With new Ebola cases reaching record low, UN health agency targets ending epidemic
This week, the number of new Ebola cases recorded in West Africa fell below 100 for the first time in seven months, the World Health Organization reported today as it announced that the battle against the deadly virus has…
American doctor and Ebola survivor back "home" in Liberia, fights stigma
Ebola survivor, Dr. Rick Sacra, is back in Liberia continuing his medical practice at ELWA Hospital in Monrovia. Sacra arrived in Liberia on 18 January 2015 after being infected with the Ebola Virus Disease last August. He…
At African Union Summit, Ban promises UN support to build back Ebola-hit countries
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today assured African leaders gathered for a summit in Addis Ababa of the support of the United Nations in helping the countries affected by Ebola “build back stronger than ever,” while the head…
Ebola: UN health agency says large-scale vaccine trials under way in Liberia
The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) announced today that the Ebola vaccine trials now under way in Liberia would start soon in Guinea and Sierra Leone, the two other most-affected countries in West Africa. The…
Doctor who received Ebola case says virus still a threat to Mali
Mohammad, 41, is a taxi driver from Mali. As he winds through the narrow streets of Bamako’s bustling downtown, he explains how life never really changed for him during the Ebola outbreak. “I still had customers. My business…
From victim to caregiver: An interview with a Liberian Ebola survivor
Last June, Siah Tamba’s friend got sick. A nurse aid, Tamba did what any friend would do: she took care of her, bathed her, fed her, and used her medical expertise to help her. Unfortunately, Tamba’s compassion put her own…
As Ebola cases decline in Liberia, safe burials critical to achieving zero infections
As the old truck-turned ambulance backs into the makeshift tent, a team of health workers swarms to receive it. In clockwork-like motion, they transfer the adult-sized body bag onto an improvised bamboo table, the tarp of the…
Popular festival highlights need for Ebola prevention in Mali
Today marks the start of the five-day “Festival sur le Niger” in Ségou, Mali. In its 11th year, the festival brings together cultural actors, art professionals and institutions around the theme, Music, Culture and Social…
‘Last mile in fight against Ebola will be the hardest,’ says senior UN relief official
The international community’s mobilization in the global Ebola response has been “very impressive and effective” but efforts to reach zero cases must continue unabated, a top United Nations humanitarian official has confirmed…
West African communities receiving Ebola’s orphans with open arms, UN agency reports
Grief among the more than 16,000 children orphaned by the Ebola outbreak in West Africa runs deep, but most of them have been taken in by families thanks to the bonds of kinship that has proven stronger than stigma and fear…
INTERVIEW: Senior UN relief official warns no room for complacency until Ebola is eliminated
Having recently visited the West African countries worst-affected by the current Ebola crisis, John Ging, Operations Director of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), returned feeling…
Guinea-Mali border surveillance stepped up in fight against Ebola
Guiba Kondé sleeps in a small hut off the side of the dusty road in Nougani, Mali. There are no stores for miles; in fact, there is not much there at all. Yet Nougani retains a key importance for one reason: it is a transit…