october 17, the evd outbreak in senegal is declared over after no new cases were reported in the country for 42 days. belize on 17 october refused landing of a cruise ship containing a texas worker who handled blood samples of a now deceased ebola patient, indicating "this decision was made out of preponderance of caution for the welfare of the citizens and residents of belize." it also banned travel from sierra leone, liberia, guinea and nigeria. un also on october 17, a leaked who draft document admits systemic mistakes in the handling the early stages of the evd epidemic in west africa. also on october 17, the who officially commended macky sall, awa marie coll-seck, the cdc, and msf for their work in raising public awareness of ebola in senegal as well as quickly and effectively preventing the spread of evd in the country. senegal was announced 'ebola-free' on the same day. médecins sans frontières also on october 17, doctors without borders avers that international pledges of donations have had no impact on the situation in west africa, and that it was "ridiculous" that msf was bearing the brunt of care. united states also on october 17, president barack obama names ron klain as his point man on the ebola epidemic. also on october 17, several school closures in ohio and texas (connected with the two flights taken by amber vinson) by school district officials are declared by public health officials to be an overreaction. the cdc and frontier airlines widen their search, however, to 800 people who afterwards had boarded the same airliner (an airbus a320, plane number n220fr) before it was taken out of service. the airbus had flown to atlanta, georgia and ft. lauderdale, florida, and back to cleveland, ohio. also on october 17, a crowd of parents in hazelhurst, mississippi pull their children from their junior high school after learning that its principal had attended a family funeral in zambia -in southern africa, 3,000 miles away from the epidemic in west africa. egypt on october 18 egypt delivered three tons of medical equipment to guinea, consisting of medicine and medical equipment. democratic republic of the congo on october 18, the drc stated it would train over 1,000 congolese soldiers in kinshasa to support the west african countries facing the evd epidemic there. while facing a concurrent outbreak of its own, the drc alluded to 'african solidarity' as a reason for its contribution. portugal on october 18, portugal announced it would establish a medical base in bissau, guinea-bissau to protect guinea-bissau from evd in the chance that it would enter the country via neighboring guinea. guinea-bissau on october 18 guinea-bissau began works on an ebola treatment center in the hospital simão mendes, which is the primary medical center in the capital, bissau. the country is bordered by guinea and senegal, two nations that had reported cases of evd during the course of the outbreak. un on october 19 tony banbury, managing director of the recently established un mission for ebola emergency response (unmeer), states regarding the logistics of his operation that "i need everything. i need it everywhere. and i need it super-fast." spain also on october 19 teresa romero, the nurse who was the first person to be infected outside of west africa, tests negative for ebola in an initial test. a second test is required for confirmation. nigeria on october 20, the who declared nigeria to be ebola-free after over six weeks without new reported cases. the final case and death count stands at 8 deaths and 20 cases. ghana on october 20, ghanaian president john mahama announces that aid is beginning to arrive at the three worst-hit countries (guinea, liberia and sierra leone). norway on october 21, the norwegian national being treated in oslo after being medically evacuated from sierra leone was released from the oslo university hospital. the woman, silje lehne michalsen, responded to her discharge by stating: "for three months i saw the total absence of an international response. for three months i became more and more worried and frustrated." un on october 21 dr. marie paule kieny of the who announces in geneva that a serum from the blood of recovered evd patients could be available within weeks in liberia, and furthermore that target date for a vaccine was january 2015. sierra leone on october 21 riots broke out in the kono district to prevent the quarantine of a 90-year-old woman suspected of having evd; the youths are reportedly angry that there are no treatment centers in the diamond-rich kono district. a daytime curfew is imposed. united states on october 22, nbc freelance cameraman and medical evacuee ashoka mukpo is released from nebraska medical center free of the ebola virus, the second patient so treated there. mukpo is the fifth medically evacuated case in the united states thus far. furthermore, dhs rules go into effect which route 100% of travellers from liberia, sierra leone, and guinea to one of five international airports for enhanced screening: jfk, newark, dulles, hartsfield-jackson, or o'hare. (these airports had previously served 94% of such passengers arriving in the u.s.) in addition, the cdc announced a plan to monitor for 21 days (the ebola incubation period) all travelers arriving in the us from guinea, liberia or sierra leone, beginning on october 27. they will have to report body temperatures and symptoms daily to local and state health departments. and finally, nina pham's dog, bentley, tests negative for ebola. spain also on october 22 teresa romero tests negative for ebola in a second round of tests. cuba also on october 22 cuba sends a medical team to liberia. mali on october 23 the first case is confirmed in mali, a two-year-old girl who had recently visited guinea. united states also on october 23 new york city physician craig spencer was placed in isolation in bellevue hospital after experiencing symptoms of evd. he subsequently tests positive for the ebola virus. spencer had returned recently from guinea, where he had been working with ebola patients as part of doctors without borders. the diagnosis was unrelated to the cases of ebola virus disease in texas. spencer completed