Japanese man being tested for possible Ebola infection

Via Xinhua :

" The Health Ministry said Monday that a Japanese man who returned from Sierra Leone earlier this month is being tested for possible Ebola infection after he developed a fever earlier in the day.

Local media reported that the man in his 30s said he had no direct contact with Ebola patients but he "touched with his bare hands" a bag containing a body on Dec. 17 during a burial in the epidemic-hit country.

He stayed there for eight days through Dec. 21, said the Kyodo News, adding he returned to Japan on Dec. 23 and has since stayed at home at the request of authorities."

Australian traveller tested for Ebola

Article via Radio New Zealand :

" An Australian man who fell seriously ill after returning home from a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo during the Ebola outbreak, has been taken to hospital as a precaution.

The man, aged in his twenties has been quarantined at the Gold Coast University Hospital, the ABC reported.

Queensland Health spokeswoman Heidi Carroll said the man's test results should be known in a few hours, but he could be suffering from another fever.

"This could be a person who is presented with fever and has malaria, so it's too early to tell what this patient has so we will just have to wait and see."

DR Congo confirms 6 Ebola cases

Article via Xinhua :

" The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)'s Health Minister Felix Kabange Numbi told Xinhua on Wednesday that six cases of the Ebola virus that has plagued the province of Ecuador were confirmed by laboratory tests.

"Statistics updated the field: the total number of cases reported since the beginning is 42, and six cases confirmed by laboratory, 13 probable and 23 suspect cases," said Kabange.

"The number of deaths is still 13 which five health workers. Eleven people are in isolation, six new samples were done outside of the Eight already analyzed. 168 contacts are identified and monitored," said the minister.

According to the minutes of a cabinet meeting chaired Tuesday by President Joseph Kabila, "the president also instructed the government to mobilize the budgetary resources and Avail provided against the response to this epidemic."

WHO : Ebola virus disease, West Africa – update

Press release from WHO :

" In this update and subsequent ones, the terminology Ebola haemorrhagic fever will be replaced by Ebola virus disease (EVD) in line with the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). Therefore, this report provides an update on Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

As at 31 March 2014, the Ministry of Health of Guinea has reported 122 clinically compatible cases of EVD, of which 24 are laboratory confirmed by PCR, and 98 are probable (78) or suspected (22) cases. This total number includes 80 deaths, of which 13 (16%) have been laboratory confirmed for EVD and the remaining 67 are considered as probable cases of EVD. These figures correspond to 19 new clinical cases and 14 new deaths since the 28 March. As of 30 March, 20 patients remain in isolation. Eleven health-care workers are among the probable and suspected cases. Cases have been reported from Conakry (11), Guekedou (77), Macenta (23), Kissidougou (8), and 3 from Dabola and Djingaraye combined.

Case investigation and contact tracing are continuing, with 400 contacts under medical follow-up at present. Further strengthening of infection prevention and control in health-care facilities is a priority intervention. In addition, efforts are continuing to raise awareness in the community about the importance of personal protective measures to prevent ebolavirus transmission including hand washing, caring for the sick safely in the community, the use of personal protective equipment when handling potentially contaminated blood and body fluids and during environmental cleaning and disinfection, and safe burials."

UK : Vaccine developed against Ebola

Article via BBC, excerpt :

" Scientists have developed a vaccine that protects mice against a deadly form of the Ebola virus.

First identified in 1976, Ebola kills more than 90% of the people it infects.
The researchers say that this is the first Ebola vaccine to remain viable long-term and can therefore be successfully stockpiled.

The results are reported in the journal Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences.

Ebola is transmitted via bodily fluids, and can become airborn. Sufferers experience nausea, vomiting, internal bleeding and organ failure before they die.

Although few people contract Ebola each year, its effects are so swift and devastating that it is often feared that it could be used against humans in an act of terroism.

All previously developed vaccines have relied on injecting intact, but crippled, viral particles into the body.

Long-term storage tends to damage the virus, paralysing the vaccine's effectiveness. "

Uganda says Ebola outbreak is over

Via Reuters :

" Uganda has successfully prevented the rare and deadly Ebola virus from spreading, nearly two months after a 12 year-old girl bled to death after contracting the disease, officials said on Friday.

"Uganda is free of Ebola," Doctor Anthony Mbonya, chairman of a national task force set up after the girl's death, told Reuters. "The situation is perfect."

Uganda's declaration is in line with World Health Organization guidelines that stipulate countries must wait 41 days after the discharge or death of the last Ebola patient before declaring an outbreak over.

There is no treatment and no vaccine for Ebola, which causes internal and external bleeding, vomiting, diarrhea and shock. Depending on the strain, it kills from 50 to 90 percent of its victims.

"We managed to contain the case because of our previous experience with Ebola," Mbonye said. "The girl was buried very quickly and we kept the body away from the local population."

Uganda was last hit by Ebola in 2007, when it killed at least 37 people, caused public panic and prompted President Yoweri Museveni to urge Ugandans to stop shaking hands.

Mbonye said the task force had so far failed to discover how or where the girl had contracted Ebola but that investigations were ongoing."

Deadly Ebola breaks out in Uganda, kills one, 30 monitored

Article from Xinhua, Ebola outbreak in Uganda, excerpt :

" KAMPALA, May 14 : The deadly Ebola hemorrhagic fever has broken out in Uganda, killing one person and leaving over 30 others being monitored by health officials, ministry of health announced here on Saturday.

The epicenter of the outbreak is in the central Ugandan district of Luwero located about 50 km north of the capital Kampala.

According to Anthony Mbonye, head of the community health department at the ministry of health, a 12 year old girl in Zirombwe Sub-county developed symptoms of Ebola and when she was admitted at a military hospital in the district, laboratory test confirmed that it was Ebola.

The Ebola virus is highly contagious and causes a range of symptoms including fever, vomiting, diarrhea, generalized pain or malaise and in many cases internal and external bleeding.

The girl died on May 6 and about 30 people who she got contact with are being asked to not get into contact with the public as health officials monitor them for about 21 days.

The 30 people have not yet developed the symptoms but if they do, they will be isolated from the public.

Mbonye said that preliminary investigations have showed that this Ebola virus is similar to the one that broke out in Sudan, thus named Sudan Ebola.

The epicenter of the outbreak is also located along the high way to southern Sudan."