DISCHARGED CASES

 Total Survived and Discharged Cases = 4,043

NEW CASES

 New Confirmed cases = 1 as follows:

Kailahun = 0, Kenema = 0, Kono = 0 Bombali = 0, Kambia = 0, Koinadugu = 0, Port Loko =0, Tonkolili = 1 Bo = 0, Bonthe = 0, Moyamba = 0 Pujehun = 0 Western Area Urban = 0, Western Area Rural = 0, Missing = 0

SITUATION OVERVIEW

• A total of 3 confirmed cases were reported Freetown and Tonkolili in the week to 26 July.

• The two cases reported from Freetown were registered contacts residing in a voluntary quarantine facility at the time of symptom onset and rapidly isolated.

• The remaining case is from Tonkolili where a 28 year old male travelled to Tonkolili from an area close to the Magazine Wharf neighbourhood of Freetown on 16 July to celebrate Eid with family, but was not a registered contact of any case from the Magazine Wharf transmission chain. On 19 July the case attended Lion Heart Hospital in Yelle, Tonkolili complaining of a headache, and was treated as an outpatient with malaria and discharged. Two days later on 21 July the case presented to Masanga hospital and was isolated on admission.
  The patient died on 23 July and was confirmed EVD-positive after post -mortem testing. Over 600 contacts have been listed so far, several of whom are deemed to be high risk. Investigations are ongoing to establish the source of infection and identify and trace all contacts. Both hospitals and the village of Messesebah have been placed under quarantine.

• On 26 July, a total of 279 contacts were being monitored in 4 districts:
  Kambia, Port Loko, Western Area Rural, and Western Area Urban.

• Laboratory indicators continue to reflect a heightened degree of vigilance, with 1918 new samples tested in the 7 days to 26 July. Fewer than 1% of samples tested positive for EVD.

Traumatised and stigmatised, Ebola aid workers have been left to cope alone but now help is at hand with counselling and efforts to reintegrate them into society

Fatimatu was dead. Mohamed Conte, a member of the Red Cross Ebola burial team, had lowered her corpse into the ground. But when he returned to the van to take off his protective clothing, she stood defiantly in front of him, an apparition.

Read the full article

Overview

The objectives of the meeting were to agree on coordinated and aligned support to the 3 countries’ national health recovery plans (Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone); to identify cross-cutting areas and opportunities for integration; to identify ways to improve implementation modalities; and to identify actions including technical assistance needed to support the countries in the process of building resilient health systems.

The outcomes of the meeting consisted in proposed country action plans to move forward with the implementation of the recovery plans. The action plans includes:priorities and areas of work; activities needed to improve implementation modalities; technical assistance needs.

HIGHLIGHTS

• IOM, CDC and WHO conducted a joint regional assessment mission from 7-17 July in Mali, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia to identify best practices in mobility mapping and health border management.

• IOM continues to provide primary health services through mobile clinics in Bomi, Grand Bassa, and Grand Cape Mount counties in Liberia, resulting in 5,928 consultations completed.

• 414,332 travellers screened and sensitized, since the start of the project in November 2014 at 15 Flow Monitoring Points in Mali.

• 50 community leaders and traditional healers trained on EVD preparedness in the regions of Kolda and Kédougou in Senegal.

• 19 IOM monitors and 80 Passenger Welfare Organization staff deployed at 47 Village Crossing Points in Samu, Gbileh Dixon, and Bramaia chiefdoms in Kambia district, Sierra Leone.

• All office materials and equipment have been distributed and installed at three new PEOCs in Fria, Boké and Télimélé in Guinea.

• 42 trainers from Government agencies undertook a Training of Trainers workshop in Koforidua, Ghana.

HIGHLIGHTS

• In the week to 26 July 2015, there were three confirmed Ebola cases, down from four cases the previous week. Two cases were reported from a quarantined home in Hagan street community in Freetown, Western Area Urban district (the only area reporting cases out of 48 wards in the district). One case reported from Tonkolili district, after 150 days without a case, came from Kholifa Rowala chiefdom.

• In Kambia and Port Loko districts, UNICEF-led social mobilization teams, in collaboration with 3,545 traditional leaders, paramount and section chiefs and over 860 traditional healers, reached 29,520 people through community meetings and household visits in 2,425 communities.

