reliefweb.int - globalcommunities.org - December 1, 2015

The public view of the Ebola response was dominated by images and stories of medical workers and Ebola treatment units. But there is also the less-known story of the many thousands of Liberian health workers, government staff, traditional leaders and volunteers who played the most significant role in building resilience to Ebola and reducing transmission and infection. It is these groups, working in the frontlines and at significant risk, which Global Communities partnered with throughout the Ebola response.

Global Communities’ approach to countering the Ebola outbreak has been highlighted by President Obama, Dr. Rajiv Shah, former Administrator of USAID, and many others as having been a key component in the successful fight against Ebola in Liberia in the 2014-15 outbreak. This new publication “Stopping Ebola in its Tracks,” has two strands:

It describes Global Communities’ community-driven response to the Ebola outbreak in Liberia

It derives from this experience lessons learned and recommendations for preventing and dealing with future disasters

The West Africa Ebola outbreak has led experts to consider what diseases might spark the next major infectious disease crisis. Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Scientists to assemble a rogues’ gallery of viruses likely to spark the next international public-health crisis

nature.com - by Erika Check Hayden - December 7, 2015 - doi:10.1038/nature.2015.18952

As West Africans try to bring the calamitous Ebola outbreak to an end, the World Health Organization (WHO) has called scientists and doctors to Geneva, Switzerland, on 8 and 9 December to discuss which infectious disease is likely spark the next pandemic. . . 

. . . Nature canvassed infectious-disease specialists to find out which pathogens they thought would trigger the next global crisis, and which treatments and vaccines might be readied to combat them.

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Moving money: The service, called M-Pesa, will be branded Vodafone Cash in the West African state

thisismoney.co.uk - by City & Finance Reporter for the Daily Mail - December 7, 2015

Vodafone has launched its mobile cash transfer system in Ghana where 15m people do not have a bank account.

The service, called M-Pesa, will be branded Vodafone Cash in the West African state. It allows mobile phone users to load money on to their phones, just as pay-as-you-go customers can top up their credit. 

They can send the funds anywhere in the country with a text message. Recipients can pick up the cash at shops that offer the service.

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eLife 2015;10.7554/eLife.09186 - December 8, 2015
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.09186

Abstract

As of November 2015, the Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic that began in West Africa in late 2013 is waning. The human toll includes more than 28,000 Ebola virus disease (EVD) cases and 11,000 deaths in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, the most heavily-affected countries. We reviewed 66 mathematical modeling studies of the EVD epidemic published in the peer-reviewed literature to assess the key uncertainties models addressed, data used for modeling, public sharing of data and results, and model performance. Based on the review, we suggest steps to improve the use of modeling in future public health emergencies.

eLife 2015;10.7554/eLife.12177 - DECEMBER 8, 2015
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.12177

Abstract

Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1) is a lysosomal membrane protein that exports cholesterol derived from receptor-mediated uptake of LDL, and it also mediates cellular entry of Ebola virus. Cholesterol export is inhibited by nanomolar concentrations of U18666A, a cationic sterol. To identify the target of U18666A, we synthesized U-X, a U18666A derivative with a benzophenone that permits ultraviolet-induced crosslinking. When added to CHO cells, U-X crosslinked to NPC1. Crosslinking was blocked by U18666A derivatives that block cholesterol export, but not derivatives lacking blocking activity. Crosslinking was prevented by point mutation in the sterol-sensing domain (SSD) of NPC1, but not by point mutation in the N-terminal domain (NTD). These data suggest that the SSD contains a U18666A-inhibitable site required for cholesterol export distinct from the cholesterol-binding site in the NTD. Inasmuch as inhibition of Ebola requires 100-fold higher concentrations of U18666A, the high affinity U16888A-binding site is likely not required for virus entry. 

FILE - In this Sunday, March 21, 2010 file photo, shafts of sunlight filtering through the forest canopy strike smoke from fires burning outside family huts at an Mbuti pygmy hunting camp in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve outside the town of Epulu, Congo. Tree by tree, more than a dozen African governments pledged to restore the continent’s natural forests at the U.N. climate change talks in Paris on Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015. (Rebecca Blackwell,File/Associated Press)

CLICK HERE - World Resources Institute - African Countries Launch AFR100 to Restore 100 Million Hectares of Land

CLICK HERE - African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100)

CLICK HERE - Global Landscapes Forum

washingtonpost.com - by Lynsey Chutel - December 6, 2015

JOHANNESBURG — Tree by tree, more than a dozen African governments pledged to restore the continent’s natural forests at the United Nations climate talks on Sunday.

observer.gm - by Saffiatou Colley  - December 3, 2015

The Executive Director of the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) has disclosed that the West Africa Disaster Preparedness Initiative’s (WADPI) main objective is to utilise the lessons learned from the Ebola epidemic as well as strengthen national capacities among the 16 West African countries to implement an all-hazards approach to disaster response and management.

