News that brave UK nurse and Ebola Virus Disease survivor Pauline Cafferkey has again been admitted into hospital has got the medical and health care community into an overdrive on how much is really known about the devastating disease and its effects even after it fails to squeeze the life out of those infected.

The UK-based Guardian news outlet in a headline "Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey transferred to Royal Free Hospital" noted -

"Pauline Cafferkey, the British nurse who contracted Ebola in west Africa in 2014 , is being transferred to the specialist unit at the Royal Free hospital in London for the third time since her return to the UK. Cafferkey, 39, who is said to be in a stable condition, was initially admitted to Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University hospital and on Tuesday afternoon an RAF aircraft landed at Glasgow airport to transport her to London.

A spokesman for the Royal Free said: “We can confirm that Pauline Cafferkey is being transferred to the Royal Free hospital due to a late complication from her previous infection by the Ebola virus. She will now be treated by the hospital’s infectious diseases team under nationally agreed guidelines.

“The Ebola virus can only be transmitted by direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person while they are symptomatic, so the risk to the general public remains low and the NHS has well-established and practised infection control procedures in place.”

Cafferkey, 39, was infected while working with victims of the virus in Sierra Leone in December 2014. She spent almost a month in an isolation unit at the Royal Free, where she was treated with a survivor’s plasma and an experimental antiviral drug.

She fell ill again in October last year and was readmitted to the same hospital with meningitis caused by the lingering virus. After coming close to dying, she was discharged in November and transferred to Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University hospital to continue her recovery before returning home."

Another international broadcaster that reported the ravages of the disease in the most affected countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the BBC made this observation that should be taken very seriously by all the countries concerned, especially Sierra Leone where funds allocated in the fight against the disease were stolen by corrupt officials who still have to pay back the stolen monies, never mind the fact that the state looters were been protected by State House.

State House has become an institution that has usurped and compromised the functions of Parliament, the Judiciary and law enforcement agencies including the police and the much-hyped but worth for nothing Anti Corruption Commission headed by another of the the rat's cronies, one Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara who recently got appointed by his master to be his Attorney-General.

"The nurse, from Halfway, Cambuslang, contracted the virus while working as part of a British team at the Kerry Town Ebola treatment centre. She spent almost a month in isolation at the Royal Free at the beginning of 2015 after the virus was detected when she arrived back in the UK.

Ms Cafferkey was later discharged after apparently making a full recovery, and in March 2015 returned to work as a public health nurse at Blantyre Health Centre in South Lanarkshire.

In October last year it was discovered that Ebola was still present in her body, with health officials later confirming she had been diagnosed with meningitis caused by the virus."

Another UK-based news outlet, the Independent has this report which should be of great concern to all those health care delivery systems in Sierra Leone. It is the continuing story of a treacherous and vicious disease that will do all it can to stay in the tissues of the affected. That even while health officials celebrate and declare victims free of the disease, the roaring deceitful and evil beast still thrives in hidden pockets that the victim's immune system cannot reach.

"Ebola can stay buried in survivors’ tissue meaning that its effects could continue long after people have apparently recovered, experts have said. And while there is no reason to worry about a return of the virus in the UK, its persistence could be a way that it will flare back up again.

Pauline Cafferkey, who became known as the “Ebola nurse” after she received treatment for the deadly virus earlier this year, has gone back into hospital for treatment for the third time. And it appears that having lasting effects long after apparent recovery, even though it doesn’t mean that people can catch it twice. The re-emergence of problems appears to be because the disease is hanging around in hard-to-reach areas of the body, according to experts.

That means the risk of transmission is low, but there is a “risk that further outbreaks can be triggered”, according to experts.

Scientists are still not entirely sure about what the long-term effects of Ebola are.

"It seems that some of the ongoing health problems with people's eyes, joints and hair loss are actually caused not by the after-effects of Ebola, but by the small amounts of Ebola which is still residing somewhere in the body," Dr Ben Neuman, a virologist at the University of Reading, told BBC Radio Scotland. "It's surprising and we're just learning how to deal with this."

Two new studies have shown why those who are reported to have recovered from the ravages of the disease need support to ease their suffering, agony and trauma.

"The scientists found that 68% of EVD survivors said they had neurologic problems, 60% reported eye difficulties, and 53% experienced musculoskeletal problems. Close contacts also reported neurologic and musculoskeletal problems, but less commonly: 48% and 28%, respectively.

Close contacts, however, reported vision problems at about the same rate: 59%. This group was potentially exposed to the virus but did not become infected.

The investigators also noted that 38% of 79 male survivors had Ebola detected in their semen at least once, and a third of the 69 who were tested more than once had intermittent findings (negative results then positive, or vice versa).

One recovered EVD patient had Ebola virus detected in his semen after 18 months. The EID study, meanwhile, found musculoskeletal problems and headaches the most common manifestations in EVD survivors. It involved 44 patients who were treated at a UK military hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

The patients ranged in age from 8 to 70 years, with a median age of 25. Of the 44 patients, 31 (70%) reported musculoskeletal complications, 21 (48%) experienced headaches, and 6 (14%) had eye problems.

The next most common complications were coughing in 5 survivors and chest pain, abdominal pain, and itching, each reported in 4 survivors.

This bit from the report highlights the double trouble facing survivors and we would once again want to highlight the plight of survivors.

"One of the patients, a 25-year-old man, died 1 month after recovering from EVD. He developed deteriorating respiratory symptoms and fluid buildup around one lung about 3 weeks after being discharged.

The authors conclude, "We can expect some survivors to have long-term clinical needs. The epidemic is waning but the effects of the disease it caused will remain."

In an article titled - "Remembering the survivors, post-ebola" - we have this grim reminder of the urgent work that still needs to be done - support for the survivors of the malevolent Ebola Virus Disease.

"With the news of Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey’s readmission to hospital, the forgotten crisis of a foreign disease is brought right back into public consciousness.

The involvement of a British citizen in another country’s problem reminds us of its existence, and through this tangible link we can engage with it once again.

We might remember the fundraising campaigns, from the likes of Doctors Without Borders or Save the Children, and the ten pounds we donated to the Ebola cause.

We might remember the cumbersome yellow suits and alien masks worn by aid workers and medical professionals, the farcical visual of care for the victims of this most serious disease.

Yet it is unlikely that we remember the people in West Africa who lived through the Ebola crisis and survived to tell the tale, outliving children and friends and losing their possessions to government confiscations and burning.

As the disease continues to affect Pauline Cafferkey, so too does it continue to affect the men, women and children of Sierra Leone. The list of problems that remain, ‘post-Ebola’, could go on. APT is taking the following three steps to help survivors continue in the face of their unimaginable struggles:

1.Rebuilding livelihoods by delivering sustainable social livelihood support services to 1,500 vulnerable families and 1,000 young people through 12 community based organisations. This will increase the incomes of 1,000 families and 800 young people by at least 70% and improve their access to basic needs and life opportunities.

2.Improving the ability of women, youths and disabled people to exercise their human rights through increased awareness of entitlement and advocacy amongst themselves, their families, communities and institutions. This will lead to their more effective inclusion in decision-making, improved participation in socio-economic activities and a reduction in discrimination.

3.Improving access to safe water and sanitation through increased knowledge of good sanitation practices, better facilities and safe drinking water in 12 communities, impacting approximately 12,000 people. This will contribute to the reduction of diarrhoea and water borne diseases, which can be deadly for immune systems weakened by Ebola.

As we wish Pauline Cafferkey a speedy recovery for the third time, let us remember the people in Sierra Leone who are still living with the effects of Ebola and those who are continuing to survive through many layers of adversity.

We note that other voices of concern are now been raised over the thieving of funds meant for the battle against the Ebola Virus Disease after the Auditor General published a second report on the rampant thieving that saw beasts in human form rejoicing over the spread of the disease as funds were allocated to the gang of looters of state and other funds directed from the bowels of State House.

The report is titled "Phase 2 Report on the Audit of the Management of the Ebola Funds" and makes a sad reading.

We have been vindicated again as the report shows that despite the compromised and weak Parliament requesting the return of stolen funds, no one has heeded the call.

Defaulting contractors and others in the thieving ring would have been assured by the rat at State House that nothing would come out of the Auditor General's report.

Now you know that we were right when we stated that the rat is in control of all those disbursements. He decides who gets the various contracts and who should get what amount while those feeding fat from his droppings continue to turn a blind eye to the massive thieving by operatives of the uncaring cabal passing for a government in our beloved country.

In a headline "Sierra Leone government has failed to recover millions of stolen Ebola funds", the Sierra Leone Telegraph had these opening lines -

"Eight months ago – June 2015, the parliament of Sierra Leone published the long awaited parliamentary committee report into the stolen $14 million Ebola funds, uncovered by an investigation conducted by the country’s Auditor General.

Though the committee report was described by many Sierra Leoneans as a State House cover-up, yet its recommendations called for millions of dollars to be paid back to the State by those held accountable by the Auditor General for the missing funds. In particular, the parliamentary committee called for significant policy changes in the management and control of public funds, as well as the rigorous implementation of the public procurement regulations by the Ebola Response Centre and the ministry of health.

The report also highlighted serious failings by the country’s national revenue authority (NRA) in ensuring that millions of dollars in taxes were paid by contractors delivering services and supplying goods to the Ebola Response Centre and the ministry of health."