several activities before arriving at the hospital, including riding the subway, visiting a bowling alley and entering another resident's car via uber. mali on october 24 mali reported its first death; the two-year girl who was the first confirmed case in the country died the day after her case was reported. united states also on october 24 the two dallas nurses who had treated thomas eric duncan and contracted evd, nina pham and amber vinson, are declared ebola free; the former meets president obama in the oval office upon release from hospital. also on the 24th, new york and new jersey establish mandatory quarantine protocols for those health care workers who have treated evd patients who arrive from west africa at their international airports. north korea also on october 24, north korea bars all foreign tourists. united nations on october 25 the who announces that the ebola outbreak has passed 10,000 cases worldwide; of the 4,922 deaths, sierra leone, liberia and guinea account for all but ten. united kingdom also on october 25, a paper published in the lancet forecasts that the scale of the current international response is too slow to prevent numerous further deaths in west africa. united states also on october 25, nurse kaci hickox, who had treated evd patients in sierra leone, expresses frustration at her quarantine after her arrival at newark international airport the previous day under a state policy which exceeds the recommendations of the cdc. mauritania also on october 25, mauritania closes its border with mali. united states on october 26, illinois governor pat quinn signs an order mandating a 21-day quarantine for those who have had direct contact with evd patients in liberia, guinea, or sierra leone. japan on october 27, a middle aged canadian journalist was accosted at tokyo international airport upon returning from a two-month visit to liberia and stating he had felt feverish. he was then handed to the ministry of health, labour, and welfare and was ordered to be quarantined at the national medical research center in shinjuku, tokyo. while he was the first suspected evd case in asia, tests on the following day proved him negative for evd. australia also on october 27, australia instigates visa restrictions on travellers from the three countries most affected by the ebola epidemic. united states on october 28 nurse kaci hickox is permitted to undergo quarantine at her home in maine and leaves her hospital tent in new jersey. united nations on october 29 the who reports that the rate of infections in liberia has slowed, due in part in changes in cultural mortuary practices. it warns, however, that the crisis is far from over. the who also reports, in its tenth ebola roadmap situation report, that as of october 27, there are 13,703 evd cases with 4,920 deaths; that all districts in liberia and sierra leone are affected; and that unmeer will have been in operation (as of october 30) for thirty days. united states also on october 29, a connecticut school is sued for not allowing a seven-year-old student who had attended a wedding in ebola-free nigeria with her father to attend until november 3 due to "concerns" expressed by other parents and by teachers. also on october 29, louisiana state health officials asked those who had treated evd patients to not attend the annual meeting of the american society of tropical medicine and hygiene. north korea on october 30 north korea imposes a mandatory 21-day quarantine on all foreign nationals arriving from abroad; furthermore, internal travel and travel abroad are even more tightly restricted. united states also on october 30, science and science translational medicine offer their articles on the ebola epidemic for free for both the public and for researchers given that it is "unprecedented in terms of number of people killed and rapid geographic spread." united states on october 31 maine judge charles c. laverdiere ruled that nurse kaci hickox (who had previously gone on a defiant bicycle ride, breaking her quarantine) must continue to undergo mandatory monitoring by public health officials, but that her movements were not to be restricted inasmuch as she was asymptomatic. "the court is fully aware that people are acting out of fear and that this fear is not entirely rational,' the judge noted. united nations by the end of october, who statistics showed 13,540 cases and 4,941 deaths overall. november 2014 france on november 1, the second medically evacuated case was flown out of sierra leone to be treated in france. the patient, a united nations employee, is not a french citizen. united nations on november 5 unmeer reports that cases are surging in sierra leone due to the lack of treatment centers. "two-thirds of the new cases recorded in the past three weeks have been in sierra leone." united states also on november 5 the white house requests just over $6 billion in ebola funding from congress. france on november 6 france announces the screening of airline passengers arriving from guinea. united states on november 7 a conference is held at the white house with three leading robotics universities (worcester polytechnic institute, texas a&m, and the university of california, berkeley) to explore the feasibility of re-purposing non-autonomous robots to further separate health care providers from possible contact with the ebola virus. possible roles include the removal of ppe, clinical telepresence, and the burial of the contagious dead. médecins sans frontières also on november 7, médecins sans frontières / doctors without borders (msf) announces a significant decline, for reasons which are not fully understood, in liberian cases. united states on november 10 dr. spencer is declared virus-free by the new york city health department; he is to be released from bellevue hospital the next day. united states on november 11 dr. spencer is released from bellevue hospital. mali on november 12, two more cases of ebola are confirmed, both of whom died; these cases are unrelated to the case of the 2-year-old who died late october. the source of this outbreak is a guinean imam who was treated at the pasteur clinic in bamako (the capital and largest city in mali);