•Africa leaders summit to discuss problem
The World Health Organization and leaders of West African nations affected by the Ebola outbreak are set to announce a joint $100m (£59m; 75m euro) response plan.
They will meet in Guinea today to launch the initiative aimed at tackling a virus which has claimed 729 lives.
The disease kills up to 90 percent of those infected, though the fatality rate in the current epidemic is running at around 60 percent, according to reports. In the final stages, its symptoms include external bleeding, massive internal bleeding, vomiting and diarrhea at which point the virus becomes highly contagious.
Nigeria’s Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) suspended Asky airline for bringing Ebola to Lagos, a teeming mega-city of 21 million people. Many people had questioned how Patrick Sawyer, a person showing signs of the disease, whose sister had died of it three weeks previous had been able to board an international flight. Sawyer died in Lagos.
Health officials are scrambling to avoid the nightmare scenario of an Ebola outbreak in Lagos, but say there are so far no signs of further cases. Sierra Leone’s president yesterday declared a public health emergency over the outbreak after 233 people died there, joining neighbouring Liberia in imposing tough controls as the death toll from the worst-ever outbreak of the virus hit 729 in West Africa.
Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma canceled a visit to Washington for a U.S.-Africa summit next week. “Sierra Leone is in a great fight … Failure is not an option,” Koroma said in a speech late on Wednesday, adding that the state of emergency would initially last between 60 and 90 days. “Extraordinary challenges require extraordinary measures.”
He said police and the military would enforce a quarantine on all epicenters of the disease, and would help health officers and NGOs do their work unhindered, following a number of attacks on health workers by local communities.
House-to-house searches would be implemented to trace Ebola victims and homes where the disease was identified would be quarantined until cleared by medical teams, he said, announcing a ban on all public meetings except those related to Ebola.
Sierra Leone, a former British colony, said passengers arriving and departing Lungi International Airport would be subject to new protocols, including body temperature scans.
The moves echoed a raft of measures unveiled by Liberia on Wednesday, which included the closure of all schools across the country and a possible quarantine of affected communities.
Ghana also announced yesterday it was introducing body temperature screening of all travelers from West African countries at Accra airport and other major entry points, with isolation centers being set up in three towns.
Kyei Faried, deputy director in charge of disease control, told a news conference that authorities had a list of 11 passengers who disembarked from Sawyer’s flight and were monitoring them.  The government is considering whether to ban flights from affected countries.
The U.S. Peace Corps said it was withdrawing 340 volunteers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea after two of them came in contact with a person who later died of the virus
The World Health Organisation said it was in urgent talks with donors and international agencies to deploy more medical staff and resources to the regions. The WHO reported 57 new deaths between July 24 and July 27 in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.
In a measure of rising international concern, Britain on Wednesday held a government meeting on Ebola and called it a threat requiring a response. The White House has also said President Barack Obama was being briefed on the situation.
But international airlines association IATA said the WHO was not recommending any travel restrictions or border closures due to the outbreak, and there would be a low risk to other passengers if an Ebola patient flew.
The spread of the deadly Ebola virus and assistance for affected countries will be discussed during an African summit in Washington next week, a senior State Department official said yesterday.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the issue will be discussed in detail during side meetings. The leaders of Sierra Leone and Liberia, two of the worst affected countries, have canceled plans to attend the summit. It is unclear whether the president of Guinea, Alpha Conde, still plans to travel to Washington.
“I have spoken to all three heads of state to get from them where they see things going and what we can do to better assist them and we will be discussing that during the summit,” Thomas-Greenfield told an audience at the Atlantic Council.