Ebola

[ramonmercado]

Uh-oh ...


A man is being treated in isolation at Sweden’s Uppsala University Hospital on suspicion of infection with Ebola after visiting Burundi, the regional authority said on Friday.

The hospital’s chief medical officer said the young man had been in Burundi for around three weeks, and was exhibiting classic symptoms of haemorrhagic fever, including vomiting blood. Test results were expected later on Friday. Symptoms of the highly contagious and often deadly virus can take up to three weeks to appear.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/wor...e-being-treated-at-swedish-hospital-1.3747781

 

[AlchoPwn]

Yes, that's pretty bad news. Thankfully it's winter and people are largely stuck in their houses, so the contamination risk is reduced.

 

[Xanatic*]

The problem is he will have been contagious for a while and Uppsala is a university town. Anyone he might have infected likely travelled home to their family in another part of Sweden for christmas.

 

[AlchoPwn]

The problem is he will have been contagious for a while and Uppsala is a university town. Anyone he might have infected likely travelled home to their family in another part of Sweden for christmas.

Agreed. I just checked the Uppsala Uni semester dates, and they don't break until 20th Jan.

 

[Xanatic*]

He was just moved to Uppsala for treatment though, he was luckily living in a smaller place.

 

[Mythopoeika]

Chance of infecting others is small, as Ebola is transmitted through bodily fluids.
So far, it hasn't made the jump to the air.

 

[ramonmercado]

More good news.

Menglà virus, detected in bats in China, infects cells through the same host receptor targeted by the deadly pathogens.
Jan 9, 2019

Researchers have discovered of a new genus of filovirus carried by fruit bats in China. The genome of the so-called Menglà virus shares sequences with other filoviruses, including Ebola and Marburg, and all three use the same receptor on host cells to gain entry for infection, the scientists reported in Nature Microbiology on Monday (January 7).

So far, there is no indication that Menglà has infected humans. “What it means for human health? I don’t think anybody knows,” Jeremy Farrar, head of the Wellcome Trust, tells STAT. “Somebody’s just got to screen some populations around where it was found, human populations, to see how many people have got antibodies to it and how common human infection is.”
The research group previously collected three undescribed filoviruses from bats, and Menglà, found in Yunnan Province, is the first of them to get a detailed work up.

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/newly-identified-virus-similar-to-ebola--marburg-65302

 

[ramonmercado]

Fighting fake news as well as Ebola.

The Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is providing a natural experiment in fighting fake news.

Occurring in a conflict zone, amid a controversial presidential election, the epidemic has proved to be fertile ground for conspiracy theories and political manipulation, which can hamper efforts to treat patients and fight the virus’s spread. Public health workers have mounted an unprecedented effort to counter misinformation, saying the success or failure of the Ebola response may pivot on who controls the narrative.

Tensions are expected to rise again in the wake of the 10 January declaration by the DRC’s election commission that opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi won the election, held on 30 December 2018. Foreign observers and the Roman Catholic Church’s monitors say Martin Fayulu, another opposition figure, garnered more votes, and his supporters are alleging fraud. Health workers know rumors thrive amid uncertainty.

“I usually tell my teams that we fight two outbreaks, Ebola and fear,” says Carlos Navarro Colorado of the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in New York City. “It is all about information.” For the first time in an Ebola outbreak, UNICEF and other agencies have joined forces as a single response team, which answers to the DRC’s Ministry of Public Health and includes dozens of social scientists, who use the airwaves, social media, and meetings with community and religious leaders to fight misinformation. Responders also foster trust by making their work more transparent—in some cases literally. A new biosecure tent, called the Biosecure Emergency Care Unit for Outbreaks (CUBE), allows relatives to visit and see Ebola patients during treatment. ...

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/201...ly_2019-01-14&et_rid=394299689&et_cid=2599884

 

[ramonmercado]

I wonder ...

Passengers and crew on a Virgin Atlantic flight were put into quarantine due to widespread sickness on board the plane.

