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One of the many questions surrounding the revelation that Americans Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol received a little-known, experimental serum for their Ebola infection is: "Why did we hear nothing about it earlier, and how did they gain access to it?"

Ebola has no cure, although potential medications and vaccines are in various states of development. The serum ZMapp, an experimental product of Mapp Biopharmaceutical, hasn't been tested in humans, which means it doesn't meet a primary requirement for FDA approval -- so its obscurity is no surprise.

The Americans managed to gain access to what more than 1,660 infected people in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and now Nigeria did not: medicine that seems to work -- although, of course, we don't know for sure yet.…  Seguir leyendo »

Le discours rassurant de Marisol Touraine, ministre de la santé, affirmant que l'épidémie d'Ebola en Afrique de l'Ouest ne menace nullement la France, contraste avec une réalité de terrain beaucoup plus alarmante.

Les foyers épidémiques de cette maladie hautement contagieuse et foudroyante ne sont plus limités à des villages isolés d'Afrique centrale. Ils se localisent au contraire au cœur même d'une Afrique urbaine et émergente, densément peuplée, où les frontières sont poreuses et les mouvements de populations si intenses que la chaîne épidémique se révèle très difficile à enrayer. Certes, le Liberia a fermé ses écoles, les pays limitrophes tentent en fermant leurs frontières d'établir un cordon sanitaire autour du « triangle Ebola » que constituent la Sierra Leone, le Liberia et la Guinée.…  Seguir leyendo »

When my 65-year-old mother visited my foundation’s office recently, she was covered from head to toe in a long winter coat and headdress despite it being 28C. She explained that she wanted extra protection against the Ebola virus.

As the outbreak worsened I urged my parents to leave Monrovia. But my mother, a vibrant and protective member of her community, refuses. She is the sole carer for my grandmother, a centenarian who is too frail and stubborn to travel. She stays because she loves her home and her community. She stays for Liberia.

Last year, Liberia celebrated the 10th anniversary of the end of a long and bloody civil war.…  Seguir leyendo »

Here we go again, and this time the panic is on steroids. The Ebola sickness is a horrific disease, and the virus that causes it is lethal and fast-moving. But the way much of the media, which is also lethal and fast-moving, covers the outbreak is even more horrific, spreading misinformation, fear and panic faster than a speeding bullet.

You might think we’ll all be dead by Thursday next. Ebola joins AIDS, SARS, MERS and avian flu that were supposed to have accomplished wipeout by now. Ebola is a dark word, redolent of sorcery and reeking of mystery, a word that rolls easily off the tongue, and it’s short enough to fit neatly into a headline.…  Seguir leyendo »

Ebola outbreaks have occurred in Africa on more than two dozen occasions over the past 40 years, and it was brought under control every time. This was possible thanks to reliable techniques, such as preventing direct contact with infected persons and monitoring all people who did come into contact with an infected person. Anyone showing early symptoms was put in isolation. Despite no effective treatment or vaccine, these standard approaches worked.

Unfortunately, today’s outbreak is very different. And unless we invest more resources in fighting it — and coordinate the response across countries — the outbreak will spread further. If that happens, economic and political chaos could follow.…  Seguir leyendo »

The Ebola epidemic now raging across three countries in West Africa is three-fold larger than any other outbreak ever recorded for this terrible disease; the only one to have occurred in urban areas and to cross national borders; and officially urgent and serious. At least 1,090 people have contracted the awful disease this year, though the epidemic's true scope is unknown because of widespread opposition to health authorities in afflicted Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

This week, 39-year-old physician Sheik Umar Khan -- labeled the country's hero for his brave leadership of the epidemic fight -- was hospitalized with Ebola, adding yet another public fear: that even the doctors cannot escape the disease.…  Seguir leyendo »

Una nueva epidemia del virus del Ébola azota África occidental desde hace unos meses. En Guinea, Liberia y Sierra Leona han muerto ya más de 500 personas. Se trata de una epidemia sin precedentes desde que el virus fue descubierto hace casi 40 años. Los más graves estallidos hasta la fecha habían provocado 280 muertos contabilizados (1976), 254 (1995), 224 (2000) y 187 (2007), principalmente en la República Democrática de Congo, Uganda, Congo, Sudán y Gabón. Estamos por lo tanto ante un fenómeno nuevo. La actual epidemia está ya cerca de doblar el número de muertos de su precedente más mortífera.…  Seguir leyendo »

There’s nothing like an outbreak of Ebola virus disease to bring a small, struggling African nation to international notice. One week we couldn’t place it on a map; the next week, after Ebola virus disease strikes, we know the body count and the name of the capital and whether its airport has closed.

This sad distinction now attaches to Guinea, a country of 11.5 million, in which the latest of Africa’s viral tribulations was reported by the World Health Organization, upon notification from Guinea’s Ministry of Health, on March 23. As of Tuesday the toll was 157 confirmed or suspected Ebola cases, including 101 deaths.…  Seguir leyendo »