CDC Director Expresses Confidence World Can Eliminate Ebola; USAID Official Says Focus Now On Guinea

Reuters: CDC director ‘confident’ can get to zero Ebola cases
“The director of the U.S. Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention said on Tuesday he was ‘confident’ that the Ebola outbreak ravaging West Africa can be brought under control but that ‘we are by no means out of the woods’…” (Clarke, 1/13).

Reuters: USAID: Eyes on Guinea as Liberia, Sierra Leone improve on Ebola
“The rate of new Ebola cases in Liberia has plunged, Sierra Leone is beginning to turn the corner in dealing with the deadly virus, and health officials are now focused on Guinea, a USAID official said on Tuesday. Guinea is ‘where we have our eye on at the moment,’ said Jeremy Konyndyk, director of the USAID office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance…” (1/13).

Science Speaks: Frieden on Ebola: With “no alternative but to get to zero,” challenges remain getting, staying there
A Capitol Hill discussion held Tuesday, titled “The Ebola Crisis in West Africa: An Update on Progress, Challenges and the Road to Recovery,” included panelists “Rabih Torbay of International Medical Corps, Jeremy Konyndyk of the USAID office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, moderator Gwendoloyn Mikell of Georgetown University, Dr. Tom Frieden of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Saran Kaba Jones of FACE Africa” (Barton, 1/13).

VOA News: CDC Director ‘Confident’ World Can Reach Zero Ebola Cases
“…Frieden noted that the epidemic, which started in Guinea about a year ago, could have been prevented if the countries had been better prepared. ‘If a year ago we had surveillance systems in the … region where the disease emerged, it is quite possible that we could have responded quickly and ended the outbreak long ago, before so many lives and so much devastation happened,’ he said…” (1/13).

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