| Welcome to Natural Hazards Forum. We hope you enjoy your visit. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| Ebola Crisis | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: 23 Mar 2014, 12:52 AM (2,804 Views) | |
| skibboy | 23 Mar 2014, 12:52 AM Post #1 |
|
22 March 2014 Guinea deaths: Ebola blamed for deadly fever outbreak ![]() Ebola was first identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976 The Ebola virus has been identified as the cause of an outbreak of haemorrhagic fever now believed to have killed nearly 60 people in southern Guinea, government officials say. Scores of cases have been recorded since the outbreak began early last month. There is no known cure or vaccine for the highly contagious Ebola virus. It is spread by close personal contact with people who are infected and kills between 25% and 90% of victims. Symptoms include internal and external bleeding, diarrhoea and vomiting. Outbreaks of Ebola occur primarily in remote villages in Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests, the World Health Organization says. Analysts suggest it has never been recorded in Guinea before. Recent years have seen outbreaks in Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo. 'Overwhelmed' "We got the first results from Lyon yesterday (Friday) which informed us of the presence of the Ebola virus as the cause of this outbreak," Guinean health ministry official Sakoba Keita told AFP. "The Ebola fever epidemic raging in southern Guinea since 9 February has left at least 59 dead out of 80 cases identified by our services on the ground." "We are overwhelmed in the field, we are fighting against this epidemic with all the means we have at our disposal with the help of our partners but it is difficult." Medical aid charity Medecins sans Frontieres said on Saturday it would strengthen its team in Guinea and fly some 33 tonnes of drugs and isolation equipment in from Belgium and France. Dr Armand Sprecher, an emergency physician and epidemiologist working with MSF in Guinea, told the BBC that doctors had to identify all patients with the disease and monitor anyone they had been in contact with during their illness. The latest outbreak could be brought under control if people acted quickly, he said. "Based on our history with these sorts of outbreaks it will happen. Ideally, sooner rather than later," said Dr Sprecher. "The more quickly we can contain this the fewer cases we'll have, then the smaller the scale of the epidemic. That's the idea of going in as strong as we can early on." Source:
|
![]() |
|
| Replies: | |
|---|---|
| skibboy | 9 Oct 2014, 11:06 PM Post #126 |
|
9 October 2014 Ebola challenge 'biggest since Aids' The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is unlike anything since the emergence of HIV/Aids, top US medical official Thomas Frieden has said. A fast global response could ensure that it did not become "the next Aids," the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said. The presidents of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea appealed for more aid to help fight the disease. The outbreak has killed more than 3,860 people, mainly in West Africa. More than 200 health workers are among the victims. Elsewhere: -The UK is investigating reports a Briton suspected of having the disease has died in Macedonia, though Macedonia's health ministry says there are "high chances" this is not a case of the disease -Britain is to begin enhanced screening for Ebola in people travelling from affected countries, the government announces -The US is introducing new security measures to screen passengers arriving from Ebola-affected countries in West Africa at five major US airports -In Texas, a county sheriff deputy was quarantined after visiting the home of the first person diagnosed with Ebola on US soil, who later died from the virus -The health of Spanish nurse Teresa Romero - who became the first person to contract Ebola outside of West Africa - has worsened, a hospital official says __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ![]() Scientists are racing to understand - and combat - the Ebola virus How not to catch Ebola -Avoid direct contact with sick patients -Wear goggles to protect eyes -Clothing and clinical waste should be incinerated and any medical equipment that needs to be kept should be decontaminated -People who recover from Ebola should abstain from sex or use condoms for three months __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 'Our people dying' At the meeting in Washington, Dr Frieden described Ebola as one of the biggest crises he had seen in his career. "I would say that in the 30 years I've been working in public health, the only thing like this has been Aids," he said. The presidents of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea - the three countries worst affected by Ebola - appealed for more aid. "Our people are dying," Sierra Leone's leader Ernest Bai Koroma said, adding that the world was not responding fast enough as children were being orphaned. On Thursday, a Liberian doctor died of the disease at a treatment centre in Monrovia, health officials said. Ugandan-born John Taban Dada had been working at the country's largest hospital, the John F Kennedy Memorial Center, his former colleagues said. His death brings to four the number of doctors who have died in Liberia since the outbreak. ![]() Liberia has been one of the worst affected countries Meanwhile, Ms Romero is now being helped with her breathing in hospital in Spain, according to her brother. Two doctors who treated her have also been admitted for observation. Nigerian success? The EU has announced plans for a system to evacuate international staff from Ebola-infected countries if they show signs of the disease. The evacuation system will allow patients to be flown within 48 hours to European hospitals "that are equipped to deal with the disease," a statement from the European commission said. The move is expected to make it easier to deploy European medical workers to combat the crisis in West Africa. Nigeria's government says 200 healthcare workers have volunteered to be sent to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea as part of a global response team on Ebola. Nigeria, which has had seven confirmed deaths from the virus, seems to have successfully contained the spread of the haemorrhagic fever, the BBC's Chris Ewokor in Abuja says. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Ebola facts SOURCE: NHS AND WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION -People can catch Ebola if they are in direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or animal -Early symptoms include fever, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea and bleeding, sometimes from the eyes and mouth -The current outbreak started in March in west Africa, where the worst-affected countries include Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia -It is thought unlikely that the disease would spread if it did come to the UK because quarantine and communications are more developed than in parts of western Africa -There is no licensed Ebola vaccine but treatments are in development Source:
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 9 Oct 2014, 11:52 PM Post #127 |
|
9 October 2014 UK Ebola screening for arrivals from affected areas ![]() The US has already implemented checks for passengers arriving at some American airports People arriving in the UK from areas hit by Ebola face "enhanced screening" for the virus at Heathrow, Gatwick and Eurostar terminals. Downing Street said passengers would be asked questions and potentially given a medical assessment. It comes as Whitehall sources say it is "very unlikely" a British man who died in Macedonia on Thursday could have contracted the disease. The UK Foreign Office had said it was urgently investigating the reports. The unnamed man was admitted to hospital at 15:00 local time (14:00 BST) and died two hours later, Macedonia's Health Ministry said. He had been vomiting, had a fever and was bleeding internally. There were "high chances" it was not an Ebola case, the the ministry added. But in a statement it said officials had followed World Health Organization procedure in closing the hotel where the man was staying and placing the residents in quarantine. ![]() Jovanka Kostovska of the Macedonian Health Ministry has been addressing the media in capital Skopje A Macedonian government spokesman said the man's travelling companion - also British - told the authorities they had travelled directly from the UK to Skopje and had not been to any affected areas. Dr Brian McCloskey, from Public Health England, said he was aware of the reports but added: "We understand Ebola to be unlikely as the cause of death but will continue to work with partners to investigate." The outbreak has already killed more than 3,000 people and infected more than 7,200 - mostly in West Africa. People leaving areas affected by the outbreak have been subject to checks for some weeks, although people do not become infectious until they display symptoms. Earlier this week a Spanish nurse became the first person to contract the deadly virus outside of West Africa. ![]() The condition of a Spanish nurse with the virus has worsened, according to the hospital treating her Ministers had ruled out introducing screening at UK airports, pointing out that government policy was in line with advice from the World Health Organization. A statement on the Department of Health's website also said: "Entry screening in the UK is not recommended by the World Health Organization, and there are no plans to introduce entry screening for Ebola in the UK." But in a statement, Number 10 said advice from the chief medical officer was that checks on arrivals would "offer an additional level of protection to the UK". The new checks - for those arriving from Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea - will involve "assessing passengers' recent travel history, who they have been in contact with and onward travel arrangements", Downing Street said. Passengers could also be subject to medical checks "by trained medical personnel rather than Border Force staff" and will be given advice on "what to do should they develop symptoms later". The move was criticised by Conservative MP Rory Stewart, who told Channel 4 News: "It doesn't make sense to only screen limited places." __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Analysis ![]() By James Gallagher, health editor, BBC News website The UK's stance on screening has shifted rapidly. As recently as two days ago Public Health England was saying firmly there were no plans for screening arrivals. The argument being there was exit-screening in affected countries, the WHO said it was unnecessary and it would mean screening "huge numbers of low-risk people". But now there will be "enhanced screening" for arrivals from affected countries. So what has changed? The chief medical officer argues concern over rising numbers of cases justifies the move, although it is not clear what assessment of the threat to the UK has changed since Tuesday. However, some scientists have argued the move is more political than scientific __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ BBC transport correspondent Richard Westcott said the announcement was more about looking like something was being done than stopping the disease's spread. Medical experts say the chances of someone boarding a flight with no symptoms and being contagious by the time they land was "highly, highly unlikely", our correspondent added. 'Ineffectual tool' In the US temperature checks and questionnaires were introduced earlier this week for passengers arriving at some airports from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. But speaking on BBC Radio 4's World at One, chairman of the government's Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens Prof George Griffin said temperature tests were "a very ineffectual tool". "We know the clinical course of the disease now very well, a maximum incubation period of 21 days, and fever is only part of the clinical syndrome at the end of that period." And the chairman of Public Health England Prof David Heymann said similar attempts to combat the life-threatening Sars virus in 2003 had been ineffective. "Very few people were actually found who were infected," he added. "In fact, there's no record of anybody in most countries having been shown to be infected with Sars when they crossed the border." Source:
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 11 Oct 2014, 12:19 AM Post #128 |
|
10 October 2014 Global Ebola outbreak deaths exceed 4,000 - WHO The number of deaths attributed to the Ebola outbreak has risen above 4,000, the World Health Organization says. The latest figures show there have been 4,024 confirmed or suspected deaths in the worst-affected West African nations of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Eight deaths are linked to the haemorrhagic fever in Nigeria and one in the US. In total, there have been 8,399 confirmed or suspected cases, mostly in West Africa. Spain's 'crisis' committee The news comes as Liberian lawmakers refused to grant the president additional powers to deal with the Ebola crisis. ![]() Warning messages about Ebola have appeared in public places in Spain ![]() Ebola is taking a particularly heavy toll in Liberia President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has already declared a state of emergency that allows her to impose quarantines. One parliamentarian, Bhofal Chambers, warned that creeping extra powers could turn Liberia into a "police state". The UN says more than 233 health workers working in West Africa have now died in the outbreak, the world's deadliest to date. A nurse in Spain is being treated for the virus after becoming infected from an Ebola patient who had been repatriated from Liberia - the country most badly hit by the disease with 2,316 confirmed or suspected deaths. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Ebola deaths: Confirmed, probable and suspected ![]() Source: WHO Note: figures have occasionally been revised down as suspected or probable cases are found to be unrelated to Ebola. They do not include one death in the US recorded on 8 October. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Teresa Romero is said to be gravely ill but stable, and is being treated in a hospital in Madrid. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Friday set up a special committee to deal with the impact of Europe's first case of Ebola. He admitted that the situation was "complex and difficult", but stressed that the government had a clear plan for what needed to be done. He was speaking as seven more people in Spain were being monitored in hospital for suspected Ebola. They include two hairdressers who came into contact with Ms Romero. Experimental serum Meanwhile, a senior health official told the BBC that leading global experts in the field had not anticipated the scale of the Ebola outbreak. Chris Dye from the WHO said the international response was helping, and the important thing now was to look forward. "We've asked for a response of about $1bn (£618m); so far we have around $300m (£185m) with more being pledged, so a bit less than half of what we need but it's climbing quickly all the time," he said. In April, the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) warned of the potential spread of the virus, but at the time the WHO played down the claims, saying that Ebola was neither an epidemic, nor was it unprecedented. On Friday MSF reported a sharp increase of Ebola cases in the Guinean capital, Conakry, dashing hopes that the disease was being stabilised there. Meanwhile in Mali, an experimental serum is being tested on volunteer health workers. The trial spans several countries, and the results will be sent to experts to determine whether it can protect against Ebola. In other developments: -The Ebola crisis has resulted in the activation for the first time of the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters. Its normal role is to provide satellite imagery to make damage and hazard-assessment maps -Liberia's senate elections due next week have been postponed to help reduce the risk of voters spreading the virus -Nigeria's military has confirmed that more than 1,300 Nigerian peacekeeping troops have been quarantined in Liberia after coming into contact with a Sudanese man who later died of the disease. It had earlier denied such reports -Passengers at some British airports will be screened for Ebola -The US begins its programme of enhanced screening this weekend at five of its major airports, including JFK Source:
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 11 Oct 2014, 10:46 PM Post #129 |
|
11 October 2014 UK expects 'handful' of Ebola cases The UK should expect a "handful" of Ebola cases in the coming months, the chief medical officer has said. Defending a screening programme due to start at key airports and stations, Dame Sally Davies said it was a "blunt instrument" but would save lives. She rejected criticism in a leaked email circulated to doctors that the screening was a "political gesture". The UK held exercises earlier to test its response to an outbreak, as the US began screening some arriving there. Ebola has killed more than 4,000 people worldwide, and a UN expert has said the world will live with it "forever" unless global action stops the virus. 'Vitally important' Dame Sally, England's chief medical officer and chief medical adviser to the UK government, said any cases in Britain would be "spill-over" from West Africa. She said the screening was "unlikely" to pick up many cases, "if any". But she stressed the "great advantage" would be that people would be alerted to what symptoms to look for and what to do if they fell ill. This would reduce their chances of dying and of spreading the virus to others, she said. ![]() Medics in the exercise wore full protective suits, which can be used to stop the spread of the Ebola virus Passenger screening, to be introduced at Heathrow and Gatwick airports and Eurostar terminals next week, will include the assessment of passengers' travel history and a "possible medical assessment". The Department of Health said further details would be announced next week before the measures came into effect. Similar measures are being taken in the US, with screening under way at New York's JFK airport and checks at some other airports due to start in the coming days. In an email seen by the BBC, a senior consultant involved in the programme said he believed the UK screening was "purely a political gesture, unlikely to provide public health benefits". BBC political correspondent Carole Walker said she had spoken to another consultant, also involved in the programme, who had questioned whether someone wanting to enter the UK would be honest if he or she had come into contact with Ebola. The consultant also raised concerns about why health workers involved in screening were not being given protective clothing - saying this must mean they were either not expected to find anyone with Ebola, or they were expected to stop infected people without proper protection. Responding criticism from doctors, Dame Sally said: "At this time, this is the right thing to do." Dame Sally also said exercises held earlier on Saturday to test the UK's Ebola response were "vitally important" and would strengthen protection plans. She said lessons would be learned from the "realistic" eight-hour drill which had tested the response of the government and the emergency services. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he was "doubly reassured" that the government had "robust plans" in place in the event of an Ebola case in the UK and that the exercise was just part of this. "We will evaluate what went well and what we need to improve," he added. Actors simulated symptoms, medical staff wore full protective suits and the health secretary chaired a mock emergency meeting. In one test scenario, paramedics had a call about someone who had collapsed at Gateshead shopping centre. The patient was initially taken to Newcastle then transferred to a specialist isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London when Ebola was suspected. In the other simulated case, a patient visited a walk-in centre in Hillingdon, London, with flu-like symptoms having recently returned from West Africa. After blood tests the patient was taken to the Royal Free. In other developments: -The Spanish nurse infected with Ebola at a Madrid hospital, Teresa Romero, improved overnight and is talking, medical sources say -Macedonian officials say test results have proved a British man previously thought to have died of Ebola did not have the virus -The Confederation of African Football says it has no plans to change the January-February schedule of the African Nations Cup, after hosts Morocco called for a postponement over Ebola fears -The UN special envoy on Ebola, Dr David Nabarro, has warned that the world might have to live with the disease forever unless almost every country is mobilised to fight it -Liberian health workers say they will go on strike on Monday if the government has not resolved the issue of risk and hazard allowance paid to them by then __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Ebola symptoms: What to do in the UK ![]() The Royal Free Hospital in London has a unit for treating any UK Ebola patients Symptoms of Ebola include fever, headache, vomiting, diarrhoea and bleeding - but these are similar to more common infections like flu and some stomach bugs. If you have these symptoms and have had contact with an Ebola patient, ring 111 first. Do not go directly to A&E or a GP. If there has been no contact with Ebola, seek help from 111, your GP or A&E if necessary. The chances of developing Ebola in the UK are low. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Figures from the World Health Organization show there have been 4,024 confirmed or suspected Ebola deaths in the worst-affected West African nations of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone during the current outbreak. There have been 8,399 confirmed or suspected cases in total, mostly in West Africa. As part of the UK effort to help contain the outbreak, 750 military personnel and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Argus, a medical ship, are being sent to West Africa. RFA Argus, which has a fully-equipped hospital including critical care and high-dependency units, is being loaded with supplies at Falmouth in Cornwall and will leave for Sierra Leone next week. It will travel with three Merlin helicopters, aircrew and engineers to provide transport and support to medical teams and aid workers. Supplies being checked before being loaded onto RFA Argus RFA Argus is part of the UK effort to help tackle the Ebola outbreak Personnel from the Army's 22 Field Hospital have been training in York and are expected to be sent to west Africa in the coming weeks to run a 12-bed facility specifically to treat medics who have caught Ebola. The UK government said it had been at the "forefront" of responding to Ebola, giving £125m in support so far. It said this would "support 700 treatment beds to aid up to 8,800 patients over six months", help in "shoring up Sierra Leone's stretched public health services" and provide vital supplies including protective clothing. Source:
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 12 Oct 2014, 11:06 PM Post #130 |
|
12 October 2014 Ebola: Hospital mistakes blamed for US transmission A US health chief has said a mistake was "clearly" made by hospital staff treating an Ebola victim in Texas, resulting in one member being infected. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed that a female health worker tested positive for the deadly virus in Dallas. CDC chief Dr Tom Frieden has promised a full inquiry into how the transmission could have occurred. He said 48 other people who may also have had contact were being observed. The health worker at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital is now on an isolation ward and is said to be in a stable condition. She had been treating Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan, who caught the virus in his native Liberia and died on Wednesday. The current Ebola outbreak, concentrated in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, has resulted in more than 8,300 confirmed and suspected cases, and at least 4,033 deaths. In other developments -The health authorities in Sierra Leone say they are now treating more Ebola patients in the capital Freetown than in the eastern districts of Kenema and Kailahun, where the first cases in the country were detected -European health officials investigating how a nurse in Madrid caught Ebola told the BBC they believe it was simply the result of an accident and the risks to the wider population remain very low -The UN special envoy on Ebola told the BBC the number of Ebola cases was currently increasing exponentially, but greater awareness would help contain the virus 'Clearly a breach' Dr Frieden said a full investigation would be conducted into how the infection had occurred. "Clearly there was a breach in protocol," he told US broadcaster CBS. The CDC investigation, he told reporters, would focus on possible breaches made during two "high-risk procedures", dialysis and respiratory intubation. The health worker who was infected has not been able to identify a specific breach of protocol that might have led to her being infected, he said. Dr Daniel Varga, of the Texas Health Resource, said she had worn a gown, gloves, mask and shield when providing care to Duncan during his second and final hospital admission. Dr Frieden said education and training of health workers would be stepped up and efforts would be made to reduce the number of staff treating Ebola cases. Police are guarding the apartment complex where the woman lives in Dallas as decontamination work is carried out. Officials have been knocking on doors, making automated phone calls and passing out fliers to notify people within a four-street radius about the situation, while seeking to reassure local people. No details of her identity or position at the hospital have been given, in accordance with family wishes. ![]() Duncan was admitted to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas ![]() Police are guarding the home of the infected woman ![]() A barrel labelled "biohazard" stands on a lawn outside the apartment complex of the infected health worker in Dallas ![]() Staff at the Dallas hospital have been on alert for other cases after Thomas Duncan's death ![]() US President Barack Obama discussed the Ebola response with Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell by phone Flight from Monrovia Duncan tested positive in Dallas on 30 September, 10 days after arriving on a flight from Monrovia via Brussels. He had become ill a few days after arriving in the US, and went to the hospital in Dallas with a high fever. But despite telling medical staff he had been in Liberia, he was sent home with painkillers and antibiotics. Duncan was later put into an isolation unit at the hospital but died despite being given an experimental drug. Symptoms of Ebola include fever, headache, vomiting, diarrhoea and bleeding. The virus is spread through contact with bodily fluids. Source:
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 13 Oct 2014, 11:17 PM Post #131 |
|
13 October 2014 Ebola epidemic 'could lead to failed states', warns WHO The Ebola epidemic threatens the "very survival" of societies and could lead to failed states, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned. The outbreak, which has killed some 4,000 people in West Africa, has led to a "crisis for international peace and security", WHO head Margaret Chan said. She also warned of the cost of panic "spreading faster than the virus". Meanwhile, medics have largely ignored a strike call in Liberia, the centre of the deadliest-ever Ebola outbreak. Nurses and medical assistants had been urged to strike over danger money and conditions. However, most were working as normal on Monday, the BBC's Jonathan Paye-Layleh in Monrovia said. ![]() More than 4,000 people have died during the Ebola outbreak A union official said the government had coerced workers - but the government said it had simply asked them to be reasonable. In a speech delivered on her behalf at a conference in the Philippines, Ms Chan said Ebola was a historic risk. "I have never seen a health event threaten the very survival of societies and governments in already very poor countries," she said. "I have never seen an infectious disease contribute so strongly to potential state failure." She warned of the economic impact of "rumours and panic spreading faster than the virus", citing a World Bank estimate that 90% of the cost of the outbreak would arise from "irrational attempts of the public to avoid infection". Ms Chan also criticised pharmaceutical firms for not focusing on Ebola, condemning a "profit-driven industry [that] does not invest in products for markets that cannot pay". __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ At the scene: Mark Doyle, BBC international development correspondent, Accra, Ghana In a corner of a UN compound at Accra airport, the UN's newest agency is having its first warehouse put up. In a nearby office block, a multinational team of UN workers are finding desks and setting up phone lines for the regional headquarters of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER). The operation is so new that pieces of paper Sellotaped to walls and doors serve as nameplates. But the question on many minds is why it has taken the UN so long to set up UNMEER. Medical aid agencies working on the front lines in the fight against Ebola, such as Medecins Sans Frontieres, have been sounding the alarm since the beginning of the year. But UNMEER officials say they didn't realise until recently that the disease was out of control. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ![]() Health care workers are most at risk of infection The latest outbreak has killed at least 4,033 people in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria since it was identified in March. Health workers are among those most at risk of catching the disease. Ninety-five have died from the virus in Liberia. Liberia's National Health Workers Association had called for a strike to demand an increase in the fee paid to those treating Ebola cases. The union is seeking a risk fee of $700 (£434) a month. It is currently less than $500, on top of basic salaries of between $200 and $300. The association also wants more protective equipment and insurance for workers. On Monday, the association's secretary-general, George Williams, said the government had put some health workers under "duress" and persuaded them to work. The government says the scale of the epidemic means it now cannot afford the risk fee originally agreed. It warned that a strike could also harm patients. Information Minister Lewis Brown said the government had asked health workers to be reasonable. "We are working with them the best way we possibly can," he said. Six months after the epidemic began in West Africa, there are still only about a quarter of the treatment beds required to tackle it. Food is now in short supply as markets are disrupted in some parts of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. In other developments: -A regional UN co-ordination centre to fight Ebola is being set up in Ghana -The archbishop of Guinean capital Conakry has issued guidelines aimed at checking the spread of Ebola in churches -The American cameraman who contracted Ebola while in Liberia has tweeted that he is "feeling like I'm on the road to good health" Source:
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 14 Oct 2014, 11:10 PM Post #132 |
|
14 October 2014 Ebola crisis: Outbreak death toll rises to 4,447 says WHO ![]() The WHO says a slowdown in the rate of new cases in some areas may be due to behavioural changes The death toll from the Ebola virus outbreak has risen to 4,447, with the large majority of victims in West Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. WHO assistant director-general Bruce Aylward also said there could be up to 10,000 new cases a week within two months if efforts were not stepped up, But the rate of new infections in some areas has slowed down, he added. Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea have been hardest hit by the outbreak. There have been 8,914 cases overall, including the fatal cases, and the WHO says it expects this number to top 9,000 by the end of the week. The WHO estimates its figures by taking the numbers of confirmed cases and multiplying them - from Guinea by 1.5, from Sierra Leone by 2 and from Liberia by 2.5 - to account for under-reporting. In other developments: -The UK begins Ebola screening at London's Heathrow airport -A medic working for Sierra Leone's army at a peacekeeping training centre in Freetown tests positive for Ebola -A "site manager" is appointed at the Dallas hospital where a nurse was infected, with the task of supervising how workers put on and take off protective clothing -The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has set up an immediate response team to travel to any US hospital where Ebola is diagnosed, to hit the ground "within hours" -A UN health worker, originally from Sudan, dies in Germany after contracting the disease in Liberia -Facebook co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg says he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are donating $25m (£16m) to fight Ebola -A Spanish nurse - the first person to contract the disease outside of Africa - remains in critical condition, although doctors say there are signs of improvement Ebola patients treated outside West Africa* ![]() *In all cases but two, first in Madrid and later in Dallas, the patient was infected with Ebola while in West Africa. Still spreading Mr Aylward told reporters in Geneva that the WHO, which is the UN's health agency, was concerned to see the virus was still spreading in the capitals of the three worst-affected countries. He said the death rate in the current Ebola outbreak was 70%, describing it as a "high-mortality disease". He said 95% of cases were limited to areas in the "historic epicentre" of the outbreak, where the rate of new infections appeared to be slowing. However, he stressed that it would be too early to read this as success. The latest WHO projections suggested there could be between 5,000 and 10,000 cases a week in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone by December. "It could be higher, it could be lower but it's going to be in that ballpark," he said. "In certain areas we're seeing disease coming down, but that doesn't mean they're going to go to zero." 'Must do more' Countries neighbouring the three worst-affected states are "at risk" and it is important for them to prepare for the possibility of Ebola cases, the WHO said. Also on Tuesday, US President Barack Obama said that "the world as a whole is not doing enough" to contain the Ebola threat. He was speaking at the end of a meeting with about 20 US and allied military leaders primarily focused on the threat from Islamic State militants. He said the US would continue to do its part but added: "Everybody's going to have to do more than they are doing right now." Source:
Edited by skibboy, 14 Oct 2014, 11:11 PM.
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 15 Oct 2014, 11:17 PM Post #133 |
|
15 October 2014 Ebola outbreak: Jet passenger alert over US nurse ![]() Amber Vinson was not supposed to travel on an aeroplane, health officials said US health officials are seeking 132 people who flew on a plane with a Texas nurse on the day before she came down with symptoms of Ebola. The second person infected in the US, Amber Vinson, 29, fell ill on Tuesday. Both she and nurse Nina Pham, 26, had treated Liberian Thomas Eric Duncan, who died a week ago in Dallas. A nurses' union has said those treating Duncan were not given full protection and had parts of their skin exposed. More than 70 healthcare workers who may have come in contact with him at the hospital are being monitored for symptoms, the hospital's director has said. Meanwhile, the UN's Ebola mission chief says the world is falling behind in the race to contain the virus, which has killed more than 4,000 in West Africa. On Wednesday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it wanted to interview the passengers on Frontier Airlines flight 1143 from Cleveland, Ohio, to Dallas, Texas on 13 October. It said it was taking the measure "because of the proximity in time between the evening flight and first report of illness the following morning". Both Ms Vinson and Ms Pham treated Duncan early in his stay at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas when he had "extensive production of body fluids", said CDC director Tom Frieden. A national nurse union told reporters on Wednesday the health workers treating Duncan had not been properly protected and called for all health workers treating Ebola patients to receive full protective suits and training from hospitals. Union director RoseAnn DeMoro said staff treated him for days without the necessary protective gear, and hazardous waste was allowed to pile up to the ceiling. ![]() Dallas officials tape off the apartment of the second nurse who tested positive for Ebola The CDC has appointed a "site manager" in Dallas to standardise the protective equipment and supervise the method of putting it off and on. Ms Vinson flew to Cleveland on 10 October, even though she was being monitored for signs of Ebola and therefore should not have flown on a commercial aeroplane, Dr Frieden said. Ms Pham subsequently became ill and was diagnosed with Ebola. When Ms Vinson returned from Ohio on Monday evening, she was not showing symptoms of the disease, the crew has told CDC investigators. Health experts say people who are not showing symptoms are not contagious. On the morning of 14 October, Ms Vinson came down with a fever and was isolated within 90 minutes. Her diagnosis was announced early on Wednesday. One of the ill women is to be transferred to Emory University hospital in Atlanta, which oversaw the recovery of two US aid workers who had caught the disease in Africa. Mr Duncan, who was the first person to be diagnosed in the US with Ebola, started showing symptoms of the disease just days after he arrived in Texas from Liberia, where he contracted it. An initial set of 48 people who were in contact with him before he was admitted to hospital are nearing the end of the window in which they could develop an Ebola infection. The World Health Organization (WHO) says 4,447 people have died from the outbreak, mainly in West Africa. Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea have been hardest hit by the outbreak, which began in December 2013 but was confirmed in March. The White House has announced President Barack Obama will convene a meeting of his cabinet over the US response to Ebola later on Wednesday, cancelling a political trip. Health officials have repeatedly warned more Ebola cases could be diagnosed in the US. In other developments: -Liberia's transport minister has gone into quarantine after her driver died from Ebola -Ghana is to lodge a complaint with authorities in the Czech Republic after a video showed a Ghanaian student not infected with Ebola being carted around an airport on a trolley by people in protective gear - while his face is covered with a black plastic bag -The World Health Organization (WHO) warns the infection rate could reach 5,000 to 10,000 new cases a week in two months if efforts are not stepped up -The WHO says it will declare the end of the outbreak in Senegal at the end of this week (17 October) and in Nigeria next week (20 October), if no new cases are detected before then. -France has joined the US, Canada and the UK in instituting Ebola screening at airports Cumulative deaths up to 12 October ![]() Note: figures are occasionally revised down as suspect or probable cases are found to be unrelated to Ebola. The sharp increase in Sierra Leone in early October is a result of retrospective analysis of hospital records Source:
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 16 Oct 2014, 12:03 AM Post #134 |
|
15 October 2014 Ebola winning the race, says UN official Anthony Banbury ![]() The World Health Organization says the number of cases - including deaths - could top 9,000 this week The UN's Ebola mission chief says the world is falling behind in the race to contain the virus, with thousands of new cases predicted by December. "It is running faster than us, and it is winning the race," Anthony Banbury told the UN Security Council. The World Health Organization (WHO) says 4,447 people have died from the outbreak, mainly in West Africa. Meanwhile, a second health worker in the US state of Texas has become infected with the virus. Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea have been hardest hit by the epidemic, which began in December 2013 but was confirmed only in March. In other developments: -Liberia's transport minister has gone into quarantine after the death of her personal driver from the virus -Guinea's president has called upon the country's retired doctors to help out in the fight against Ebola -A football player for Sierra Leone's national team says his team-mates have been stigmatised and humiliated as result of the Ebola outbreak 'Unprecedented situation' US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that "the world as a whole is not doing enough" to contain the Ebola threat. He will discuss the Ebola crisis in a video conference on Wednesday with British, French, German and Italian leaders, the White House says. Mr Banbury issued a stern warning on Tuesday, telling the UN Security Council by video-link from West Africa that if Ebola was not stopped now, the world would "face an entirely unprecedented situation for which we do not have a plan". ![]() Anthony Banbury addressed Security Council members via video link from Accra, Ghana He called for more money to build treatment centres and for more medical personnel to staff them. It follows the WHO's latest projections suggesting the infection rate could reach 5,000 to 10,000 new cases a week within two months if global efforts to combat the spread of infection were not stepped up. There have been 8,914 cases overall, including the fatal cases, and the WHO says it expects this number to top 9,000 by the end of the week. The WHO estimates its figures by taking the numbers of confirmed cases and multiplying them - from Guinea by 1.5, from Sierra Leone by 2 and from Liberia by 2.5 - to account for under-reporting. WHO assistant director-general Bruce Aylward said on Tuesday that the rate of infections appeared to be slowing in the "historic epicentre" of the outbreak, but warned that it was too early to read this as success. In the US state of Texas, a second health worker has tested positive for Ebola. The worker's identity has not been revealed but the person is said to have cared for a Liberian man, Thomas Duncan, who later died from the virus. The first health worker to have been infected in Texas, 26-year-old Nina Pham, is receiving treatment. The female nurse also contracted the disease after treating Mr Duncan, who was the first person to be diagnosed with the virus on US soil. Her colleagues at a Dallas hospital say they worked without adequate protective clothing and received little guidance on preventing the spread of the virus. The head of the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Thomas Frieden, has said there had been a breach of protocol by health workers that led to Ms Pham becoming infected. However, the head of the national nurses union, Roseann DeMoro, questioned this. "The CDC is saying that protocols were breached, but the nurses are saying there were no protocols," she told reporters. Doctors at the Health Presbyterian hospital said Ms Pham was in good condition on Tuesday. Source:
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 16 Oct 2014, 01:06 AM Post #135 |
|
15 October 2014 Ebola in DRC is from different source than WAfrica virus AFP ![]() A man is disinfected prior to entering an MSF health centre on October 6, 2014 in Lokolia An outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo this year came from a different source than the epidemic raging across West Africa, scientists said Wednesday. Even though the two deadly Ebola outbreaks have separate animal origins, the report in the New England Journal of Medicine nevertheless raises concern about the emergence of the often fatal hemorrhagic fever across the African continent. Ebola was first identified in 1976, and had returned in waves. The latest outbreak in West Africa is history's largest, killing more than 4,400 people since the beginning of the year. A separate, smaller outbreak in the DRC began over the summer, and has killed 49 people of the 69 believed infected between late July and October 7, the NEJM report said. An analysis of the virus's genome showed that it is a type called Ebola Zaire, and is 99.2 percent related to a 1995 variant that emerged in Kikwit in the DRC. It was less similar (96.8 percent related) to the Ebola Zaire virus in West Africa. "The causative agent is a local Ebola virus variant, and this outbreak has a zoonotic origin different from that in the 2014 epidemic in West Africa," said the report by World Health Organization researchers in Gabon and the DRC, along with scientists from Institut Pasteur in France and the public health agency of Canada. The report confirms the WHO's assertion that the two outbreaks were not linked, mainly because there was no history of travel to West Africa by the people who were sickened in the DRC. The outbreak in the DRC has been traced to a pregnant woman from Ikanamongo Village who "butchered a bush animal that had been killed and given to her by her husband," the World Health Organization has said in its report on the situation. She died of a then-unidentified fever on August 11, and "local customs and rituals associated with death meant that several health-care workers were exposed and presented with similar symptoms in the following week." The DRC outbreak peaked in August and cases have since dropped off dramatically. The outbreak in West Africa has been traced to a two-year-old boy in Guinea who may have come in contact with an infected bat in December 2013. The worst Ebola outbreak on record has claimed 4,447 lives, out of 8,914 recorded cases since the start of the year, most of them in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. The WHO said Tuesday the infection rate could reach 10,000 a week by December, in a worst-case scenario. Source:
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 16 Oct 2014, 10:37 PM Post #136 |
|
16 October 2014 Ebola crisis: WHO signals help for Africa to stop spread The World Health Organization is to "ramp up" efforts to prevent Ebola spreading beyond the three countries most affected by the deadly virus. Fifteen African countries are being prioritised, top WHO official Isabelle Nuttall told a Geneva news conference. They will receive more help in areas including prevention and protection. But former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has said he is "bitterly disappointed" with the international community's response. In an interview with the BBC's Newsnight programme, Mr Annan said richer countries should have moved faster. "If the crisis had hit some other region it probably would have been handled very differently. "In fact when you look at the evolution of the crisis, the international community really woke up when the disease got to America and Europe. And yet we should have known that in this interconnected world it was only a matter of time." 'Spike' In Geneva, the WHO's Dr Nutall said the transmission of the Ebola virus remained intense in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea - the three countries at the centre of the Ebola outbreak. There was a "spike" in the Guinean capital, Conakry, she said, and "intense transmission" in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. In the Liberian capital, Monrovia, she spoke of "significant underreporting" and problems with data-gathering making it hard to reach firm conclusions. But there was a drop in the number of cases in Lofa district. Overall, cases were doubling every four weeks, said Dr Nuttall, the WHO's Director of Global Capacities, Alerts and Response, and the death toll was expected to go above 4,500 this week. Countries in the region must be prepared, she said, listing Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Ghana, Mauritania, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Togo. She highlighted four nations directly bordering the worst affected area - Ivory Coast, Guinea Bissau, Mali and Senegal. "We will ramp up our support to the countries. We will work with them on a plan." Action will include: -Rapid response teams -Engaging at community level -Training in infection prevention and protection -Having laboratories in place In another development, the European Union is to examine whether exit screening at West African airports is effective. EU health ministers also agreed to try to co-ordinate measures taken at EU airports. Some countries, such as the UK, have introduced screening. ![]() US hearing In the United States, questions are being asked about why two nurses who treated an Ebola patient from Africa have themselves become infected. Thomas Eric Duncan died at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital after arriving in the US from Liberia. Nurses Nina Pham and Amber Vinson both contracted Ebola after treating him. Both wore face shields, hazardous materials suits and protective footwear as they drew blood and dealt with Mr Duncan's body fluids and it remains unclear how they were infected, officials say. Amber Vinson was allowed to take a commercial flight after treating him and officials have been contacting the 132 people who flew with her. A congressional panel has been grilling health officials on how the US is dealing with Ebola cases. Daniel Varga, the chief clinical officer for the company that runs the Texas hospital, told the congressional hearing "we are deeply sorry" for the "mistakes made" in the way Mr Duncan's case was handled. The panel's chairman, Tim Murphy, told the hearing "the American public loses confidence each day" in the ability of health authorities to deal with the virus. He also cast doubt on airport screening, saying those with a fever could avoid it. But in his opening statement, Centers for Disease Control Director Tom Frieden said everything was being done to prevent transmission of Ebola. "There are no shortcuts. Everyone has to do their part. We are there to support. We are there with world-class expertise to protect Americans." In other developments on Thursday: -Another Spanish healthcare worker, who came into contact with a nurse already infected, is being tested for the virus -An Air France passenger with a high fever, reportedly from Nigeria, is to be examined in hospital for Ebola symptoms after arriving in Madrid from Paris -A patient with "Ebola-like" symptoms is being monitored in the US state of Connecticut -UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said just $100,000 had been given to a UN Ebola trust fund which needed $1bn Source:
Edited by skibboy, 16 Oct 2014, 10:38 PM.
