Problem

Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) health workers prepare at ELWA's isolation camp during the visit of Senior United Nations (U.N.) System Coordinator for Ebola David Nabarro, at the camp in Monrovia Aug. 23, 2014.  Reuters/2Tango

ibtimes.com - by Suman Varandani - September 2, 2014

Japanese scientists said Tuesday that they have developed a new test that could detect the Ebola virus in 30 minutes, with the help of a technology they claim is faster and cheaper than the current method being used in West Africa. . .

. . . Eiken Chemical Co., along with researchers at Nagasaki University, reportedly created the new testing method, which can be conducted with a “small, battery-powered warmer,” making it ideal for use in places without an adequate power source, the scientists claimed. . .

. . . "The new method is simpler than the current one and can be used in countries where expensive testing equipment is not available," Jiro Yasuda, a professor at Nagasaki University, told Agence France-Presse, or AFP. "We have yet to receive any questions or requests, but we are pleased to offer the system, which is ready to go," he reportedly said.

An empty street market in Monrovia's West Point district, 20 August 2014.

* Labour shortages expected to hit main harvest season

* Cassava prices in Monrovia rose by 150 pct in August

* FAO needs $20 million for response plan

fao.org - af.reuters.com -

ROME/DAKAR, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The world's worst Ebola epidemic has endangered harvests and sent food prices soaring in West Africa, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Tuesday, warning the problem would intensify in coming months.

by Isla Binnie and Emma Farge - September 2, 2014

The FAO issued a special alert for Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the three countries most affected by the outbreak, which has killed at least 1,550 people since the virus was detected in the remote jungles of southeastern Guinea in March.

Restrictions on people's movements and the establishment of quarantine zones to contain the spread of the hemorrhagic fever have led to panic buying, food shortages and price hikes in countries ill-prepared to absorb the shock.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

who.int

Publication details

Number of pages: 27
Publication date: August 2014
Languages: English

Downloads

• Ebola response roadmap
  pdf, 1.35 MB

Overview

WHO issued this roadmap for scaled-up response to the Ebola outbreak. The goal is to stop Ebola transmission in affected countries within 6-9 months and prevent international spread.

The roadmap will assist governments and partners in the revision and resourcing of country-specific operational plans for Ebola response, and the coordination of international support for their full implementation. The objectives are: