Ebola activity steady, back in Guinea and Sierra Leone capitals
Lisa Schnirring
CIDRAP News
Jul 15, 2015
For the second week in a row, the Ebola outbreak region reported 30 new confirmed cases, but in a new development, transmission turned again toward two of the country capitals, Conakry and Freetown, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today in its weekly assessment.
On the vaccine front, research groups announced the launch of the next phase of human trials for two Ebola vaccines, both of which use a prime-boost strategy.
Over the past several months, disease activity has focused main in western regions of the two countries. The urban spread of the disease has been a unique feature of West Africa’s outbreak, though in the latest activity in Conakry and Freetown, all of the cases came from known transmission chains or have known links to earlier cases.
Looking at all of the cases that occurred in all three countries last week, only one case came from an undetermined source, the WHO said. However, it added that a substantial portion—seven cases—were only confirmed after postmortem testing, a sign that some people still aren’t getting isolated and treated.
The total in the three hardest his countries is now at 27,642 confirmed, probable, and suspected Ebola cases, including 11,261 deaths, the WHO said.
Country-specific status reports
Today’s WHO report includes Liberia’s latest Ebola case-patient, a woman who got sick at home while in home quarantine in Montserrado County, near Monrovia. The patient was taken to an Ebola treatment center, but died from her infection. According to earlier reports, she was on the list of 132 contacts under monitoring.
Health officials still haven’t determined the source of the infection in Liberia’s Ebola cluster, now at six cases, two of them fatal. Recent genetic sequencing tests have suggested that virus was similar to earlier isolates, and the WHO said early evidence strongly suggests the most likely origin is from a survivor within Liberia.
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