News outlets report on U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s calls for increased international efforts to contain Ebola made Wednesday during a press conference.

Agence France-Presse: Kerry urges all nations to boost Ebola fight
“U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry issued an ‘urgent plea’ Wednesday to all nations to step up the fight against Ebola, warning there was no time to waste as a Liberian died in a Texas hospital. ‘The fact is more countries can and must step up,’ Kerry told reporters after talks with his British counterpart Philip Hammond, warning there were ‘still not enough countries to make the difference’ as the world confronts the spread of the disease that has killed thousands in West Africa…” (Biddle, 10/8).

Associated Press: Kerry: World must ‘step up’ anti-Ebola effort
“…In an impassioned appeal, Kerry said progress against the disease was being made, but far too slowly, and that the world is not where it needs to be in stemming Ebola’s spread. ‘While we are making progress, we are not where we can say that we need to be, and there are additional needs that have to be met in order for the global community to be able to properly respond to this challenge — and to make sure that we protect people in all of our countries,’ Kerry said…” (Lee, 10/8).

The Hill: Kerry: ‘We need airlines to continue to operate in West Africa’
“Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday rejected widespread calls for a flight ban between the U.S. and African nations that are battling Ebola. Some lawmakers have been pushing for a ban on commercial airline flights between the U.S. and Ebola-stricken nations following the diagnosis of the disease in a man who flew from Liberia to Texas with a connection in Washington, D.C….” (Laing, 10/8).

Link to individual story

The Hill: Obama calls for ‘appropriate sense of urgency’ on Ebola efforts
“President Barack Obama urged 1,500 state health leaders on Wednesday to do their part to prevent the spread of Ebola, calling them ‘partners in this fight’ against the deadly disease. Speaking hours after the first U.S. Ebola patient was pronounced dead in a Dallas hospital, the president instructed local authorities to follow federal guidelines precisely to prepare for a potential case of the deadly disease. He said it was crucial to respond with ‘an appropriate sense of urgency’…” (Ferris, 10/8).

Link to individual story

News outlets report on the White House announcement that increased screening for Ebola will be put in place at five major U.S. airports for those arriving from the West African countries hardest hit by the virus.

The Hill: WH: Ebola screening will reach 94 percent arriving in U.S. from West Africa
“White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Wednesday that increased screening for Ebola at five major U.S. airports will capture 94 percent of passengers who are arriving from African nations that are battling the virus. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Wednesday that it would require passengers who travel from nations struck by Ebola to airports in Washington, New York, New Jersey, Chicago, and Atlanta to have their temperatures checked and fill out a health questionnaire…” (Laing, 10/8).

New York Times: Newly Vigilant, U.S. Will Screen Fliers for Ebola
“Federal health officials will require temperature checks for the first time at five major American airports for people arriving from the three West African countries hardest hit by the deadly Ebola virus. However, health experts said the measures were more likely to calm a worried public than to prevent many people with Ebola from entering the country… ” (Tavernise, 10/8).

Reuters: U.S. will implement extra Ebola screening at five airports — White House
“The White House said on Wednesday extra Ebola screening will be put in place at five U.S. airports; New York’s John F. Kennedy, Newark Liberty, Washington Dulles, Chicago O’Hare, and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta…” (Heavey/Zargham, 10/8).

Wall Street Journal: U.S. to Check Temperatures of West Africa Passengers at Five Airports
“…Customs and Border Protection officers are already monitoring travelers for any obvious signs of Ebola and handing out fact sheets that tell arriving passengers what symptoms they should watch for, so the move didn’t represent a major change in screening strategy. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the administration decided to adopt the measures ‘after some thought and evaluations of the security measures’ already in place and determined these new screenings could be adopted ‘without causing a significant disruption to the traveling public’…” (Grossman et al., 10/8).

Link to individual story

The Hill: Marines headed to Africa to fight Ebola outbreak
“The Pentagon is deploying 100 troops from a special Marine response force to West Africa to help fight the Ebola outbreak. … The Marine unit will provide supply and transportation assistance for the anti-Ebola effort until Army units arrive later this month to take over the possibly year-long mission…” (Wong, 10/8).