Lt. Col. Alhagie Sanneh was speaking on Tuesday at the ongoing high-level discussion on the ‘Development of a strategic work plan and to conduct a post-course assessment’, at a local hotel in Brufut.

He indicated that the training is part of the requirements of the recent West Africa Disaster Preparedness Initiative training held in Ghana, where Gambia participated.

“The WADPI programme would develop and promote inter-regional integration through ensuring continuous collaboration, communication and coordination to explore preparedness strategies that can strengthen ECOWAS member states to manage and recover from disaster events,” he said.

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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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CLICK HERE - ACAPS - Ebola Outbreak, Liberia - Communication: Challenges and good practices (15 page .PDF file)

CLICK HERE - ACAPS - Liberia - Re-emergence of Ebola - Anticipatory Briefing Note 23 November 2015 (7 page .PDF file)

CLICK HERE - ACAPS - Country Analysis

CLICK HERE - Reuters - Female survivor may be cause of Ebola flare-up in Liberia

CLICK HERE - WHO - Ebola Situation Report - 16 December 2015

CLICK HERE - Wall Street Journal - Fresh Ebola Cases Damp Liberia Hopes of Eliminating Deadly Disease

CLICK HERE - WHO - Ebola Situation Report - 9 December 2015

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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submitted by George Hurlburt

scicasts.com - November 2, 2015

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Calcium Regulation of Hemorrhagic Fever Virus Budding: Mechanistic Implications for Host-Oriented Therapeutic Intervention - Ziying Han, Jonathan J. Madara et al. PLOS Pathogens (2015)

Philadelphia, PA (Scicasts) — The Ebola virus acts fast. The course of infection, from exposure to recovery, or death, can take as little as two weeks. That may not leave enough time for the immune system to mount an effective response.

The goal of some anti-viral therapies, therefore, is to buy more and give the immune system a leg up on the virus. A new study led by Bruce Freedman and Ronald Harty in the Department of Pathobiology of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine demonstrates a way to do that, by reducing the ability of the virus to exit a host cell and spread. Their work showed that blocking a calcium-signalling pathway could inhibit not only the Ebola virus, but also Marburg, Lassa and Junin viruses, all sources of deadly infections.

submitted by George Hurlburt

A young girl wades into water where the family kitchen once stood in Diamniadio Island, Saloum Delta in Senegal.
Photograph: Jane Hahn/AP

CLICK HERE - World Bank - Accelerating climate-resilient and low-carbon development : the Africa climate business plan

Africa climate business plan, emphasising clean energy, efficient farming and urban protection, will be launched by World Bank chief at Paris climate talks

theguardian.com - by John Vidal - November 25, 2015

The World Bank has devised a $16bn (£10.6bn) strategy designed to help Africa adapt to climate change and prevent millions of people from sliding into poverty.

By fast-tracking clean energy, efficient farming and urban protection, the measures promise to greatly increase renewable energy across the continent, bolster food production and lead to the planting of billions of trees. It is also hoped that the scheme will improve life in cities and reduce poverty, migration and conflict.

Ebola survivor Dr. Richard Sacra experienced eye problems, including vision loss, pain and redness, shortly after he recovered from the disease.

Credit: Chancellor JR, Padmanabhan SP, Greenough TC, Sacra R, Ellison RT III, Madoff LC, et al. Uveitis and systemic inflammatory markers in convalescent phase of Ebola virusdisease. Emerg Infect Dis. 2016 Feb

CLICK HERE - STUDY - CDC - Uveitis and Systemic Inflammatory Markers in Convalescent Phase of Ebola Virus Disease

livescience.com - by Rachael Rettner - November 25, 2015

Ebola survivor Dr. Ian Crozier wasn't the only American to experience eye problems following the disease — a new report describes eye problems in another American doctor who lived through the disease.

Dr. Richard Sacra, who works for the Christian mission organization SIM USA, contracted Ebola last year while caring for pregnant women in Liberia during the rise of the Ebola outbreak there. He was evacuated to the United States for treatment in early September 2014, and was declared Ebola-free after spending about a month in the hospital.

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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