HEALTH MAIN EBOLA DISCUSSION THREAD -09/01/14 - 09/15/14

[BREWER]

Hat-tip Niman:

Posted for fair use and discussion.
http://www.rdc-humanitaire.net/attac... 5 ENG.pdf


UPDATE ON THE EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE IN DRC No. 5 - 30 August 2014

 The total number of cases identified in the Boende health zone as of 29 August 2014 is 53, including 13 confirmed cases.

 Among the remaining 40 cases, 21 are probable and 12 are suspected cases and are being followed up by the field teams.

 The number of deaths remains 13, no additional death recorded.

 Analysis conducted on all samples from Boende which had been sent to Germany reveals the ZAIRE strain, 99% homologous to KIKWIT.

 The cities of Boende, Monkoto (Equateur) and Lomela (northern Eastern Kasaï) are currently considered to be at risk. One of the patients hospitalised at the HGR Boende had managed to escape before being recovered by the services deployed to the field.

2. Coordination

 Publication of guidelines for travellers to foreign countries from DRC border posts by the National Programme on Hygiene at the Borders (NPHB).

 Holding of daily meetings of the National Committee on Coordination (CNC) at the office of the Minister of Health.

3. Security and logistics

 Announcement by the Government of the provision of a cargo flight today, 30 August 2014.

4. Response 4.1. Ongoing

 Continuation of investigation and analysis of suspected and probable cases, including in other provinces by the field teams and in Kinshasa.

 Setting up of surveillance and monitoring of suspected cases at the Ndolo airport and briefing to NPHB agents, operating services and members of the hygiene platform.

 Finalisation of the technical details related to the psychosocial support for the sick.

 New supplied delivered to Boende and isolation system put in place by MSF.

4.2. Planned

 Setting up of surveillance and monitoring of suspected cases at the Mbandaka and Boende airports.

 Establishment of a field staff cell for the psychosocial support for the sick and of a project for the reinsertion of affected populations (if possible, survivors).

 A briefing session supported by OCHA to be held in Kinshasa on Tuesday, 2 September 2014 targeting journalists.

 Well digging in Boende under the supervision of the WASH cluster with UNICEF’s support.

 Installation of an isolation system in Lokolia (MSF).

5. Financing

 Process to request CERF ($2 million) and CHF ($1.5 million) funds under way.

6. Gaps

 Potable water needed in Lokolia, epicentre of the disease, where the operational centre will be established.

 Ensure the necessary financial resources for the Red Cross agents who will be in charge of setting up tents in Lokolia and provide training for their maintenance.

1
Bureau de Coordination des Affaires Humanitaires des Nations Unies
Immeuble Losonia, Boulevard du 30 Juin, B.P. 7248 Kin1, Commune de la Gombe, Kinshasa, République Démocratique du Congo www.rdc-humanitaire.net

 Strengthen communication.
 Shelters for housing and office space.
 Strengthen laboratories with reagents and equipment; a mobile laboratory is needed in Lokolia.
 Facilitate the transport to Boende of agents who had managed the Ebola epidemic in Isiro.
 Food assistance, a priori for approximately 53,000 people in quarantine.
 Strengthen hygiene measures.
 Generators and fuel.
 Transport material (motorcycles, bicycles, boats, etc.).
 Protection kits for the Sankuru health zone, Lomela Health Area.

 

[BREWER]

Posted for fair use and discussion. H/t Pixie
http://www.msf-azg.be/fr/nouvelle/ebola-msf-confirme-le-deces-de-trois-de-ses-membres

Ebola: MSF CONFIRMS DEATH OF THREE MEMBERS
[News] - 25 | 08 | 2014 - Guinea - Liberia


It is with great sadness that MSF confirms that three of its members, a Guinean responsible for activities in the communities, a Liberian nurse and a Sierra Leonean nurse died.

Our colleague Guinea was admitted on August 19 in one of the treatment centers Ebola MSF in Guinea. Despite the care that was provided to him, he died the next day. His funeral took place on August 21 in the presence of his family and the MSF team. It was part of the outreach team of MSF, in charge of hygiene activities and management alerts for suspects in the communities. Our colleague was not working inside the treatment center Ebola.

For its part, our Liberian colleague, a nurse from the Ministry of Health who worked for MSF, was admitted in one of our centers Ebola treatment in Liberia on Aug. 19. MSF doctors did their best to provide the best possible medical care, but he died on August 23. His funeral is currently being organized.

Our colleague Sierra Leone was a nurse in one of our teams. He was admitted on August 24 in a treatment center Ebola MSF where he was supported by his colleagues who did their best to provide him with the best possible medical care. However, he died on August 25.

A full investigation is underway to determine how our members are sick.

We extend our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of our two colleagues. We'll give them our support during this difficult time.

 

[BREWER]

Posted for fair use and discussion. H/t Monotreme
http://orijoreporter.com/ebola-famil...ept-in-morgue/

EBOLA: FAMILIES EVACUATE SICK RELATIVES FROM UNIPORT HOSPITAL TO AVOID CORPSE OF DR. ENEMUO KEPT IN MORGUE

August 30, 2014

Several University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital patients on admission were yesterday evacuated by their loved ones after the remains of Dr. Ike Sam Enemuo, the medical practitioner who died last Friday from Ebola was kept in the hospital morgue.

Operators of Commercial vehicles made brisk business at the East-West Road in Port Harcourt as they were seen moving patients out of the hospital.

The arrival of the corpse in the hospital also spread panic and fear across the workers in the morgue who were sighted in group murmuring their displeasure by our correspondent.

Their position was that rather than keeping the corpse in the morgue the best measure to protect the general public from the risk of contracting the disease would be to cremate it.

A worker in the mortuary who spoke to orijoreporter on the condition of anonymity said: “Since a test had confirmed that it was an Ebola case, cremation should have been done on it rather than keep it in the morgue”.

 

[Waz1152]

Bengal's first Ebola suspect admitted to hospital
Subhendu Maiti, Hindustan Times Kolkata, September 01, 2014
First Published: 22:58 IST(1/9/2014) | Last Updated: 23:03 IST(1/9/2014)

Bengal's first Ebola suspect, 25-year old Aleek Das, was admitted to Raiganj district hospital on Sunday with symptoms high fever, muscle pain and vomiting.

He was quarantined in a ward. Das's blood sample was sent to National Institute of Virology in Pune.

"He has been kept in an isolation ward for round the clock observation. He recently travelled to Nigeria. We have sent his blood sample to NIV, Pune that is the country's nodal centre for Ebola confirmation," said BR Satpathy, director of health services of the state.

Satpathy also said there is no need for panic. "We will keep him under observation for 21 days," Satpathy added.

Das came back from Nigeria where he used to work.

He is a resident of Karandighi.

Though health officials refused to confirm, HT has learnt that six others have travelled to Bengal from Nigeria with Das. They stay in the same area as Das, but none of them has been traced.

It is also not known whether any of them are displaying the same symptoms as Das.

Till Friday NIV, Pune received seven samples of suspected Ebola virus from Delhi, Mumbai and Pune. All have tested negative so far.

Bengal health department officials said, if Das tests positive, he will be removed to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital where a separate specialised ward for the treatment of Ebola patients has been opened.

The other specialised centre for treatment in Bengal is the hospital for infectious diseases at Beliaghata, Kolkata.

Nigeria is one of the Ebola affected countries. The disease has already cosumed more than 1,000 lives.

It has a mortality rate of 90%. The disease leads to multi-organ failure.

 

[mscoffee]

Nurses go on strike in Ebola-hit Liberia

Monrovia (AFP) - Nurses at Liberia's largest hospital went on strike on Monday, demanding better pay and equipment to protect them against a deadly Ebola epidemic which has killed hundreds in the west African nation.

John Tugbeh, spokesman for the strikers at Monrovia's John F Kennedy hospital, said the nurses would not return to work until they are supplied with "personal protective equipment (PPEs)", the hazmat-style suits which guard against infectious diseases.

"From the beginning of the Ebola outbreak we have not had any protective equipment to work with. As result, so many doctors got infected by the virus. We have to stay home until we get the PPEs," he said.

The Ebola virus, transmitted through contact with infected bodily fluids, has killed more than 1,500 people in four countries since the start of the year -- almost 700 of them in Liberia.

A high proportion of the deaths -- almost a tenth -- have been among health workers and the World Health Organization has warned that the outbreak is set to get a lot worse, predicting up to 20,000 cases before it is brought under control.

The surgical section at JFK is the only trauma referral centre in Liberia and a long-term dispute would severely damage the country's capability to respond to the Ebola crisis.

The hospital closed temporarily in July over the infections and deaths of an unspecified number of health workers who had been treating Ebola patients.

"We need proper equipment to work with (and) we need better pay because we are going to risk our lives," Tueh said.

It was not immediately clear how large the striking group was, or what contingency plans were in place at the hospital, which has not made a statement on the action.


http://news.yahoo.com/nurses-strike-ebola-hit-liberia-225150202.html

 

[mscoffee]

By Misha Hussain
Posted for fair use and discussion.


Ebola health workers should get danger money, expert says

DAKAR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Doctors and nurses fighting the world's biggest outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa should get incentives including better pay, insurance and access to the new Ebola drug ZMapp, an international health expert said.

The hemorrhagic fever, spread through the blood, sweat and vomit of the sick, has killed more than 1,550 people since March, including more than 120 health workers. Many work long hours with no access to proper protective equipment.

Johan von Schreeb, who has traveled to the region to advise officials on how to manage the deadly epidemic, said if health workers were not protected and remunerated for their dangerous work, they could not be expected to report for duty.

"There has to be reciprocity for those that are taking a risk in getting involved in this epidemic and are working to control it. If you take risks, you should be paid," said von Schreeb, head of research on healthcare in disasters at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

"Modern mobile phone technology can be used to track who is coming to work as well as transferring money directly so they can be paid on a performance-based system on top of their normal salaries," he told Thomson Reuters Foundation from Sierra Leone, where he is providing technical support for the outbreak.

The government of Sierra Leone has come under fire for its handling of the Ebola outbreak. On Saturday, health workers went on strike over pay and poor working conditions at a major state-run Ebola treatment center in Kenema in the country's east.

As well as holding formal walkouts, some health workers elsewhere in Sierra Leone, as well as others in Ebola-hit Liberia and Guinea, have simply not reported for work.

In Liberia, where infection rates are highest, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has issued orders threatening state officials with dismissal for failing to report for work or for fleeing the country.

SCARCE RESOURCES

Ishmael Mehemoh, chief supervisor at Sierra Leone's Kenema clinic in Sierra Leone, said that "gloves, aprons and boots are either not available at some times or are insufficient". He said the clinic's burial team had only "one broken stretcher" to transport corpses which posed a health hazard.

In a further sign of strained resources, nurses and members of the burial team at Kenema told Reuters the government had stopped paying their wages of $50 a week.

Von Schreeb said advanced treatment centers specifically for infected caregivers as well as insurance packages could help to encourage health care workers to continue their essential work.

"There are negotiations with the UK government to set up an advanced 12-bed facility in Freetown specifically for health care workers. I sincerely hope the new drug ZMapp will be made available for these courageous people," said von Schreeb, noting there had not yet been a response from donors on the proposal.

"There needs to be some sort of insurance scheme too, so if you die, your family are supported so that they can survive despite the loss of income," he added.

Jorge Castilla-Echenique from the European Commission's humanitarian arm (ECHO), said pay incentives and insurance were good ideas and that ECHO would be willing to fund them.

But he had reservations about the concept of favorable treatment for health workers.

"You'd have to be very cold blooded given the lack of drugs. Lab technicians would get priority, followed by international health workers, followed by locals health workers and so on," said Castilla-Echenique, who has just visited Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Sheik Umar Khan, a leading doctor in Sierra Leone, was infected with Ebola but did not receive the scarce ZMapp drug, nor was he flown abroad for advanced care. He died on July 29.

Early on in the outbreak, two American health workers who contracted the virus at a clinic in Liberia were flown back to the United States, treated with ZMapp and both recovered.

A week ago, British nurse William Pooley was flown to England after contracting Ebola in Kenema, where some 25 health workers have died. He is being treated in London.

(Editing by Ros Russell; Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, covers underreported humanitarian news, human rights, corruption and climate change. Visit www.trust.org)

http://news.yahoo.com/ebola-health-workers-danger-money-expert-says-150857716.html

 

[ainitfunny]

Japanese Researchers Develop 30-Minute Ebola Test
World | Agence France-Presse | Updated: September 02, 2014 12:01 IST
http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/japanese-researchers-develop-30-minute-ebola-test-585457



Japanese Researchers Develop 30-Minute Ebola Test

Tokyo: Japanese researchers said on Tuesday they had developed a new method to detect the presence of the Ebola virus in 30 minutes, with technology that could allow doctors to quickly diagnose infection.

Professor Jiro Yasuda and his team at Nagasaki University say their process is also cheaper than the system currently in use in west Africa where the virus has already killed more than 1,500 people.

"The new method is simpler than the current one and can be used in countries where expensive testing equipment is not available," Yasuda told AFP by telephone.

"We have yet to receive any questions or requests, but we are pleased to offer the system, which is ready to go," he said.

Yasuda said the team had developed what he called a "primer", which amplifies only those genes specific to the Ebola virus found in a blood sample or other bodily fluid.

Using existing techniques, ribonucleic acid (RNA) -- biological molecules used in the coding of genes -- is extracted from any viruses present in a blood sample.

This is then used to synthesise the viral DNA, which can be mixed with the primers and then heated to 60-65 degrees Celsius (140-149 Fahrenheit).

If Ebola is present, DNA specific to the virus is amplified in 30 minutes due to the action of the primers. The by-products from the process cause the liquid to become cloudy, providing visual confirmation, Yasuda said.
Related

Japan PM to Reshuffle Cabinet in Bid to Re-Energise



Currently, a method called polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, is widely used to detect the Ebola virus, which requires doctors to heat and cool samples repeatedly and takes up to two hours.

"The new method only needs a small, battery-powered warmer and the entire system costs just tens of thousands of yen (hundreds of dollars), which developing countries should be able to afford," he added.

The outbreak of the Ebola virus, transmitted through contact with infected bodily fluids, has sparked alarm throughout western Africa and further afield.
Story First Published: September 02, 2014 11:56 IST

 

[Lilbitsnana]

Bengal's first Ebola suspect admitted to hospital
Subhendu Maiti, Hindustan Times Kolkata, September 01, 2014
First Published: 22:58 IST(1/9/2014) | Last Updated: 23:03 IST(1/9/2014)

Bengal's first Ebola suspect, 25-year old Aleek Das, was admitted to Raiganj district hospital on Sunday with symptoms high fever, muscle pain and vomiting.

He was quarantined in a ward. Das's blood sample was sent to National Institute of Virology in Pune.

"He has been kept in an isolation ward for round the clock observation. He recently travelled to Nigeria. We have sent his blood sample to NIV, Pune that is the country's nodal centre for Ebola confirmation," said BR Satpathy, director of health services of the state.

Satpathy also said there is no need for panic. "We will keep him under observation for 21 days," Satpathy added.

Das came back from Nigeria where he used to work.

He is a resident of Karandighi.

Though health officials refused to confirm, HT has learnt that six others have travelled to Bengal from Nigeria with Das. They stay in the same area as Das, but none of them has been traced.

It is also not known whether any of them are displaying the same symptoms as Das.

Till Friday NIV, Pune received seven samples of suspected Ebola virus from Delhi, Mumbai and Pune. All have tested negative so far.

Bengal health department officials said, if Das tests positive, he will be removed to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital where a separate specialised ward for the treatment of Ebola patients has been opened.

The other specialised centre for treatment in Bengal is the hospital for infectious diseases at Beliaghata, Kolkata.

Nigeria is one of the Ebola affected countries. The disease has already cosumed more than 1,000 lives.

It has a mortality rate of 90%. The disease leads to multi-organ failure.

The red balloon marks the town he is from, the circle w/the dot in it just to the SW of there is the hospital he was taken to.

neighboring Bangladesh is the 8th most populous country and one of the most densely populated and the border is approximately 10 miles or less from the "town" he was from depending on exactly where he lived.

As for the rest of India, well, we all know India has a lot of people.


from wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh

Bangladesh /bɑːŋlɑːdɛʃ/; Listeni/ˌbæŋɡləˈdæʃ/ (Bengali: বাংলাদেশ, pronounced: [ˈbaŋlad̪eʃ] ( listen), lit. "The land of Bengal"), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh (Bengali: গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ Gônôprôjatôntri Bangladesh), is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India to its west, north and east; Burma to its southeast and separated from Nepal and Bhutan by the Chicken’s Neck corridor. To its south, it faces the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh is the world's eighth-most populous country, with over 160 million people, and among the most densely populated countries. It forms part of the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal, along with the neighbouring Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura.

His "state" (from wiki): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Bengal

West Bengal (/wɛst bɛŋˈɡɔːl/; Bengali pronunciation: [pɔʃtʃimbɔŋɡɔ], lit. "Western Bengal") is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous, with over 91 million inhabitants. Spread over 34,267 sq mi (88,750 km2), it is bordered by the countries of Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, and the Indian states of Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim, and Assam. The state capital is Kolkata. Together with the neighboring nation of Bangladesh and parts of the state of Tripura, it makes up the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal.

 

[Melodi]

UN agency warns harvests at risk over Ebola outbreak

And now the other side effects start to appear...Melodi

UN agency warns harvests at risk over Ebola outbreak
9 2
Tuesday 02 September 2014 11.19

Liberian residents of West Point receive food rations as part of the government's quarantine plan

Liberian residents of West Point receive food rations as part of the government's quarantine plan Liberian residents of West Point receive food rations as part of the government's quarantine plan

The Ebola epidemic has put harvests at risk and sent food prices soaring in West Africa, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said.

It warned that the problem would intensify in coming months.

The FAO issued a special alert for Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the three countries most affected by the outbreak.

More than 1,550 people have died since the virus was detected in the remote jungles of southeastern Guinea in March.

Restrictions on people's movements and the establishment of quarantine zones to contain the spread of the hemorrhagic fever has led to panic buying, food shortages and price hikes.

"Even prior to the Ebola outbreak, households in some of the most affected areas were spending up to 80% of their incomes on food," said Vincent Martin, head of an FAO unit in Dakar which is coordinating the agency's response.

"Now these latest price spikes are effectively putting food completely out of their reach," Mr Martin said in a statement.

He said the food crisis could hinder containment of the disease, which is typically spread via the bodily fluids of the sick.

Rice and maize production will be scaled back during the fast-approaching main harvest season as migration and movement restrictions cause labour shortages on farms, FAO said.

Cash crops like palm oil, cocoa and rubber will be seriously affected, squeezing the purchasing power of many families, who will also lose income and nutrition due to the ban on bush meat.

Border crossing closures and the reduction of trade through seaports have tightened food supplies in the three countries, which are all net cereal importers, and propelled prices upwards, exacerbated by higher transport costs.

The UN World Food Programme and FAO have approved an emergency programme to deliver 65,000 tonnes of food to 1.3 million people affected by Ebola over a three-month period.

The price of cassava – a major staple food in the developing world - at a market in the Liberian capital Monrovia rose 150% in the first weeks of August, the FAO said, adding that currency depreciation in Sierra Leone and Liberia was likely to force prices up further.

An outbreak of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed 31 people and the epidemic remains contained within the country's northwest, the World Health Organization said.

Eugene Kambambi, the WHO's head of communication in DR Congo, told AFP adding that the epidemic remains ringfenced in an area around 800km north of Kinshasa.

The WHO had previously given a death toll of 13 for the country.
Keywords: ebola, liberia, sierra leone, united nations, guinea

http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0902/640823-ebola/

 

[Lilbitsnana]

Aung Moe Win ‏@AungMoeWin 6m

Quarantined Burmese man cleared of Ebola - Democratic Voice of Burma http://bit.ly/1nt4Nne #Burma




PADONOU BORIS ‏@padbor 6m

#Gounna #nigeria A suspected case of the Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, has been confirmed by the Federal Capital ... http://ift.tt/1qWZ8GF



ThaiPBS English News ‏@ThaipbsEngNews 2h

First suspected case of #Ebola in Thailand reported http://goo.gl/p3mDrv pic.twitter.com/VssMzNnCze


First suspected case of Ebola in Thailand reported
in General | September 2, 2014 (538 views)

Test

The Public Health Ministry today reported the first suspected case of the deadly Ebola virus in the country when the patient returned from Ebola infected countries and has high body temperature.

But now the patient is under quarantine, said Dr Narong Sahamethapat, permanent secretary of the Public Health Ministry said today at a press conference.

The patient is a Guinean who arrived in Thailand on August 20 and consulted doctors after developing high body temperature.

Dr Narong said the first suspected case of Ebola was discovered yesterday.

The patient arrived from infected country and had a high body temperature of 38.8 degree Celsius. The patient had soaring throat and nasal mucus.

He said she is now under quarantine closely monitored under international standards by doctors.

Doctors have sent the patient’ s blood for laboratory test at the Department of Medical Science, and at Chulalongkarn Hospital.

The result of the blood test was expected to be known this afternoon, he said.

He said the second blood test would be conducted on Thursday for confirmation.

The ministry has despatched surveillance rapid response ( SRRT) teams from the Communicable Disease Control Department and provincial public health stations to locate those who had associated closely with her and had found 16 persons.

They have no sign of fever but they were all quarantined at hospital for a 21-day close monitoring laid down as a normal standard to limit the areas of spread as much as possible to ensure confidence for the communities.

They will be treated the same as cold and infectious patients under international standard.

Dr Narong said latest check of the suspected case of Ebola showed the patient’ s condition has improved but doctors continued to check the vital sign and body temperature every four hours.

All doctors and nurses giving treatment to the case were in protective clothing and all medical equipment used were strictly pasteurised.

He sad if all laboratory tests of the suspected case showed negative, they would be forwarded to a special team to diagnose and discard from its monitoring system, and all surveillance mission on contact people will be halted.

He asked the public not to be alarmed as the Ministry has a strengthened network and system to watch and keep the virus from spread.

He said the disease is not contacted easily.

It could be infected only through direct contact with the patient’ s hands. The deadly virus is mainly in the blood and body fluids.

He said living close to the house or walking pass house of patients could not be infected unless direct contact with the patient and his fluids or vomits.

Washing hands after going to toilets is strictly advised, he added.

http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/first-suspected-case-ebola-thailand-reported/

 

[Lilbitsnana]

Wall Street Journal ‏@WSJ Sep 1

Tests show that a man who was hospitalized in Sweden as a suspected #Ebola case isn't carrying the virus http://on.wsj.com/Z4oxrD


Stockholm Patient Does Not Have Ebola
But Test Results Awaited on Another Suspected Case in Spain
By
Juhana Rossi and
Christopher Bjørk

Sept. 1, 2014 7:32 a.m. ET

http://online.wsj.com/articles/stockholm-ebola-suspect-not-carrying-virus-1409571126

 

[Lilbitsnana]

Reuters Africa ‏@ReutersAfrica 7m

Death toll from #Congo #Ebola outbreak rises to 31 http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKBN0GX15T20140902 …

 

[Waz1152]

I still wonder how many are not being reported by the health authorities, it is a concern that they are simply lying and shuffling the effected off to isolation hoping the public doesn't find out, gives them time to prepare for an announcement and of course it will be too late
Thanks for the constant input

 

[Lilbitsnana]

Nivedith Alva ‏@nivedithalva 9h

Rt @dna: 6 suspect #Ebola patients quarantined at #Delhi airport http://dnai.in/cm9J pic.twitter.com/nvPu71H0BR



6 suspect Ebola patients quarantined at Delhi airport
Tuesday, 2 September 2014 - 6:45am IST | Place: New Delhi | Agency: DNA

DNA Correspondent

Six high-risk cases (suspect cases) of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) were on Monday admitted to quarantine facility at the Delhi airport.