Link to individual story

Reuters: Ports tighten ship entry procedures as Ebola fears spread
“Brazil, Argentina, and the United States have tightened port entry procedures for ships that have sailed from West Africa in a bid to control the potential spread of the deadly Ebola virus…” (Saul et al., 10/8).

Link to individual story

Wall Street Journal: U.S. Steps Up Training of Health Workers in Ebola Fight
The newspaper describes “…a three-day course set up by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to prepare medical workers to deploy to West Africa. … The CDC course is instructing 36 medical staff this week, and plans to train 35-40 a week at least into January…” (McKay, 10/8).

Link to individual story

News outlets report on the death of Thomas Eric Duncan, the first patient to be diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S.

The Atlantic: The Texas Ebola Patient Has Died
“Thomas Eric Duncan, the first patient to be diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S., died [Wednesday] morning, a spokesman for the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas said in a statement…” (Khazan, 10/8).

New York Times: Death of Thomas Eric Duncan in Dallas Fuels Alarm Over Ebola
“…The death Wednesday morning of Mr. Duncan, 42, the Liberian man at the center of a widening public health scare and the first person with a case of Ebola diagnosed in the United States, heightened anxiety and fear here. It also renewed questions about whether a delay in receiving treatment could have played a role in his death and what role it played in the possibility of his spreading the disease to others…” (Fernandez/Philipps, 10/8).

Wall Street Journal: Dallas Ebola Patient Dies
“The Liberian man hospitalized in Dallas with Ebola died Wednesday, demonstrating the deadliness of the disease even in nations with advanced health care systems, and the challenge of treating the virus when it isn’t identified as early as possible…” (Bustillo et al., 10/8).

Washington Post: First Ebola patient in U.S. dies as officials announce new airport screening measures
“The first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States died early Wednesday, as the government announced plans to step up screening of travelers at five of the nation’s busiest airports in an effort to prevent more cases of the deadly virus from reaching the country…” (Berman et al., 10/8).

Link to individual story

News outlets report on the latest WHO data showing confirmed Ebola cases and deaths. While the agency says there is no sign of the epidemic slowing, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf told Reuters there are signs the disease might be “in decline” in that country.

Al Jazeera: WHO says no signs spread of Ebola is slowing
“The Ebola outbreak shows no signs of abating, has killed 3,879 people, and threatens more Western African nations poorly equipped to deal with the disease, the World Health Organization has said in a report. The U.N.’s health authority said on Wednesday that a total of 8,033 people had caught the infection up to October 5, and 3,879 of those had died. Liberia and Sierra Leone, the two worst-hit nations, had less than a quarter of the beds needed…” (10/9).

Reuters: Exclusive: Liberian leader sees signs Ebola in decline but aid too slow
“International aid to battle the Ebola epidemic in Liberia is arriving too slowly, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said on Wednesday, though she said there were early signs that the outbreak in her West African country might be ‘in decline.’ On a tour of the villages of remote northern Liberia, Johnson Sirleaf told Reuters that she wanted to give her people hope that the virus could be beaten, though the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday there was no evidence yet the epidemic was being brought under control…” (Flynn, 10/8).

Link to individual story

New York Times: European Leaders Scramble to Upgrade Response to Ebola Crisis
“…Now, with Europe grappling with the first case of Ebola transmitted on its soil after news on Monday that a nurse in Madrid had been infected, European leaders are scrambling to coordinate and ramp up their response to the lethal disease. As public anxieties grow, politicians on the far right are seizing on the Ebola crisis to demand sharp curbs in immigration, while those on the left rail against Europe’s colonial past and its failure to do more to help Africa contain the virus…” (Higgins, 10/8).

Link to individual story

News outlets report on a pledge from the U.K. to send military personnel and other resources to Sierra Leone to help contain Ebola.

Agence France-Presse: Britain sends 750 military personnel to combat Ebola
“Britain is sending 750 military personnel, a medical ship, and three helicopters to Sierra Leone to help fight the spread of Ebola, officials said Wednesday…” (Haddon, 10/8).

BBC News: Ebola outbreak: U.K. sending 750 troops to Sierra Leone
“…The personnel will be deployed next week. [The announcement] comes as Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said it was ‘now entirely possible that someone with Ebola will come to the U.K. either by one route or another’…” (10/8).

Reuters: U.K. to send troops, aircraft and ship to tackle Ebola in Sierra Leone
“…Alpha Kanu, Sierra Leone’s information minister, welcomed the pledge, saying Britain had reassured the government during a recent London donors’ conference that it would not abandon the former colony…” (James, 10/8).

Link to individual story

News outlets continue to report on the first case of Ebola transmission outside of West Africa and how the Spanish nurse with Ebola may have contracted the disease.

New York Times: Officials Cite Error With Gloves in Spanish Case of Ebola
“Spanish health officials began to explain Wednesday how an auxiliary nurse became the first Ebola case in Western Europe, saying that it was likely she became infected when she touched her face with the gloves she had worn while tending to a Spanish missionary with Ebola at a Madrid hospital…” (Minder, 10/8).

Wall Street Journal: Ebola Infection in Spain Might Be Human Error
“The Spanish nursing aide infected with Ebola believes she might have caught the virus by touching her face with a gloved hand after treating a missionary brought [to Spain] from Sierra Leone, a doctor said Wednesday…” (Brat et al., 10/8).

Link to individual story

News outlets report on the World Bank President Jim Kim’s appeal for Western countries to support a $20 billion global health fund for reacting instantly to public health emergencies, as well as findings from a World Bank report estimating the potential economic loss caused by Ebola in West African countries.

The Guardian: Ebola crisis: global response has ‘failed miserably’, says World Bank chief
“The president of the World Bank, Jim Kim, admitted on Wednesday that the international community had ‘failed miserably’ in its response to the Ebola virus that has killed more than 3,800 people in West Africa and warned that the crisis now affecting Spain and the U.S. was going to get much worse. Amid signs yesterday that western governments were being forced to take the risks of a global pandemic more seriously, Kim said he wanted them to back a new $20bn (£12bn) global health fund that would be able to react instantly to emergencies…” (Elliott, 10/8).

NPR: World Bank Says Ebola Could Inflict Enormous Economic Losses
“West Africa is a poor region, struggling to improve its economic growth. It had been succeeding. Last year, Sierra Leone and Liberia ranked second and sixth among countries with the highest growth in gross domestic product in the world. But this year, growth has stopped because of the spread of the deadly Ebola virus. On Wednesday, the World Bank released a report saying the epidemic’s economic cost could reach $32.6 billion by the end of 2015 if the outbreak spreads…” (Geewax, 10/8).

Link to individual story

Financial Times: Ebola is one of several risks facing West Africa
“…The predictions of economic losses [from Ebola] vary from apocalyptic billions of dollars in the worse-case scenario to only a few millions of dollars if the outbreak if stopped soon. … Regardless of the final toll, what is already clear is that a mix of real economic impact, stigma, and fear is driving the shares of airlines and travel groups down, hurting mining companies, and affecting the daily economic life in the region, at times, thousands of kilometers away from the affected areas. West African government officials are increasingly worried that stigma could extract the largest economic toll…” (Blas, 10/8).

Link to individual story

TIME: Ebola Should Change How We Fund Drugs for Emerging Disease
“Emerging and infectious diseases are having a moment for all the worst reasons, with credit due to the Ebola outbreak. But scientists studying other emerging diseases beyond Ebola are hopeful that the attention on the disease — and what can happen without available therapeutics — is here to stay. The fact that there are no drugs or vaccines approved for Ebola isn’t for a dearth of research, but rather because there’s scant financial incentive for pharmaceutical companies to take on the treatments…” (Sifferlin, 10/8).

Link to individual story

IRIN: Ebola effect reverses gains in maternal, child mortality
“Maternal and infant deaths in Liberia and Sierra Leone are set to rise above their current alarming rates as fear of Ebola keeps pregnant women away from hospitals and makes already-scarce health workers reluctant to deliver babies…” (10/8).

