptoms of the deadly disease, were awaiting test results for the virus. The Ebola epidemic has killed more than 3,400 people in West Africa, according to the World Health Organization. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Full Article: http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/bigpicture/2014/10/08/living-with-ebola-west-africa/vTCGB1bQTSbQitjUkSsTWI/story.html

Ebola – La coalition mondiale de l’inaction by msf

Avec près de 9000 cas et 4492 morts (source : OMS, au 16 octobre 2014), l’épidémie d’Ebola en cours en Afrique de l’Ouest est la plus importante jamais enregistrée depuis l’identification de la maladie, en 1976.

Dès les premières semaines qui ont suivi l’apparition des cas en Guinée, au mois de mars, MSF a démarré une intervention visant à prendre en charge les patients et à limiter la propagation de l’épidémie.

Au 10 octobre 2014, plus de 3 000 Médecins Sans Frontières étaient présents en Guinée, en Sierra Leone et au Libéria, dont plus de 200 expatriés internationaux.

A doctor outside the JFK Ebola treatment center speaks to journalists on Oct. 13, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. Photographer: John Moore/Getty Images