“Six high-risk cases have been admitted on September 1, 2014 to quarantine facility at Delhi Airport. We are monitoring the situation closely and everything is in place to tackle any situation,” said a senior health ministry official.

According to the union health ministry, “during past 24 hours, 181 passengers from the affected countries have arrived at the airports of Mumbai (71), Delhi (44), Chennai (22), Bangalore (26), Kochi (4), Trivandrum (7), Hyderabad (4) and Kolkata (3)”

Since India started screening passengers from 10th August coming from EVD affected countries like Liberia and Nigeria over 15,000 passengers arriving at International airports have been screened.

As on date, at least 816 passengers are being tracked and most of them are in the states of Maharashtra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Recently, Afcons and International SOS have brought back 113 passengers (including 02 Nepalese Nationals) from Liberia to India. 96 passengers landed in Mumbai and another 17, in Delhi. The passengers who landed in Delhi were also taken to Mumbai by Afcons.

“They have all travelled to their respective destinations. State governments have been provided with the details. These passengers are being tracked. About 80 passengers are being monitored and one passenger, who is being tracked and monitored in West Bengal has confirmed to be having Malaria,” a health ministry statement said.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-6-suspect-ebola-patients-quarantined-at-delhi-airport-2015484

 

[almost ready]

A week ago, heard Dr. Niman on the radio say that MSF had lost staff to Ebola. Prior to this, they had used their "never lost a staffer" as a major promotion to convince people to join them in medicine in high-risk areas.

Finally found a news article that confirms what he said. They lost 3 staff and sadly announce the deaths of two nurses and an admin in West Africa to Ebola. These deaths probably contributed to WHO and Canadian decisions to withdraw medical staff. It is increasingly obvious that it is next to impossible to keep staff safe in conditions there.

http://www.msf-azg.be/fr/nouvelle/ebola-msf-confirme-le-deces-de-trois-de-ses-membres

 

[SheWoff]

Ebola Patient Flees Clinic In Search For Food-Video at link

Chaotic scenes as an infected man wanders into a Monrovia market to look for food are captured on video.2:25pm UK, Tuesday 02 September 2014
Ebola patient in Liberia escapes
Video: Ebola Victim Flees Quarantine To Visit Market

Video has emerged of Liberian ebola clinic workers dressed in contamination suits chasing an escaped patient through the streets after he left a treatment centre to visit a market.

There were chaotic scenes as crowds followed infected man, who was wearing a wristband to show he had tested positive for the disease, and some stallholders argued with him as he approached.

The patient escaped from Monrovia's Elwa hospital, which last month was so crowded with cases of the deadly disease that it had to turn people away.

One woman at the scene said: "The patients are hungry, they are starving. No food, no water.

"The government needs to do more. Let Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf [the President of Liberia] do more."

An ebola patient left a quarantine zone and went into a busy market looking for food.
Crowds followed the escaped ebola patient at a distance
Onlookers cheered as health workers arrived in their protective outfits and try to convince the patient to give himself up.

The man, who shows no outward signs of the diarrhoea and bleeding that the virus causes, refuses to return with the health workers and they eventually grab him and carry him away to a waiting ambulance.

At least 1,552 people have been killed by the current ebola outbreak, with 3,062 patients infected overall, according to the latest figures from the World Health Organization.

The UN agency has warned that more than 20,000 people could be infected with ebola before the outbreak comes to an end.

Ebola patient in Liberia escapes
The patient was eventually confronted by health workers
There has been widespread panic buying, a shortage of staple foods and severe prices in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia since movement restrictions were imposed to stop the spread of the virus.

At one market stall in Liberia, a nation which has suffered 694 fatalities so far, the price of cassava skyrocketed by 150% in a matter of days.

And despite the UN's World Food Programme launching an emergency operation to get 65,000 tonnes of supplies sent to deprived areas, many patients in quarantined areas are starving.

The UN World Food Programme has been delivering rations to the impoverished region.
The UN has launched an operation to feed people in deprived areas
To compound the problem, labour shortages are expected in all three West African countries, weeks before the main harvesting season for maize and rice begins.

The production of other crops such as rubber, palm oil and cocoa could also be seriously affected, sending thousands of vulnerable people further into poverty.

Vincent Martin of the FAO added: "Even prior to the ebola outbreak, households in some of the affected areas were spending up to 80% of their incomes on food.

"Now these latest price spikes are effectively putting food completely out of their reach."

http://news.sky.com/story/1328891/ebola-patient-flees-clinic-in-search-for-food

 

[SheWoff]

CDC director raises Ebola alarm

By Mariano Castillo, CNN
updated 9:24 AM EDT, Tue September 2, 2014

Tom Frieden, the CDC director, says official figures don't show the Ebola outbreak's extent, to go before Congress again.

(CNN) -- The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is much worse than official figures show, and other countries are unintentionally making it harder to control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Tom Frieden told CNN on Tuesday.
"We've seen outbreaks of Ebola before. This is the first epidemic spreading widely through many countries, and it is spiraling out of control," said Frieden, who recently returned from a trip to the region. "It's bad now, much worse than the numbers show. It's going to get even worse in the very near future."
More than 2,600 people have been infected by Ebola in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria since the outbreak began in December, according to the World Health Organization. More than 1,500 have died.
Human trial of experimental Ebola vaccine begins
Liberian President: We need hope, help
Photos: Ebola outbreak in Africa Photos: Ebola outbreak in Africa
Other countries are turning their backs on those coming from countries where the outbreak is strongest, even if they don't realize it, he said.
Measures to restrict flights and border crossings into the countries facing the outbreak were designed to contain the spread, but are having a paradoxical effect, Frieden said.
"This is making it really hard to get help in and to respond effectively to the outbreak," he said on CNN's "New Day."
"What we're seeing is a spiraling of cases, a hugely fast increase in cases, that's harder and harder to manage," he said. "The more we can get in there and tamp that down, the fewer cases we'll have in the weeks and months to come."
Frieden sounded the same alarm last week during a visit to Liberia.
The sooner the world unites to help West Africa, the safer the world will be, he said.
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said Monday that the massive Ebola outbreak in her country "remains grave."
"Our health delivery system is under stress. The international community couldn't respond quickly," she told CNN.
But she also sounded hopeful. She said that conditions are slowly improving and that the world is responding to the epidemic, realizing the catastrophe that could unfold if the virus were to spread beyond Africa's borders.
The West African nation of Senegal confirmed its first Ebola case last week, one week after closing its border with Guinea.
Senegal is the fifth country in the region to report the Ebola virus.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/02/health/ebola-outbreak/index.html

 

[SheWoff]

Elderly woman tests positive for Ebola in Rivers State

One of the three persons taken to the Ebola virus quarantine centre in Oduoha, Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State, has tested positive for the disease.

The latest case, an elderly woman, contracted the virus in Good Heart Hospital, the health facility where Iyke Enemuo, the doctor who treated a Nigerian ECOWAS diplomat, Koye Olu-Ibukun, died last week.

The two others – a doctor and a pharmacist – tested negative. Even though they had been released from the centre, another round of tests will however be carried out to reconfirm their status.

The doctor and the pharmacist are members of staff of Sam Steel Clinic, a health facility founded by Enemuo.

Enemuo whose sister, Chinyere, was taken to the quarantine centre, will be buried next week.

The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, and the Rivers State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Sampson Parker, made these known in Abuja and Port Harcourt on Monday.

Chukwu, at the opening of the 2nd National Council on Health meeting on the outbreak of the EVD in Nigeria, also said that the Federal Government had indicated interest to participate in the clinical trials of two Japanese vaccines to combat the disease.

The minister, who said the government had also applied for other experimental drugs, including TKM-Ebola, dispelled rumours of an outbreak of the disease in the Federal Capital Territory.

He said that investigation had revealed the person involved was a sickle cell patient.

Chukwu said, “The Treatment Research Group which I had informed you about, has been working hard to identify experimental drugs like Zmapp, and also make recommendations to government on further research on these drugs as well as vaccines for EVD treatment and isolation.

“Following the TRG’s recommendations and in consultation with NAFDAC and NHREC, Nigeria has indicated interest to participate in the clinical trials for two candidate EVD vaccines and we are considering that a third may be added to the list. We have also applied for experimental drugs such as TKM-Ebola.

“The TRG has submitted a detailed profile and brief on the oral antiviral agent which the Japanese government has offered to make available to affected countries through the World Health Organisation. We are now considering the profile and brief to enable us to reach a final decision on making it available to our patients.

“Our initial knowledge of the agent is that it has been shown to have strong antiviral activity against the influenza virus following phases I and II human trials, it is now going through phase III clinical trials; it is shown to have strong antiviral property against Ebola virus in vitro and in vivo. These and the fact that it is considered safe, having passed through phases I and II clinical trials, makes it good candidate drug for use in emergency situation as the EVD.”

Chukwu also gave an update of the EVD since its outbreak in the country, adding that government’s performance in sustaining the spread of the disease had been lauded by all stakeholders.

According to him, as of August 31, 2014, the total number of cases of EVD in Nigeria stood at 17 while the total number of cases treated at the isolation ward in Lagos State is 14.

Also, the total number of those discharged is seven while the total number of deaths among those treated in Lagos is five.

The total number currently under treatment in Lagos is two.

Chukwu said the three confirmed cases not treated in Lagos comprised Olu-Ibukun, Enemuo and the elderly woman in Port Harcourt.

He said, “Two others who came into contact with the late Enemuo have tested negative for the EVD but the laboratory tests will be repeated to reconfirm their status.

“Now as of August 31, 2014, the number of contacts under surveillance in Lagos stood at 72 while in Port Harcourt, the total number of contacts under surveillance stood at 199. There is nobody under surveillance in Enugu presently and no case of EVD in Enugu State.

“As of August 31, 2014, 278 contacts in Lagos State had completed the 21 days surveillance and had been discharged. While in Enugu, all the six identified contacts have completed the 21 day observation period and have been discharged from surveillance. No contact in Port Harcourt has completed the 21 day observation period.”

In Port Harcourt, Parker also confirmed that an elderly woman who shared the same room with Enemuo when he was admitted at the Good Heart Hospital, tested positive for the EVD.

The commissioner, who spoke with journalists on Monday, said that Chinyere, the sister to the late Enemuo, who initially fled to Abia had returned to Port Harcourt and had been taken to the Isolation centre in Emohua.

He said, “I told you on Sunday that we had three patients, and out of the three, the result came out; two of them were negative while one was positive. The two negative ones have left the centre.

“We discharged them but we will repeat the tests because they are still within the 21 days circle of the virus. We pray that they remain negative.

“The one who is positive is an elderly woman that was in the same hospital with the late Enemuo. In fact, they were in the same room. She is there (the quarantine centre) now.”

On Chinyere, he said, “She had earlier run to Abia State apparently because of fear of being stigmatised.

“We were able to trace her with the help of my counterpart in Abia State. She developed feverish symptoms and she had been admitted at the isolation unit for observation and treatment. She is among the 50 high risk contacts on our list. We decided to take her to the isolation unit to make assurance surer.

“We are currently running a test on her and the result will be out today or thereabout. We chose to isolate her because we don’t want to go through the same experience we had with Olu-Ibukun.”

Parker, however, applauded Chinyere’s courage to come out from hiding and added that the major challenge of the state government was that some of the primary and secondary contacts were hiding.

He also said that Enemuo’s remains and others in the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital would be buried this week in Port Harcourt.

The commissioner said, “We have decided that within this week, Dr. Enemuo and other high risk corpses in the UPTH mortuary would be buried, according to the World Health Organisation protocols.

“That means that the corpses will not leave Port Harcourt. They will be buried under the supervision of the EOC, Ministry of Health officials, and officials of WHO so that we don’t expose the relatives to danger.

“We will take care of all the safety protocols ourselves. The families will be there but we will not allow them touch the corpses.

