CIDRAP News: West African Ebola region eyes January transmission end date
“No new Ebola cases were reported in West Africa’s outbreak region last week, and if no cases are reported as of Jan. 14, the whole area will be considered free of virus transmission, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today in an update. In another development, the WHO confirmed that Liberia’s recent cluster was due to lingering virus in an individual who had an earlier infection…” (Schnirring, 12/16).

Reuters: Female survivor may be cause of Ebola flare-up in Liberia
“An outbreak of Ebola in Liberia months after the country was declared free of the virus could have stemmed from a survivor who became infectious again after her immune system was weakened by pregnancy, experts investigating the case said. The theory being discussed by U.S. and Liberian researchers and the World Health Organization raises concerns about whether it will be possible to bring to an end the worst Ebola epidemic in history, with as many as 17,000 survivors in West Africa acting as a potential human reservoir of the virus…” (Farge/Giahyue, 12/17).