HIGHLIGHTS
On December 4, the Government of Guinea-Bissau announced that it would reopen border crossings with Guinea during the week of December 8. Guinea-Bissau had closed the border in August 2014 to prevent cross-border transmission of EVD.
In response to recent increases in EVD cases in Sierra Leone, relief actors are implementing a surge in EVD-related activities to strengthen overall response capacity, particularly in Western Area encompassing the capital city of Freetown.
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
Between December 3 and 5, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) deployed 116 West African health care workers (HCWs) to the three countries acutely affected by EVD, including 49 to Guinea, 39 to Liberia, and 28 to Sierra Leone. In coordination with host-country governments, the teams will integrate with in-country foreign medical team structures for additional training and further assignments.
At a December 8 ceremony attended by Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) and Head of the U.N. Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) Anthony Banbury, U.S. Ambassador Deborah R. Malac, and other senior officials, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf officially launched the “Ebola Must Go!” national EVD social mobilization campaign developed by CDC.
In Sierra Leone, USAID/OFDA partner the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is training volunteers in eight districts in safe and dignified burials and is reaching nearly 1,700 people each week through door-to-door social mobilization campaigns. With USAID/OFDA support, IFRC is managing 49 safe burial teams, with 15 teams operating in Western Area encompassing the capital city of Freetown.