Link to individual story

Miami Herald: Haiti’s sanitation needs to be focus of meeting in capitol
“Four years after cholera arrived in Haiti, the country still is trying to curb the epidemic, even as it sees significant drops in the numbers of people succumbing to the deadly waterborne disease. Still, more than 30 people a day continue to get infected with cholera, a number that remains unacceptable, according to Haitians and other officials as they prepare for a major donor conference Thursday in Washington focused on bringing clean water and sanitation to the country…” (Charles, 10/8).

Link to individual story

Devex: A risky business: Aid workers in danger
“…Kidnapping and violence against foreign aid workers has gone from a rare horror story to an all-too-familiar refrain from those working in the world’s most dangerous locales. Even as security has improved for many aid organizations in recent years, deepening political crises in a few select hot spots stretching across the Middle East, North Africa, and Latin America have made it increasingly risky for humanitarians operating in remote and unstable locations…” (Kravitz/O’Molloy, 10/8).

Link to individual story

News outlets report on a recently released Amnesty International report on maternal health in South Africa.

The Guardian: HIV stigma causing avoidable maternal deaths in South Africa, says Amnesty
“Hundreds of pregnant women and girls are dying needlessly in South Africa, partly because of well-founded fears that their HIV status may be revealed during antenatal care, leading to discrimination in their communities and homes, according to Amnesty International…” (Chonghaile, 10/9).

Thomson Reuters Foundation: Better antenatal care could save hundreds in South Africa: report
“Timely access to considerate antenatal care could prevent the deaths of hundreds of women and girls in South Africa during and after pregnancy, a report released on Thursday showed. Amnesty International found that the majority of maternal deaths in the country were avoidable, and said the main problems were late and infrequent antenatal care and the fact that nearly one-third of pregnant women are living with HIV…” (Guilbert, 10/9).

Link to individual story

Xinhua/GlobalPost: U.N. agencies beef up efforts to battle deadly Marburg fever
“To avoid the rapid spread of deadly Marburg hemorrhagic fever in Uganda, U.N. agencies are beefing up the country’s efforts to fight the virulent disease that has so far left one person dead and over 109 others under close monitoring. [UNICEF and WHO] in a joint statement issued here on Wednesday said they are responding to the outbreak by supporting areas of social mobilization geared towards creating more awareness about the disease, technical assistance as well as logistical support for contact tracing…” (10/8).

Link to individual story

IRIN: Uganda’s flagging male circumcision drive
“Limited funding and personnel, as well as misconceptions and cultural beliefs, are some of the challenges hindering Uganda’s goal of circumcising at least 4.2 million men by 2015 in a bid to lower the country’s HIV/AIDS incidence…” (10/8).

Link to individual story

The Guardian: Gambian youth come together for conference to tackle FGM
“…Spearheaded by Gambian-born Jaha Dukureh, the face of a Guardian-backed campaign to combat FGM in the U.S., the youth summit has brought 100 Gambians between the ages of 17 and 25 together to teach campaigning and social media skills and equip them with the legal and medical knowledge to go out and spread the word among their own generation…” (Topping, 10/7).

Link to individual story

Inter Press Service: Displacement Spells Danger for Pregnant Women in Pakistan
“…In northern Pakistan, a military campaign aimed at ridding the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Taliban militants has led to a humanitarian crisis for hundreds of thousands of civilians. … With thousands of women now clamoring for care, the province’s limited health care services are falling short, sometimes with disastrous consequences. … Some 30 percent of pregnant women among [internally displaced persons (IDPs)] are at risk of delivery-related complications, a situation that could easily be addressed by upgrading existing facilities…” (Yusufzai, 10/8).

Link to individual story

The following editorials and opinion pieces discuss various aspects of the Ebola epidemic.

Nature: Out of Africa
Editorial Board

“…The world is fiddling as West Africa burns, and unless it acts much faster, the [Ebola] outbreak risks spreading to surrounding regions. Sparks from it could lead to exports to more far-flung places, perhaps even to major cities that lack decent public health infrastructure. But countries and the public must also realize that although action is needed urgently, the commitments must be sustained until the outbreak has been stamped out, which could take many months. The relatively low threat to developed countries must not distract or detract from the pressing need to tackle the outbreak at its source” (10/9).