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 16 Oct 2014, 11:09 PM Post #137 |
|
16 October 2014 Ebola crisis: WHO says major outbreak in West 'unlikely' A major outbreak of Ebola in the US and elsewhere in the West is unlikely given the strong health systems, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. US President Barack Obama also said the risk of Americans getting the virus was "extremely low", although he ordered a "much more aggressive response". The US is investigating how a nurse infected when treating a victim in Texas was allowed to travel on a plane. Officials are trying to trace the 132 people who flew with Amber Vinson. The disease has killed about 4,500 people so far, mostly in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. EU health ministers are meeting in Brussels to discuss the crisis, including increased screening of travellers and the possibility of sending more troops to West Africa to help contain the virus. Meanwhile, US federal health officials will appear before a congressional committee on Thursday to answer questions about their handling of the crisis. 'Very low' Christopher Dye, WHO director of strategy, said the introduction of Ebola into the US or other countries in Western Europe was a matter "for very serious concern". "The possibility that once an infection has been introduced that it spreads elsewhere, is something that everybody is going to be concerned about," he said. But he added: "We're confident that in North America and Western Europe where health systems are very strong, that we're unlikely to see a major outbreak in any of those places." Earlier, President Obama said the likelihood of a widespread Ebola outbreak was "very, very low". __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ New US Ebola control measures -A "site manager" will supervise how workers at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital put on and take off protective clothing -Two nurses from Emory University Hospital in Atlanta will offer "enhanced training" in Dallas -An immediate response team will travel to the site of any future Ebola diagnoses to hit the ground "within hours" -New guidelines for testing at hospitals throughout the US, with special emphasis on asking questions about travel history __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ However, he promised a "much more aggressive" monitoring of Ebola cases in the US. Britain, Canada and the US have introduced increased screening of travellers arriving at airports from West Africa. France said on Wednesday that it would begin checks from Saturday on passengers arriving at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport from the Guinean capital, Conakry. Nurse allowed to travel US health officials are facing new questions about the response to Ebola infections in Texas. Thomas Eric Duncan was the first person to be diagnosed in the US with Ebola after he flew in from Liberia. He was treated at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital but later died. ![]() The disease has killed about 4,500 people so far, mostly in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone ![]() The UK's 22 Field Hospital prepares to fly out to Sierra Leone In testimony prepared for Thursday's congressional hearing, Daniel Varga, the chief clinical officer for Texas Health Resources, apologises for mistakes made in treating Mr Duncan. "We did not correctly diagnose his symptoms as those of Ebola. We are deeply sorry," he says. Two nurses, Nina Pham and Amber Vinson, contracted Ebola after treating Mr Duncan. Both wore face shields, hazardous materials suits and protective footwear as they drew blood and dealt with Mr Duncan's body fluids and it remains unclear how they were infected. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ US media reaction -The New York Times says the appearance of the latest Ebola patient "provided more signs of concern about federal officials' ability to control the spread of the disease... and indications that the issue was becoming politicised" -A report by USA Today says health officials now believe Ebola patients should be treated at four specially designed US clinics rather than at hospitals around the country -Ebola is becoming "the next great American panic", writes Chico Harlan in the Washington Post -The Christian Science Monitor looks at how much large donations, such as the $25m (£16m) given by Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, can help fight the spread of the disease __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Ms Vinson later contacted the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to inform it she was travelling on a plane on Monday - Frontier Airlines Flight 1143 from Cleveland to Dallas-Fort Worth. She reported a temperature of 37.5C (99.5F) and CDC director Thomas Frieden said she should not have travelled on a commercial flight. However, another health official told the New York Times later that Ms Vinson was not prevented from flying because the temperature was mildly elevated and was in a category not covered by the CDC. "I don't think we actually said she could fly, but they didn't tell her she couldn't fly," the official told the Times. "She called us... I really think this one is on us." Officials are trying to trace all 132 passengers but insist that as Ms Vinson did not have a fever, the risk to "any around that individual on the plane would have been extremely low". Ms Vinson has now been transferred to hospital in Atlanta. In other developments on Thursday: -An Air France passenger with a high fever, reportedly from Nigeria, is to be examined in hospital for Ebola symptoms after arriving in Madrid from Paris -Sierra Leone says the last district not to have registered any Ebola cases - Koinadugu in the far north - has now reported two infections -UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein says his agency is drawing up guidelines so that Ebola-hit nations do not violate human rights with quarantine rules Source:
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 17 Oct 2014, 11:50 PM Post #138 |
|
17 October 2014 Ebola crisis: WHO accused of 'failure' in early response ![]() The WHO is accused of underestimating the impact of Ebola Poor communication and incompetent staff meant the World Health Organization failed to react swiftly Ebola outbreak in Africa, reports say. An internal document said those involved "failed to see some fairly plain writing on the wall", according to the Associated Press. Separately, sources close to the WHO told Bloomberg of multiple failures in the outbreak's early stages. In response, a senior official told the BBC time would come for an inquiry. In the worst affected countries - Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone - the Ebola virus has now killed 4,546 people with cases of infection numbering 9,191, according to the latest WHO figures. 'Perfect storm' The reports have brought into focus the way the WHO dealt with the outbreak in the months after it received the first reports of Ebola cases in Guinea in March. Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) warned in April that the outbreak was out of control - something disputed by the WHO at the time. "Nearly everyone involved in the outbreak response failed to see some fairly plain writing on the wall," the document obtained by AP says. The draft report - a timeline of the outbreak - also reportedly says that experts should have realised that traditional methods of containing infectious disease would not work in a region with porous borders and poor heath systems. Among the problems cited in the information obtained by AP and Bloomberg are: -A failure of WHO experts in the field to send reports to WHO headquarters in Geneva -Bureaucratic hurdles preventing $500,000 reaching the response effort in Guinea -Doctors unable to gain access because visas had not been obtained 'Focus' Responding to the allegations, the WHO's head of global response and alert, Isabelle Nuttall, told the BBC: "Time will come for investigation. Right now we have to focus on the response." ![]() "By June it became something different", says Dr Nuttall On the alleged failure of the WHO to react quickly enough, she said the disease had, up till then, not been common in West Africa, only in Central Africa. "When we scaled up, the beginning of the outbreak was very comparable to what we had seen elsewhere in Africa," she said. "And then, by June, it became something different. "We indicated that this outbreak was different. I'm afraid we probably didn't say it loud enough for the world to understand what we were saying and for all the international community to be mobilised." Earlier, WHO Director General Margaret Chan told Bloomberg that she was "not fully informed of the evolution of the outbreak" and the response might not have matched the "scale" and "complexity" of the spread. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ![]() The World Health Organization is ramping up efforts to stop Ebola from spreading elsewhere in Africa Analysis: Imogen Foulkes, BBC News, Geneva The combination of a leaked internal document and frank comments from the WHO's director general signal growing concerns about the effectiveness of the agency's efforts against Ebola. Back in April, MSF described the outbreak in West Africa as unprecedented, warning that it risked spiralling out of control. The WHO responded that it had seen only sporadic cases in a limited geographic area. It was not until August that the organisation suggested international reaction to Ebola may have been too slow. Perhaps WHO officials feared accusations of overreacting: in 2009 the organisation swiftly declared a global pandemic of swine flu, advising countries to spend billions on treatments and vaccines against a virus which caused far fewer deaths than regular seasonal flu. There are allegations too that the WHO's regional office in Africa may be part of the problem, that its staff failed to properly monitor West Africa's Ebola outbreak. We now know it began in December, but the first cases were not notified until March. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 'Ridiculous' Earlier, MSF said international pledges of deployments and aid for Africa's Ebola-hit regions had not yet had any impact on the epidemic. MSF's Christopher Stokes said the disease was still out of control. He said it was "ridiculous" that volunteers working for his charity were bearing the brunt of care in the worst-affected countries. Mr Stokes, who leads MSF's Ebola response, said international efforts would not have any effect for another month and a half. MSF runs about 700 out of the 1,000 beds available in treatment facilities Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. The BBC's Mark Doyle, at the UN Ebola logistics base in Ghana, says it is generally agreed that at least three times that number are needed. Responding to MSF's criticisms, David Nabarro, the UN system co-ordinator for Ebola, told the BBC that he had seen a big increase in the international response over the past two months. "I am absolutely certain that when we look at the history, that this effort that has been put in place will have been shown to have had an impact, though I will accept that we probably won't see a reduction in the outbreak curve until the end of the year." In other developments: -The WHO has announced that Senegal is now officially free of Ebola, as it has gone 42 days without any sign of the virus -President Obama named Ron Klain - former chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden - as Ebola "tsar" in charge of combating the virus in the US -Five East African countries - Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi - are to send 600 personnel to help in the worst affected nations Source:
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 18 Oct 2014, 11:35 PM Post #139 |
|
18 October 2014 Ebola crisis: Sierra Leone revamps response team ![]() People are being kept in isolation at Ebola treatment centres in Sierra Leone Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma has announced a major shake-up of the body in charge of fighting the Ebola outbreak in the country. He said his defence minister would head a new national response centre and report directly to him. The previous team was headed by the health minister. Mr Koroma said people were dying and quick decisions had to be taken. The latest Ebola outbreak has killed about 1,200 people in Sierra Leone, and more than 4,500 across West Africa. In the worst-affected countries - Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone - 9,191 people have been found to have the virus, which kills 70% of those infected, according to the latest WHO figures. Mr Koroma's office said Sierra Leone's new National Ebola Response Centre was replacing the previous body - the National Operations Centre - "with immediate effect". The statement said the new centre would be headed by Defence Minister Paolo Conteh, and would have full powers to combat the disease and ensure a more effective use of aid. The latest crisis in West Africa is the worst-ever Ebola outbreak. The virus was first discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976. It spreads between humans by direct contact with infected blood, bodily fluids or organs, or indirectly through contact with contaminated environments. International donors have given almost $400m (£250m) to UN agencies and aid organisations, following an appeal launched in September for $988m. On Friday, a damning internal report emerged from the UN's health agency, the World Health Organization (WHO). It found that the organisation had failed to respond in time to a "perfect storm". The report seen by AP states: "Nearly everyone involved in the outbreak response failed to see some fairly plain writing on the wall. A perfect storm was brewing, ready to burst open in full force." It says that experts should have realised that traditional methods of containing infectious disease would not work in a region with porous borders and poor health systems. Issues highlighted by unnamed WHO sources who spoke to Bloomberg news agency include -Delays in WHO experts in the field sending reports to headquarters in Geneva -Bureaucratic hurdles preventing $500,000 (£311,000) reaching the response effort in Guinea -Virus contact tracers (tasked with identifying people who may have come into contact with sufferers) refusing to work out of concern they would not get paid The WHO said the document seen by AP was incomplete and had not been checked. A full analysis of its actions would only be completed once the outbreak was under control, it added. The UN's special envoy for Ebola, David Nabarro, told the BBC that plans were on course to provide 4,000 beds for Ebola patients by next month, compared with 300 at the end of August. "We are putting in place the foundations of a very powerful response," he said, in response to criticism of the UN's work. |
