MS Risk Blog

Three New Cases of Ebola Reported in Sierra Leone

Authorities in Sierra Leone reported Tuesday that three more patients have tested positive for Ebola in a village in the northern region of the country that is already under quarantine in the wake of the death of a 67-year-old woman.

According to the National Ebola Response Centre (NERC), the new cases, which were diagnosed on Monday, bring the total in a recent outbreak in Sella Kafta in the district of Kambia to five. Speaking to reporters in the capital Freetown, NERC spokesman Sidi Yahya Tunis disclosed that the three new cases were amongst the fifty “high risk persons” who have been identified as being close relatives of the food trader, who died on 28 August. He further disclosed that “the development remains a concern for us but since it has taken place within a quarantined home, it can be adequately monitored and further transmission can be contained.”

The latest outbreak brought to an abrupt end the optimism that was fuelled by the release of what had been the West African country’s last known Ebola patient from a hospital in the central city of Makeni in late August. In the wake of the latest Ebola death, Sella Kafta, a village of almost 1,000 people, was placed under a three-week quarantine lockdown.

Authorities Seize Over Two Metric Tons of Cocaine

Authorities in Colombia and Mexico have seized over two metric tons of cocaine disguised as printer toner. At Bogota’s El Dorado airport, police officers discovered the first batch of cocaine when a drug-sniffing Labrador detected traces of the narcotic concealed inside a shipment of forty eight boxes bound for an as yet unnamed company in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. After chemical analysis confirmed that the substance was in fact cocaine, Colombian police then notified their Mexican counterparts of the discovery, which led to the seizure of a second batch which had arrived at Mexico City Airport on a flight from Bogota some hours earlier.

“None of the operations resulted in arrests, but Colombian police and their Mexican counterparts have indications of the two caches’ owners: apparently the cargo would be received by member of the Sinaloa cartel and was sent by a drug trafficking networking rooted in Colombia’s Atlantic coast,” said the director of Colombian police, General Rodolfo Palomino in an official statement.

Referred to as “coca negra” or “black cocaine”, the practice of mixing cocaine base and/or cocaine hydrochloride with other substances in order to disguise its appearance and to make it undetectable to drug sniffing dogs has been used by Colombian drug smugglers since at least 1998. Once the substance has reached its destination, the drug is then extracted by passing it through a chemical solvent such as acetone.

According to the latest Colombia Coca Survey, which is produced by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in association with the Colombian Government, the cultivation and production of cocaine has increased exponentially over the previous year. In 2014, the net coca cultivation area alone had risen from 48,000 hectares to 69,000 hectares, an increase of 44 percent. This substantially increased production capacity and allowed Colombia to produce a staggering 442 metric tons of cocaine over the same period.

Two British IS Fighters Killed in Drone Strike

On Monday 7 September, UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced that two British Islamic State (IS) fighters were killed by an RAF drone strike in Syria in an “act of self-defense.”

Speaking to MP’s Prime Minister Cameron disclosed that Cardiff-born Reyaad Khan, 21, was targeted in Raqa on 21 August and died alongside Ruhul Amin, another fighter who was from Aberdeen. The British Prime Minister disclosed that Khan had been plotting “barbaric” attacks at UK public events.   Despite MP’s previously ruling out UK military action in Syria, Cameron indicated that the strike was lawful and necessary.

On Monday, the Prime Minister reported that Khan was killed in a precision strike by a remotely piloted aircraft, “after meticulous planning,” while he was travelling in a vehicle, adding that the legality of the strike had been approved by the attorney general. In his statement to the Commons, Cameron disclosed “my first duty as Prime Minister is to keep the British people safe… There was a terrorist directing murder on our streets and no other means to stop him. This government does not for one moment take these decisions lightly…But I am not prepared to stand here in the aftermath of a terrorist attack on our streets and have to explain to the House why I did not take the chance to prevent it when I could have done.” Shortly after his comments, acting Labour leader Harriet Harman urged the government to publish the legal advice, stating, “why didn’t the Attorney general authorize this special action rather than merely ‘confirming there was a legal basis for it’?”

While two years ago, MP’s rejected possible UK military action in Syria, in September 2014, they approved British participation in air strikes against IS targets in Iraq only. However, officials indicated at the time that the UK would “act immediately (in Syria) and explain to Parliament afterwards” if there was “a critical British national interest at stake.”

Liberia Declared Free of Ebola Spread for the Second Time

On Thursday 4 September, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that Liberia has once again been declared free of the deadly Ebola virus, a move which prompted celebrations in the capital Monrovia.

In a statement released Thursday, the UN health agency indicated “WHO declares Liberia free of Ebola virus transmission in the human population,” adding that it hailed the country’s “successful response” to the recent re-emergence of Ebola. The statement noted that “Liberia’s ability to effectively respond to the outbreak of Ebola virus disease is due to intensified vigilance and rapid response by the government and multiple partners.” While the West African country, where at the height of the epidemic last year thousands died, had already been declared Ebola-free in May, six weeks later the country saw a resurgence of the deadly virus. Six people were infected, including two who died.   While many Liberian’s in the capital city welcomed the news, most are taking it with caution, noting that like the last declaration, there may be further smaller outbreaks that continue over the coming weeks and months.

Liberia was long the hardest hit in the West African Ebola outbreak, which began in December 2013 and which infected more than 28,000 people, claiming the lives of more than 11,000 in Liberia as well as in Guinea and Sierra Leone. More than 10,500 of those infections and 4,800 of the deaths occurred in Liberia.

A country is considered free of human-to-human transmission once two 21-day incubation periods have passed since the last known case tested negative for a second time. Experts however have warned that even after 42 days, the danger is not over, particularly with the fact that small numbers of cases continue to surface in neighbouring Guinea and Sierra Leone. Liberia’s Ebola management department, Francis Karteh, has warned that while the Ebola-free announcement was a cause for celebration, complacency could not be allowed as the fight against the virus is “not yet over,” adding, “as long as there is one person with Ebola in our region, Ebola is still a threat.” Karteh further added that “the Ministry of Health and its partners will continue monitoring Liberia’s borders and rebuilding the healthcare system to assure that Liberians remain safe.”

China Commemorates Anniversary of the end of WWII

As China commemorates the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II with a massive parade through the centre of Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, President Xi Jinping has shocked world leaders by announcing his intention to cut 300,000 troops from the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA). While he gave no timeframe for this reduction in China’s military might, it is worth remembering that even with 300,000 fewer troops, Xi and his successors will still be able to command a force of around 2 million troops, the world’s largest standing army by a substantial margin. Xi gave no reason for the cutback, instead stating enigmatically that the PLA’s mission was to defend China and “uphold the sacred task of ensuring world peace.”

In a speech which preceded a highly choreographed show of 12,000 marching troops, missiles, tanks and jet fighter flyovers, Xi stressed China’s commitment to peace and regional security. Despite the enormous and slightly contradictory show of military muscle, Xi maintained that hegemony and expansion were the furthest things from his mind. “We Chinese love peace. No matter how much stronger it may become, China will never seek hegemony or expansion. It will never inflict its past suffering on any other nation,” Xi said to the crowd of handpicked guests, including 1,000 foreign troops who for the first time had been allowed to take part in the parade.

In spite of his protestations that China will remain committed to peaceful development, the thrust of his speech and the parade which followed it could not have been clearer. It sent a message to those at home and abroad – especially to Japan – that China’s military might, and his own abilities as a statesman and commander-in-chief, should not be underestimated.