• UNICEF, through its partners Sierra Leone Water Company, OXFAM and Community Action for the Welfare of Children-CAWEC, supported the delivery of 48.7m3 of water to 309 people in 73 quarantined households and four check points in Kambia and Port Loko districts.

• UNICEF is responding to a new Ebola case in Tonkolili district where 53 households with 495 people in Massassabeh village and 125 health workers at Masanga hospital were placed under quarantine on 25 July 2015. UNICEF partners have already started distributing WASH supplies such as water tanks and hygiene kits.

• Last week, 104 handwashing stations were distributed to 32 vulnerable communities in Samu, Gbeleh Dixin and Thorminaye chiefdoms along the Guinea and Sierra Leone border. As of last week, 207 handwashing kits had been distributed to 38 border communities.

• UNICEF partner, Defence for Children International, in collaboration with Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs, District Ebola Response Centre, local leaders and community members, conducted a reconciliation ceremony in Rosanda community, Bombali district, to support acceptance and community reintegration of a woman Ebola survivor and her family.

• UNICEF Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) is appealing for USD 178 million for Sierra Leone to support the needs of children and communities affected by the Ebola crisis until the end of July 2015.
  Currently, UNICEF is revising its HAC appeal in order to establish the needs until the end of 2015. As of 22 July, USD 121.7 million (68.4% of the total funding needs) has been received.

GENEVA, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Guinea and Sierra Leone each recorded a single cases of Ebola in the past week, putting a year-end goal of ending the deadly epidemic within reach although risks remain, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

Tight surveillance and tracing contacts of infected people remain crucial, and are especially challenging during the heavy rains in August, WHO Assistant-Director Bruce Aylward said.

Read the full article on AlertNet

Snapshot 29 July–4 August 2015

Pakistan: Flooding has killed 118 people and affected more than 800,000 people in Pakistan. Hundreds of villages have been inundated. Most casualties were recorded in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Azad Jammu & Kashmir.

Myanmar : 46 people have been killed and 156,000–216,000 people are affected by flooding. Sagaing region and Kachin and Shan states have been particularly impacted. Another 350,000 people are estimated affected in Bangladesh and India.

DRC: 32,000 IDPs in Rutshuru and Masisi, North Kivu, are in need of WASH, health, NFI and shelter assistance. They fled clashes between the FARDC and a coalition of FDLR, Nyatura, and FPC. In Katanga, 17,800 former IDPs in Nyunzu territory are in urgent need of assistance: most of the population lacks shelter as 43 of 50 villages have been burned.

Cameroon: Cameroonian authorities have deported more than 2,000 undocumented Nigerians as part of new security measures introduced after a series of suicide attacks in July. They have also increased the number of troops deployed in the Far North.

Updated: 04/08/2015. Next update 11/08/2015.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Weekly EVD caseload remains low in the region; WHO notes continuing potential for increase in new confirmed EVD cases

• GoL graduates all remaining known contacts; Liberia currently has no contacts of confirmed EVD cases

• Guinea’s National Ebola Coordination Cell plans to offer EVD vaccine to estimated 1,080 remaining registered contacts

KEY DEVELOPMENTS

• CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden concluded a three-day visit to Guinea on August 2. During his visit, Dr. Frieden met with Government of Guinea (GoG), non-governmental organization (NGO), UN, and USG representatives and underscored the importance of conducting Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) diagnostic tests on corpses and maintaining vigilant surveillance and infection prevention and control (IPC) activities in Guinea.

• The Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) recently reported one additional new confirmed EVD case in Tonkolili District, raising the total recent confirmed EVD cases in Tonkolili to two. Additional high-risk contacts are under active surveillance.

• As of August 2, all 18 remaining contacts of confirmed EVD cases in Liberia—including 17 contacts in Montserrado County and one in Margibi County—have graduated from the 21-day monitoring period. The Government of Liberia (GoL) is currently not monitoring any contacts of confirmed EVD cases

West Africa - Ebola Outbreak, Fact Sheet #42, Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 (as of August 04, 2015)

SECURITY COUNCIL
PRESS CONFERENCE

Ebola, security sector reform, and the role of regional organizations in addressing global challenges would be top priorities of the Security Council in August, said the Permanent Representative of Nigeria, President of the body for the month, at a Headquarters press conference today.

Outlining the Council’s work programme, U. Joy Ogwu recalled that Nigeria, during its 2014 presidency, had spearheaded the adoption of resolution 2151 (2014), the first stand-alone text on security sector reform. “We are not putting it away in the archives,” she said, noting that the Council would review its implementation on 20 August.

