Norwegian patient 'cured' of Ebola

A Norwegian woman who contracted Ebola while working for Doctors Without Borders in Sierra Leone has been cured, the organisation has said.

Oslo University Hospital said the patient would be discharged from a special unit for highly infectious diseases, where she has been treated since her repatriation from Sierra Leone on 7 October.

The treatment given to the 30-year-old Norwegian woman has not been made public.

Meanwhile, European Union foreign ministers have agreed to step up efforts to contain Ebola to prevent it becoming a global threat, including ensuring proper care for international health workers.

"A united, coordinated and increased effort is needed in order to contain the outbreak," the 28 ministers said in a statement.

They said that affected and neighbouring countries must be given "the necessary and appropriate assistance".

Their conclusions will be taken up Thursday and Friday at an EU leaders summit in Brussels, where the fight against Ebola will once again dominate proceedings.

The virus has so far claimed more than 4,500 lives in the worst affected countries - Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The EU foreign ministers agreed the European Commission should "guarantee appropriate care for international health responders".

This includes the option of medical evacuation to ensure frontline staff get the best care for a disease.

It has been a key issue in trying to boost the number of foreign medical workers in efforts to contain Ebola.

The ministers also said there was a need to set up a pool of volunteer health experts from EU states "for quick and targeted deployment in health crises".

Additionally, the EU should target aid to affected countries so as to boost their own defences against the disease, according to the statement.

Warning that the "epidemic continues to grow exponentially," the foreign ministers called on the international community to meet the $1bn (€780m) sought by the UN.

The EU said it had put up about €500m so far, aiming to support governments in the affected countries in efforts to ease the impact on their economies and essential services.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan earlier said the EU must coordinate efforts in protecting health workers operating in west Africa because countries such as Ireland did not have a medical evacuation capacity.

Mr Flanagan described the Ebola outbreak there as "the most serious crisis facing the world today".

Asked if Ireland would join Belgium and the UK in introducing passenger screening at Irish airports, Mr Flanagan pointed out that there were no direct flights from west Africa so there was not the same "urgency".

The World Health Organization estimates that by December there will be up to 10,000 new cases of Ebola per week, with up to 70% of victims dying.

Chronology - Worst Ebola outbreak on record

While recriminations continue about the world's slow response to the epidemic, the emphasis now is on how to contain the virus at source, namely in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.

That means flooding the region with qualified health workers, providing thousands of beds and isolation expertise, and trying to change the behaviour of communities caught up in the epidemic.

There is a consensus that Europe and the US are best equipped to respond to these needs. 

While the UK, France and Germany have been taking the lead in providing beds, funding and aircraft, it is felt that more needs to be done to reassure European doctors and nurses contemplating a frontline mission that they will receive any medical attention needed, either in the field, or through a medical evacuation.

Ireland has provided €16m in aid disbursed through NGOs and the United Nations, but has no specialised aircraft for medical evacuation.

The problem is that the more health workers who attend to the source of the outbreak, the more medical evacuation capacity is required.

Irish charity Concern Worldwide has announced a €36m programme to fight the spread of Ebola in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

It is looking for logisticians, healthcare staff and engineers to travel immediately to west Africa.

It will also take over the management of 14 burial teams and two cemeteries in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. In Liberia, Concern will build isolation units at 19 community health centres.  

The WHO said today that Nigeria is now free from Ebola after 42 days passed with no new cases reported.

Meanwhile, further tests are due this week on the Spanish nurse who contracted Ebola to confirm she is completely free of the disease.

A Spanish government statement said tests on Teresa Romero, who was the first person to contract Ebola outside west Africa, were negative yesterday.

She became ill after caring for two infected priests in a Madrid hospital.

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