“The families can hold their parties if they choose to, but they will not be allowed to come close to the bodies. We will take maximum precaution to combat the spread of the virus.



Read more: http://www.naijacenter.com/health-2/elderly-woman-tests-positive-ebola-rivers-state/#ixzz3CAPZAwsP

 

[SheWoff]

“We discharged them but we will repeat the tests because they are still within the 21 days circle of the virus. We pray that they remain negative."

So they are discharging folks before the 21 days are up? Remember there have been others who at first tested neg. and then ended up back in hospital sick with ebola. They are also waiting an awful long time to bury folks who have passed on with ebola. Why? At least they wont let the family touch the bodies,, that's worth a little bit as far as infection control goes. I don't think it will be enough. Patients are escaping hospital looking for food because they are starving. Sure they may be positive for ebola, but all they know at the moment is they want to eat! Maslows hierarchy must be met. The more I read stories this morning, the more it looks like a giant mess over there. Worse than before.

Hoping and praying still...

She

 

[SheWoff]

Liberia doctors strike, UN warns of food shortages due to Ebola

Scores of healthcare workers at Liberia's main hospital have gone on strike over unpaid wages, complicating the fight against the world's worst Ebola epidemic that the U.S. disease prevention chief said was spiraling out of control.

As well as the quickly mounting human toll, the United Nations warned the spread of the fever could lead to food shortages in West Africa, potentially further depleting the resources of governments frantically trying to contain it.

The World Health Organization and other international bodies are scrambling to support of fragile healthcare systems in some of the world's poorest countries, but so far additional staff and resources have been slow to arrive on the ground.

More than 120 health workers have died during the Ebola outbreak amid shortages of equipment and trained staff in the region. That is nearly a 10th of the total 1,550 killed by the disease, mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The strike at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center (JFK) in Liberia's capital Monrovia follows a one-day protest over pay and conditions at the Connaught hospital in Sierra Leone's capital on Monday. Both hospitals have treated Ebola patients.

"Health workers have died (fighting Ebola), including medical doctors at ... JFK and to have them come to work without food on their table, we think that is pathetic," George Williams, secretary general of the Health Workers Association of Liberia, told Reuters.

Williams said healthcare workers at JFK, the country's largest referral hospital, had gone unpaid for two months.

Staff at the main Ebola clinic at Kenema in eastern Sierra Leone also walked off the job last week, in protest at conditions.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Tom Frieden said on Tuesday the outbreak was accelerating very fast and urged more global support to combat the Ebola outbreak.

HARVESTS RISK

"It's spiralling out of control. The situation is bad and it looks like it's going to get worse quickly. There is still a window of opportunity to tamp it down but that window is closing, and we need to act now," he told NBC News in an interview following a trip to Africa.

"This is different than every other Ebola situation we've ever had. It's spreading widely, throughout entire countries, through multiple countries, in cities and very fast," he said, speaking from CDC headquarters in Atlanta.

Frieden called on health officials to immediately seek to reverse the outbreak by sending in more resources and specialized workers, adding that the U.S. government now has 70 people in the region.

The countries affected want to fight the outbreak but face limited resources, he added. "There is a willingness there to confront it, but they need to world to support them."

Putting further pressure on the ability of the region's governments to spend money on healthcare, the epidemic has also put harvests at risk and sent food prices soaring in West Africa, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.

Restrictions on people's movements and the establishment of quarantine zones to contain the spread of the hemorrhagic fever has led to panic buying, food shortages and price hikes in countries ill-prepared to absorb the shock.

"Even prior to the Ebola outbreak, households in some of the most affected areas were spending up to 80 percent of their incomes on food," said Vincent Martin, head of an FAO unit in Dakar which is coordinating the agency's response.

"Now these latest price spikes are effectively putting food completely out of their reach," Martin said in a statement, adding the food crisis could hinder containment of the disease, which is typically spread via the bodily fluids of the sick.

The FAO issued an alert for Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the three countries most affected by the outbreak, which was detected in the forests of southeastern Guinea in March.

The death toll from an Ebola outbreak in the Djera region of northern Democratic Republic of Congo has risen to 31, Minister of Health Felix Kabange Numbi told Reuters on Tuesday.

The outbreak in Congo's Equateur province is thought to be separate from the West African epidemic.


REUTERS
http://www.lbcgroup.tv/news/175659/1409020211-lbci-news

 

[SheWoff]

Global bio-disaster response urgently needed in Ebola fight

Global bio-disaster response urgently needed in Ebola fight
2 SEPTEMBER, 2014

MSF denounces international inaction in Ebola-stricken African countries; states must deploy specialised medical assets now

New York – World leaders are failing to address the worst ever Ebola epidemic, and states with biological-disaster response capacity, including civilian and military medical capability, must immediately dispatch assets and personnel to West Africa, the international medical humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced today in a special briefing at the United Nations organised by the office of the UN Secretary General and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The further spread of the virus will not be prevented without a massive deployment of such specialised medical units to bolster epidemic control efforts in affected countries, said MSF.

In a speech delivered to UN member states, MSF International President Dr. Joanne Liu denounced the lack of deployment of resources, which has to-date relied on overstretched ministries of health and private nongovernmental organisations, to tackle the exceptionally large outbreak.

Despite repeated calls by MSF for a massive mobilisation on the ground, the international response has been lethally inadequate.

MSF medical teams have been battling the outbreak in West Africa since March. Nongovernmental groups and the United Nations cannot alone implement the WHO Global Roadmap to fight the ever growing and unpredictable outbreak.

Transmission rates have reached levels never before reported in past Ebola outbreaks.

“Six months into the worst Ebola epidemic in history, the world is losing the battle to contain it,” said Dr. Liu.

“Leaders are failing to come to grips with this transnational threat. The WHO announcement on August 8 that epidemic constituted a ‘public health emergency of international concern’ has not led to decisive action, and states have essentially joined a global coalition of inaction,” she said.

Many countries possess biological threat response mechanisms. They can deploy trained civilian or military medical teams in a matter of days, in an organised fashion, and with a chain of command to assure high standards of safety and efficiency to support the affected countries.

MSF insists, however, that any military assets and personnel deployed to the region should not be used for quarantine, containment, or crowd control measures. Forced quarantines have only bred fear and unrest, rather than stem the virus.
The MSF Ebola management center in Monrovia has been admitting patients since 17 August. Although it is the largest Ebola management centre ever constructed, the 120 beds were very quickly filled by patients. Photo: Caroline Van Nespen/MSF
The MSF Ebola management center in Monrovia has been admitting patients since 17 August. Although it is the largest Ebola management centre ever constructed, the 120 beds were very quickly filled by patients. Photo: Caroline Van Nespen/MSF


“Funding announcements and the deployment of a few experts do not suffice,” said Dr. Liu.

“States with the required capacity have a political and humanitarian responsibility to come forward and offer a desperately needed, concrete response to the disaster unfolding in front of the world’s eyes,” said Dr. Liu.

“Rather than limit their response to the potential arrival of an infected patient in their countries, they should take the unique opportunity to actually save lives where immediately needed, in West Africa.”

In the immediate term, field hospitals with isolation wards must be scaled up, trained personnel must be dispatched, mobile laboratories must be deployed to improve diagnostics, air bridges must be established to move personnel and material to and within West Africa, and a regional network of field hospitals must be established to treat medical personnel with suspected or actual infections.

In Monrovia, Liberia, for example, new Ebola management centres with adequate isolation facilities and qualified staff are urgently needed. The queue of patients continues to increase in front of MSF’s ever growing ELWA 3 centre, which now contains 160 beds.

It is estimated that 800 additional beds are needed in Monrovia alone. The MSF team is overwhelmed and cannot offer more than palliative care.

“Every day we have to turn sick people away because we are too full”, said Stefan Liljegren, the MSF coordinator at ELWA 3.

“I have had to tell ambulance drivers to call me before they arrive with patients, no matter how unwell they are, since we are often unable to admit them.”

Kailahun, Sierra Leone. Ebola Treatment Centre. Two medical staff are bringing a weak patient who has been in contact with people infected with Ebola to the admission.
Kailahun, Sierra Leone. Ebola Treatment Centre. Two medical staff are bringing a weak patient who has been in contact with people infected with Ebola to the admission.


MSF’s care centres in Liberia and Sierra Leone are overcrowded with suspected Ebola patients. People continue to become ill and are dying in their villages and communities. In Sierra Leone, highly infectious bodies are rotting in the streets.

A multiplication of high quality isolation facilities would allow for earlier referral and admission, leading to a significant impact on mortality. MSF teams have been able to save more lives when people infected with Ebola seek treatment as early as possible.

Increased isolation capacity will also relieve the affected countries’ health systems, some of which are on the verge of collapse. At least 150 health workers have died from Ebola; others are too afraid to go back to work.

Additionally, triage centres must to be set up, systems for management of corpses must be increased, and hygiene items must be distributed at a mass scale, along with an increase of active surveillance capacities.

Disinfection campaigns are needed, as well as health and hygiene promotion among the populations and within health facilities.

“The clock is ticking and Ebola is winning,” said Dr. Liu. “The time for meetings and planning is over. It is now time to act. Every day of inaction means more deaths and the slow collapse of societies.”
http://www.msf.org.za/msf-publications/global-bio-disaster-response-urgently-needed-ebola-fight
-------------------------------------------

The picture they paint is bleak isn't it? And this from the docs on the very front lines....

She

 

[summerthyme]

Posted for fair use and discussion. H/t Pixie
http://www.msf-azg.be/fr/nouvelle/ebola-msf-confirme-le-deces-de-trois-de-ses-membres

Ebola: MSF CONFIRMS DEATH OF THREE MEMBERS
[News] - 25 | 08 | 2014 - Guinea - Liberia


It is with great sadness that MSF confirms that three of its members, a Guinean responsible for activities in the communities, a Liberian nurse and a Sierra Leonean nurse died.

Our colleague Guinea was admitted on August 19 in one of the treatment centers Ebola MSF in Guinea. Despite the care that was provided to him, he died the next day. His funeral took place on August 21 in the presence of his family and the MSF team. It was part of the outreach team of MSF, in charge of hygiene activities and management alerts for suspects in the communities. Our colleague was not working inside the treatment center Ebola.

For its part, our Liberian colleague, a nurse from the Ministry of Health who worked for MSF, was admitted in one of our centers Ebola treatment in Liberia on Aug. 19. MSF doctors did their best to provide the best possible medical care, but he died on August 23. His funeral is currently being organized.

Our colleague Sierra Leone was a nurse in one of our teams. He was admitted on August 24 in a treatment center Ebola MSF where he was supported by his colleagues who did their best to provide him with the best possible medical care. However, he died on August 25.

A full investigation is underway to determine how our members are sick.

We extend our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of our two colleagues. We'll give them our support during this difficult time.

WOW!! These health professionals obviously pushed themselves to keep working WHILE ILL until they literally couldn't go on- how many people did they infect during the latent period?!!!

This "new Ebola" hasn't been killing people fast... it's one of the major problems with this incarnation; people tend to be able to move around for the first several days they are running a fever and spreading virus. So for them to die within 24 hours of being hospitalized, you know they were sick and spreading this disease for *at least* several days... maybe a couple of weeks. Scary.

Summerthyme

 

[SheWoff]

Virological analysis: no link between Ebola outbreaks in west Africa and Democratic Republ

Virological analysis: no link between Ebola outbreaks in west Africa and Democratic Republic of Congo

Situation assessment - 2 September 2014

Results from virus sequencing of samples from the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were received last night. The virus is the Zaire strain, in a lineage most closely related to a virus from the 1995 Ebola outbreak in Kikwit, DRC.

The Zaire strain of the virus is indigenous in the country. Ebola first emerged in 1976 in almost simultaneous outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire) and South Sudan (then Sudan).

Confirmatory testing was done at Gabon’s Centre International de Recherches Médicales in Franceville, a WHO collaborating centre. Earlier, testing in DRC confirmed Ebola in 6 of 8 samples.

