DFAT, US warn on Ebola

From DFAT:

The outbreak has prompted Australian embassy staff to defer travel plans to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

“We recommend Australian travellers do the same,” the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in its latest updated advice.

There’s a real risk that Australians travelling in the region could become stranded if the outbreak worsens, the department said.

Liberia has already closed most of its borders to combat the disease and entry points that remain open are being used as ebola prevention and screening centres.

DFAT warns that borders in the region could close and travel restrictions be imposed with “little or no warning”.

Australians who ignore the government’s advice are being urged to check their travel insurance as medical evacuations for any ebola patient would be “extremely difficult to conduct”.

“The Australian government may have limited options in providing consular assistance in these circumstances,” DFAT says.

It’s already happening. From the FT:

The presidents of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia will meet on Friday in Conakry, the Guinean capital, to agree on new measures to stop the outbreak, officials said, as the death toll climbed to 729 people, with more than 1,300 infected.

Lewis Brown, information minister of Liberia, said: “Until we eliminate the disease in the three countries, we are in danger because our borders are very porous.

“We are expecting that measures [to contain the outbreak] will be ramped up in the three countries.”

Friday’s meeting between the three west African leaders comes after Sierra Leone joined neighbour Liberia in introducing sweeping measures to contain the disease after months of indecision, including calling on their armies to enforce quarantines in several villages.

Ernest Bai Koroma, president of Sierra Leone, on Thursday said “all epicentres of the disease will be quarantined” with the help of the army, adding that “public meetings and gatherings will be restricted”.

The sweeping orders, in effect for the next 60-90 days, came hours after Liberia introduced similar measures.

Stripped of the rhetoric it’s ugly, from the US CDC:

This outbreak also affects Sierra Leone and Guinea; to date more than 1320 cases have occurred in the three countries and more than 725 people have died, making this the largest outbreak of Ebola in history.

At least three Americans have been infected; two are health care workers in an Ebola clinic. Affected districts include Bomi, Bong, Grand Gedeh, Lofa, Montserrado (including the capital city of Monrovia), Margibi, and Nimba.

Instances of civil unrest and violence against aid workers have been reported in West Africa as a result of the outbreak.

The public health infrastructure is being severely strained as the outbreak grows.

CDC to send additional 50 experts to region in next 30 days.

Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Thursday that even in a best-case scenario, it could easily take three to six months to stem the epidemic in West.

Meanwhile, on the ground: