Invs – Inpes – Eprus: Plans for a New Agency in 2016 France is set to establish a public health agency that will consolidate the functions of early warning, surveillance, intervention, crisis response, prevention, and health promotion currently carried out by Eprus, Inpes, and InVS. François Bourdillon has been appointed to lead the planning of this new Institute, by letter from the Minister of Social Affairs, Health, and Women’s Rights dated September 25, 2014. Until the new Institute is established, effective in the first half of 2016, his role will be twofold: to lead the InVS and to lay the groundwork for the future institution. As part of the future Health Act, the new Institute will improve the coherence and continuity of missions related to prevention and health promotion, health monitoring and surveillance, as well as health interventions. The creation of this entity should, through the resulting synergies, free up resources to strengthen missions that are currently underserved, such as the design and evaluation of health interventions, as well as the assessment of the health impact of public policies.

Ebola in West Africa: Situation Update as of October 27A total of 10,115 cases (suspected, probable, and confirmed) and 4,913 deaths (case fatality rate 48.6%) have been reported by the WHO in four West African countries (Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Mali). The first case of Ebola virus disease was reported in Mali by health authorities on October 24, 2014. The patient was a 2-year-old child from Guinea who died on October 25, 2014. Transmission remains intense in the capitals of the three affected countries; the number of cases reported in the capital Monrovia (Liberia) continues to be likely underestimated. On October 17 and 19, 2014, the WHO officially declared the end of the epidemic in Senegal and Nigeria.