WHO is now recruiting for a number of vacancies as surge capacity for the Ebola outbreak. They are all grouped under “Ebola outbreak” in the vacancies listed below.
http://www.who.int/employment/vacancies/en/

Sierra Leone celebrates lifting of ban on public gatherings due to Ebola

Celebrations broke out all over Sierra Leone at the weekend after a ban on public gatherings prompted by the outbreak of Ebola more than a year ago was lifted.

Sierra Leoneans were allowed to go to sporting events and nightclubs, and stay out in restaurants after 9pm, following the decision by the president, Ernest Bai Koroma, to lift the ban on Friday. Some partied hard into the night, while others played football on the beaches and flocked to makeshift cinemas to watch the Manchester United and Arsenal matches.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/10/sierra-leone-ebola-public-gatherings-ban-lifted-president-koroma

China to build highway for Liberia as part of Ebola recovery aid

China will build a new coastal highway for Liberia as part of its aid to the country recovering from an Ebola epidemic, Liberia's foreign minister said on Sunday.

He was speaking at a news conference with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi who is visiting Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, the countries hardest hit by the epidemic.

Liberia's existing coastal route is vital for commerce as the country rebuilds after a civil war that ended in 2003. It connects the capital to the border with Ivory Coast via the port city of Buchanan, where exports of exports of iron and timber pass through, but much of the road is unpaved.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/09/us-health-ebola-liberia-china-idUSKCN0QE0OV20150809

Ebola: 'Detective work' is key to ending epidemic once and for all

A matter of months ago, Dr Marc Forget’s job, at the front line of the fight against the deadliest Ebola epidemic, was best summed up by two words: “damage control.” “The priority then was just to increase bed capacity and to provide safe burials,” he says. “We were just reacting to the magnitude of the disaster.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/ebola-detective-work-is-key-to-ending-epidemic-once-and-for-all-10446006.html

Today is the 1st anniversary of Ebola being declared an 'international epidemic'

One year ago, on August 8, 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared Ebola as an 'international epidemic.' and the virus has been taking the media by storm ever since.

The formal notification declared the epidemic to be a "public health emergency of international concern." specifically outlining the virus' early origins and subsequent evolution of the epidemic. WHO also looked at current Ebola outbreaks in each affected country as well as overarching Ebola-related trends.

http://www.aol.com/article/2015/08/08/today-is-the-1st-anniversary-of-ebola-being-declared-an-interna/21220014/

Officials: Child camping in Yosemite National Park contracts plague

A child is recovering in the hospital after falling ill with the plague while camping in Yosemite National Park, California officials said Thursday.

In mid-July, the child was camping with family at Yosemite's Crane Flat Campground and also visited areas of the Stanislaus National Forest, according to the California Department of Public Health. Officials said the child contracted the plague sometime during the trip, but none of the other family members were infected.

In Colorado, two people have died from the plague this year, AP reported.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/08/06/child-camping-yosemite-national-park-plague/31264485/

Somewhat common in California
http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/eh/docs/Specialized/Vector_Management/plague.pdf

Thanks for interesting link.

News of Ebola vaccine reaches a rural village in Liberia. Local photographer Alphanso Appleton says #thankyouscience
https://twitter.com/hashtag/thankyouscience?src=hash
http://blog.wellcome.ac.uk/2015/08/07/image-of-the-week-thank-you-science/

WHO asks us to help recruit health experts to help Sierra Leone recovery after Ebola:
http://www.who.int/employment/vacancies/en/

Officials: Child camping in Yosemite National Park contracts plague

A child is recovering in the hospital after falling ill with the plague while camping in Yosemite National Park, California officials said Thursday.

In mid-July, the child was camping with family at Yosemite's Crane Flat Campground and also visited areas of the Stanislaus National Forest, according to the California Department of Public Health. Officials said the child contracted the plague sometime during the trip, but none of the other family members were infected.

In Colorado, two people have died from the plague this year, AP reported.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/08/06/child-camping-yosemite-national-park-plague/31264485/

Somewhat common in California
http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/eh/docs/Specialized/Vector_Management/plague.pdf

---

Officials: Child camping in Yosemite National Park contracts plague

A child is recovering in the hospital after falling ill with the plague while camping in Yosemite National Park, California officials said Thursday.

In mid-July, the child was camping with family at Yosemite's Crane Flat Campground and also visited areas of the Stanislaus National Forest, according to the California Department of Public Health. Officials said the child contracted the plague sometime during the trip, but none of the other family members were infected.

In Colorado, two people have died from the plague this year, AP reported.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/08/06/child-camping-yosemite-national-park-plague/31264485/

College students still largely misinformed about Ebola

(Reuters Health) - Months after the Ebola virus outbreak of 2014 had briefly the U.S., American college students still understood little about the disease and how it spreads, a 2015 survey suggests.

