World Bank reduces extimated economic impact of Ebola on Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy to $4bn

The World Bank now expects the impact of the Ebola epidemic on Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy to be around $3-$4 billion, well below a previously outlined worst-case scenario of $32 billion, the bank’s chief economist for the continent said on Wednesday.

“The risk of the highest case of economic impact of Ebola has been reduced because of the success of containment in some countries. It has not gone to zero because a great level of preparedness and focus is still needed,” Francisco Ferreira said in Johannesburg, answering questions at a lecture.

In a report in October on the possible economic impact of the Ebola epidemic, the World Bank had said

Ebola: Nigeria offers recipe for success to ECOWAS

Nigeria at the extraordinary meeting of the Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) heads of state and government sold its recipe for the successful curbing of the spread of the Ebola epidemic.

This is even as President Goodluck Jonathan stated that the Nigerian government is making all efforts to ensure that Nigeria remains permanently Ebola free.

Speaking at the summit, President Jonathan, who was represented by Vice President Namadi Sambo, said Nigeria was not only looking out for herself but assisting other affected nations in the sub-region to fight the dreaded epidemic.

Nigeria is currently working on

How the U.S. Screwed Up in the Fight Against Ebola

It was a small victory in a grim, relentless, and runaway catastrophe. In July, Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, both American medical workers in Liberia, became stricken with Ebola hemorrhagic fever after treating dozens suffering from the disease, which has a mortality rate of between 50 percent and 90 percent. They were rushed doses of an experimental cocktail of Ebola antibodies called ZMapp, flown home via a Gulfstream III on separate flights on Aug. 2 and 5, and isolated inside a special tent called an “aeromedical biological containment system.” The U.S. State Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) coordinated the flights, operated by Phoenix Air, a private transport company based in Georgia. Cared for in a special ward at Emory University in Atlanta, they recovered within the month and later met with President Obama. It appeared a win for the White House.

Mapp Biopharmaceutical, the San Diego company that developed ZMapp, is also in a way a White House project. It’s supported exclusively through

Ebola Affects Bourbon’s Operations as Company Reports Loss

The deadly Ebola outbreak in Nigeria is affecting Bourbon SA’s operations, the supplier of ships and crew to energy producers said after reporting that it swung to a loss in the first half partly on industry cost cutting.

“The mobility of our vessels coming from Nigeria has been restricted by some countries,” Bloomberg quoted the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Christian Lefevre, to have told reporters.

“Vessels coming from Nigeria can’t go directly to Cameroon or Ivory Coast”, he said.

While Bourbon has stopped sending vessels to Nigeria for maintenance, there “haven’t been any significant disruptions” to operations, he added.

The company’s Nigerian operations are centered around

Doctor dies of Ebola in Port Harcourt

Dan Nwomeh, a Ministry of Health spokesman, said Thursday that a doctor in Port Harcourt has died from Ebola fever.

The doctor was infected he treated a primary contact of Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian-American who brought the dreaded disease to Nigeria.

His death brings the number of Ebola fatalities in Nigeria to 6.

The total number of recorded cases had risen by two to 15, the other one being the wife of the doctor who is showing Ebola symptoms and whose test results are awaited.

Nwomeh said 70 contacts of the doctor were now under surveillance in Port Harcourt.

The news came two days after Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said

Ebola virus: Hand sanitisers turn gold

Since the death of the Nigerian nurse, who was among those who attended to the Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer, who brought Ebola virus to Nigeria from Liberia, panic-stricken Nigerians have resorted to ways of preventing the killer virus.

One of these, among others, is the use of hand sanitisers after health authorities advised that Nigerians should maintain hygienic lifestyle, including washing of hands frequently, to prevent the disease. Following this, the prices of hand sanitisers have gone up astronomically as people are in mad rush for the products.

There are 10 confirmed cases of Ebola disease in Nigeria while about 177 people who may have come into contact with the virus are being monitored or isolated in Lagos, health minister, Onyebuchi Chukwu, said on Monday.

The death toll from the highly contagious Ebola disease has