HIGHLIGHTS
Reported number of EVD cases in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone continues to rise.
Among several shortfalls in EVD response efforts, the key challenge continues to be an insufficient number of health care providers with EVD-specific training.
On August 27, USAID/OFDA Director Jeremy Konyndyk announced an additional $5 million in USAID/OFDA funding to support EVD response efforts.
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
Health actors in Liberia and Sierra Leone continue to report increasing numbers of EVD cases. While the U.N. World Health Organization (WHO) continues to report a generally stable situation in Nigeria, the Government of Guinea (GoG) has reported a significant increase in suspected and confirmed cases of EVD in Guinea in recent days.
All suspected and confirmed cases of EVD in Nigeria are part of a single transmission chain, according to WHO. This result indicates that efforts by the Government of Nigeria (GoN) and other health actors to identify possible cases, trace contacts, and increase public awareness of the virus have helped mitigate the spread of EVD.
On August 19 and 20, the Government of Liberia (GoL) announced a nationwide curfew and imposed quarantines around Monrovia’s West Point neighborhood and Margibi County’s Dolo town. International media reported that groups of people in West Point protested the quarantine, with individuals throwing stones and security forces shooting live rounds into the air on August 20.
On August 21, a high-level U.N. delegation—including the newly appointed Special Representative of the U.N. Secretary-General (SRSG) for Ebola David Nabarro—arrived in Liberia to assess key challenges in the region and assist with outbreak response efforts.
Two shipments of health commodities—the first supported by USAID/OFDA funding and the second fully funded by USAID/OFDA—arrived in Liberia on August 23 and 24, respectively.
On August 24, CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden and USAID/OFDA Director Konyndyk arrived in Liberia’s capital city of Monrovia to assess the ongoing EVD outbreak.
International actors have expressed concern following recent reports that the Government of Senegal (GoS) had closed its borders, airports, and seaports to arrivals from EVD-affected countries, according to the U.N. Senegal is one of the key U.N. Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) operational centers in West Africa.