The outbreak is located in the remote Boende district, Equateur province in the north-western part of the country.

Results from virus characterization, together with findings from the epidemiological investigation, are definitive: the outbreak in DRC is a distinct and independent event, with no relationship to the outbreak in west Africa.

As the Gabon laboratory report clearly stated, “the virus in the Boende district is definitely not derived from the virus strain currently circulating in west Africa.”

These findings are reassuring, as they exclude the possibility that the virus has spread from West to Central Africa.

Epidemiological investigation has linked the index case, who died on 11 August, to the preparation of bushmeat for consumption.

This is the country’s seventh Ebola outbreak since 1976. The introduction of the virus into the human population following contact with infected bushmeat (usually fruit bats or monkeys) is consistent with the pattern seen at the start of previous outbreaks. The virus is now spreading from person to person.

The response team has, to date, identified 53 cases consistent with the case definition for Ebola virus disease, including 31 deaths. Seven of these deaths were among health care workers. More than 160 contacts are being traced.

The government has rapidly mounted a robust response by reactivating emergency committees at national, provincial, and local levels, setting up isolation centres, and providing community leaders with facts about the disease. The government will ensure that all burials are safe.

The WHO team confirmed that collaboration between the government and its key partners is excellent.

The outbreak zone, where the most intense transmission is occurring, is remote, located some 1200 kilometres from the capital city, Kinshasa. No paved roads run from the outbreak zone to Kinshasa. However, cases have been detected or transmission is ongoing at three sites, underscoring the need to watch the outbreak’s evolution closely.

Motorcycles, canoes, and satellite phones have been supplied to facilitate outbreak investigation and contact tracing. A dedicated helicopter will be made available soon.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/ebola/2-september-2014/en/

 

[jaw1969]

Scores of healthcare workers at Liberia's main hospital have gone on strike over unpaid wages, complicating the fight against the world's worst Ebola epidemic that the U.S. disease prevention chief said was spiraling out of control.

As well as the quickly mounting human toll, the United Nations warned the spread of the fever could lead to food shortages in West Africa, potentially further depleting the resources of governments frantically trying to contain it.

The World Health Organization and other international bodies are scrambling to support of fragile healthcare systems in some of the world's poorest countries, but so far additional staff and resources have been slow to arrive on the ground.

More than 120 health workers have died during the Ebola outbreak amid shortages of equipment and trained staff in the region. That is nearly a 10th of the total 1,550 killed by the disease, mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The strike at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center (JFK) in Liberia's capital Monrovia follows a one-day protest over pay and conditions at the Connaught hospital in Sierra Leone's capital on Monday. Both hospitals have treated Ebola patients.

"Health workers have died (fighting Ebola), including medical doctors at ... JFK and to have them come to work without food on their table, we think that is pathetic," George Williams, secretary general of the Health Workers Association of Liberia, told Reuters.

Williams said healthcare workers at JFK, the country's largest referral hospital, had gone unpaid for two months.

Staff at the main Ebola clinic at Kenema in eastern Sierra Leone also walked off the job last week, in protest at conditions.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Tom Frieden said on Tuesday the outbreak was accelerating very fast and urged more global support to combat the Ebola outbreak.

HARVESTS RISK

"It's spiralling out of control. The situation is bad and it looks like it's going to get worse quickly. There is still a window of opportunity to tamp it down but that window is closing, and we need to act now," he told NBC News in an interview following a trip to Africa.

"This is different than every other Ebola situation we've ever had. It's spreading widely, throughout entire countries, through multiple countries, in cities and very fast," he said, speaking from CDC headquarters in Atlanta.

Frieden called on health officials to immediately seek to reverse the outbreak by sending in more resources and specialized workers, adding that the U.S. government now has 70 people in the region.

The countries affected want to fight the outbreak but face limited resources, he added. "There is a willingness there to confront it, but they need to world to support them."

Putting further pressure on the ability of the region's governments to spend money on healthcare, the epidemic has also put harvests at risk and sent food prices soaring in West Africa, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.

Restrictions on people's movements and the establishment of quarantine zones to contain the spread of the hemorrhagic fever has led to panic buying, food shortages and price hikes in countries ill-prepared to absorb the shock.

"Even prior to the Ebola outbreak, households in some of the most affected areas were spending up to 80 percent of their incomes on food," said Vincent Martin, head of an FAO unit in Dakar which is coordinating the agency's response.

"Now these latest price spikes are effectively putting food completely out of their reach," Martin said in a statement, adding the food crisis could hinder containment of the disease, which is typically spread via the bodily fluids of the sick.

The FAO issued an alert for Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the three countries most affected by the outbreak, which was detected in the forests of southeastern Guinea in March.

The death toll from an Ebola outbreak in the Djera region of northern Democratic Republic of Congo has risen to 31, Minister of Health Felix Kabange Numbi told Reuters on Tuesday.

The outbreak in Congo's Equateur province is thought to be separate from the West African epidemic.


REUTERS
http://www.lbcgroup.tv/news/175659/1409020211-lbci-news

These are some of the strongest words the Director of the CDC can say in public We are So SCREWED...

 

[Medical Maven]

Posted by Pixie at the PFI Forum. MY COMMENT: This one jumped out at me. It is a clearer reiteration of the MSF warning posted earlier today.


Ebola outbreak: call to send in military to West Africa to help curb epidemic

Head of Médecins sans Frontières urges UN to dispatch disaster response teams as cases and deaths continue to surge

Sarah Boseley, health editor
The Guardian, Tuesday 2 September 2014 10.23 EDT
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/sep/02/ebola-outbreak-call-send-military-curb-epidemic

Military teams should be sent to West Africa immediately if there is to be any hope of controlling the Ebola epidemic, doctors on the frontline told the United Nations on Tuesday, painting a stark picture of health workers dying, patients left without care and infectious bodies lying on the streets.

The international president of Médecins sans Frontières, Dr Joanne Liu, told member states that although alarm bells had been ringing for six months, the response had been too little, too late and no amount of vaccinations and new drugs would be able to prevent the escalating humanitarian disaster.

"In West Africa, cases and deaths continue to surge," she said. "Riots are breaking out. Isolation centres are overwhelmed. Health workers on the frontline are becoming infected and are dying in shocking numbers.

"Others have fled in fear, leaving people without care for even the most common illnesses. Entire health systems have crumbled."

She said Ebola treatment centres had been reduced to places where people went to die alone.

"It is impossible to keep up with the sheer number of infected people pouring into facilities. In Sierra Leone, infectious bodies are rotting in the streets," she said. "Rather than building new Ebola care centres in Liberia, we are forced to build crematoria."

The World Health Organisation estimated last week that 20,000 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have been infected over three months. Médecins sans Frontières has doubled its staff of volunteer doctors in the region but is unable to cope.

The epidemic can be stopped, said Liu, but only if governments send in their biohazard teams and equipment.

"Many of the member states represented here today have invested heavily in biological threat response," she said at the UN. "You have a political and humanitarian responsibility to immediately utilise these capabilities in Ebola-affected countries.

"To curb the epidemic, it is imperative that states immediately deploy civilian and military assets with expertise in biohazard containment. I call upon you to dispatch your disaster response teams, backed by the full weight of your logistical capabilities. This should be done in close collaboration with the affected countries. Without this deployment, we will never get the epidemic under control."

Money is no longer the main issue, according to MSF, and voluntary help is not enough. Skilled and well equipped teams are needed on the ground.

Governments should send in military and civilian experts who can scale up the numbers of isolation centres and deploy mobile laboratories that can be used to diagnose more cases.

Military-style operations are required to establish dedicated air bridges to move personnel and equipment around West Africa and a regional network of field hospitals must be built to treat medical staff who are infected or suspected of being infected. About a tenth of the deaths have been among health workers.

"We must also address the collapse of state infrastructure," Liu said. "The health system in Liberia has collapsed. Pregnant women experiencing complications have nowhere to turn.

"Malaria and diarrhoea, easily preventable and treatable diseases, are killing people. Hospitals need to be reopened and newly created."

Lastly, she said, there must be a change of approach by affected countries. "Coercive measures, such as laws criminalising the failure to report suspected cases, and forced quarantines, are driving people underground.

"This is leading to the concealment of cases, and is pushing the sick away from health systems. These measures have only served to breed fear and unrest, rather than contain the virus."

Liu was speaking as nurses in Liberia went on strike for better pay and equipment to protect themselves from Ebola.

John Tugbeh, spokesman for the strikers at John F Kennedy hospital in Monrovia, said the nurses would not return to work until they are supplied with "personal protective equipment (PPEs)", the hazmat-style suits that guard against infectious diseases.

"From the beginning of the Ebola outbreak we have not had any protective equipment to work with. As a result, so many doctors got infected by the virus. We have to stay home until we get the PPEs," he said.

The surgical section at John F Kennedy hospital is the only trauma referral centre in Liberia. The hospital closed temporarily in July owing to the infections and deaths of an unspecified number of health workers who had been treating Ebola patients.

"We need proper equipment to work with [and] we need better pay because we are going to risk our lives," Tugbeh said.

The UN has also warned of serious food shortages as a result of restrictions on movement in the Ebola-hit countries. "Access to food has become a pressing concern for many people in the three affected countries and their neighbours," said Bukar Tijani, Food and Agricultural Organisation regional representative for Africa.

"With the main harvest now at risk and trade and movements of goods severely restricted, food insecurity is poised to intensify in the weeks and months to come."

===========

(PIXIE'S) Comment:

Is anybody listening?

MY COMMENT: I don't think even our military has the ability to stop the spread of New Ebola in Africa at this point, (or even the combined militaries of The West). And China ain't coming, no matter what. They will hold their capabilities in reserve. As we should at this point. A month of two back it might have been worth the effort.
___

 

[Possible Impact]

"World Is Losing Battle To Contain Ebola Epidemic,"
MSF Warns Response "Lethally Inadequate"


Submitted by Tyler Durden on 09/02/2014 11:20 -0400
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-...idemic-msf-warns-response-lethally-inadequate



The CDC's worst nightmare is coming true. Despite reassurances from the
government that it was 'contained', the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria is accelerating
fast. Health Minister Chukwu said that 17 had now been infected and 271 were under
surveillance (including most horrifyingly, 72 in Lagos). In addition, Congo is seeing
cases increase rapidly, with WHO reporting 53 cases of Ebola (31 dead) and warning,
perhaps ominously, that there is no link with the West Africa strain. Liberian President
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said the situation in her country "remains grave," adding "People
now don't see this as a Liberia or West Africa crisis. It could easily become a global
crisis." Furthermore, Doctors-without-Borders warns, "the world is losing the
battle to contain the Ebola epidemic."

Map of #Ebola transmission in West #Africa http://t.co/aofFrJsOxQ
(29 Aug 2014) pic.twitter.com/HUrurDsUIY
— WHO (@WHO) August 29, 2014
​

• *WORLD LEADERS ARE FAILING TO ADDRESS EBOLA EPIDEMIC, MSF SAYS
• *INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE TO EBOLA 'LETHALLY INADEQUATE', MSF SAYS
• *MSF: WORLD IS LOSING BATTLE TO CONTAIN EBOLA EPIDEMIC
• *MSF: NATIONS WITH DISASTER RESPONSE CAPACITY MUST ASSIST

Via Doctors Without Borders,

Six months into the worst Ebola epidemic in history, the world is
losing the battle to contain it. Leaders are failing to come to grips
with this transnational threat.

In West Africa, cases and deaths continue to surge. Riots are breaking
out. Isolation centers are overwhelmed. Health workers on the front
lines are becoming infected and are dying in shocking numbers. Others
have fled in fear, leaving people without care for even the most common
illnesses. Entire health systems have crumbled.

Ebola treatment centers are reduced to places where people go to
die alone, where little more than palliative care is offered. It is impossible
to keep up with the sheer number of infected people pouring into facilities.
In Sierra Leone, infectious bodies are rotting in the streets.

Rather than building new Ebola care centers in Liberia, we are forced to
build crematoria.

