The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stepped down its travel advisory level for Liberia, with the country now more than 2 weeks past achieving Ebola-free status for the second time. The CDC today moved the alert level to the green watch level 1, which recommends practicing the usual precautions, according to a Sep 18 media statement.
Mapp Biopharmaceuticals announced yesterday that its experimental Ebola treatment ZMapp received fast-track status to gain US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval.
Guinea hasn't had a case since Sep 1, but Sierra Leone reports 5 cases in 2 regions.
President Barack Obama today nominated deputy commissioner Robert Califf, MD, as the next Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner, Bloomberg News reported. If approved by the Senate, Califf would replace Margaret Hamburg, MD, who stepped down in March after serving 6 years.
Sierra Leone has reported two more Ebola cases, including a fatal one that is not part of a recent cluster in the northwestern Kambia district.
Also, a WHO roundup of 25 recent Saudi cases hints at the types of virus exposure some hospital patients had.
Along with reporting just 2 new cases, the WHO issues Ebola guidance for pregnancy.
As Sierra Leone stamps out a new flareup, a Dallas hospital shares lessons learned from treating the first US patient.
An MMWR report details steps taken to contain a small cluster in July, which led to today's Ebola-free declaration.
Two cases are in Guinea and 1 in Sierra Leone; also, an IOM task force tackles IHR outbreak response issues.