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 19 Oct 2014, 11:01 PM Post #140 |
|
19 October 2014 Ebola crisis: Spanish nurse tests negative for virus ![]() Teresa Romero treated two Ebola patients in a hospital in Madrid The Spanish nurse who became the first person to contract Ebola outside West Africa has now tested negative for the virus, the Spanish government says, The result suggests Teresa Romero, 44, is no longer infected - although a second test is required before she can be declared free of Ebola. Ms Romero contracted the virus when treating two infected patients in a Madrid hospital earlier this month. The Ebola outbreak has killed more than 4,500 people across West Africa. Ms Romero tested positive for the virus on 6 October, after she treated two missionaries who had been repatriated from West Africa. The missionaries later died from the virus. Ms Romero has said she might have become infected when she removed her protective suit. A doctor in Madrid said she may have touched her face with her gloves after treating one of the missionaries. Quarantine ![]() Health workers in Madrid wore protective suits to treat Ms Romero Ms Romero has been treated at Carlos III hospital in Madrid, and was reportedly given a human serum containing antibodies from Ebola survivors. A government statement on Sunday said that a blood test appeared to show that the virus was no longer in her body. She would be given a second test overnight, the statement said, adding that her health was "developing favourably". Fifteen other people, including Ms Romero's husband, remain under observation in quarantine, but have not shown any symptoms so far, the hospital said. The incubation period for Ebola can last from two days to three weeks. Also on Sunday, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said the whole world had a stake in the fight against Ebola. In a "letter to the world" commissioned by and broadcast on the BBC, she said the disease "respects no borders", and every country had to do all it could to help fight it. The fight against Ebola "requires a commitment from every nation that has the capacity to help - whether that is with emergency funds, medical supplies or clinical expertise", she said. "We all have a stake in the battle against Ebola," she added. "It is the duty of all of us, as global citizens, to send a message that we will not leave millions of West Africans to fend for themselves." ![]() Source:
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 20 Oct 2014, 11:53 PM Post #141 |
|
20 October 2014 Ebola crisis: Worst-hit African nations get key supplies ![]() Red Cross workers are among those fighting the outbreak in Sierra Leone Vital supplies and resources to tackle Ebola are beginning to arrive in the three worst-hit West African countries, Ghana's President John Mahama has said. Mr Mahama, who heads the regional bloc Ecowas, also told the BBC that treatment centres were being set up in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. But he called for proper co-ordination between agencies to avoid duplication. The outbreak has killed more than 4,500 people, almost all of them in those three countries. An estimated 70% of those infected have died. Meanwhile, Nigeria was declared free of Ebola after six weeks with no new cases, the World Health Organization said on Monday. Last week, Senegal was declared virus-free. In other developments: -The United Nations said one of its workers in Sierra Leone had died from the disease, becoming the third UN victim -US health officials said 43 people closely monitored after coming into contact with Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan had been given the all-clear after 21 days -The Spanish government said a nurse who became the first person to contract Ebola outside West Africa had now tested negative for the virus -Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's son, physician James Adama Sirleaf, has decided to stay in the US, saying he could do more for his country there than at home, the World Street Journal reports. 'Closing gaps' Mr Mahama told the BBC that the World Food Programme was airlifting humanitarian aid to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. "Vehicles, motorcycles and other means of transport are going in there. There's more protective clothing being provided," he said. "But there's no need for us to duplicate each other and have more treatment centres when we do not have volunteers and health workers to treat the people in the treatment centres. "It must be a balance of things, closing all the gaps that exist and make sure that optimally the resources are going towards containing the disease," the Ghanaian president added. Mr Mahama said he had convened an Ecowas summit in November to co-ordinate the international response. He said other West African nations needed to learn lessons from Nigeria. 'Good idea' Meanwhile, European Union foreign ministers are meeting in Luxembourg to discuss how to strengthen their response to Ebola. Speaking on the sidelines, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he expected the meeting to appoint a co-ordinator to galvanise the EU's response to the epidemic. "My colleagues are unanimous in saying that this idea of a European co-ordinator for the fight against Ebola is a good idea," he said. "The name will be chosen in the coming days. I think it's a very important step." European countries have committed more than 500m euros (£400m; $600m) but the UK is pressing for that amount to be doubled. The money is being sought to help reinforce overstretched healthcare systems in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea and to mitigate the damage Ebola is doing to their economies. Source:
Edited by skibboy, 20 Oct 2014, 11:53 PM.
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 21 Oct 2014, 12:28 AM Post #142 |
|
20 October 2014 Ebola crisis: Nigeria declared free of virus Nigeria has been declared officially free of Ebola after six weeks with no new cases, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. WHO representative Rui Gama Vaz, speaking in the capital Abuja, said it was a "spectacular success story". Nigeria won praise for its swift response after a Liberian diplomat brought the disease there in July. The outbreak has killed more than 4,500 people in West Africa, mostly in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. An estimated 70% of those infected have died in those countries. The WHO officially declared Senegal Ebola-free on Friday. Meanwhile, European Union foreign ministers are meeting in Luxembourg to discuss how to strengthen their response to the threat posed by Ebola. Speaking on the sidelines, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he expected the meeting to appoint a co-ordinator to galvanise the EU's response to the epidemic. "My colleagues are unanimous in saying that this idea of a European co-ordinator for the fight against Ebola is a good idea. The name will be chosen in the coming days. I think it's a very important step." European countries have committed more than 500m euros (£400m; $600m) but the UK is pressing to double that amount. The money is being sought to help reinforce over-stretched healthcare systems in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea and to mitigate the damage Ebola is doing to their economies. Earlier, the Spanish government said a nurse who became the first person to contract Ebola outside West Africa had tested negative for the virus. The result suggests Teresa Romero, 44, is no longer infected although a second test is required before she can be declared free of Ebola. Ms Romero contracted the virus when treating two infected patients in a Madrid hospital. In another development, US health officials said 43 people being closely monitored after coming into contact with Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan had been given the all-clear. They were subject to twice-daily monitoring during the 21-day incubation period. However, others who cared for Mr Duncan remain at risk including two nurses he infected and their close contacts. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said 120 people were still being monitored, with their waiting period due to end on 7 November. Nigeria praised The WHO can declare an Ebola outbreak over if two incubation periods of 21 days pass with no new cases. The last reported case in Nigeria - Africa's most populous country - was discovered on 5 September. "The virus is gone for now. The outbreak in Nigeria has been defeated," WHO Nigerian representative Rui Gama Vaz said on Monday. "This is a spectacular success story that shows to the world that Ebola can be contained but we must be clear that we have only won a battle, the war will only end when West Africa is also declared free of Ebola." The outbreak there began when Patrick Sawyer, an American-Liberian citizen, was diagnosed with the illness in July. Nigeria declared a national public health emergency and Mr Sawyer later died of the disease, followed by seven Nigerians. These included Dr Ameyo Stella Adadevoh, who diagnosed Mr Sawyer and is credited with helping to contain the outbreak at its source. Dr Adadevoh's son, Bankole Cardoso, told the BBC that because Mr Sawyer had been so quickly diagnosed, Nigeria was able to trace all those who could possibly have contracted the disease from him. "That was probably the difference between us and our West African neighbours," he said. John Vertefeuille, from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said that Nigeria had taken the right steps to contain the outbreak. "Nigeria acted quickly and early and on a large scale," he told AFP news agency. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who chairs the African Union Commission, told the BBC that countries affected by Ebola would have to deal with the consequences for years to come. "A lot of things are almost at a standstill. They are not going to be producing as much food as they would have produced, they are diverting some of the money for education to other things to stamp out the epidemic," she said. Source:
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 21 Oct 2014, 11:24 PM Post #143 |
|
21 October 2014 Ebola serum for Africa patients within weeks, says WHO By Michelle Roberts Health editor, BBC News Online ![]() Coloured transmission electron micro graph of a single Ebola virus, the cause of Ebola fever Serum made from the blood of recovered Ebola patients could be available within weeks in Liberia, one of the countries worst hit by the virus, says the World Health Organization. Speaking in Geneva, Dr Marie Paule Kieny said work was also advancing quickly to get drugs and a vaccine ready for January 2015. The Ebola outbreak has already killed more than 4,500 people. Most of the deaths have been in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Dr Kieny, WHO assistant director general for health system and innovation, said: "There are partnerships which are starting to be put in place to have capacity in the three countries to safely extract plasma and make preparation that can be used for the treatment of infective patients. "The partnership which is moving the quickest will be in Liberia where we hope that in the coming weeks there will be facilities set up to collect the blood, treat the blood and be able to process it for use." It is still unclear how much will become available and whether it could meet demand. In other developments: -Riots break out in Sierra Leone's diamond-rich Kono district after angry youths resisted efforts to "quarantine" a house where a 90-year-old woman suspected to have Ebola lived. The youths were said to be angry because there were no treatment centres in Kono, the BBC's Umaru Fofana says. Police imposed a daytime curfew in the area -UK International Development Secretary Justine Greening visits Sierra Leone to assess the impact of the government's $200m (£125m) aid package -The US Homeland Security Department says all visitors arriving from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone will undergo enhanced screening at one of five airports -The Dominican Republic joins a group of Caribbean countries that have banned visitors from the three West African nations Serum If a person has successfully fought off the infection, it means their body has learned how to combat the virus and they will have antibodies in their blood that can attack Ebola. Doctors can then take a sample of their blood and turn it into a treatment called serum - by removing the red blood cells but keeping the important antibodies - for other patients. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Alexander Kollie's story: ![]() Alexander Kollie's son survived Ebola in Liberia and wants to study biology and become a doctor I was able to see my son in the care centre from across the fence, so I called out to him: "Son, you're the only hope I got. You have to take courage. Any medicine they give to you, you have to take it." He told me: "Papa, I understand. I will do it. Stop crying Papa. My sisters are gone but I am going to survive and I will make you proud." Every day, the counsellors made sure they saw me, and they sat with me so I could talk. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Spanish nurse who became the first person to contract Ebola outside West Africa tested negative for the virus after reportedly receiving human serum containing antibodies from Ebola survivors. Dr Kieny said the treatment was not without risks, and WHO has already issued guidelines to ensure safety. Any donor blood will need to be screened for infections such a hepatitis and HIV, for example. Vaccines and drugs She said trials of two possible Ebola vaccines could produce initial results by the end of the year. The vaccines will be tested first to see if they are safe for humans, and if they can protect people from the Ebola virus. Once these questions have been answered, the WHO hopes to extend the trials to a much wider group of people and start giving it to Africa. "These trials will all start in the coming two weeks... and continue for six months to a year but to have initial results about safety and immunogenicity to have a choice of a dose level by the end of this year in December." Dr Kieny said there were a number of drugs being tested and developed in different countries. A partnership between Oxford University and the Wellcome Trust is now visiting sites in the three affected African countries to identify which treatment centres would be adequate and willing to start testing drugs soon, she said. Source:
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 22 Oct 2014, 11:22 PM Post #144 |
|
22 October 2014 Ebola: WHO emergency team holds talks on travel curbs The World Health Organization's emergency committee is holding talks to discuss the Ebola epidemic. The meeting in Geneva is examining screening measures at borders and considering whether stricter travel regulations should be put in place. New rules in the US require travellers from the worst affected countries to arrive at one of five airports. The known death toll is now 4,877 - a rise of 322 since the WHO's last report five days ago. Most of the victims died in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Meanwhile, first batches of an experimental vaccine against Ebola are due to arrive to Switzerland. The vaccine, developed by Canada's public health agency, combines fragments of Ebola with a non-fatal virus and could trigger the immune system to produce the necessary antibodies. ![]() Cuba is the biggest single provider of healthcare professionals helping tackle the outbreak However, the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva says a fully tested and approved vaccine is not expected to become available for months or possibly years. In Sierra Leone, a curfew has been imposed in a town after two people were shot dead in riots linked to the Ebola outbreak. The riots in Koidu on Tuesday were sparked by attempts to place an elderly woman - said to be 90 years old - under quarantine. The woman has since died but it is not clear whether she actually had Ebola, the BBC's Umaru Fofana reports from the capital, Freetown. In other developments -An opposition MP in Guinea has revealed a photocopy of a report by scientists from the 1980s that challenges the assumption that Ebola is new to West Africa. The study carried out by those working at -Guinea's respected Pasteur Institute blames the virus for the deaths of 137 people in a remote area in 1982 -NBC freelance cameraman Ashoka Mukpo - who contracted Ebola in West Africa - has been declared free of the virus and will leave hospital in the US state of Nebraska on Wednesday -UK International Development Secretary Justine Greening is in Sierra Leone to assess the impact of the government's $200m (£125m) aid package -Doctors in Spain said a second round of tests showed Teresa Romero, who became the first person to contract Ebola outside West Africa, was completely clear of the virus. The nurse fell ill after treating two infected patients in a Madrid hospital A Cuban medical team has arrived in Liberia to join the fight against Ebola. Enhanced screening The WHO's emergency committee is meeting to discuss Ebola for the third time with the aim of assessing the efforts so far to contain and control the virus. The world health body has faced criticism that it reacted too slowly to the spread of the disease. ![]() Some travellers in the US will have their temperatures checked for signs of a fever New rules came into force in the US requiring air passengers from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea to travel via O'Hare in Chicago, JFK, Newark, Washington's Dulles or Atlanta airports, where they will undergo enhanced screening. Elhadj As Sy, secretary general of the International Federation of the Red Cross, described calls for travel bans to contain the epidemic as "irrational" as it created panic and isolated affected countries. Source:
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 23 Oct 2014, 11:00 PM Post #145 |
|
23 October 2014 Ebola crisis: Mali confirms first infection case ![]() The Malian government has confirmed the first case of Ebola in the country. It said a two-year-old girl had tested positive for the haemorrhagic virus. Reports say she recently returned from the neighbouring Guinea. More than 4,800 people have died of Ebola - mainly in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone - since March. Meanwhile, an international team of scientists has been set up to determine the effectiveness of using the blood of Ebola survivors as a treatment. Source:
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 24 Oct 2014, 12:19 AM Post #146 |
|
Ebola outbreak: Get up to speed with the latest developments By Saeed Ahmed, CNN October 23, 2014 ![]() Family: Infected nurse is Ebola-free (CNN) -- Obama expresses cautious optimism. An infected nurse shows signs of improvement. And a military response team begins training. With multiple developments underway, here's the latest on the Ebola outbreak: U.S. DEVELOPMENTS Obama cautiously optimistic President Barack Obama is "cautiously more optimistic" that we may be turning the corner in the fight against Ebola. Two infected Americans are cured; Nigeria and Senegal are Ebola-free; and dozens of people who came in contact with now-deceased Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan didn't get the virus. "It gives you some sense that when it's caught early and where the public health infrastructure operates effectively, this outbreak can be stopped," he said. Nurse Vinson to be transferred from isolation Texas nurse Amber Vinson, being treated for Ebola at Atlanta's Emory University Hospital, is steadily regaining her strength and her spirits are high, her family said. Doctors can no longer detect the virus in Vinson's body, and she'll be transferred from isolation, her mother said. Nurse Pham getting better The condition of Nina Pham, who, like Vinson, contracted Ebola after treating Duncan, has been upgraded from fair to good. Bentley the dog doing well Samples from nurse Pham's dog Bentley tested negative for the virus. More specimens will be collected before the end of the 21-day quarantine. Go team begins training A 30-member U.S. military team that could be called on to respond to new cases of Ebola in the United States has begun specialized training at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. The weeklong training includes infection control and how to use the personal protective gear. AFRICA DEVELOPMENTS The rising toll A total of 9,911 confirmed or probable cases, and 4,868 deaths have been reported in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, the World Health Organization said Wednesday. Every district in Sierra Leone has reported at least one case. Three-week monitoring for some travelers All travelers coming to the United States from Ebola-affected areas will be actively monitored for 21 days, starting Monday. Also, all U.S.-bound passengers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea must land in one of the five U.S. airports with enhanced screening for Ebola: New York's John F. Kennedy International, Washington Dulles, New Jersey's Newark Liberty International, Chicago's O'Hare International and Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta. Travel In a Thursday press conference, World Health Organization officials again stressed that it opposes a travel ban as a means of controlling the virus. Some in the United States and elsewhere have called for a blocking of those who attempt to enter the nation by air, while many in the scientific and medical community say doing so would make those with Ebola more difficult to track because they would attempt to cross borders by land. If the United States were to institute a travel ban, it would be unprecedented. Earlier, Belize's government issued a ban on citizens of affected West African countries. ASIA DEVELOPMENTS No entry to North Korea A pair of Beijing-based agencies that specialize in travel to North Korea say they've been told by their "partners in Pyongyang" that the nation won't allow international tourists to enter starting Friday, due to the threat of Ebola. It's not clear whether the restriction affects business travelers. CNN's Ed Lavandera, Kevin Liptak, Barbara Starr and Rene Marsh contributed to this report. Source:
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 24 Oct 2014, 11:07 PM Post #147 |
|
24 October 2014 Ebola crisis: 'Many exposed' to infected Mali girl ![]() People entering Mali from Guinea are having their temperature checked Health officials fear many people may have been exposed to Mali's first Ebola victim - a two-year-old girl. She recently arrived from Guinea, one of the worst affected countries, and has since died. The girl showed symptoms, including a bleeding nose, while travelling on a public bus through several towns, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. Forty-three people, including 10 health workers, who came into contact with her have been identified and isolated. The girl was being treated in the western town of Kayes, after arriving at a hospital on Wednesday. The child had travelled more than 1,000 km (600 miles) from Guinea through the capital, Bamako, to Kayes. "The child's symptomatic state during the bus journey is especially concerning, as it presented multiple opportunities for exposures, including high-risk exposures, involving many people," the WHO said. The girl's mother died in Guinea a few weeks ago and the child was then brought by relatives to Mali. Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have seen most of the 4,800 Ebola deaths. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ At the scene: Alou Diawara, BBC Afrique, Bamako ![]() People are afraid in Mali's capital, Bamako, but life is carrying on as normal. A few people have stopped shaking hands but physically greeting people is an important part of life in Mali and for most this has not changed. Some hotels have placed bottles of anti-bacterial gels at their entrances but for ordinary Malians, gel remains too expensive. The government has been running public information broadcasts telling people to wash their hands with soap. But though soap is not expensive, most still wash their hands with water alone. Many Malians have friends and family in Guinea and several buses and taxis travel between the two countries each day. With the support of the WHO, Mali's health system has been preparing for an outbreak of Ebola for several months. But there is a culture here of visiting people when they are sick to wish them a speedy recovery. This will have to change if Ebola becomes more widespread. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Mali has now become the sixth West African country to be affected by the outbreak, although Senegal and Nigeria have since been declared virus-free by the WHO. The WHO has three experts in Mali evaluating its ability to cope with Ebola and will send at least four more over the next few days, spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said. With porous borders, countries neighbouring Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia are on high alert for possible imported cases of the virus, says BBC Africa health correspondent Anne Soy. Vaccine boost The World Health Organization (WHO) has meanwhile announced that hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses should be available in the first half of 2015. WHO Assistant Director Dr Marie-Paule Kieny told a news conference in Geneva that five more vaccines would be in the clinical trial stage in January. Two are already being tested on humans. "The pharmaceutical companies developing these vaccines, as well as the ones which are a little bit further along the development path, are committing to ramping up the production capacity to millions of doses to be available in 2015 with hundreds of thousands ready in the first half of next year," she said. Vaccine trials in the worst-affected countries could begin in December, Dr Kieny said. US nurses In the US, two nurses infected with Ebola while caring for dying Dallas patient Thomas Duncan have been declared free of the virus. One of them, Nina Pham, 26, had a meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House, hours after being discharged. "I feel fortunate and blessed to be standing here today," she said. "I am on my way back to recovery." The other nurse, Amber Vinson, has also been declared virus-free, but she will remain in treatment in Atlanta until further notice. ![]() Nina Pham met President Obama in the Oval Office Thomas Duncan died earlier this month and it is still unclear how the nurses contracted the virus while wearing protective clothing. The news of the two nurses' recoveries comes a day after a new US infection, the first in New York. Craig Spencer, 33, began to feel tired on Tuesday and developed a fever and diarrhoea on Thursday. He had recently returned from Guinea where he had been working for medical charity, Medecins Sans Frontieres. Dr Spencer is being kept in isolation at New York's Bellevue Hospital. The governors of New York and New Jersey have ordered a mandatory 21-day quarantine period for all doctors and other travellers who have had contact with Ebola victims in West Africa. Source:
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 24 Oct 2014, 11:54 PM Post #148 |
|
24 October 2014 Two US Ebola nurses free of virus Two nurses infected with Ebola while caring for a dying patient in Dallas have been declared free of the virus. One of them, Nina Pham, met President Barack Obama at the White House, hours after being discharged. The news comes one day after a doctor returning from Guinea tested positive for Ebola in New York City. More than 4,800 people have died of Ebola - mainly in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone - since March. On Friday, it was announced that one million doses of an experimental Ebola vaccine will be produced by the end of 2015. But it was a day of mixed news in the US, where the first infection in New York was followed by the release from hospital of Ms Pham, 26. "I feel fortunate and blessed to be standing here today," she said. "I am on my way back to recovery." Ms Pham thanked supporters for their prayers during her illness, and asked for privacy as she plans her return to Texas and a reunion with her dog, Bentley. ![]() Amber Vinson is also to be discharged ![]() Nina Pham met President Obama in the Oval Office But first she was flown to Washington, at the request of the White House. In other developments: -the World Health Organization said "several hundred thousand" vaccine doses will be produced in the first half of 2015 -it also said vaccines could be offered to health workers in West Africa by December 2014 -dozens of people are being monitored in Mali after the country confirmed its first case of Ebola -European Union leaders agreed to increase Ebola aid from 600m euros ($758m; £743m) to one billion Ms Pham had been treated at a specialist hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, since being flown there from Texas Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas last week. The other nurse, Amber Vinson, has also been declared virus-free, but she will remain in treatment in Atlanta until further notice. "Tests no longer detect virus in her blood," a Georgia hospital official said. Thomas Duncan died earlier this month and it is still unclear how the nurses contracted the virus while wearing protective clothing. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ US Ebola patients: Dr Kent Brantly: The aid worker was flown to Atlanta on 1 August and discharged three weeks later. Nancy Writebol: Mr Brantly's colleague also contracted the virus in Liberia and also recovered. Rick Sacra: After working in the same Liberian hospital, he recovered after treatment in Nebraska facility Thomas Duncan: The Liberian was the first person diagnosed with Ebola inside the US. He died on 8 October. Nina Pham: A nurse who treated Duncan in Dallas, she was declared free of the virus. Amber Vinson: The second Dallas nurse is being treated in Atlanta, and about to be discharged. Ashoka Mukpo: Freelance cameraman flown from Liberia to Nebraska and later released. Dr Craig Spencer: A doctor recently returned from Guinea is in isolation at a New York city hospital. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The news of the two nurses' recoveries comes a day after a new infection, the first in New York. Dr Spencer, 33, began to feel tired on Tuesday and developed a fever and diarrhoea on Thursday. He immediately contacted medical services and was taken to the city's Bellevue Hospital, where he is being kept in isolation. Mr Obama said his thoughts and prayers were with the patient. Meanwhile, the governors of New York and New Jersey have ordered a mandatory 21-day quarantine period for all doctors and other travellers who have had contact with Ebola victims in West Africa. On Friday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city's response had been exemplary. "We have this situation under control," Mr de Blasio told reporters. "Preparation levels were extraordinary." He said New Yorkers had nothing to fear from the news. "Casual contact cannot lead to acquiring this disease," he added, noting that only those in direct contact with infected bodily fluids were at risk. ![]() People entering Mali being screened ![]() The news made headlines in New York But medical professionals have been retracing Dr Spencer's steps through the city, to further contain the outbreak. He had travelled on the subway, been bowling and gone out jogging before he started feeling unwell. His apartment in Upper Manhattan is being cleaned and the bowling alley in Brooklyn has been closed as a precaution. Dr Spencer left Guinea on 14 October, and returned to New York City on 17 October via Europe. His fiancee and two friends have been placed into quarantine. ![]() Health officials told New Yorkers there is no reason to be alarmed ![]() NYPD officers are now deployed near Dr Spencer's apartment Ebola patients are only infectious if they have symptoms, and the disease is only transmittable through bodily fluids, experts say. Mr Obama telephoned both the mayor and the governor to discuss the deployment of health officials and to offer "any additional federal support necessary", the White House said. The WHO says 443 health workers have contracted Ebola, of whom 244 have died. Source:
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 25 Oct 2014, 11:42 PM Post #149 |
|
25 October 2014 Ebola outbreak: Cases pass 10,000, WHO reports ![]() Liberia remains the worst affected country, with 4,665 cases The number of cases in the Ebola outbreak has exceeded 10,000, with 4,922 deaths, the World Health Organization says in its latest report. Only 27 of the cases have occurred outside the three worst-hit countries, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. Those three countries account for all but 10 of the fatalities. Mali became the latest nation to record a death, a two-year-old girl. More than 40 people known to have come into contact with her have been quarantined. The latest WHO situation report says that Liberia remains the worst affected country, with 2,705 deaths. Sierra Leone has had 1,281 fatalities and there have been 926 in Guinea. Nigeria has recorded eight deaths and there has been one in Mali and one in the United States. The WHO said the number of cases was now 10,141 but that the figure could be much higher, as many families were keeping relatives at home rather than taking them to treatment centres. It said many of the centres were overcrowded. And the latest report also shows no change in the number of cases and deaths in Liberia from the WHO's previous report, three days ago. Eight countries have registered cases in the outbreak. In West Africa, Senegal and Nigeria have now been declared virus-free by the WHO. 'Facts, not fear' In the US, the governors of the states of New York, New Jersey and Illinois have ordered a mandatory 21-day quarantine period for all doctors and other travellers who have had contact with Ebola victims in West Africa. Anyone arriving from affected West African countries without having had confirmed contact with Ebola victims will be subject to monitoring by public health officials. ![]() Health workers arrive to pick up the body of a young victim in Freetown, Sierra Leone The move follows the diagnosis in New York of Dr Craig Spencer, who had been working in Guinea. The first person to be quarantined under the rules was a female health worker who arrived at Newark Liberty International Airport on Friday. She had no symptoms then but later developed a fever. A preliminary test came back negative for Ebola, the New Jersey health department said on Saturday, but the woman remains in isolation. Also in the US, two nurses infected while caring for dying Dallas patient Thomas Eric Duncan have been declared free of the virus. One, Nina Pham, 26, met President Barack Obama at the White House, hours after being discharged. In his weekly radio and online address, Mr Obama repeated that people cannot contract Ebola unless they have come into direct contact with an infected patient's bodily fluids. He said the disease had to be stopped at source in Africa. Mr Obama added: "Patients can beat this disease, and we can beat this disease. But we have to stay vigilant... And we have to be guided by the science, we have to be guided by the facts - not fear." 'High-risk exposure' In Mali, authorities continue to try to trace anyone who may have had contact with the victim there. The child had travelled more than 1,000 km (600 miles) from Guinea through the capital, Bamako, to Kayes. "The child's symptomatic state during the bus journey is especially concerning, as it presented multiple opportunities for exposures, including high-risk exposures, involving many people," the WHO said. The girl's mother died in Guinea a few weeks ago and the child was then brought by relatives to Mali. Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita told French radio on Saturday: "We are doing everything to prevent panic and psychosis. "Since the start of this epidemic, we in Mali took all measures to be safe, but we never hermetically sealed ourselves from this." He said the border with Guinea would remain open. However, officials in neighbouring Mauritania said it had closed its borders with Mali in response to the case. Source:
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 26 Oct 2014, 11:14 PM Post #150 |
|
26 October 2014 Ebola: Visiting envoy Samantha Power condemns response ![]() Health workers in Guinea, which is Samantha Power's first stop The US ambassador to the UN has begun a visit to the three nations worst hit by the Ebola outbreak, criticising the level of international support so far. Samantha Power has landed in Guinea and will visit Sierra Leone and Liberia. She told NBC some nations who offered backing "haven't taken responsibility yet" in supplying aid and doctors. More than 10,000 people have contracted the Ebola virus, with 4,922 deaths, according to the World Health Organization's latest figures. All but 27 of the cases have occurred inside Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. 'Getting lapped' Ms Power told NBC as she boarded her plane: "The international response to Ebola needs to be taken to a wholly different scale than it is right now." She said: "You have countries at the UN where I work every day who are signing on to resolutions and praising the good work that the US and the UK and others are doing, but they themselves haven't taken the responsibility yet to send docs, to send beds, to send the reasonable amount of money." ![]() Samantha Power has been critical of the international response Ms Power told NBC the "mere fact of going as a member of the president's cabinet [shows] that we shouldn't be afraid", adding that her five-year-old son was "obsessed" with Ebola. She will visit national Ebola coordination centres and meet US and UN workers, although it was not clear whether she would meet survivors of the outbreak. Ms Power last week said the international community "isn't just losing the race to Ebola. We are getting lapped", and even praised Cuba - under a US embargo for decades - for its supply of doctors to Sierra Leone. The Pentagon announced that a new commander, Maj Gen Gary Volesky, had taken over the US military mission to fight Ebola in West Africa. It said that troops from the US 101st Division who arrived in Liberia 38 days ago had established two new laboratories and that a 25-bed hospital should be operational in the capital Monrovia by November. The US has pledged 4,000 troops to build hospitals and to train health workers in West Africa, some 600 of whom have already arrived. 'Frightening' However, new rules in some parts of the US on quarantining returning health workers have drawn criticism. ![]() Strict quarantine rules were imposed after a US doctor tested positive for Ebola on his return to New York A nurse put into isolation on her return from treating patients in Sierra Leone expressed anger at the way she was dealt with at Newark airport. Kaci Hickox, of medical charity Doctors Without Borders, said the experience was frightening, and described seeing a "frenzy of disorganisation, fear and most frightening, quarantine". She said she was kept in isolation at the airport terminal for seven hours and given only a cereal bar to eat. New York, New Jersey and Illinois have imposed stricter quarantine rules than those at the federal level. In the three states, anyone who has had contact with Ebola victims in West Africa now faces a mandatory 21-day quarantine period. The White House said the states' stricter rules could put off aid workers and others travelling to West Africa to help mitigate the crisis at its source. Although Ms Hickox tested negative in a preliminary test for the virus, she will remain under quarantine for three weeks and continue to be monitored by health officials. The stricter measures were put in place in New York and New Jersey after a doctor, Craig Spencer, tested positive for the virus on his return from Guinea last week. US President Barack Obama said in his weekly radio and online address that Americans had "to be guided by the facts - not fear". Source:
|
![]() |
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| Go to Next Page | |
| « Previous Topic · Disease · Next Topic » |
































































3:24 PM Jul 11