Africa

101st Airborne Switches Gears; Prepares To Fight Ebola

8:05am October 10, 2014

by Blake Farmer

The 101st Airborne leaves for Liberia over the next few weeks to help battle the Ebola outbreak. Soldiers say in some ways, the Ebola virus is a more intimidating enemy than insurgents.

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Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf visited West Point in August, when the impoverished neighborhood was quarantined to prevent the spread of Ebola.

Three Forlorn Presidents Bring Ebola Wish List To The World Bank

6:28pm October 09, 2014

by Jackie Northam

The leaders of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone pleaded for help at the annual World Bank-IMF meeting: "This slower-than-the-virus response needs to change."

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A health worker for Doctors Without Borders checks patients at a mobile clinic in the village of Zere in the Central African Republic.

World News

Doctors Without Borders Changed The Way We Heal The World

4:35pm October 09, 2014

by Eleanor Beardsley

It's no surprise the group called for a big response to Ebola back in June. Doctors Without Borders, the world's first humanitarian medical group, has a history of speaking up when others are silent.

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Astrophysicist Szabolcs Marka has a radical idea: Use light as a barrier between mosquitoes and humans. He was awarded a $100,000 Grand Challenge grant by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to see if the idea really works.

Help Wanted: Unlikely Geniuses To Solve Public Health Problems

3:13pm October 09, 2014

by Linda Poon

The Grand Challenge is a new tradition in the world of public health: asking anyone (and everyone) to come up with innovations. The latest assignment: design cooler protective gear for Ebola teams.

That lactic acid is the very thing that gives smen its blue cheese-like scent, and it's what keeps it from going rancid.

Smen Is Morocco's Funky Fermented Butter That Lasts For Years

2:56pm October 09, 2014

by Alex Schmidt

Like Indian ghee, smen evolved as a way to keep a tasty cooking fat around for a long time. But smen is blessed with a flavor and aroma that's a lot like blue cheese.

A vehicle that picks up hospital waste arrives at Teresa Romero Ramos' house in Alcorcon, outside Madrid, on Wednesday. The Spanish nurse was the first case of human-to-human Ebola contagion in Europe.

Hospital: Condition Of Spanish Nurse With Ebola Is Deteriorating

1:08pm October 09, 2014

by Scott Neuman

The hospital declined to elaborate on details of Teresa Romero Ramos, 44, who was admitted earlier this week after apparently contracting the disease from a patient she was treating.

World News

Kenyan President Faces Charges Of Crimes Against Humanity

9:58am October 09, 2014

by Gregory Warner

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta appeared Wednesday before the International Criminal Court in the Hague. He is the first sitting president to appear before the court.

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U.S. Ambassador To Liberia: Many Challenges Remain In Ebola Response

9:58am October 09, 2014

Melissa Block speaks with U.S. ambassador to Liberia Deborah Malac about the U.S. effort to combat Ebola in West Africa. Work has been slowed by difficult conditions and a shortage of trained workers.

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The home of Marthalene Williams, the Ebola-stricken woman aided by Thomas Eric Duncan. A man on the porch, who appeared to be in the late stages of Ebola, informed our photographer that he'd been to a hospital but was told to return home and quarantine hi

Fond Memories Of Ebola Victim Eric Duncan, Anger Over His Death

9:13am October 09, 2014

by Jason Beaubien

He likely contracted the virus when he carried an ailing pregnant woman into her home. Relatives and neighbors in Liberia miss his jovial spirit — and lash out at their government and the U.S.

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Broad channels of short-term economic impact from the Ebola epidemic, as laid out in the World Bank report. For a larger version, click here.

World Bank Says Ebola Could Inflict Enormous Economic Losses

6:43am October 09, 2014

by Marilyn Geewax

In 2013, Sierra Leone and Liberia ranked second and sixth among countries with the highest GDP growth in the world. But that growth has stopped because of the deadly Ebola virus.