Last week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) projected as many as
20,000 people infected over three months in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and
Guinea.

We are in uncharted waters. Transmission rates are at
unprecedented levels, and the virus is spreading quickly through
Liberia’s capital, Monrovia.

...

We have been losing for the past six months. We must win over
the next three.
​

Nigeria is bad and getting worse fast.. (via Reuters)

Nigeria has a third confirmed case of Ebola in the oil hub of Port Harcourt,
bringing the country's total confirmed infections to 17, with 271
people under surveillance, the health minister said on Monday.

...

Patrick Sawyer, the first case, came from Liberia, and then collapsed at
Lagos airport on July 20.

The shift to Port Harcourt shows how easily containment efforts
can be undermined. Nigeria's government acted quickly at the end of
July, setting up an isolation ward and monitoring contacts closely. But one
of Sawyer's contacts in Lagos avoided quarantine and traveled east to Port
Harcourt.

...

Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said in a press conference that 72
people in Lagos, a city of 21 million people, were still under
surveillance. Another 199 people were under surveillance in Port
Harcourt.
​

Congo is accelerating... (via WHO)

• *WHO SAYS IDENTIFIED 53 CASES CONSISTENT W/EBOLA IN DRC, 31 DEAD
• *NO LINK BETWEEN WEST AFRICA, CONGO EBOLA OUTBREAKS, WHO SAYS

"There are now 31 deaths," Eugene Kambambi, the WHO's head of
communication in DR Congo, told AFP, citing Congolese authorities and
stressing that the epidemic "remains contained" in an area around
800 kilometres north of the capital Kinshasa.

Kabamba added that there were "53 confirmed, suspected or likely cases"
of Ebola, while 185 people were under medical watch because they had
admitted to contact with patients or were believed to have had dealings
with people stricken by the highly contagious disease.

The government announced on August 25 that the DRC was facing its
seventh Ebola outbreak since the disease was first identified in the
former Zaire in 1976.

The health minister has ruled out any link with a serious Ebola
epidemic sweeping parts of west Africa, at a cost of more than
1,500 lives, on the grounds that there had been no contact
between those distant nations and Boende. The WHO has taken the
same position.
​

And Liberia is a disaster... (via CNN)

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said Monday that the situation over
the massive Ebola outbreak in her country "remains grave."

"Our health delivery system is under stress. The international community
couldn't respond quickly," Johnson Sirleaf told CNN's Nima Elbagir in an
interview.

She warned a bigger response is needed to prevent that.

"People now don't see this as a Liberia or West Africa crisis. It
could easily become a global crisis."
​

* * *
"contained"

 

[Possible Impact]

Scheduled CDC Press conference

Update on the CDC Response to the Ebola Outbreak
http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/a0902-ebola-outbreak.html

Back from a visit to West Africa with outbreak responders,
CDC director will hold media briefing

Media Briefing will include a public health assessment of the Ebola outbreak
in West Africa and an update on CDC and USG efforts to control the spread
of the outbreak and steps to help stop the largest-ever outbreak of Ebola.

Who
Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H., CDC Director

When
Tuesday, September 2, 2014, at 12:00 p.m. (ET)

Where
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Tom Harkin Global Communications Center (Building 19), Press Room
1600 Clifton Road NE
Atlanta, GA 30329

Reporters who wish to attend the media briefing in person must RSVP by 10 a.m. ET
on Tuesday, September 2, 2014. Please contact CDC’s press office, 404-639-3286
or at media@cdc.gov. Reporters who RSVP will be guaranteed access.

Live Webcast

http://wm.onlinevideoservice.com/CDC1

 

[almost ready]

This is very upsetting, so if you're stressed, wan, or ill, please go to a happy thread and build up your own immune system.

If you're still here, please click on link and watch sky news video. It's not a youtube and they have their own media player. Patient leaves ebola clinic wandering into the market searching for food. He looks sound of body, by the way, no blood or obvious sign of illness. Ebola workers find, follow and then essentially recapture him. There are local townspeople giving their opinions about the clinic in their midst and patient care.

For some reason, I found this very upsetting. Knew and had thought about the fact that patients are known to be uncooperative, sullen, etc (already in the 1976 outbreak that was clear)....yet seeing those people in that garb trying to protect themselves....well, you can see why there are so many slip-ups and medical personnel contamination.

Anyway, not recommended for people who are dealing with serious illness or coping with depression. Thank you for loving and caring for yourselves. We need to take this aspect of health seriously.




http://news.sky.com/story/1328891/ebola-patient-flees-clinic-in-search-for-food

 

[mala]

Here's what I don't understand.

Why isn't the CDC or WHO saying something like... "If this isn't stopped immediately, using the full force of every agency within the UN and major supporting countries, the OIL production in Nigeria, which is the world's fourth largest oil producer, will stop. All oil exports from Africa will come to a screeching halt by mid-2015." That should be all they need to do before the World Bank drops a few billion on the problem.

Yet, I've seen reports from the World Bank that indicate it's all a minor inconvenience (Come, come old chap, it's just Africa, after all). Why aren't the money men running around in circles to fix this? That bothers me. A lot.

 

[AR15ER]

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/eb...an-doctor-infected-ebola-charity-says-n193911


Another American missionary doctor working in Liberia has tested positive for Ebola, an aid group said Tuesday.


SIM USA said the doctor, who was not named, was treating obstetric patients at ELWA hospital in Monrovia and had not treated Ebola patients in the hospital’s isolation unit, which is separate from the main hospital. The charity said it was not yet known how the doctor was infected, but he immediately isolated himself when he showed symptoms.





The new case comes two weeks after Dr. Kent Brantly and his colleague Nancy Writebol, who worked for SIM, walked out of an Atlanta hospital virus-free after being infected and evacuated from Liberia.


The doctor was transferred to the Ebola isolation unit and is doing well and in good spirits, SIM said in a statement. The group planned a briefing later Tuesday.


“My heart was deeply saddened, but my faith was not shaken, when I learned another of our missionary doctors contracted Ebola,” said Bruce Johnson, president of SIM USA. “As a global mission, we are surrounding our missionary with prayer, as well as our Liberian SIM/ELWA colleagues, who continue fighting the Ebola epidemic in Liberia.”

 

[Possible Impact]

Another American Doctor Tests Positive for Ebola in West Africa

Sep 2, 2014, 1:20 PM ET
By SYDNEY LUPKIN
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/american-doctor-tests-positive-ebola-west-africa/story?id=25216376

Another American doctor working for the missionary group SIM has tested
positive for Ebola in Liberia.

The doctor was treating pregnant women ELWA Hospital in Monrovia,
Liberia, according to SIM. But he was not treating Ebola patients in the
hospital’s separate Ebola isolation facility, the group said, adding that it
was unclear how he contracted the virus.

“My heart was deeply saddened, but my faith was not shaken, when I
learned another of our missionary doctors contracted Ebola,” SIM president
Bruce Johnson said in a statement.

The doctor "immediately isolated himself" and has since been transferred
to the ELWA Ebola ward where he is "doing well and is in good spirits,"
according to SIM.

SIM is the same missionary group that Nancy Writebol had been working
for when she contracted Ebola in July. Writebol and fellow American Ebola
survivor Dr. Kent Brantly, who worked for the aid group Samaritan’s Purse,
were evacuated from Liberia to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta for
treatment and declared virus-free. Writebol was discharged on Aug. 19
and Brantly went home two days later.

Since March, the deadly virus has killed 1,552 people and sickened
1,517 others, according to the latest numbers from
the World Health Organization.

The virus has also sickened at least 240 health workers, half of whom
have died, according to WHO.

"Ebola is taking its toll in many ways. It directly kills many who it infects
but indirectly it is killing many more," said ABC News' chief health and
medical editor Dr. Richard Besser, who just returned from Monrovia,
Liberia. "Emergency rooms are closed, many hospital wards are as well
leaving people who are sick with heart disease, trauma, pregnancy
complications, pneumonia, malaria and all the everyday health
emergencies with nowhere to go."

"I worry that this latest case, an American doctor contracting Ebola while
caring for a maternity patient, will lead overseas groups that are providing
non-Ebola support to question whether they can safely do so," Besser
added. "These countries need more medical support. Any further reduction
would be disastrous."
​

 

[Possible Impact]

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/eb...an-doctor-infected-ebola-charity-says-n193911


Another American missionary doctor working in Liberia has tested positive for Ebola, an aid group said Tuesday.


SIM USA said the doctor, who was not named, was treating obstetric patients at ELWA hospital in Monrovia and had not treated Ebola patients in the hospital’s isolation unit, which is separate from the main hospital. The charity said it was not yet known how the doctor was infected, but he immediately isolated himself when he showed symptoms.





The new case comes two weeks after Dr. Kent Brantly and his colleague Nancy Writebol, who worked for SIM, walked out of an Atlanta hospital virus-free after being infected and evacuated from Liberia.


The doctor was transferred to the Ebola isolation unit and is doing well and in good spirits, SIM said in a statement. The group planned a briefing later Tuesday.


“My heart was deeply saddened, but my faith was not shaken, when I learned another of our missionary doctors contracted Ebola,” said Bruce Johnson, president of SIM USA. “As a global mission, we are surrounding our missionary with prayer, as well as our Liberian SIM/ELWA colleagues, who continue fighting the Ebola epidemic in Liberia.”

I found the original source for our stories:
http://www.sim.org/index.php/content/missionaries-test-positive-for-ebola

(Might be updates posted there soon...)

 

[bcingu]

Outbreak Update - As of August 26, 2014

The World Health Organization, in partnership with the Ministries of Health in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Nigeria reported 3069 suspect and confirmed cases of EVD, including 1752 laboratory-confirmed cases, and 1552 deaths.

In Guinea, 648 cases of EVD, including 482 laboratory-confirmed cases, and 430 deaths were reported by the Ministry of Health of Guinea and WHO. Active surveillance continues in Conakry, Guéckédou, Dubreka, Pita, Siguiri, Kourourssa, Macenta, Yamou, and Nzerekore Districts.

The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare of Liberia and WHO reported 1378 clinical cases of EVD, including 322 laboratory-confirmed cases, and 694 deaths. Suspect and confirmed cases have been reported in 13 of 15 Counties. Laboratory testing is being conducted in Monrovia.

In Nigeria, WHO and the Nigerian Ministry of Health reported 17 suspect cases, including 13 laboratory-confirmed cases, and 6 deaths.

In Sierra Leone, WHO and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation of Sierra Leone reported 1026 suspect and confirmed cases of EVD, including 935 laboratory-confirmed cases, 422 deaths. Reports, investigations, and testing of suspect cases continue across the country.

CDC is in regular communication with all of the Ministries of Health (MOH), WHO, MSF, and other partners regarding the outbreak. Currently CDC has personnel in all four countries assisting the respective MOHs and the WHO-led international response to this Ebola outbreak.

Based on reports from the Ministry of Heath of Guinea, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation of Sierra Leone, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare of Liberia, the Ministry of Health of Nigeria, and WHO 28 August 2014

This does not include DR Congo

http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/guinea/index.html

 

[Doomer Doug]

Here is the latest from zerohege.com with a few comments. Nigeria has blown it utterly. It will take some time, but it is clear Ebola is now entrenched in Nigeria and spreading.


"World Is Losing Battle To Contain Ebola Epidemic," MSF Warns Response "Lethally Inadequate
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 09/02/2014 11:20 -0400

The CDC's worst nightmare is coming true. Despite reassurances from the government that it was 'contained', the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria is accelerating fast. Health Minister Chukwu said that 17 had now been infected and 271 were under surveillance (including most horrifyingly, 72 in Lagos). In addition, Congo is seeing cases increase rapidly, with WHO reporting 53 cases of Ebola (31 dead) and warning, perhaps ominously, that there is no link with the West Africa strain. Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said the situation in her country "remains grave," adding "People now don't see this as a Liberia or West Africa crisis. It could easily become a global crisis." Furthermore, Doctors-without-Borders warns, "the world is losing the battle to contain the Ebola epidemic."





