Liberia is about to become Ebola-free, the head of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response said Thursday."Liberia is very close to getting to zero [Ebola cases]," Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed told a press conference in Liberian capital Monrovia.
161. It is not for any Prophet to take illegally a part of booty (Ghulul), and whosoever deceives his companions as regards the booty, he shall bring forth on the Day of Resurrection that which he took (illegally). Then every person shall be paid in full what he has earned, - and they shall not be dealt with unjustly.
162. Is then one who follows (seeks) the good Pleasure of Allah (by not taking illegally a part of the booty) like the one who draws on himself the Wrath of Allah (by taking a part of the booty illegally - Ghulul)? - his abode is Hell, - and worst, indeed is that destination!
163. They are in varying grades with Allah, and Allah is All-Seer of what they do.
164. Indeed Allah conferred a great favour on the believers when He sent among them a Messenger (Muhammad 
) from among themselves, reciting unto them His Verses (the Qur'an), and purifying them (from sins by their following him), and instructing them (in) the Book (the Qur'an) and Al-Hikmah [the wisdom and theSunnah of the Prophet 
(i.e. his legal ways, statements, acts of worship, etc.)], while before that they had been in manifest error.
) from among themselves, reciting unto them His Verses (the Qur'an), and purifying them (from sins by their following him), and instructing them (in) the Book (the Qur'an) and Al-Hikmah [the wisdom and theSunnah of the Prophet (i.e. his legal ways, statements, acts of worship, etc.)], while before that they had been in manifest error.
165. (What is the matter with you?) When a single disaster smites you, although you smote (your enemies) with one twice as great, you say: "From where does this come to us?" Say (to them), "It is from yourselves (because of your evil deeds)." And Allah has power over all things.
166. And what you suffered (of the disaster) on the day (of the battle of Uhud when) the two armies met, was by the leave of Allah, in order that He might test the believers.
167. And that He might test the hypocrites, it was said to them: "Come, fight in the Way of Allah or (at least) defend yourselves." They said: "Had we known that fighting will take place, we would certainly have followed you." They were that day, nearer to disbelief than to Faith, saying with their mouths what was not in their hearts. And Allah has full knowledge of what they conceal.
168. (They are) the ones who said about their killed brethren while they themselves sat (at home): "If only they had listened to us, they would not have been killed." Say: "Avert death from your ownselves, if you speak the truth."
169. Think not of those who are killed in the Way of Allah as dead. Nay, they are alive, with their Lord, and they have provision.
170. They rejoice in what Allah has bestowed upon them of His Bounty, rejoicing for the sake of those who have not yet joined them, but are left behind (not yet martyred) that on them no fear shall come, nor shall they grieve.
171. They rejoice in a Grace and a Bounty from Allah, and that Allah will not waste the reward of the believers.3. Aal-'Imran
He paid tribute to the Liberian government's efforts to combat the virus, which has killed nearly 9,000 people, mostly in West Africa.
Within the last three weeks, he noted, Liberia had seen only three to five Ebola cases nationwide.
The declining number of cases, Ahmed said, "is a testament to the president, the government and the community leadership, and the commitment of the Liberian people."
He went on, however, to urge Liberia's government and citizenry to remain vigilant, as the virus has yet to be completely eradicated.
The UN coordinator did not state when Liberia would be officially declared Ebola-free by the World Health Organization (WHO).
"When do we expect Liberia to be declared Ebola free? Nobody would like to go forecasting on this point; there are [still] many reasons to worry," he said.
"Even if we have one case, there's a need to worry," Ahmed asserted. "This virus surprised us in the past… this outbreak came from a single case in Liberia."
Ebola, previously known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a rare and deadly disease caused by infection with one of the Ebola virus strains. Ebola can cause disease in humans and nonhuman primates (monkeys, gorillas, and chimpanzees).
Ebola is caused by infection with a virus of the family Filoviridae, genus Ebolavirus. There are five identified Ebola virus species, four of which are known to cause disease in humans: Ebola virus (Zaire ebolavirus); Sudan virus (Sudan ebolavirus); Taï Forest virus (Taï Forest ebolavirus, formerly Côte d’Ivoire ebolavirus); and Bundibugyo virus (Bundibugyo ebolavirus). The fifth, Reston virus (Reston ebolavirus), has caused disease in nonhuman primates, but not in humans.
Ebola viruses are found in several African countries. Ebola was first discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since then, outbreaks have appeared sporadically in Africa.
The natural reservoir host of Ebola virus remains unknown. However, on the basis of evidence and the nature of similar viruses, researchers believe that the virus is animal-borne and that bats are the most likely reservoir. Four of the five virus strains occur in an animal host native to Africa.
The cough of very sick Ebola patients could be as dangerous as their vomit or diarrhea to those around them, a new report suggests.
However, the same experts also cautioned that this does not mean that the deadly virus could spread quickly through the air, as illnesses likemeasles or flu do.
The report "shouldn't be something that alarms the public into believing that Ebola could become airborne in the way that measles is," said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior associate at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Center for Health Security.
"This paper doesn't say that," said Adalja, who was not involved in the study.
According to the study authors, the saliva of an Ebola patient does contain traces of the virus. Also, the amount of virus in bodily fluids such as blood, saliva, vomit and diarrhea increases as they grow more ill, noted the report from the University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.
Ebola attacks nearly all the body's organs, including the lungs. So, if a caregiver breathes in droplets coughed by an Ebola patient, "it is possible that primary pulmonary infections could occur," the Minnesota team wrote.
Based on prior evidence, health workers dealing with Ebola primarily have worried about disease transmission from a patient's blood, vomit and feces, all of which contain high levels of virus as symptoms progress, the study authors noted.
But health care workers also might need to worry about a patient's cough, the authors speculate in the Feb. 19 issue of mBio.
"The West Africa Ebola epidemic surprised even the most astute infectious disease experts in the global public health community," the report concluded. "We should not assume that Ebola viruses are not capable of surprising us again at some point in the future."
Still, they stressed that airborne transmission of Ebola -- similar to that which occurs with the flu or measles -- remains unlikely in the future, given that it would require the virus to undergo a substantial mutation.
The West African epidemic has so far caused 9,380 deaths out of more than 23,250 likely cases, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The United States has had two imported cases of Ebola, with infected people entering the country from abroad and then falling ill. While treating one of those patients, two Dallas nurses also became infected with Ebola. Experts have not been able to determine how the nurses were infected. One potential source was their patient's bodily fluids.
Adalja said the new report "makes some good points about Ebola and what we know."
"We know that about a third of Ebola patients cough," said Adalja, who is also a spokesman for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. The paper's authors "raise the question of whether Ebola could be spread by cough."
But he said that the likelihood of airborne transmission being a common occurrence remains very low.
The report authors cited a well-known animal study in which two monkeys caged in the same room as three monkeys with Ebola fell ill with the virus themselves, even though there was no physical contact. Droplet transmission might explain the spread, the researchers noted.
Monkeys tend to spit at each other and throw feces, and this activity could have created Ebola-laden aerosol droplets that infected the healthy monkeys via their respiratory tracts or their mucous membranes, the authors said.
"When a patient is very, very sick, they have high virus levels in all of their body secretions," said Dr. Ambreen Khalil, an infectious disease specialist at Staten Island University Hospital in Staten Island, N.Y. "They tend to vomit. They tend to cough up blood. When you are in close proximity with a patient this sick with Ebola, aerosol transmission is conceivable."
The new report reinforces the need for health care workers to protect themselves when treating Ebola patients, Khalil said.
"People who are taking care of very, very sick patients should protect themselves in hazmat suits," she said.
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