(REUTERS) Zika infections in Puerto Rico appear to be increasing rapidly, top U.S. health officials said on Friday, raising concerns for dozens if not hundreds of cases of microcephaly. Puerto Rican health officials on Friday reported that 1,726 people in the U.S. commonwealth have been infected with Zika, including a total of 191 pregnant women. That is up from a total of 1,501 total infections and 182 infections in pregnant women a week ago. […]
Tag: Ebola
Liberia Ebola outbreak to be declared over
MONROVIA, Liberia (AFP)–The latest Ebola outbreak in Liberia, the last country still affected by the deadliest flare-up in the history of the feared tropical virus, is to be declared over on Thursday. Liberia will have passed the World Health Organization (WHO) threshold of 42 days — twice the incubation period for the virus — since the last known patient tested negative for the second time. The Ebola epidemic began in Guinea in December 2013 and killed […]
Grave robbers plunder hundreds of tombs in Sierra Leone
(Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP) — New security measures were in place Sunday at cemeteries in the Sierra Leone capital Freetown after grave robbers used pickaxes and sledge hammers to pry open tombs and steal coffins and jewellery. Around 250 graves were targeted in three of Freetown’s seven cemeteries over the past two months, Freetown City Council said in a statement on Saturday. At one of the cemeteries targeted, Kingtom, 60 percent of the more than […]
Malacanang assures Ebola virus strain found in Phl, not dangerous to humans
(Eagle News) — Malacanang assured the public on Monday that the Ebola virus found in monkeys by local health authorities is not a threat to human health. This was after the Department of Health (DOH) had confirmed on Saturday that the virus, which has infected some monkeys in an undisclosed facility in the country, is indeed the Ebola Reston Virus (ERV). Communication Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr.quoted the DOH as saying that this strain of Ebola […]
NAIA, other airports still on heightened alert for MERS-CoV and Ebola
(Eagle News) — The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and other airports in the country continue to be on heightened alert because of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Sydrome-Corona Virus or MERS-CoV and other deadly diseases such as Ebola, following guidelines from the Bureau of Quarantine. Currently, MERS-CoV has more than 180 reported cases in South Korea, where at least 27 have already died. It is the only country outside of Saudi Arabia where there […]
WHO says Ebola will not go quietly as new case numbers edge up
MAY 20 (Reuters) — Guinea and Sierra Leone reported 35 new Ebola cases in the past week, four times as many as the week before, in a reminder that the virus will not go quietly, a top World Health Organization (WHO) official said on Tuesday (May 19). “Our objective is: get to zero, maintain zero and early recovery of essential health services,” WHO Director-General Margaret Chan told Tuesday’s two-hour briefing at the United Nations. “The […]
Suspected Ebola case in Slovenia
SLOVENIA – A suspected case of Ebola was recorded in Slovenia after a patient was admitted in a hospital with severe fever after returning from Africa. This will be the first case of Ebola in the country. The patient is still undergoing tests, while authorities wait for the result. (Eagle News Service Jay Paul Carlos, Jericho Morales, Vince Alvin Villarin)
Ebola vaccines pass safety test
In Africa, two experimental vaccines against the Ebola virus passed clinical trials in Liberia.
WHO releases latest Ebola death toll
In the latest report released by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Ebola death toll has reached 10, 000 in West Africa.
Waning interest is biggest risk in race to overcome Ebola – WHO
Waning interest in Ebola could jeopardize efforts to stamp out the world’s worst recorded outbreak of the disease, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday (March 11). The year-old Ebola outbreak has killed 9,976 people and fears of its spread commanded headlines globally in the second half of last year. “In terms of the risks, the single biggest one probably at this point is the risk that the world stops looking at this disease, stops […]
Students prepare for class as all schools reopen in Liberia
For some students going to school is a chore, but not for Alfreda and Success, two school girls getting ready to go back to school on Monday (March 2). They’ve been at home for over seven months, as Ebola killed many Liberians, and caused schools to shut down in the fight to stop spreading the infection. Alfreda and Success started their preparations early, as they wanted everything to be ready for their return. “I am […]
New Ebola lab in Liberia speeds up diagnosis
The United Nations unveiled a new mobile laboratory in Liberia on Saturday (January 30) which it said will drastically cut down on waiting time when diagnosing whether or not patients have the Ebola virus – which will in turn speed up the treatment and containment of the deadly virus. The ordinary looking shipping container is in fact a high technology mobile laboratory, especially equipped to perform the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, the most accurate […]





