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WHO Declares Ebola Outbreak Over; 0 Reported Cases in Guinea, Liberia & Sierra Leone

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C

cameron

Member
Official announcement was hinted at yesterday.

AFP via Yahoo News:
Monrovia (AFP) - The world breathed a sigh of relief Thursday as a two-year Ebola epidemic that killed 11,000 people and triggered a global health alert was declared over, with Liberia the last country to get the all-clear.

The deadliest outbreak in the history of the feared tropical virus wrecked the economies and health systems of the three worst-hit west African nations after it emerged in southern Guinea in December 2013.

At its peak, it devastated Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, with bodies piling up in the streets and overwhelmed hospitals recording hundreds of new cases a week.
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Liberia, the country worst hit by the outbreak with 4,800 deaths, discharged its last two patients from hospital -- the father and younger brother of a 15-year-old victim -- on December 3, 2015.

Africa's oldest republic was the last country still afflicted by the outbreak that infected almost 29,000 people and claimed 11,315 lives, according to official data.

The real toll is suspected to be much higher, with many Ebola deaths believed to have gone unreported.

After the last patient is declared in the clear, a 42-day countdown -- twice the incubation period of the virus -- begins before the country is proclaimed Ebola-free.
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M6cNmLB.jpg


WHO Press Release: "Latest Ebola outbreak over in Liberia; West Africa is at zero, but new flare-ups are likely to occur"
14 JANUARY 2016 | LIBERIA - Today WHO declares the end of the most recent outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Liberia and says all known chains of transmission have been stopped in West Africa. But the Organization says the job is not over, more flare-ups are expected and that strong surveillance and response systems will be critical in the months to come.

Liberia was first declared free of Ebola transmission in May 2015, but the virus was re-introduced twice since then, with the latest flare-up in November. Today’s announcement comes 42 days (two 21-day incubation cycles of the virus) after the last confirmed patient in Liberia tested negative for the disease 2 times.
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All 3 countries at zero

“WHO commends Liberia’s government and people on their effective response to this recent re-emergence of Ebola,” says Dr Alex Gasasira, WHO Representative in Liberia. “The rapid cessation of the flare-up is a concrete demonstration of the government’s strengthened capacity to manage disease outbreaks. WHO will continue to support Liberia in its effort to prevent, detect and respond to suspected cases.”

This date marks the first time since the start of the epidemic 2 years ago that all 3 of the hardest-hit countries—Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone—have reported 0 cases for at least 42 days. Sierra Leone was declared free of Ebola transmission on 7 November 2015 and Guinea on 29 December.
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Vigilence needs to be maintained

WHO cautions that the 3 countries remain at high risk of additional small outbreaks of Ebola, like the most recent one in Liberia. To date, 10 such flare-ups have been identified that were not part of the original outbreak, and are likely the result of the virus persisting in survivors even after recovery. Evidence shows that the virus disappears relatively quickly from survivors, but can remain in the semen of a small number of male survivors for as long as 1 year, and in rare instances, be transmitted to intimate partners.
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More in the links.
 
B

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Remember when we were afraid of ebola instead of refugees? Good times.
 
Vigilant Walrus

Vigilant Walrus

Member
brian577 said:
About time. I don't think this outbreak could have been handled worse.
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I've seen enough disaster movies to confidently say; I can think of a whole lot of ways this could be handled worse.

Like killing a guy with ebola and putting his body in the water supply. that was just one way I thought up on the top of my head. you can have that one for free.




I should write the next installment of Die Hard.
 
B

brian577

Banned
Vigilant Walrus said:
I've seen enough disaster movies to confidently say; I can think of a whole lot of ways this could be handled worse.

Like killing a guy with ebola and putting his body in the water supply. that was just one way I thought up on the top of my head. you can have that one for free.




I should write the next installment of Die Hard.
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Not how it works. http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsan.../how-do-you-catch-ebola-by-air-sweat-or-water


In water, the Ebola virus would be deactivated in a matter of minutes, Schmaljohn says. That's because each Ebola virus is encased in an envelope taken from the outer surface, or membrane, of a host cell.
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Love how whenever Ebola is brought up everyone is suddenly a virologist.
 
T

Toxi

Banned
Thank God it's mostly over. It's horrible how much fear and suffering this disease caused the last two years in West Africa.
Slayven said:
Shtis get cleared up quick when it starts effecting white Americans.
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And then sadly drops off the news radar the moment it stops affecting white Americans.
 
L

Ledhead

Member
The incredible sacrifice and commitment demonstrated by local health authorities and foreign volunteers/MSF in fighting the ebola epidemic can't be understated. Those people threw themselves in the proverbial fire with little to no regard for their own safety. Many died from the very disease they sought to cure others of.
 
Z

Ziltoidia 9

Member
And hey look, we didn't have to ground all flights! People using that as a political issue when it was happening are horrible. Just looking for any reason to blame obama and try to make some money via exposure.
 
K

Kin5290

Member
BocoDragon said:
Remember when we were afraid of ebola instead of refugees? Good times.
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Remember when we were terrified of people from Africa coming to the US because we thought they'd bring Ebola? Or when people where saying that terrorist groups could deliberately infect their agents with Ebola and bring them to the US as bio weapons?

Americans being xenophobic and isolationist out of misguided fear isn't exactly new.
 
T

TheLostBigBoss

Banned
are you sure?

I think we need to ground all air traffic in the US and Europe just to be sure!

this is making fun of people who thought ground all flights was a proper response to US people becoming infected
 
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