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The Cambodian government incinerated 5 tons of fake drugs in Dangkao district, on the outskirts of the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh on Friday, 28 November. This consisted of 62 types of counterfeit medicines. The magnitude of the problem of counterfeit medicines in southeast Asia is well illustrated by this event.

On the 15 November the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the DRC Ebola outbreak to be over. This date was 42 days after the onset of the last detected case. Two maximum incubation periods for the disease is used in determining the end date for outbreaks; i.e, 21 days x 2 = 42 days for Ebola. The government of DRC, assisted by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and WHO, controlled this outbreak, which was separate from the West African Ebola epidemic.

In a masterful speech at the University of Queensland on 15 November, President Barack Obama spoke about the need for basic public health systems to control epidemics like Ebola. "What we have learned from the Ebola outbreak, is that in this globalised world, where the Pacific is like a lake, if countries are so poor that they can’t afford basic public health infrastructure, that threatens our health. We cannot build a moat around our countries and we shouldn’t try.

A nurse has died from Ebola at the Pasetur Clinic in Bamako, the capital of Mali. The case was reported today by BBC - http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-30015329. The nurse was infected while caring for a patient who arrived from Guinea. The body of the patient, a grand imam, was taken back into Guinea for burial. The nurse died on 12 November and a doctor from the clinic is also reported to be ill.