Ebola appears to be slowing in Liberia: WHO

[morningfog]

Liberia, the country worst-hit by the Ebola epidemic, may be seeing a decline in the spread of the virus, although the battle to contain the outbreak is far from won, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.

WHO Assistant Director General Bruce Aylward told a news conference the number of burials and new admissions had fallen and there was a plateau in laboratory-confirmed cases.

"All the data point in the same direction," he said. "Do we feel confident that the response is now getting an upper hand on the virus? Yes, we are seeing slowing rate of new cases, very definitely"

Aylward cautioned against overly optimistic conclusions but said: "We're seeing a reversal of that rapid rate of increase to the point that there seems to be a decline right now."

Liberian President Ellen Johnson told Reuters on Oct 8 that there were early signs the outbreak might be "in decline".

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/29/us-health-ebola-who-idUSKBN0II1J220141029?mlt_click=Master+Sponsor+Logo%28Active=undefined%29_25_*Headlines+right_sec-col1-m2_News=undefined

[AndreaCG]

1. Good news

[sharp_stick]

2. We should have been all over this so much earlier

but I'm happy that they may finally be turning a corner in this one.

[Skittles]

5. absolutely yes

not just as protection from an epidemic but as a humanitarian gesture........the price paid in Liberia has been horrific

[uppityperson]

3. Wouldn't that be wonderful.

[progressoid]

4. NO NO NO! We need to be afraid.

VERY AFRAID!!111!!!

[Mojorabbit]

6. Maybe not?

MONROVIA: Global aid agency Doctors Without Borders urged caution on Thursday (Oct 30) over claims of a slowdown in infections in Ebola-hit Liberia, saying the apparent drop could be due to poor management of the sick.

The warning follows an announcement by the World Health Organization (WHO) that data from a range of sources including funeral directors and treatment centres indicated lower admission rates and burials.

But the medical charity, known by its French initials MSF, warned that "mandatory cremation of dead bodies and a poor ambulance and referral system could also be reasons for this decrease in admissions".

"It is too soon to draw conclusions on the reduction of Ebola cases in Monrovia," Fasil Tezera, MSF head of mission in Liberia, said in a statement. "While the number of admissions in MSF's 250-bed Monrovia Ebola centre have dropped to around 80, we do not have a full picture of the extent of the outbreak and estimates might not be reliable."

An MSF spokeswoman in Dakar told AFP many people in the capital were calling the Ebola hotline to report that they were sick but were not being picked up because of a lack of ambulances and were going missing from the statistics. "The present epidemic is unpredictable: we have seen a lull in cases in one area only to see the numbers spike again later," Faisal added.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/msf-warns-liberia-ebola/1444040.html