*WORLD LEADERS ARE FAILING TO ADDRESS EBOLA EPIDEMIC, MSF SAYS
*INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE TO EBOLA 'LETHALLY INADEQUATE', MSF SAYS
*MSF: WORLD IS LOSING BATTLE TO CONTAIN EBOLA EPIDEMIC
*MSF: NATIONS WITH DISASTER RESPONSE CAPACITY MUST ASSIST

Via Doctors Without Borders,

Six months into the worst Ebola epidemic in history, the world is losing the battle to contain it. Leaders are failing to come to grips with this transnational threat.



In West Africa, cases and deaths continue to surge. Riots are breaking out. Isolation centers are overwhelmed. Health workers on the front lines are becoming infected and are dying in shocking numbers. Others have fled in fear, leaving people without care for even the most common illnesses. Entire health systems have crumbled.



Ebola treatment centers are reduced to places where people go to die alone, where little more than palliative care is offered. It is impossible to keep up with the sheer number of infected people pouring into facilities. In Sierra Leone, infectious bodies are rotting in the streets.



Rather than building new Ebola care centers in Liberia, we are forced to build crematoria.



Last week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) projected as many as 20,000 people infected over three months in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.



We are in uncharted waters. Transmission rates are at unprecedented levels, and the virus is spreading quickly through Liberia’s capital, Monrovia.



...



We have been losing for the past six months. We must win over the next three.

Nigeria is bad and getting worse fast.. (via Reuters)

Nigeria has a third confirmed case of Ebola in the oil hub of Port Harcourt, bringing the country's total confirmed infections to 17, with 271 people under surveillance, the health minister said on Monday.



...



Patrick Sawyer, the first case, came from Liberia, and then collapsed at Lagos airport on July 20.



The shift to Port Harcourt shows how easily containment efforts can be undermined. Nigeria's government acted quickly at the end of July, setting up an isolation ward and monitoring contacts closely. But one of Sawyer's contacts in Lagos avoided quarantine and traveled east to Port Harcourt.



...



Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said in a press conference that 72 people in Lagos, a city of 21 million people, were still under surveillance. Another 199 people were under surveillance in Port Harcourt.

Congo is accelerating... (via WHO)

*WHO SAYS IDENTIFIED 53 CASES CONSISTENT W/EBOLA IN DRC, 31 DEAD
*NO LINK BETWEEN WEST AFRICA, CONGO EBOLA OUTBREAKS, WHO SAYS

"There are now 31 deaths," Eugene Kambambi, the WHO's head of communication in DR Congo, told AFP, citing Congolese authorities and stressing that the epidemic "remains contained" in an area around 800 kilometres north of the capital Kinshasa.



Kabamba added that there were "53 confirmed, suspected or likely cases" of Ebola, while 185 people were under medical watch because they had admitted to contact with patients or were believed to have had dealings with people stricken by the highly contagious disease.



The government announced on August 25 that the DRC was facing its seventh Ebola outbreak since the disease was first identified in the former Zaire in 1976.



The health minister has ruled out any link with a serious Ebola epidemic sweeping parts of west Africa, at a cost of more than 1,500 lives, on the grounds that there had been no contact between those distant nations and Boende. The WHO has taken the same position.

And Liberia is a disaster... (via CNN)

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said Monday that the situation over the massive Ebola outbreak in her country "remains grave."



"Our health delivery system is under stress. The international community couldn't respond quickly," Johnson Sirleaf told CNN's Nima Elbagir in an interview.



She warned a bigger response is needed to prevent that.



"People now don't see this as a Liberia or West Africa crisis. It could easily become a global crisis."

* * *
"contained"

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 11:23 | 5171181 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

When your neighbor has Ebola, it's an unlucky break.

When YOU have Ebola, it's an epidemic.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 11:30 | 5171223 Tall Tom
Tall Tom's picture

When you have Ebola it is not an epidemic. It is YOUR FUNERAL. You are dead.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 11:38 | 5171258 SMG
SMG's picture

Is that chart above saying there have been 30000 deaths so far? If so wow.



Edit: ok never mind that's a projected trend.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 11:40 | 5171283 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

That's projected. 25 weeks from June 24th. Sometime around Christmas this year.

Ho, ho, ho.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 11:43 | 5171295 Publicus
Publicus's picture

Ebola will put an end to scarcity.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 11:44 | 5171296 Decolat
Decolat's picture

Curse these hockey stick charts. And curse the multitudes that ignore them!

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 11:51 | 5171341 Herd Redirectio...
Herd Redirection Committee's picture

"Its spreading rapidly in Monrovia"

Oh, the same place that has shit in the streets, has Ebola spreading quickly? Huh. Note to self: Avoid Monrovia, esp. slums.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 12:00 | 5171382 knukles
knukles's picture

And so what else is in the news?
Solution, only one and now pitifully late:

New and Improved, Same Method, New Name, Different Package, Same Great Procedure:

Cordon Sanitaire.

Now coming to a whole continent!
Hopefully not near you!

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 12:18 | 5171466 jbvtme
jbvtme's picture

what is the connection to the mysterious deaths of a hundred microbiologists in the past few years and the recent death of a rockefeller, big wheel at drs. w/o borders, with the ebola outbreak?

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 12:26 | 5171504 Bindar Dundat
Bindar Dundat's picture

Feb 2016 is when we hit 6B infected. Yikes

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 13:56 | 5171972 TerminalDebt
TerminalDebt's picture

we will never truly have 6B infected at the same time, due to the fact 2B will already be dead

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 14:22 | 5172108 MalteseFalcon
MalteseFalcon's picture

Will somebody, anybody, please cut that check to WHO.



EEEEEbolaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 12:28 | 5171507 General Decline
General Decline's picture

"what is the connection to the mysterious deaths of a hundred microbiologists in the past few years and the recent death of a rockefeller, big wheel at drs. w/o borders, with the ebola outbreak?"



I give up. What's your theory?

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 12:31 | 5171520 Herd Redirectio...
Herd Redirection Committee's picture

That it was 'mutated w/ assistance', shall we say.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 13:08 | 5171692 General Decline
General Decline's picture

understood

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 13:35 | 5171808 Fish Gone Bad
Fish Gone Bad's picture

I guess they are cancelling the plans to build a Disneyland in Lagos.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 15:45 | 5172547 gatorboat
gatorboat's picture

Wow, this ebola scamidemic even has the ZH crowd trembling in fear.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 12:31 | 5171523 g speed
g speed's picture

good catch---+1 for you---now we need an investigation?????

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 12:52 | 5171617 Kprime
Kprime's picture

keep in mind they eliminated the top 4 or 5 Aids reseachers, plus some lesser Aids researchers. Had to shoot down a whole plane but they got them.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 13:17 | 5171737 cougar_w
cougar_w's picture

"what is the connection"

None.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 12:19 | 5171475 El Vaquero
El Vaquero's picture

Part of the problem is that the more persons infected, the more chances it has to mutate into something even more nasty. Frankly, with over 7 billion people on the planet and rapid transportation, I'm surprised that we haven't experienced a major pandemic of something already. That being said, I'm not going to worry until there are secondary and tertiary infections in developed countries.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 13:52 | 5171946 Things that go bump
Things that go bump's picture

There was a small outbreak of what is thought to have been Spanish flu at a military base in 1917, but it died out. In 1918, that monster broke out in several different countries simultaneously.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 14:08 | 5172042 El Vaquero
El Vaquero's picture

There are so many potential bugs out there that could turn into something nasty that it's not worth altering your life for any given one until it actually does something that proves that it is a danger. WTF are we going to do if there is a real global pandemic anyway? Once one hits, the only thing you'll be able to do is to hope that you weren't exposed once you realize what's going on and do what you can to isolate yourself from sources of infection.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 11:54 | 5171352 PacOps
PacOps's picture

In the long run ... however for the near future ...



The Ebola outbreak is putting food harvests in West Africa "at serious risk", the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warns.

It has raised a special alert for Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the three countries worst affected.

Rice and maize production will be particularly affected during the coming harvest season, says the FAO.

The food shortages are expected to worsen in the coming months.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29028768

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 11:59 | 5171366 Publicus
Publicus's picture

At current growth rate, Ebola will infect everyone within only 1-2 years. After that abudance for every survivor.



Oh who am I kidding, the remaining elite will just hoard everything all over again.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 13:21 | 5171758 cougar_w
cougar_w's picture

"At current growth rate"

It's silly (bordering on irresponsible) to even try and speculate. You can't do this work in a spreadsheet, it takes complex computer models that are tuned to the time of year, global travel patterns and the nature of the pathogen. Those models are probably being run now (somewhere) but I seriously doubt you will ever see the output. They are used by national centers for disease control, and WHO, and otherwise will be absolutely top-secret.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 14:07 | 5172037 Things that go bump
Things that go bump's picture

I've seen simulations of such models in pandemic disaster movies, and maybe it was for effect, but they were quite grim. I've seen estimates for the spread of the black death overlying maps of Europe too, and this was at a time when travel was quite difficult and dangerous.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 15:22 | 5172435 Svener
Svener's picture

I have seen a few. They are being covered at flutrackers. They are no where near as dystopain as they appear on this site. They are being done by MIT and some other solid organizations that are able to factor enormouse amounts of data. Gotta love algos. For multiple reasons the risks of spreading very far outside of Africa are pretty small. If it does the developed world can make quick work of it. My God, this is nothing like small pox, that was a slippery little devil, and we were able to wipe that out. This would not spread like wild fire here. We don't have the same practices or culture that make so diabolical there. They will likely have a vaccine early 2015, not enough time for it to get very far.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 12:15 | 5171448 Kprime
Kprime's picture

i understand there are a lot of mexicans who like to cross borders to harvest food that no one else will harvest (yah right). We have an extra 70,000 workers we could donate.

Send your contributions to "Donate a Mexican Harvester". If you can afford just one illegal mexican per week, we can put an end to the wasted harvest. Call today.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 12:24 | 5171495 froze25
froze25's picture

Food will keep going up, the california drought is a story under reported on.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 13:00 | 5171646 e2thex
e2thex's picture





"...the california drought is a story under reported...."

I get all my water from the faucet and I see no impending shortage of faucets near term.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 13:35 | 5171836 Cpl Hicks
Cpl Hicks's picture

Just you wait until you go shopping for fresh arugula. Then the true horror of the situation will become clear to you.

Can you imagine having to eat iceberg lettuce? Oh, the humanity!

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 15:23 | 5172438 willwork4food
willwork4food's picture

Or only being able to afford Bud Light? Give me ebola!

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 13:43 | 5171882 j0nx
j0nx's picture

Draught my ass. The only reason food is going up is dollar debasement. Stop swallowing the MSM BS.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 13:10 | 5171701 BraveSirRobin
BraveSirRobin's picture

"Ebola will put an end to scarcity.'

Except for people, who may become scarce.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 12:33 | 5171527 Antifaschistische
Antifaschistische's picture

Holy Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...

I'm still thinking this is a Big Pharma induced exageration of a terrible illness. Just give Big Pharma a few Billion (via Pharma funded CDC, WHO) and they'll be happy.

One more little thing. Ebola rears it's ugly head in Senegal (one case) and the government there is pleading for WHO assistance for protective gear!!! WTF!! No where in that entire country is someone able to come up with protective clothing and a freakin respirator!! They didn't think to do it in advance!!! Is Obama running that place too!!!

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 13:27 | 5171784 cougar_w
cougar_w's picture

One case reported is 100 unreported. 10 infected in hospitals is 1,000 that never made the trip. 1,000 becomes 10,000 very quickly, in a matter of weeks, far faster than any nation can hope to mobilize a large and coordinated response. Yeah nobody was ready, this thing is new and they were taken in the night.

The African nations with any cases at all are probably already nuked. Just wiped out. Dead walking. Give it a fews months, but like someone shot in the gut, they are already dead.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 13:31 | 5171812 Cpl Hicks
Cpl Hicks's picture

Ebola Shmebola.

