Dear Colleagues,

The World Health Organization has not released figures on the number of new Ebola cases and deaths this week.  Media reports indicated the pace of the infection has accelerated, and the number of cases now total over 3,500 with 1,900 fatalities. The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Centre for Global Health has warned that the outbreak is "spiraling out of control". Containment efforts continue to be hampered by the need for supplies and most of all, additional healthcare workers. The United Nations and the medical aid group Doctors Without Borders have both issued urgent calls for international aid to contain the outbreak.  However, the movement of workers and supplies into the affected areas has been made difficult by restrictions on air travel.

In Nigeria the disease has spread to Port Harcourt, where authorities are monitoring nearly 400 people for signs of Ebola after they came in contact with a doctor who died of the disease. Nigerian officials report the outbreak cluster in Port Harcourt has the potential to grow larger and spread faster than the one in Lagos. Authorities have also confirmed the first case of Ebola in Senegal - making it the fifth West African country to be affected by the outbreak. The individual, a Guinean student who contracted Ebola in his home country and then traveled by road to Dakar, has been quarantined and authorities are observing all known contacts of the man. 

More than 50 cases of Ebola have been reported in a separate outbreak in in the Djera region of northern Democratic Republic of Congo. The death toll there has risen to 31.

The WHO continues to monitor for rumored or suspected cases from countries around the world and verification of these cases is ongoing.

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.  They continue to closely monitor the situation and are in constant contact with government agencies and industry colleagues.

Best,      

Jay

Jay L. Knott | Executive Vice President, Chief Business Officer | Abt Associates

O: 301-347-5896| F: 301-828-9739 | www.abtassociates.com

Note: this email was sent BCC: All Staff Abt, All Abt JTA