New York Times: Ebola Screening at the Airports
Editorial Board

“…Only about 150 travelers who have been in the three [Ebola-stricken] countries enter the United States on an average day. [Under the new Ebola screening guidelines, t]hey will put additional burdens on the Customs and Border Protection personnel and public health officers on duty at the airports. The CDC will have to add additional staff to those already at airports to evaluate suspect cases. The burden on the health care system will depend on how many patients suffering from fever-inducing ailments like the flu will end up in emergency rooms seeking Ebola evaluations. That effect will have to be measured as this screening moves forward. … The new approach might make the public feel safer. But, as [CDC Director Tom Frieden] wisely noted last week: ‘The plain truth is we can’t make the risk zero until the outbreak is controlled in West Africa. What we can do is minimize that risk, as is being done now in Dallas'” (10/8).

Washington Post: Ebola can’t be fought by sealing off the United States
Editorial Board

“…The hue and cry in recent days by some Republicans to shut the border to people from West Africa is misplaced. … Such extreme measures won’t stop Ebola infections from spreading outside of Africa and may cause serious disruption. … Since there is no vaccine and no effective therapy available for Ebola beyond scarce, experimental drugs, the only sure way to fight the scourge is to identify those who have it, trace those with whom they came in contact, and isolate the sick. The epicenter of this work is in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, where the outbreak is raging and help is desperately needed. The answer to Ebola is fighting it there, at the source, not at the U.S. border. No one is protected when a public health emergency is used for political grandstanding” (10/8).

Fox News: Ebola outbreak: U.S. urgently needs coordinated plan of attack
Bill Frist, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader and a physician

“…To really stop the spread of the disease — to get ahead of it — we need a rapid diagnostic test (RDT) that can be deployed on the ground, not in a laboratory. A test that facilitates appropriate quarantine of those with disease and release of those without. Not only will this allow us to focus resources, it will also help build trust and allay fears. … While we are waiting on a potential test, we must efficiently leverage the resources we have to offer. … The death of the first patient diagnosed with Ebola on U.S. soil should not herald panic. But it is impetus to make sure we disseminate the most accurate information, that our response plan is coordinated and thoughtful, and that our nation’s best minds are focusing on a solution…” (10/8).

Washington Post: Other countries aren’t doing enough to stop Ebola
John Kerry, U.S. Secretary of State

“President Obama has made it crystal clear that Ebola is an urgent global crisis that demands an urgent global response. The United States has intensified every aspect of our engagement, and that includes providing Ebola treatment units, recruiting first responders, and supplying a critical set of medical equipment. … But I want to expand that effort with an urgent plea to countries around the world to step up even further. … Providing [the $1 billion in urgent needs] is a critical component of our ability to be able to meet this challenge, and we need people to step up now. Now is the time for action, not words. And frankly, there is not a moment to waste in this effort” (10/8).

Christian Science Monitor: Ebola: The kind of enemy the U.S. military excels at fighting
Dan Murphy, CSM staff writer

“…[T]he Ebola mission is the kind of thing that the U.S. military excels at. Problems requiring expertise, discipline, and the ability to mobilize resources and people quickly in service of an achievable, clearly defined mission is what soldiers and officers dream of. … While killing ideologies in foreign societies is something the U.S. has failed at repeatedly throughout history, its ability to deal with pathogens or major engineering problems, or win specified military victories (think ‘toppling Saddam’ versus ‘creating a democratic, stable and U.S.-friendly Iraq’), shows a history of success. … The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grew out of the Army’s World War II malaria control effort. … U.S. military medical research has helped develop the vaccine for Japanese encephalitis, strains of hepatitis and typhoid, and has dramatically improved treatment of diseases from malaria to cholera” (10/8).

Link to individual story

Devex: A tipping point for MNCH and nutrition? Reflections on an U.N.-usual General Assembly
Joel Spicer, president of the Micronutrient Initiative

“…U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Every Woman, Every Child event [during the U.N. General Assembly Meeting in September] saw Canada, Norway, and the United States mobilize more than $4 billion for a Global Financing Facility set up by the World Bank with the goal of saving and improving the lives of women and children as well as accelerating progress to achieve the health Millennium Development Goals before the end of 2015. Fighting malnutrition will be essential to meet that goal. … The establishment of the Global Financing Facility … is a testament to the impact of leadership and the power of aligned values expressed through joint action and commitment. It is further evidence of the growing determination to move the global discussion about women and children from ‘talk’ to ‘action’ and to keep it high on the global agenda. That is something to be inspired by, and a cause for optimism and renewed determination…” (10/8).