This is just another grab for your money, along with global warming, killer hurricanes, killer cops and the looming threat of the Tea Party. Please, please stand very still while we spend every extorted tax dollar and then raise your rates yet again.

Barry shakes down the 1%ers between endless rounds of golf while stockpiling KY for his next European jaunt. Any good courses in Estonia or Wales?

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 14:09 | 5172023 BraveSirRobin
BraveSirRobin's picture

I hope so. I hope it has been contained in Nigeria. I hope it is not airborne, as the CDC now seems to indicate it is. It is ugly enough to be concerned about though. And if you do try and do something about it, doctors, PhD's and labs are real expensive.

So the problem for people vested with political power is that if they do nothing and it gets bad, they get blamed. If they do a lot and it turns out to be no big deal, they get blamed. They tend to err on the side of "doing something" if for no other reason that it's not their money and to cover their ass.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 12:34 | 5171533 TheReplacement
TheReplacement's picture

That would seem to be a lowball. Assuming that 30k die then you can count on a whole lotta services and industries breaking down. Healthcare, food, and sanitation shutdowns could lead to a whole lot more deaths. If they try to quarantine entire areas like West Point then violence and other diseases like cholera could become problems.

$430M or $85B... priorities people.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 13:03 | 5171668 dontgoforit
dontgoforit's picture

Plague outbreaks in past centuries killed off roughly 70% of all affected. If that percentage held true today, that's about 5 billion people. And yes, it does take a few years to get it done.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 13:03 | 5171664 Silky Johnson
Silky Johnson's picture

Projected 30,000 deaths by Christams?!! Holy shit I know what I'm asking from Santy, a new biohazard suit like Dustin Hoffman's.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 11:39 | 5171268 Kirk2NCC1701
Kirk2NCC1701's picture

When you have Ebola, you suffer and may die.

When you have Obola, millions suffer and many more will die.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 12:15 | 5171457 PacOps
PacOps's picture

Meanwhile, Obola chimes in with instructions ... an a reminder that he be their partner.


Obama Tells Africans How Not to Get Ebola

President Barack Obama has made a video address to the people of West Africa, aimed at communicating how Ebola is spread. He also said, especially to the people of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, that they will "continue to have a partner in me and in the United States of America".



http://allafrica.com/view/group/main/main/id/00032368.html

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 12:25 | 5171500 froze25
froze25's picture

I always thought it was spread by bodily fluids. But the healthcare workers keep getting infected. Is it air born?

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 12:41 | 5171568 TheReplacement
TheReplacement's picture

No, it is absolutely not airborne in any way, shape, or form. Those medicos ran out of TP and were wiping using barehands. It is not their custom to wash after that soo...

Yeah it is freaking airborne ffs.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 12:39 | 5171542 Kirk2NCC1701
Kirk2NCC1701's picture

Well, you tell me... the CDC uses Positive Pressure Suits when working with any virus of this type

See "A researcher working with the Ebola virus while wearing a BSL-4 positive pressure suit to avoid infection." in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus_disease

As always... PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT THEY DO, NOT WHAT THEY SAY. Plan, hedge and act accordingly.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 12:56 | 5171626 TheReplacement
TheReplacement's picture

No different that trying to guage the market by Buffet.

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Tue, 09/02/2014 - 13:03 | 5171660 overmedicatedun...
overmedicatedundersexed's picture

that nerdish head of cdc has gone to the black continent, and come back saying " it's going to get worse it's out of control" but then says, "too many countries have cut off contact with the african ebola states" I bet he feels real good about his altruisim, after all he knows quarantine of african countries with ebola would make the cdc look bad. we can't have that.

 

[mscoffee]

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/eb...an-doctor-infected-ebola-charity-says-n193911


was treating obstetric patients at ELWA hospital in Monrovia and had not treated Ebola patients in the hospital’s isolation unit, which is separate from the main hospital. The charity said it was not yet known how the doctor was infected, but he immediately isolated himself when he showed symptoms.

I wonder if he isolated himself soon enough, or did he unknowingly infect a few of his patients first.

 

[Haybails]

Whatever became of this update/Webcast? I tried following the link/url but couldn't connect) . . .

HB

Scheduled CDC Press conference

Update on the CDC Response to the Ebola Outbreak
http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/a0902-ebola-outbreak.html

Back from a visit to West Africa with outbreak responders,
CDC director will hold media briefing

Media Briefing will include a public health assessment of the Ebola outbreak
in West Africa and an update on CDC and USG efforts to control the spread
of the outbreak and steps to help stop the largest-ever outbreak of Ebola.

Who
Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H., CDC Director

When
Tuesday, September 2, 2014, at 12:00 p.m. (ET)

Where
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Tom Harkin Global Communications Center (Building 19), Press Room
1600 Clifton Road NE
Atlanta, GA 30329

Reporters who wish to attend the media briefing in person must RSVP by 10 a.m. ET
on Tuesday, September 2, 2014. Please contact CDC’s press office, 404-639-3286
or at media@cdc.gov. Reporters who RSVP will be guaranteed access.

Live Webcast

http://wm.onlinevideoservice.com/CDC1

 

[Vegas321]

I said to wait till Sept/Oct and see where this is headed. It's looking more like we are about to hit a new level for this disease. The war iin Africa is "this close" to total collapse. Yikes...

 

[Doomer Doug]

Africa is going to get hammered and ground into dust. This is the absolute minimum we can expect based on current trends. The global pandemic issue is still in doubt in my opinion. Until we get a clearer idea of how many Ebola infected people flew out of Lagos International Airport we can't make an intelligent decision.

 

[Be Well]

From PFI, Pixie's bolding.

http://www.singtomeohmuse.com/viewtopic.php?t=5725&start=1770&sid=5731f24dca1ef121d137adc29529418f

Lessons Learned from the Ebola Epidemic

By KEN ISAACS [of Samaritan's Purse]

SEPTEMBER 2, 2014 2:22 PM

http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/20...he-ebola-epidemic/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

On July 24, I wrote on this blog that the Ebola epidemic was spinning out of control and pleaded with the international community to join my organization, Samaritan’s Purse, on the front lines of the fight against this deadly disease.

Two days later, we received word that one of our doctors, Kent Brantly, had tested positive for Ebola. News of Nancy Writebol’s infection came shortly afterward. In the ensuing days, our team worked to care for Kent and Nancy, evacuate them to the United States, and continue to help Ebola-stricken Liberians at our two case management centers. Tragically, the situation on the ground became so out of control that we were forced to evacuate our expatriate staff.

Kent and Nancy have now recovered and have been released from Emory University Hospital. Upon his release, Kent stated, “I am forever thankful to God for sparing my life and am glad for any attention my sickness has attracted for the plight of West Africa in the midst of this epidemic.” He has definitely attracted global attention to the epidemic, but unfortunately that awareness is still not translating into effective action.

As Samaritan’s Purse and other organizations — most notably Doctors Without Borders — continue to engage in the fight against Ebola, I would like to share some of the lessons I have learned over the past few months.

Since March, Samaritan's Purse staff have distributed nearly 200,000 posters and pamphlets, worked with hundreds of schools and churches, and provided radio messaging to combat the Ebola virus outbreak.

The international community was caught off guard by this epidemic, and the response remains inadequate to address realities on the ground.

Ebola in West Africa is moving faster than a racehorse. On August 7, I testified before a congressional subcommittee. That night, the U.S. Embassy in Liberia ordered the evacuation of non-essential personnel. The next day, the World Health Organization declared an international health emergency. In the weeks since then, the disease has claimed over 300 lives in Liberia, and at least 100 more in Sierra Leone and Guinea. International experts agree that these numbers are greatly underreported.

The number of infections — and deaths — are increasing so dramatically that few epidemiologists are publicly willing to project how many more may get the disease. Some epidemiological reports I have read speculate that it will be mid-2015 before this Ebola outbreak peaks.

Doctors Without Borders is fighting a tough battle, especially in Liberia.

One 20-bed facility in the remote area of Foya recently had a patient load of 67. Recently, they opened a new 120-bed facility just outside of Monrovia, and reports say it is already overwhelmed.

Donor countries have released some funds as an incentive for non-governmental organizations to begin new programs to combat Ebola in West Africa, which is a good start. The United States Agency for International Development announced that they landed a plane with tons of supplies in Monrovia recently. The military can also play a key role in providing logistical support and airlifting essential items like soap, chlorine, protective equipment and medical supplies.

Last month, the Centers for Disease Control pledged to dispatch 50 emergency responders to West Africa within 30 days. I would not qualify sending 50 people over the course of 30 days as a true “emergency” response.

Liberia has tragically transitioned from an international public health crisis to a complete humanitarian emergency. Normal health care is disrupted and in many places halted. Insecurity and civil unrest is widespread. The World Food Program reports that up to one million people now need food rations. Ebola was the catalyst for this catastrophe, but now these other emergency needs are overshadowing the continued disease threat.

W.H.O., which is widely known for its bureaucracy, infighting, academic perspective and lack of implementation capacity, is the United Nations coordinating body for the response to the Ebola crisis. If they fumble the ball many more lives will be lost.

Local health authorities in the United States lack the knowledge and coordination necessary to deal with Ebola effectively.

As our evacuated staff returned to the United States from Liberia, we found wide discrepancies in how they were treated by local public health departments. One physician was quarantined for 21 days and directed not to leave the interior of the house under threat of a two-year imprisonment. In another area, our personnel were “isolated” for 21 days but only told not to leave the county. They were free to interact outside of their homes. Public health concerns can mean that a doctor serving in Liberia for two weeks may well end up missing five weeks of work.

We need to rethink how we are providing patient care and fighting to contain the virus.

The slum of West Point, adjacent to Monrovia, was under a quarantine enforced by bullets and barbed wire. Not long ago, some members of this community ransacked a temporary isolation ward. Dozens of patients were chased out, and rioters looted mattresses and sheets — the very materials that would be loaded with Ebola virus. No doubt many were infected and are now at home sick, dying or dead.

West Africans are faced with a very hard decision if a loved one gets sick: take them to a center where more than 60 of 100 patients die or try to care for them at home. Many are choosing home care, which means sick people are staying with their families in their houses where they will most likely die and pass the virus to others.

We must explore the possibility of alternative treatment options to help these caregivers. Are there ways to educate them and provide essential materials to improve their chances of remaining uninfected — and perhaps increase the odds of survival for their sick loved one? Samaritan’s Purse is trying to answer this critical question and think outside the box in developing interventions to assist family caregivers.

I share these lessons because I am frustrated about the continued lack of respect for this disease among those who have the best resources to fight it. The problem only seems to garner serious attention when Ebola victims are citizens of a developed nation, like Kent and Nancy.

Those of us who are still witnessing Ebola’s destructive path through West Africa are committed to continuing the fight. We are taking the lessons we have already learned and applying them to new strategies in areas such as ground logistics, the deployment of skilled personnel, the provision of fuel oil, payment of salaries, and the education and engagement of local populations. I admit there are times when the battle feels overwhelming. I pray the international community will immediately and exponentially increase its efforts. There are still lives that can be saved.

Ken Isaacs is Vice President of Programs and Government Relations for the international relief organization Samaritan’s Purse.

 

[Possible Impact]

Whatever became of this update/Webcast? I tried following the link/url but couldn't connect) . . .

HB

Audio of conference
http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/t0902-ebola-outbreak.mp3

They promised a transcript, none available yet.


A snip from YouTube, of the CDC presentation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzpmVS0DhE0

Today on CNN

CDC director: Ebola is 'completely out of control'
Published on Sep 2, 2014
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vaOQVJX74Q

CDC director: Ebola epidemic 'spiraling out of control'
Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
joins TODAY to talk about the Ebola crisis in Africa..

ABC News' Dr. Richard Besser and CDC Director Dr. Tim Frieden
on the deadly Ebola outbreak in Africa and urgent transport of two sick Americans.

The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights,
and International Organizations holds a 2 p.m. hearing on the Ebola virus,
has killed more than 900.