Posts tagged ebola

“Throughout the epidemic, I witnessed how communities were ripped apart. But it was very empowering to see how extremely dedicated all the national staff were, and fortunately other international actors eventually got involved. For the next epidemic, the world should stand ready to intervene much faster and more efficiently” -Hilde de Clerck, MSF epidemiologist 

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Promising results for Ebola vaccine candidates were revealed by the medical journal The Lancet this week.The trial of the so-called rVSV-EBOV vaccine has been led by the World Health Organization (WHO), Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, and the Guinean health authorities. http://bit.ly/1E4EEDy 

Photo by Martin Zinggl

August 2014, Foya, Liberia: In MSF’s Ebola management center in Foya, a transistor radio plays loud Azonto music from Ghana. All the patients listen weakly from their beds, except one. Eleven-year-old patient Mamadee performs an Azonto dance to an admiring crowd. It is hard to believe that Mamadee has Ebola. See a video of Mamadee dancing: http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news-stories/video/boy-who-tricked-ebola  The response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa began one year ago. Since then, more than 1,300 MSF international staff and 4,000 local staff have cared for nearly 5,000 confirmed Ebola patients. This week we are posting photo stories that encapsulate critical moments of the last 12 months.

Photo by Katy Athersuch

October 2014, Foya, Liberia: Kollie James was the 1000th survivor to be discharged from an MSF Ebola management center in West Africa. His father, Alexander, was overjoyed that his son had survived the disease, but sad about all those who had not been so lucky. “This is a great thing,” said Alexander, “but I wonder how many more people we have lost. How many have not survived? Of course, I am so happy to have Kollie still, but it’s hard not to think of all those who are no longer with us.” Read “My Son Is MSF’s 1000th Ebola Survivor”: http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/article/liberia-my-son-msfs-1000th-ebola-survivor The response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa began one year ago. Since then, more than 1,300 MSF international staff and 4,000 local staff have cared for nearly 5,000 confirmed Ebola patients. This week we are posting photo stories that encapsulate critical moments of the last 12 months.

Photo by Anna Surinyach

December 2014, Bo, Sierra Leone: Bentu Sandy contracted Ebola and survived. After being discharged from MSF’s center in Bo, she was hired by MSF as a mental health counselor to provide support to patients in the high-risk zone. “I was infected, then I was treated by MSF, so I know exactly how the patients feel,” she says. The response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa began one year ago. Since then, more than 1,300 MSF international staff and 4,000 local staff have cared for nearly 5,000 confirmed Ebola patients. This week we are posting photo stories that encapsulate critical moments of the last 12 months. Read more: http://bit.ly/1xrL9T3

Photo by Fathema Murtaza

October 2014, Kailahun, Sierra Leone: Health promoter Mari Nythun Sorlien hugs Ebola survivor Beindu Fatorma as she is reunited with her husband and community. In places where no body contact is the rule, a simple hug takes on special significance as a symbolic gesture showing that an Ebola survivor is no longer infectious. The response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa began one year ago. Since then, more than 1,300 MSF international staff and 4,000 local staff have cared for nearly 5,000 confirmed Ebola patients. This week we are posting photo stories that encapsulate critical moments of the last 12 months.

Photo by Agus Morales/MSF

According to Patrick Robitaille a MSF field coordinator in Freetown, “people who are sick with malaria have the same symptoms as people sick with Ebola… As a result, most people turn up at Ebola treatment centres thinking that they have Ebola, when actually they have malaria…”  To prevent a strain on the health centers combating Ebola MSF staff and volunteers have distributed over 1.8 million medications throughout Sierra Leone to treat malaria.  In this photo medication is given to a child in the town of Tombo.

In 2015, our wish is for at least one safe and effective Ebola treatment and at least one safe and effective vaccine: http://ow.ly/G38a8

Photo by Gabriele François Casini/MSF

The starry sky over the Lokolia MSF base after a long day’s work. An Ebola outbreak, separate from the one in West Africa, was declared in Democratic Republic of Congo in August. For three months, MSF teams have fought the disease in the middle of the Equatorial forest. After more than a month with no new cases, MSF is closing the project.

Photo by Gabriele François Casini/MSF

Medical staff working in the high-risk zone of Boende Ebola management center. This outbreak is separate from the one in West Africa and was first declared in August. The areas and procedures in the treatment centers are very clearly marked to prevent infections inside the facilities. After three months of work, and more than a month with no new cases, MSF is closing the project.