WHO confirms DR Congo Ebola-free status

The World Health Organization confirmed Friday that the Democratic Republic of Congo was Ebola-free, as 42 days had passed since the last case in an outbreak that killed at least 49 people.

American aide worker Peter Kassig beheaded byISIS

Former US soldier and aide worker Peter Kassignhas been beheaded by ISIS. The US governmentbconfirmed his killing in a statement today after reviewing a video ISIS released that purported to
show the beheading. The 26 year old Indianapolisbman was captured in eastern Syria on Oct. 1, 2013, while delivering relief supplies for the aid group he founded.This will make it the 5th foreigner ISIS has beheaded so far!

Ebola death toll tops 4 900 - WHO

The death toll from the Ebola epidemic
rose to 4 922 out of 10 141 known cases in eight countries through to 23 October, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Saturday.

The three worst-hit countries of West Africa - Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone - account for the bulk, recording 4 912 deaths out of 10 114 cases, the WHO said in its update.

The overall figures include outbreaks in Nigeria and Senegal, deemed by the WHO to be now over, as well as isolated cases in Spain, the United
States and a single case in Mali.

But the true toll may be three times as much: by a factor of 1.5 in Guinea, 2 in Sierra Leone and 2.5 in Liberia, while the death rate is thought to be about 70% of all cases.

Explaining these projections, the WHO said many families are keeping infected people at home rather than putting them into isolation in treatment centres, some of which have refused patients due to overcrowding.

The UN.agency, sounding an ominous note, said that out of the eight districts of Liberia and Guinea sharing a border with Ivory Coast, only two have yet to report confirmed or probable
Ebola cases.

The WHO says 15 African states including Ivory Coast are at highest risk of the deadly virus being imported.

- Reuters

Pics: Obama meets & hugs first nurse to contract Ebola in the US

Nurse Nina Pham, the first person to contract Ebola in the US met with president Obama at The
White this afternoon where she received a hug from him.
Nina, who contracted Ebola while treating Liberian Thomas Eric Duncan at the Emory University hospital in Texas, is now free from the virus after being successfully treated at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda.
When
President Obama heard she was Ebola-free, he sent word to her asking if he could hug her and she agreed to meet him.

5 more Ebola vaccines to be tested in March

The World Health Organization says
millions of doses of two experimental Ebola vaccines could be ready for use in 2015 and five more experimental vaccines will start being tested
in March.

Still, the agency warned it's not clear whether any of these will work against the deadly virus that has already killed over 4,800 people this year
in West Africa.

Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny from the U.N. health agency told reporters that millions of doses of an Ebola vaccine could be available in 2015 if early
tests prove that the two leading candidates are safe and effective.
Trials of those two most advanced vaccines, one developed by GlaxoSmithKline in cooperation with
the U.S. National Institute of Health, the other developed by the Canadian Public Health Agency, have already begun in the U.S., U.K. and Mali.

"The vaccine is not the magic bullet. But when ready, they may be a good part of the effort to turn the tide of this epidemic," Kieny said.

If the early vaccine trials hint at success, larger trials testing the vaccines in West Africa could begin as soon as December, Kieny said, previously the trials weren't scheduled to start until
January.

She also said five other possible Ebola vaccines should start being tested in March.

Yet in an indication of how the rising spread of Ebola is upending many attempts to halt this year's outbreak, Kieny admitted that plans were changing "week to week" as governments, health agencies and donor countries tried to speed up efforts to fight the deadly virus.

In Brussels on Friday, British Prime Minister David Cameron said the European Union and its 28 member nations had managed to come up with 1 billion euros ($1.26 billion) to fight the Ebola crisis, boosted by an additional British pledge on Thursday of 100 million euros ($126 million).
- AP

Obama offers federal help to NY with Ebola case

President Barack Obama is offering
federal support to New York as it responds to its first Ebola case.
Obama spoke on Thursday night to New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Govenor Andrew Cuomo.

The White House says some officials from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention were already on the ground, with another team expected to have arrived late on Thursday.

Obama is asking Cuomo and de Blasio to stay in close touch with Ron Klain, Obama's "Ebola czar,"
and public health officials in Washington.

He's pledging more help if needed to ensure proper care for the patient and safety for health workers and the public.
A doctor who treated Ebola patients in West Africa tested positive on Thursday. He's the fourth Ebola case diagnosed in the US.