Global Health Ebola Update 11/11

EBOLA

Time for a New Approach
As Liberia's Ebola outbreak moves into a new phase, the response needs a strategy better suited to tamping out the hotspots flaring up, MSF said yesterday.

Rather than pooling resources into large treatment centers, "Priority should be given to a more flexible approach that allows a rapid response to new outbreaks and gets the regular healthcare system safely up and running again," said Fasil Tezera, MSF head of operations in Liberia.
The comments followed news that MSF is seeing a decline in patients admitted to its case management centers.
** Agence France Presse via Yahoo News (http://jhsph.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0a43ad874dbe00d8f0545cfef&id=73a86a6039&e=9c1fcebfa3)


In Mali, Old-Fashioned Detective Work Prevailed
Mali may be poor, but it looks like a quick response and epidemiological detective work has thwarted an Ebola outbreak in the country.

The country is nearing the end of a 21-day quarantine period for 108 contacts of a 2-year-old girl from Guinea who traveled to Mali, where she died of Ebola in late October.
** The New York Times (http://jhsph.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0a43ad874dbe00d8f0545cfef&id=9ca70658d9&e=9c1fcebfa3)


Ebola Today, Illiteracy Tomorrow?
Ebola has forced schools in West Africa to remain closed for months. The longer school's out, the greater the risk that kids will drop out—especially for girls.

In Liberia—where literacy rates are low and school systems are only now recovering from years of civil war—families with resources to hire tutors are held back by a government ban on gatherings of people.

Schools can't reopen until they are sure students will be safe from the virus, says Laurent Duvillier, UNICEF communication specialist. That means training teachers how to prevent infections and installing hand-washing stations at the entrance of every school—"a very big logistical challenge," he says.
** NPR Goats and Soda Blog (http://jhsph.us3.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=0a43ad874dbe00d8f0545cfef&id=0481250dd0&e=9c1fcebfa3)

Related: Last Sierra Leone region to face Ebola hit hard – ** CIDRAP (http://jhsph.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0a43ad874dbe00d8f0545cfef&id=61322c3770&e=9c1fcebfa3)

Related: One in seven pregnant women could die in Ebola-hit countries, say charities – ** The Guardian (http://jhsph.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0a43ad874dbe00d8f0545cfef&id=ef4494327e&e=9c1fcebfa3)

Related: 4 global health issues you've been ignoring because of Ebola – ** Vox (http://jhsph.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0a43ad874dbe00d8f0545cfef&id=b18913c748&e=9c1fcebfa3)