Ebola Update - Noon Briefing (26 January 2015)

United Nations - briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
EBOLA UPDATE-----------
Just a note from over the weekend: the Director General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Margaret Chan, addressed over the weekend a special session of the Organization’s Executive Board on the current Ebola outbreak.
She stressed that it was West Africa’s first experience with the virus, and that it delivered some horrific shocks and surprises. The world, including WHO, was too slow to see what was unfolding before us, she said.
She added that Ebola was a tragedy that taught the world, including WHO, many lessons, also about how to prevent similar events in the future. Factors of culture, history, geography, and weak road and health infrastructures produced a mix of opportunities that the virus quickly exploited, she highlighted.
Dr David Nabarro, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy also addressed the Executive Board. He said that as we enter 2015, the evidence is clear that the strategy to end the outbreak is working. He added that the goal is to track and contain Ebola until there are no cases anywhere, and that ending the outbreak will require sustained commitment from the global coalition of actors.
And in the meeting, Dr. Chan also flagged the current plague outbreak in Madagascar, warning that fleas that transmit the disease from rats to humans have developed resistance to first-line insecticide. Consequently, plague established a foothold in the capital of Madagascar, affecting densely populated areas.
Global Ebola Response: