Liberia

thenewdawnliberia.com - by Lewis S. Teh - edited by Jonathan Browne - December 1, 2015

The West Africa Disaster Preparedness Initiative or (WADPI) has ended a two weeks intensive training on disaster management in Monrovia.

The training, which began last week at the Golden Gate Hotel in Paynesville outside Monrovia, brought together officials of government line ministries and agencies, and commissions with 30 participants from five counties includingMontserrado, Gbarpolu, Bomi, Grand Cape Mount, and Margibi, respectively.

The exercise was conducted under the auspices of the West Africa Disaster Preparedness Initiative or WADPI in collaboration with the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) based in Ghana.

It was specifically meant to build capacities of ECOWAS countries to improve responses to disasters such as Ebola at the national and international levels, and other disasters that may occur.

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allafrica.com - November 27, 2015

Investigation conducted by this paper has established that unsafe blood transfusion is probably responsible for the new Ebola outbreak in Liberia.

A 15-year-old-boy was last weekend tested positive for Ebola and later pronounced dead on Tuesday. Dr. Francis Kateh, Chief Medical Officer of Liberia, said the boy's parents have also been tested positive for the virus and were undergoing observation.

The Ministry of Health and its partners are yet to disclose the source of the new outbreak, but a weeklong investigation conducted by this paper has established that blood recently transfused into the boy's mother at the Benson Hospital in Paynesville is the probable cause of the new Ebola infection.

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Zinnah (left) and Mr. Abdala exchange documents following the signing and launching of the project

thenewslib.com/news - by Jimmey C. Fahngon
November 23, 2015 

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Ministry of Agriculture has signed US$318,000 agreement to launch a project aimed at combating the Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) outbreak in the country.

This disease is well known as a plague which affects small ruminants such as goats and sheep.

The project is being funded as a Technical Cooperation agreement between the FAO and the Government of Liberia under FAO's emergency intervention for the control of the disease.

Speaking Friday at the signing ceremony in Monrovia, FAO-Liberia Representative Marc Abdala said the project is intended to combat PPR disease in animals.

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submitted by George Hurlburt

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Interferon-γ Inhibits Ebola Virus Infection

scicasts.com - November 19, 2015

The recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa has claimed more than 11,300 lives and starkly revealed the lack of effective options for treating or preventing the disease. Progress has been made on developing vaccines, but there is still a need for antiviral therapies to protect health care workers and local populations in the event of future outbreaks.

A new study led by University of Iowa virologist Dr. Wendy Maury, suggests that gamma interferon, which is an FDA-approved drug, may have potential as an antiviral therapy to prevent Ebola infection when given either before or after exposure to the virus.

The study, published in the journal PLOS Pathogens, found that gamma interferon, given up to 24 hours after exposure, can inhibit Ebola infection in mice and completely protect the animals from death.