Sierra Leone now has the means to curb the Ebola epidemic, reveals the new head of the UN mission for the fight against the disease and a senior World Health Organization official.
"Sierra Leone is in much better shape today to control Ebola than it was a few weeks ago," UN Ebola mission chief Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said at a press conference in the capital Freetown Friday, on his first visit to the west African countries ravaged by the outbreak.
Ebola Vaccines Testing on Humans 'About to Begin' in Affected Countries: WHO
Two Ebola vaccines tested on humans have proven safe and soon efficacy tests are to begin in the three west African countries ravaged by the deadly virus, the WHO said Friday.
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"From everything I've seen so far, I am optimistic that Sierra Leone can get by," he said, though he warned it would require "considerable effort by all".
WHO deputy head Bruce Aylward said it was his fifth trip to the country and that on the previous four it was clear that Sierra Leone could not stop Ebola.
![WHO Misses Treatment, Burial Targets in Ebola Countries]( "WHO Misses Treatment, Burial Targets in Ebola Countries")
The WHO has reported that although the West African countries have missed the key January 1 targets towards halting the Ebola epidemic.
He said there had been a huge change since his last visit, with beds available and burial teams, but stressed the need to use the new resources effectively.
The officials spoke as the government said Pujehun district in the south had become the first in the country to have no new cases registered for 42 days, twice the incubation period of the virus.
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the worst since the virus was identified in 1976, has left nearly 8,300 people dead with more than 21,000 cases identified since December of last year, according to WHO figures.
The vast majority of the cases have been confined to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
Source: AFP
WHO Misses Treatment, Burial Targets in Ebola Countries
The WHO has reported that although the West African countries have missed the key January 1 targets towards halting the Ebola epidemic.
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He said there had been a huge change since his last visit, with beds available and burial teams, but stressed the need to use the new resources effectively.
The officials spoke as the government said Pujehun district in the south had become the first in the country to have no new cases registered for 42 days, twice the incubation period of the virus.
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the worst since the virus was identified in 1976, has left nearly 8,300 people dead with more than 21,000 cases identified since December of last year, according to WHO figures.
The vast majority of the cases have been confined to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
Source: AFP
Fight Against Ebola Lacks Coordination: New UN Mission Chief
The UN's new mission chief on Ebola condemns a problem of coordination in the fightback against Ebola. The three west African countries worst hit by the epidemic should be leading the response.
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 Ebola Vaccines to be Reviewed by Experts in Geneva MeetProgress on possible vaccines against the deadly Ebola virus will be reviewed when experts will gather at Geneva this week, said the World Health Organization on Wednesday. | Advertisement
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