BACKGROUND On March 23, 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) was notified of an outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Guinea. On August 8, the WHO declared the epidemic to be a "public health emergency of international concern." METHODS By September 14, 2014, a total of 4507 probable and confirmed cases, including 2296 deaths from EVD (Zaire species) had been reported from five countr...

Qualified healthcare workers within an effective health system are critical in promoting and achieving greater health outcomes such as those espoused in the Millennium Development Goals. Liberia is currently struggling with the effects of a brutal 14-year long civil war that devastated health infrastructures and caused most qualified health workers to flee and settle in foreign countries. The c...

BACKGROUND Post-conflict Liberia has one of the fastest growing populations on the continent and one of the highest maternal mortality rates among the world. However, in the rural regions, less than half of all births are attended by a skilled birth attendant. There is a need to evaluate the relationship between trained traditional healthcare providers and skilled birth attendants to improve ma...

W hen ion concentrations differ on either side of a membrane, this produces a difference in electrical potential, or voltage, across the membrane. Neurons utilize this voltage to transmit information in the form of electrical signals. But might cell voltage also affect processes such as embryonic development or the behavior of yeast and other microbes? These questions cannot be answered using t...

The United Kingdom must reverse its cuts to funding of health sector support in Sierra Leone and Liberia, two of the countries devastated by the current Ebola outbreak, a group of MPs have said. A report by the International Development Committee about UK aid to Sierra Leone and Liberia has shown that the UK will cut its total financial support to the two countries by nearly a fifth, from £85.9...

This paper analyzes differences between the experiences of former slaves and freeborn blacks as colonists in Liberia. Mortality was extraordinarily high among Liberian colonists, and former slaves are found to have faced a significantly higher risk of mortality than freeborn colonists. Former slaves also had a significantly lower level of human capital. There are no observable differences in th...

Public health offi cials are warning the spread of Ebola in west Africa is outpacing eff orts to contain the outbreak. The virus, now present in three capital cities, has killed at least 887 people so far. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has described the 6-month outbreak as “out of control” as a steadily increasing number of patients enter hospitals and overstretched health workers search remot...