Ebola Nearly Eradicated: By Mid-January 2016, The Entire African Contintent Could Be Declared Ebola-Free

Even so, the focus of international medical and public health efforts will shift, going forward -- toward education (sanitary practices awareness) -- as there have been ten separate subsequent flare-ups, since the bulk of the epidemic was arrested, earlier this year. We see this as a hopeful Christmas for Africa, as does W.H.O. We would also like to tip our cap to Merck, for its role in arresting the flare-ups. Kenilworth's experimental rVSV-ZEBOV Ebola vaccine (as mentioned in the quote below) is again seeing duty, in the eradication of the would-be transmisison chain, presently inside Liberia.

So, be of good cheer -- but be vigilant, is the latest W.H.O. message to health ministers, in Africa. Here is a bit of the latest, from W.H.O.:

. . . .All contacts associated with the cluster of three confirmed cases of EVD reported from Liberia in the week to 22 November have now completed 21-day follow-up. The first-reported case in the cluster, a 15-year-old boy, died on 23 November. Two subsequent cases, the boy’s father and younger brother, tested negative twice for Ebola virus on 3 December and were discharged. As of 11 December, 210 eligible recipients associated with the cluster had received the rVSV-ZEBOV Ebola vaccine as part of the Partnership for Research on Ebola Vaccines in Liberia (PREVAIL study), which is administered by the Government of Liberia and the US National Institutes of Health.

Human-to-human transmission linked to the recent cluster of cases in Liberia will end on 14 January 2016, 42 days after the 2 most-recent cases received a second consecutive negative test for Ebola virus, if no further cases are reported. . . .

The Committee noted the progress in interrupting the original chains of Ebola virus transmission, with Guinea having reported its most recent such case on 29 October 2015, Sierra Leone on 8 August 2015 and Liberia on 20 March 2015. The Committee emphasized, however, that between March and November 2015 as many as 10 new outbreaks had occurred as the result of re-introduction of Ebola virus from the convalescent population, based on epidemiologic investigations and genetic sequencing data. The most recent such outbreak had occurred in Liberia, with 3 cases reported between 19 and 20 November 2015.

While recognizing that these new outbreaks have been rapidly controlled, the Committee considers these outbreaks as constituting extraordinary events, which continue to require coordinated international action in support of the affected States. It also reemphasized that while virus persistence is understood to be time-limited, further research is needed on its nature, duration and implications. The Committee highlighted the importance of communicating to the general public that casual contact with survivors does not constitute a health risk.

The Committee remains deeply concerned that 34 countries still enact inappropriate travel and transport measures and highlights the need to immediately terminate any such measures due to their negative impact, particularly on recovery efforts. . . .

Our blogging forecast is for spotty outages, for the balance of 2015. . . .We wish all people of good will a reflective, thoughtful and serene Noel. . . Namaste, one and all. Be excellent to one another.