Dear Colleagues,
Up to 18 January 2015 there have been 21,724 reported confirmed, probable, and suspected cases of EVD with 8,641 deaths. Fewer than 150 cases of EVD were reported in the past week. Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone have all recorded their lowest weekly number of new cases for months. Just eight cases were detected in Liberia in the last week down from a peak of 500-a-week in September. Cases in Guinea stand at 20 per week down from a peak of 292 and Sierra Leone has reported 117-per-week down from a peak of 748.
While the figures are promising, it is uncertain whether the downward trends will continue unless improvements in contact tracing are made. According to the latest WHO situation report, the number of people being traced "remains lower than expected in many districts". Incidents of community resistance to safe burials and contact tracing also continue to be reported in all three countries, although they are most common in Guinea. In Sierra Leone, a total of 10 out of 14 districts still reported new confirmed cases in the latest reporting period.
All affected countries now have enough treatment capacity. The planned numbers of beds in each country has been reduced in accordance with falling case incidence. Disease surveillance has been stepped up in border districts of Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali and Senegal.
On 18 January, Mali completed 42 days since its last case tested negative for Ebola, and has been declared free of EVD. Medecins Sans Frontieres has pulled its Emergency Response Unit out of the country. In the United Kingdom, the only EVD patient is no longer critically ill and has been showing signs of improvement. There have been no further transmissions of the disease in the country.
Please email David Rolph, our director of Global Security, david_rolph@abtassoc.com and cc Sarah Dedic, sarah_dedic@abtassoc.com with any questions you have about the status of the outbreak.
Best,
Jay
Jay L. Knott | Executive Vice President, Chief Business Officer | Abt Associates
O: 301-347-5896| F: 301-828-9739 | www.abtassociates.com
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