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

State of clinical labs undermines medical research in Nigeria

The lack of Level 4 Biosafety labs (BSL-4) and standard research centres where detailed examinations on dangerous and emerging pathogens can be conducted, is making it impossible for Nigeria to partake in scientific research to develop vaccines for existing and emerging ailments, BusinessDay findings have shown.

The non-existence of the modern advanced laboratories has also tamed the country’s effort in making concrete headway in playing any significant role in the global health the scene, despite its huge resources.

Health professionals fear that with most clinical laboratories in the country still far from attaining the WHO African Region (WHO/AFRO) and ISO 15189 accreditation, the outbreak of another deadly virus such as

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 could strike 20,000 in six weeks, "rumble on for years" - study

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa could infect 20,000 people as soon as early November unless rigorous infection control measures are implemented, and might "rumble on" for years in a holding pattern, researchers said on Tuesday.

In an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, experts from the World Health Organization and Imperial College said that infections will continue climbing exponentially unless patients are isolated, contacts traced and communities enlisted.

The WHO, in an initial roadmap issued on Aug 28, predicted that the virus could strike 20,000 people within the next nine months. The current death toll is at least 2,811 out of 5,864 cases, the U.N. agency says.

The latest study, marking six months from March 23, when the WHO says it was informed of the Ebola outbreak in southeastern Guinea, reflects projections based on the data from a third wave of the virus in Guinea, Sierra Leone and worst-hit Liberia.

"With exponential growth, you'll see that