Link to individual story

The following blog posts discuss the recently released 2014 Aid Transparency Index (ATI).

Center for Global Development’s “Rethinking U.S. Development Policy”: MCC Tops U.S. Government in Aid Transparency Again
Sarah Rose, senior policy analyst with CGD, discusses the fourth annual ATI, noting, “…This year MCC ranks third (out of 68 global donors), down a couple of slots from last year’s chart-topping performance, but far ahead of other U.S. government agencies, all of which are solidly middle-of-the-pack…” (10/8).

Humanosphere: Aid donors way behind in meeting transparency commitments
Development blogger Tom Murphy writes about the index, stating, “…Overall, aid donors are showing signs of improvement. But the majority are a long way off from meeting their commitments to publish using the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) standards by the end of 2015, says Publish What You Fund, the transparency watchdog that produced the report…” (10/8).

Oxfam America’s “The Politics Of Poverty”: The aid transparency index is out — how did the U.S. do?
David Saldivar, a policy and advocacy adviser on Oxfam America’s Aid Effectiveness team, examines how U.S. agencies and programs ranked in the ATI. He writes, “…For some U.S. foreign assistance agencies, the new index documents progress and achievement in fulfilling the U.S. government’s commitment to make aid more transparent. … Of course there’s room for improvement…” (10/8).

Link to individual story

Center for Strategic & International Studies: Global Health Engagement: Sharpening a Key Tool for the Department of Defense
In a new report, J. Christopher Daniel, a senior associate (consultant) with the CSIS Global Health Policy Center, “examines recent efforts within DoD to clarify the appropriate role of global health engagement — in direct support of its mission and in support of broader U.S. security and global health goals — and to increase its effectiveness” (10/8).

Link to individual story

Center for Global Health Policy’s “Science Speaks”: 90-90-90: Chris Collins of UNAIDS breaks down the math, and the meaning
Antigone Barton, writer and editor of “Science Speaks” and senior communications officer at the Center for Global Health Policy, summarizes comments made by Chris Collins, chief of the Community Mobilization Division at UNAIDS, during AVAC’s “Research and Reality” webinar series “about the impact of continuing biomedical HIV prevention breakthroughs on the ground” and UNAIDS’ goals to get “90 percent of people living with HIV to know they have the virus, 90 percent of those who know they are infected to be receiving sustainable antiretroviral treatment, and 90 percent of those people on treatment to have sustainable suppression of their virus — 90-90-90 — by 2020” (10/8).

Link to individual story

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists”: Announcing the Next Phase of Grand Challenges
Steven Buchsbaum, deputy director of discovery and translational sciences in the Global Health Program of the Gates Foundation, discusses the 10th anniversary of Grand Challenges, writing, “Building on the lessons learned from the last decade of our collective work, we are now entering the next phase of Grand Challenges.” He outlines three new calls, including, “Creating and Measuring Integrated Solutions for Healthy Birth, Growth, and Development”; “Putting Women and Girls in the Center of Development”; and “Creating New Interventions for Global Health” (10/8).

Link to individual story

World Bank’s “Voices”: To Feed the Future, Let’s End Hunger by 2030
In a guest post, David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, writes, “…At the end of the day, stakeholders on the ground — individuals, families, communities, and governments at all levels — are on the frontlines in efforts to end chronic hunger and malnutrition. Over the last decade, development partners have shifted towards a more country-owned, country-led model. There is a greater focus on the need to strengthen institutions and systems in country. This has to be where we put our energy in the post-2015 global development agenda” (10/8).

Link to individual story

Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases’ “End the Neglect”: Ecuador Becomes Second Country in the World to Eliminate River Blindness
Angad Dhindsa of the Global Network highlights Ecuador’s elimination of onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness (10/8).

Link to individual story