A report published on 1 May indicates that the Ebola virus can persist in seminal fluid of a person who recovered from Ebola virus disease for longer than previously known and can potentially lead to sexual transmission of Ebola virus.
On March 3 2015, the European Union organised a high-level conference on the Ebola epidemic. The purpose was two-fold: first, to take stock of the ongoing emergency response and adapt it to the evolving situation on the ground, leading to eradication of the disease; second, to plan for the long term and support the recovery and resilience of the affected countries, including the development of their health systems.
The EFSA-ECDC report, ‘European Union Summary Report on Trends and Sources of Zoonoses, Zoonotic Agents and Food-borne Outbreaks in 2013’, released today covers 16 zoonoses and foodborne outbreaks.
As reinforcement to help fight Ebola in the affected West African countries, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control is deploying four teams of French-speaking epidemiologists to support surveillance and response in Guinea.
Since December 2013 and as of 17 December 2014, WHO has reported 18 603 confirmed, probable and suspected cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in five affected countries (Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone and the United States of America) and three previously affected countries (Nigeria, Senegal and Spain).
Today, ECDC published a tutorial covering the fundamental concepts of personal protective equipment (PPE) and barrier nursing to support preparedness in hospitals across Europe.
ECDC comments on Joseph Lewnard and colleagues' mathematical model assessing the effectiveness of expanding the currently available interventions for controlling the outbreak in Montserrado.