Next, the Council would highlight the role of regional and subregional organizations in fighting pandemics, she said, explaining that Ebola had negatively impacted countries in human, as well as socioeconomic, terms. The disease was re-emerging and on 13 August the Council would examine how to plan strategically for such transnational problems.

Along similar lines, on 18 August the Council would hold a thematic debate on the role of regional and subregional organizations in meeting contemporary security challenges. “They should be the first responders to crises,” she said, as they understood the complexities of their environments and systematically cooperated both with the United Nations and with one another.

In that context, she recalled that while African regional organizations had been created to accelerate economic integration, they were increasingly being called upon to deal with crises, which some had described as a “derailment” from their initial calling. Participants would be encouraged to highlight the unique aspects of their regions.

The Council would hold a wrap-up session on 31 August, she added.

Asked by journalists about chemical weapons in Syria, she said that bilateral discussions were ongoing and that the Council would await their outcome. There had been no requests for a briefing, following recent attacks in that country.

To a question on when the Council might consider the issue of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant/Sham (ISIL/ISIS) or Boko Haram, she said there was room on the schedule to address “the unforeseen”. As to whether there would be a resolution on Boko Haram, she recalled that a presidential statement had recently been issued. The Council’s focus now was on maintaining momentum. “We have not ignored it but we can only do so much during the month,” she explained.

As for who would brief the Council during the month, she said that the Chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Special Envoy on Ebola would provide updates on the disease, while the Secretary-General would brief the Council on regional organizations.

Asked about the situation in Burundi, she said it was natural for people to speculate about the country’s future. While it was not on the Council’s agenda, it would likely be addressed.

Turning to questions on Palestine, she said the Council would hear a briefing on the issue on 19 August, and hold consultations on the Middle East. To a query about the success of any negotiations between an “occupier” and the “occupied”, she expressed hope for a final solution to that issue. To another, she expressed confidence and “optimism” in the prospects for a resumed Middle East peace process this fall. In the meantime, the Council had no plans to visit Gaza.

She said that neither the President of Nigeria nor the Foreign Minister had plans to preside over any Council meetings, in response to a question.

Asked about the importance of regional integration, she said it was a means to an end; not an end in itself. Regional organizations were vehicles for achieving the objectives of regions and States. Some had failed, some had been “relatively successful” and others could serve as models. She acknowledged that regions and subregions had started to play a role in shaping development processes.

On whether the Council should take a position on the President of Sudan’s request to address the General Assembly, she noted that the United States was responsible for issuing visas.

Aside from the adoption on 21 August of a resolution renewing the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the work programme envisioned briefings on the situations in Central Africa (5 August), Kosovo (21 August), Sudan and South Sudan (25 August), Libya (26 August), and on both the Middle East and Guinea-Bissau (27 August).

For information media. Not an official record.

DISCHARGED CASES

• Total Survived and Discharged Cases = 4,043

NEW CASES

• New Confirmed cases = 0 as follows:
  Kailahun = 0, Kenema = 0, Kono = 0 Bombali = 0, Kambia = 0, Koinadugu = 0, Port Loko =0, Tonkolili = 0 Bo = 0, Bonthe = 0, Moyamba = 0 Pujehun = 0 Western Area Urban = 0, Western Area Rural = 0, Missing = 0

CUMULATIVE CASES

• Cumulative confirmed cases = 8,695 as follows: 456 Kailahun = 565, Kenema = 503, Kono = 253 Bombali = 1,049, Kambia = 253, Koinadugu = 109, Port Loko = 1,484, Tonkolili = Bo = 314, Bonthe = 5, Moyamba = 209, Pujehun = 31 Western Area Urban = 2,284, Western Area Rural = 1,164, Missing = 14

CUMULATIVE DEATHS

• Total cumulative confirmed death is 3,585

• Probable cases = 287

• Probable deaths = 208

• Suspected cases = 4,436

• Suspected deaths = 158

Ebola Virus Disease Situation Report
PROVIDED BY:
The Ministry of Health and Sanitation

For more information, please contact:
District level: District Health Management Team
National level: Directorate of Disease Prevention and Control, E.mail: dpcsurveillance@gmail.com Website: www.nerc.sl or www.health.gov.sl Mobile: 117 (Toll free)

