The new cases, a boy and a girl together with the previous two cases reported last week are in a treatment centre in Monrovia Liberia. It is still unclear how they got infected with the Ebola virus.
120 contacts of the deceased teen are still in quarantine, with 14 of them being high risk cases.
30 confirmed new cases of Ebola were reported in the week that ended on the 5th of July [WHO weekly update on Ebola]. 18 cases in Guinea, 3 in Liberia, and 9 in Sierra Leone. [This report excludes the 2 new cases that emerged in Liberia on Wednesday].
Weekly case incidence in Guinea and Sierra Leone has remained between 20 and 27 new cases for the past 6 weeks.
Liberia which went without new cases for about 3 months, (since the 9th of May) also began to experience new cases over a week ago.
This shows that a lot still needs to be done to get to the end of this outbreak.
Lack of trust in the response is one of the challenges that has been recognized, causing many more hidden cases to go without detection for far too long, which eventually leads to further transmission of the deadly virus.
The source of the cluster of cases that recently occurred in Liberia is still being investigated. The dog in question has tested negative to the Ebola virus. Although the dog's carcass was said to be in poor conditions and the tests used were designed for humans.
Investigations as to detect the source is still on going.
The curfew in Sierra Leone tagged Operation Northern push aimed at putting an end to Ebola in the North west region of the country has been extended beyond the intended 21 days.
The 6:00pm to 6:00am daily curfew is to continue indefinitely.
The suspected cases of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo involving 6 hunters have tested negative to the Ebola virus.
Nigerian doctors in the Americas have warned that Nigeria should not be complacent with the Ebola Free status. Taking a cue from the recent happenings in Liberia, Nigeria has been warned to be on her guard.
In a meeting held from the 2nd to the 6th of July by the International Health Regulation Emergency Committee regarding the Ebola outbreak in West Africa the following recommendations were made :
For Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone:
- Get to Zero as quickly as possible.- Continued exit screening in the 3 affected countries.
- Detailed reports on exit screening should be published monthly.
- International support for these countries to carry out effective exit screening.
- Strengthening of cross-border collaboration and communication, especially between Guinea and Guinea-Bissau.
- Retention and retraining of health workers, and increased community participation in all aspects of the response.
- Provision of social and psychosocial support to communities and support to persons placed in quarantine.
- Continued rigorous application of appropriate infection prevention and control measures in both private and public health facilities.
For countries sharing borders with Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone
- Increased and improved surveillance especially near International borders with collaboration across borders.- A strong and effective alert system and contact tracing that takes into consideration the extensive cross-border social and cultural linkages.
- Strengthening of preparedness and related capacities in Guinea-Bissau.
For all countries
-The need to avoid unnecessary interference with international travel and transport.- Implementation only of measures commensurate with the current public health risks.
The Director-General declared that the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak in these West African countries continues to constitute a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
This is the worst outbreak in history with close to 27,600 probable and confirmed infections and more than 11,200 deaths.
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