The number of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) cases reported in the outbreak countries of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea has topped 10,000, with the current count at 10,114 in the 3 Ebola-stricken nations. Of this, 4912 deaths have been reported.
The sixth country to report Ebola in this current outbreak is Mali, where a 2-year-old child from Guinea who contracted the virus traveled into Mali. Unfortunately, the girl died as the World Health Organization (WHO) details the timeline:
The patient was a 2-year old girl who traveled from the Guinean district of Kissidougou with her grandmother to the city of Kayes in western Mali, which is approximately 600 km from the Malian capital Bamako and lies close to the border with Senegal. The patient was symptomatic for much of the journey. On 22 October the patient was taken to Fousseyni Daou hospital in Kayes, where she died on on 24 October. At present, 43 contacts, of whom 10 are HCWs, are being monitored; efforts to trace further contacts are ongoing. A WHO team was already in Mali to assess the country ‘s state of readiness for an initial case. A rapid-response team will also arrive in the coming days.
During a meeting, convened by WHO, of industry leaders and key partners to discuss trials and production of Ebola vaccine, the following key commitments were made: Results from phase 1 clinical trials of most advanced vaccines are expected to be available in December 2014 and efficacy trials in affected countries also will begin in this timeframe, with protocols adapted to take into consideration safety and immunogenicity results as they become available, pharmaceutical companies developing the vaccines committed to ramp up production capacity for millions of doses to be available in 2015, with several hundred thousand ready before the end of the first half of the year. Regulatory authorities in countries where the vaccines are manufactured and in Africa committed to supporting this goal by working under extremely short deadlines and community engagement is key and work should be scaled up urgently in partnership between local communities, national governments, NGOs and international organizations.
WHO says vaccines may have a major impact on further evolution of the epidemic. All parties are working together to finalize the most rapid approach for developing and distributing vaccines, including direct engagement with affected communities, so that effective treatments and prevention methods are embraced and shared far and wide by the most effective ambassadors, the communities themselves.
