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Ebola
Fadéla Chaib, for the World Health Organization (WHO), reminded the journalists about the press conference this afternoon at WHO Headquarters at 2 p.m. to discuss results of the meeting held on Thursday on the access to and funding for potential vaccines for Ebola. The Speaker would be Dr Marie-Paule Kieny. The transcript would be provided after the conference.
Ms. Chaib said that today, the first Ebola case had been confirmed in Mali. It was a two-year old girl who fell sick on 20 October in Kayes, 600 km away from Bamako. She had been transferred to the hospital after her treatment in a paediatric centre on 21 October. The little girl had been travelling with her grandmother to Guinea. WHO did not know all the details of the journey but the result had been confirmed positive for Ebola from a national laboratory.
The local authorities had identified 43 persons who had been in contact with the little girl and her grandmother, including 10 health care personnel who had taken care of the girl in the paediatric centre before her transfer to the hospital. Those contacts were under control and the paediatric centre had been disinfected.
On 19 October WHO had deployed a team to Mali and Côte d’Ivoire in order to prevent the spread of Ebola in the neighbouring countries. In the next 24 hours, WHO would reinforce its team and send experts to Mali in order to support the team which was already in the country. The local WHO office had been asked to develop a structure in order to help the local health care system. An updated situation report would be distributed later in the day.
Asked for an update on Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ms. Chaib said that the latest suspected case had been identified on 10 October and had tested negative twice. Also, everyone who had been in contact with the suspected case had been followed and were now cleared. However, before confirming that the Ebola epidemic had been eradicated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, WHO would have to wait for two periods of incubation to pass, which meant 42 days. Ms. Chaib clarified that the Ministry of Health of Mali had notified WHO about the first case on Thursday night. The little girl had seen a doctor on 20 October and had been admitted to hospital on 21 October.
Answering a question, Ms. Chaib said that WHO had experts including specialists in logistics in Mali since 19 October and WHO was looking into reinforcing this team by sending a social mobilization expert, clinical management and an epidemiological expert shortly.
On a question about whether the US had asked the help of WHO to treat its Ebola case, Ms. Chaib responded that they had not asked for help but WHO was working closely with the Center for Disease Control.
Asked about the kind of treatment patients who had recovered had been receiving in Liberia or Sierra Leone, Ms. Chaib said that indeed many people were eventually recovering. A lot, of course, depended on whether they received early treatment and enough hydration.
On the question of bilateral help that some countries were providing to West Africa, Ms. Chaib responded that there were indeed cases where the affected countries were discussing directly with potential donor countries. WHO had thus far organized some 700 missions to the countries affected by Ebola. There were currently three WHO personnel on the ground, and four more would arrive over the weekend. Listing some of the most significant donors, Ms. Chaib said that Cuba had 165 personnel on the ground, and had promised another mission; China was to send a mobile laboratory, and so were Canada and Russia. Ugandans were also on the ground, having previously had experience with Ebola. Other countries, such as Germany, Japan and Thailand, were in negotiations with the WHO on ways to help.
Ms. Chaib said that she would check and revert on the contribution of Israel to the fight against Ebola. Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said that UNCIEF was continuing to airlift supplies into the countries affected by Ebola. Flights were scheduled to arrive in Monrovia today and on 27 October and would include deliveries of supplies consisting of 5,976 Ebola protection kits - buckets, soap, gloves and garbage bags, as well as pharmaceuticals and nutrition items.
Meanwhile, four flights carrying supplies were arriving in Freetown in the coming days. The first was scheduled to land on 25 October, with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) stretchers and coveralls. Another flight would land on 26 October, carrying tents, coveralls, soap and other hygiene supplies. Finally, two flights were scheduled to arrive on 28 October with material including tents and coveralls. UNICEF was also increasing its stock of body bags, bringing it up to 20,000 for adults and nearly 5,000 for children. Those would be supplied to the affected countries in anticipation of their respective needs.
Elisabeth Byrs, for the World Food Programme (WFP), said that the preliminary results of a joint Rapid Food Security Assessment in Liberia by WFP, FAO and the Government highlighted the probability of high pre- and post-harvest losses at the end of the farming season, market disruptions, price increases for basic commodities and challenges in reaching remote places due to poor road networks. Should the Ebola epidemic last another 4-5 months, when farmers began to prepare their land, WFP would be seriously concerned that planting for the 2015 harvest could be affected. The impact of Ebola was likely to constrain food access in affected communities for months to come.
Ms. Byrs stressed that the spread of Ebola was disrupting food trade and markets in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and the region. So far the impact on food prices had been mixed. WFP was gearing up to prevent that health crisis from becoming a food and nutrition crisis. WFP was also revising requirements to respond to the increased demand from governments and health partners to establish Ebola treatment and care facilities. WFP would procure and transport material to build additional facilities in the affected countries.
So far, WFP had delivered more than 13, 000 metric tons of food to 776,000 people in the three countries.
The UN Humanitarian Air Service, managed by WFP, had transported 1,130 passengers and more than 11 metric tons of light cargo for 40 organizations - NGOs, UN agencies, donors, the diplomatic community and government partners.
In October, WFP Guinea was targeting 186,000 people in areas of widespread and intense transmission across the country. The previous week in Liberia, WFP had distributed 2,430 metric tons of food to about 144,600 people in eight counties. WFP had increased its October distribution target in the country by 35 percent and aimed to reach 270,000 people this month. In Sierra Leone, WFP had started constructing Forward Logistics Bases in Port Loko, Makeni and Kenema. The required equipment for the establishment of the bases had arrived in the country. They would be completed in approximately three weeks.
Ms. Byrs specified that the WFP’s current Emergency Operation had a total requirement of almost USD 93 million with a funding shortfall of 48 percent. For its Special Logistics Operation, WFP still required 87 percent of the USD 87 million.
Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), specified that out of the total requested USD 988 million needed for the overall Ebola response, USD 488 had been provided thus far.