"I was particularly surprised that almost a third thought you could get Ebola from mosquitoes, but this belief has also been echoed in the HIV literature," said Brandon Brown of the University of California Riverside School of Medicine, who coauthored a report about the survey in the American Journal of Infection Control.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/07/us-health-ebola-university-idUSKCN0QC1MG20150807

Thousands of Ebola survivors face severe pain, possible blindness

Thousands of West Africans who were infected with the Ebola virus but survived it are suffering chronic conditions such as serious joint pain and eye inflammation that can lead to blindness, global health experts said on Friday.

Ebola survivors who fought off the most severe bouts of infection are the most likely to suffer ongoing medical problems, World Health Organization experts said, and their health is becoming "an emergency within an emergency".

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/07/us-health-ebola-survivors-idUSKCN0QC1TF20150807

Ebola vaccine found effective against new strain

The experimental vaccine is currently undergoing testing in a global clinical trial in humans.

The current Ebola outbreak has killed over 11,000 people mainly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The positive results of this study further reveal the mechanisms by which an effective immune response is mounted against the Ebola virus, aspects of which have been unclear.

http://zeenews.india.com/news/health/diseases-conditions/ebola-vaccine-found-effective-against-new-strain%C2%A0_1643187.html

Sierra Leone Ebola Head Says Country Has 4 Cases

Sierra Leone has only four recorded cases of Ebola, the West African nation's head of Ebola said Thursday, adding that he is hopeful the countdown to zero can soon begin.

Two of the cases have proven negative after treatments, and the other two, in the north Tonkolili district, are in treatment, said National Emergency Response Center chief Alfred Palo Conteh.

"The end of this virus is in sight," he said.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/sierra-leone-ebola-head-country-cases-32920853

Ebola Rates Plummet, But WHO Says More to Come

Ebola cases have plummeted in the three West African countries hit by the worst epidemic ever of the virus, but health officials say it's not over yet.

More cases are likely to turn up in both Guinea and Sierra Leone, the World Health Organization says in its latest report on the epidemic. One patient has disappeared in Guinea and is likely to have infected other people as she wandered across the border and visited a traditional healer, WHO said.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/ebola-rates-plummet-who-says-more-come-n404696

Let's hope WHO is right.

WHO: West Africa Ebola Epidemic Could Be Over by Year End

GENEVA—

A senior official of the World Health Organization says halting the Ebola epidemic in West Africa by the end of this year is a realistic and appropriate goal.

In the past four weeks, the World Health Organization reports cases of Ebola have dropped from 35 a week to two this week, one each in Sierra Leone and Guinea. But it cautions these numbers are likely to increase, as flare-ups of the disease are not uncommon.

http://www.voanews.com/content/who-ebola-risks-remain-despite-drop-in-cases/2900658.html

Ebola virus surfaces again in Sierra Leone



FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE—Two new cases of Ebola surfaced in Sierra Leone’s Tonkolili district after a man died last week in the area where the deadly virus had been gone for months, an official said.

The victim contracted the disease in the capital and then travelled to his home village to mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. He was treated for a fever at the local hospital but authorities did not call the Ebola emergency number.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2015/08/03/ebola-virus-surfaces-again-in-sierra-leone.html

A new Ebola vaccine shows promise. But there's good reason for caution.

Exactly a year ago, West Africa was battling the most devastating Ebola outbreak in human history.

Now, after nearly 30,000 cases and 12,000 deaths, there's finally some good news: researchers think they might have a vaccine that can protect people from the deadly virus.

http://www.vox.com/2015/8/3/9090061/ebola-vaccine

Ebola vaccine is 'potential game-changer'

A vaccine against the deadly Ebola virus has led to 100% protection and could transform the way Ebola is tackled, preliminary results suggest.

There were no proven drugs or vaccines against the virus at the start of the largest outbreak of Ebola in history, which began in Guinea in December 2013.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said the findings, being published in the Lancet, could be a "game-changer".

Experts said the results were "remarkable".

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-33733711

Good news!


http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/31/ebola-vaccine-trial-proves-100-successful-in-guinea

---

rOZZ
Music
Pictures

Ebola Situation Report - 29 July 2015.
http://apps.who.int/ebola/current-situation/ebola-situation-report-29-july-2015

Ebola death in Sierra Leone leads to mass quarantine

Earlier this week the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the fewest weekly Ebola infections for over a year in West Africa. However the WHO also said it was bracing for a significant new outbreak in Sierra Leone, which alongside Guinea and Liberia, is one of the worst affected countries.

In the week up to Sunday 26 July, there were four confirmed cases in Guinea and three in Sierra Leone. Those three included a patient who died after travelling from the capital Freetown to the northern district of Tonkolili. He was described by the WHO as posing "a substantial risk of further transmission." The patient had only been confirmed Ebola-positive after post-mortem testing.

http://www.dw.com/en/ebola-death-in-sierra-leone-leads-to-mass-quarantine/a-18620558