New Ebola case in Sierra Leone (Jan 2016)

New Ebola case in Sierra Leone. WHO continues to stress risk of more flare-ups

Ebola survivor relapse

Ebola research enters completely new territory with UK nurse previously infected and cleared, relapsing and in critical condition. News of this is troubling with respect to the survivors of the 2014/15 outbreak. Interesting however is how this relapse fits in to the bigger picture of previous outbreaks where relapses have not been documented to have occurred - once cleared, individuals seems to stay clear of the virus. That begs the obvious question as to what's different about this UK case?

Ebola vaccine trails (appear) safe for human use

The DailyMail isn't a fountain of good journalism so take with a pinch of salt. Headline reads "First Ebola vaccine is safe for human use...". The organisation referenced is the NIAID the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. They've conducted a number of previous studies (including limited human trails) that appear to show sign of efficacy (although it should be noted that according to the article, trails related to the touted 'vaccine' mentioned in the article were conducted in 2009/2010, four+ years ago, and well before the current outbreak). But the study referred to in the above linked article does not appear to be available on their website at time of writing. The CDC still states there are no effective measures to treat/cure Ebola.

Where's Ebola gone?

It seems Ebola is out of fashion and might be said to no longer be an issue, this despite the CDC originally suggesting there would be some "1.4 million cases by January 2015" (the CDC has since backed away from the claim to a more conservative estimate in line with others). That's the three-day news cycles for you, or the easier sell of Ferguson and Police Brutality taking up the charge to the front page.

The question remains though; what happened to all those potential cases on the CDC's Ebola watch list (not available to the public it seems) - about 1000 at its height mid-November. One reasonable idea is that anyone showing symptoms has been whisked away and sequestered as part of the human trails of the soon-to-be-released Ebola Vaccines. There are a few on the market but given the actual rarity of Ebola in North America and Europe, it stands to reason infected individuals are a pretty valuable resource.

Additonal Reading
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/situation-reports/en/?m=20141126
https://www.internationalsos.com/ebola/index.cfm?content_id=438&language_id=ENG
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2014/11November/Pages/Ebola-vaccine-shows-promise-in-human-trials.aspx

Travel Advisories (Ebola)

(US) CDC Travel Health Notices
(UK) PHE Foreign travel advice
(CA) PHA Country travel advice and advisories
(AU) DFAT Travel advice
(EU) Consular Protection Travel Advice

Useful Government Links on Ebola

(US) CDC Ebola (Ebola Virus Disease)
(Int) WHO Global Alert and Response (GAR)
(UK) NHS Ebola virus disease
(UK) PHE Ebola virus disease: clinical management and guidance
(EU) EHC Outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease in Western Africa
(Int) UN Global Ebola Response
(Int) UNICEF Ebola Crisis in West Africa
(AUS) DoH Ebolavirus disease (EVD) outbreaks in West Africa
(CAN) PHA Canada's Public Health Response to Ebola
(NZ) MoH Ebola updates

(links may be updated as needed)

Executive Order 13295 "Symptoms of... other respiratory illness" = catch-all?

Does the change mean anything beyond the practicalities of mitigating, monitoring or managing an outbreak. Does it provide a catch-all to withhold anyone for any reason? It's not supposed to apply to common flu, but the initial stages of many infections, Ebola included, are similar to those of the common cold, so some determination process has to be performed to filter one from the other which might include (require) quarantine.

"(b) Severe acute respiratory syndromes, which are diseases that are associated with fever and signs and symptoms of pneumonia or other respiratory illness, are capable of being transmitted from person to person, and that either are causing, or have the potential to cause, a pandemic, or, upon infection, are highly likely to cause mortality or serious morbidity if not properly controlled. This subsection does not apply to influenza." [emphasis added]

Additional links
• Executive Order 13295: Revised List Of Quarantinable Communicable Diseases (CDC)
• Executive Order -- Revised List of Quarantinable Communicable Diseases (White House)