This report covers the period: 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2014

Red Cross Staff receive confirmed Ebola patients at the then new Ebola treatment Centre in Kenema, Sierra Leone in September. More than 25,000 cases have been registered and more than 10,000 deaths in the worst Ebola epidemic the world has seen. National Societies continue to be on the forfront of the reponse and the IFRC, and its Secretariat have worked together to support them.
IFRC/2014

Overview

Programme outcome

The Africa Zone comprises the Africa Zone Office, plus 16 regional and country representations, which in turn support 49 African National Societies. The strategic direction for the period 2012-2015 is spelled out in the Long –Term Planning Framework, which was updated in 2014 and the current document reports against these revised objectives. The revised LTPF for 2014-2015 is available online at: http://adore.ifrc.org/Download.aspx?FileId=53557.

Overall in Africa in 2014, highlights include:

• Response to West African Ebola epidemic through six emergency appeals (Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal, plus regional coordination and preparedness appeal).

• Support to help National Societies stave off Ebola in neighbouring countries and Africa transport hubs through 11 DREF preparedness operations.

• Response to 57 emergency operations (13 Emergency appeals; 44 DREF operations) –with budgets totalling CHF164M. Against this CHF 127M in funding was registered, the highest coverage in recent years.

• Development programmes with a budget of CHF 56M against CHF36M income, mainly in disaster preparedness and risk reduction, as well as in health and social services.

• Unrestricted/Statutory funding of staff and offices at Zone and regional level, providing representation, technical assistance and a range of other support totalling CHF 5M

• African Governance Group (AGG) innovative peer support to targeted Africa National Societies

When the Tonkolili District reported a new case of Ebola on 24 July 2015, it marked a change in the Sierra Leone Ebola response. A rapid response team was despatched to manage this new source of infection, the first case in that area for more than 150 days. It resulted in a whole village being quarantined, and showed how quickly Ebola can travel and that no district can let down its guard until there are zero cases of Ebola.

WHO immediately sent more than 20 staff, logistics and supplies to the area. “We are deploying more technical staff with the required expertise to Tonkolili District because getting it right in Tonkolili is a must and is critical in getting to zero at this stage of the outbreak” said Dr Anders Nordström, WHO Representative. Epidemiologists, social mobilisers, contact tracing mentors, coordinators and operations teams were mobilised from other districts.

Not sorcery, Ebola!

The resurgence of the deadly Ebola disease drew attention to Massessehbeh village. It was the last residence of the confirmed Ebola patient, a young man who had fallen ill and travelled there from Freetown. The community had provided care for him in his illness and buried him after his death at the Masanga hospital. Family members had attributed his illness and death to sorcery and curse, and treated his care and burial as an ordinary case, not suspecting it was Ebola.

After his death and confirmation that it was from Ebola, all his contacts were identified, including health workers, staff and nursing students at the Masanga Hospital, family members and friends. The case left a trail of 507 people placed in mandatory quarantine in Massessehbeh village, where 29 of them were considered high risk contacts. Two – the mother and maternal uncle of the deceased were transferred to an Ebola Treatment centre where they too have tested positive for Ebola.

Quarantine in Massessehbeh

Situated at the Magburaka-Matotoka highway, Massessehbeh was placed under guard after 24 July. Red tapes on both sides of the road prevent passers-by from turning into the village. Residents in this small village of about 600 people are predominantly subsistence farmers.

However, their activities have been interrupted and they are spending the rest of the 21-day quarantine confined within the surroundings of their houses in the village. “This is a difficult time for me and my people, children, youths, everyone”, said Foday Koroma, Chief of Massessebeh village.

Their basic needs are being catered for by WHO and partners. Surveillance, contact tracing, social mobilisation and psychosocial activities have been intensified as control measures for immediate response to prevent further transmission should any of the people in quarantine develop the disease. Partners have increased their activities with improved coordination.

Their fields are unattended. "We are always engaged with our livelihood activities but now we can’t go to our farms. By the time we finish the quarantine, our fields and crops will be badly affected. But we will abide by the regulations so that we all can put this outbreak behind us". Everyone here expressed similar concerns but at the same time, they think ending Ebola is more important.

Fighting fears and misconceptions

Foday Kamara is a Data Clerk at the Magburaka Government Hopital. He lives and works in Magburaka, the district headquarter town of Tonkolili District. But his 4 children, wife and extended family live in Massessehbeh. Though Foday was not one of the people quarantined in the village, he however returned to Massessehbeh to join his family and community members in quarantine.

He asked his supervisors to be excused from duty. "I decided to be self-quarantined because I know that there are a lot of fears and misconceptions among the people, especially our old folks, about Ebola and the whole issue of quarantine", said Foday.

He said he was given the privilege during the first 3 days of quarantine to go round the village together with contact tracers and social mobilisers, "that are not from here", to reassure his village and to reduce the fear and misinformation. "Coming back to join them and explaining to them about the quarantine has reduced a lot of tension among the people".

A week has passed without anyone showing signs and symptoms of the disease since the village was quarantined. However, Foday says, “We still have more days to go and we would be very very lucky if we go through this without any new case”, he added.

WHO and partners' response

There has been a huge inflow of partners to support the response. Their activities are being coordinated by the Tonkolili District Ebola Response Center in collaboration with the United Nations. WHO increased its staff and physical presence hugely over the last week.

So far, all the contacts mainly from 3 communities have been listed and are being monitored for Ebola signs and symptoms. The contacts include a number of health workers and routine patients from the 2 health facilities where the patient sought treatment when he developed signs and symptoms.

Social mobilisation activities have been increased to heighten vigilance in communities and to dispel rumours and fear which have been some of the major challenges in the Ebola response. Local structures including traditional and religious leaders and community groups have also been engaged to own the response and to mobilize community resources for the basic, and psychosocial needs of the contacts being monitored.

1. Epidemiological Highlights

• Week 31 ended with no new EVD confirmed cases reported in Kambia district
  
• The last 2 quarantine homes with 2 contacts were discharged during the week
  
• A total of 93 (8 blood & 85 swab) samples were tested for EVD in week 31
  
• The district registered a total of 89 death alerts during the week, while eighteen (18) live alerts were made during the week
  
• Generally, the magnitude of alerts continued to decline during week 31

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

CLASHES CONTINUE IN THE NORTH
At least 26 people died on 28 July as armed groups clashed over control of Markounda, a town in the northwest of the Central African Republic.

1 PEACEKEEPER KILLED
On 2 August, a UN peacekeeper with MINUSCA was shot and killed during clashes with armed assailants in a Northern neighbourhood of the capital, Bangui.
The attack was condemned by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Kimoon.

CHAD

NEARLY 26,000 INTERNALLY DISPLACED REPORTED IN THE LAKE REGION
Significant spontaneous displacements due to the threat of Boko Haram and / or military operations and clashes with assailants have been reported in the Lake region, bringing the number of new displaced people over the last 2 weeks to nearly 26,000 in the Lake Chad area. Several inter-agency evaluation missions have been undertaken to the sites where the IDPs are located. Most important needs reported are shelter, food, WASH and health. The humanitarian response has begun for about 2,000 people in three sites where NFI and WASH kits have been distributed by WFP and UNICEF. An inter-agency coordination meeting was organized on 31 July to plan and coordinate the response to these new arrivals.

MALI

12 KILLED IN ATTACKS
Gunmen killed 10 Malian soldiers at the Gourma Rharous military base in the northern region of Timbuktu on 3 August, an army official said. Two soldiers were also killed on 1 August when they were ambushed in an area close to the country's border with Mauritania. In the wake of the attacks, MINUSMA stressed the urgent need to advance the peace process to ensure that the Government and the stakeholders work and act together, with the support of the population, to ward off the terrorist threat in Mali.

NIGERIA

178 HOSTAGES FREED FROM BOKO HARAM
Boko Haram attacks continue in northern Nigeria where 13 people were killed on 2 August during a raid on Malari village in Borno state. Media reports indicate that homes and other structures were burned or otherwise destroyed during the attack. On 3 August, Nigeria's military said they attacked a Boko Haram base and set free 178 hostages, mainly women and children, near Aulari, about 70 kilometres south of Maiduguri.

EVD REGIONAL

UNMEER CLOSED ON 31 JULY
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon informed on the closure of UNMEER from 31 July and that the UN’s Ebola emergency response will transition from UNMEER to WHO under the direct authority of the WHO Director-General. As of 3 August, there are two new confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD): one in Guinea and one in Sierra Leone. This is the lowest weekly total for over a year. 3 August marked day 10 of the 2nd 42 day countdown to an Ebola-free Liberia.