The aircraft was met by emergency services when it landed at Gatwick Airport about 05:25 following an eight-hour flight from Bridgetown in Barbados. Passenger Trevor Wilson said "a bad chesty cough, possibly a chest infection" was affecting people. The airline said it was investigating. Thirty people were assessed and treated, two of which have been taken to hospital.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england...witter&ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbcnews

 

[Ladyloafer]

Yes. I'm exactly sure thats what it is

 

[ramonmercado]

Things worsen in the DRC as medical teams are attacked.

Over 1,000 people have died in an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), one of the deadliest outbreaks of the disease in history.

With efforts to bring it under control hampered by civil war and mistrust, health minister Oly Ilunga said 1,008 lives have been claimed by the virus. While the crisis is a long way off the 2014-2016 outbreak in West Africa’s Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, which killed more than 11,000, people experts warn its true extent in DRC is not clear.

“There might be double this many cases in reality that we’re just not aware of,” Tariq Riebl, emergency response director for the Ebola response crisis with the International Rescue Committee.

Ebola treatment centres have come under repeated attack and many international aid agencies have pulled staff out of hotspots, like the towns of Katwa and Butembo, leaving government health workers struggling to cope. Last month a Cameroonian epidemiologist working with the WHO was killed during an assault on a hospital in Butembo.

Insecurity has become a “major impediment” to controlling the Ebola outbreak, Michael Ryan, WHO’s health emergencies chief, told reporters in Geneva on Friday. He said 119 attacks have been recorded since January, 42 of them directed at health facilities, while 85 health workers have been wounded or killed.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...tbreak-death-toll-civil-war-who-a8899391.html

 

[AlchoPwn]

Insecurity has become a “major impediment” to controlling the Ebola outbreak, Michael Ryan, WHO’s health emergencies chief, told reporters in Geneva on Friday. He said 119 attacks have been recorded since January, 42 of them directed at health facilities, while 85 health workers have been wounded or killed.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...tbreak-death-toll-civil-war-who-a8899391.html

Yeah. No good deed goes unpunished. Hopefully the health workers won't wind up having to hire mercenaries to kill people to so the medics can cure others. DRC seldom fails to deliver on the ghastlies.

 

[Mythopoeika]

The attacks are a sign of sheer idiocy. I wonder if they've got the crazy idea that the health workers are infecting the populace, not trying to cure them?

 

[ramonmercado]

Pastor spreads Ebola to Uganda through his family.

The Congolese pastor who is thought to have caused the Ebola outbreak’s spread into Uganda was unknown to health officials before he died of the disease, the World Health Organisation said.

That incident underlines the problems in tracking the virus as a WHO expert panel on Friday is set to discuss whether to declare a global health emergency. As a second person infected with Ebola died in Uganda, WHO emergencies chief Dr Mike Ryan told The Associated Press he did not believe the man had been on any list of high-risk Ebola contacts that health workers use to track infections and contain the outbreak.

Three of the pastor’s family members were infected with Ebola when they travelled from Uganda to DR Congo to visit him. His five-year-old grandson became the first Ebola case in Uganda and the first death after several family members quietly returned home on footpaths that bypassed border screening for Ebola. The boy’s grandmother also died after their return, Ugandan officials said on Thursday.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/break...d-ebola-outbreak-spread-to-uganda-930666.html

 

[Mythopoeika]

It seems that no sooner than the WHO can treat the problem, it pops up again somewhere else, like a whack-a-mole game.
What is keeping the disease going? If it's primates, can't the WHO go out on a wildlife inoculation drive? I realise that would be really difficult...but what else is there to do?

 

[ramonmercado]

Spreading eastwards.

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — The Congolese Health Ministry is confirming Congo’s first Ebola case in the city of Goma, home to more than 2 million people.

The regional capital in eastern Congo borders neighboring Rwanda, which has been preparing for possible cases since an outbreak began nearly a year ago

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cong...pmgnews__TheMorningEmail__071519&guccounter=1

 

[ramonmercado]

About time, these funds are sorely needed.

The World Bank in Washington, D.C., said today it will contribute $300 million to responding to an ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The outbreak has killed more than 1700 people and last week it was declared an international emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO).

“Together, we must take urgent action to stop the deadly Ebola epidemic that is destroying lives and livelihoods in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement. The bank’s newly committed money will be provided as grants and credits to intensify the frontline health response in Ebola-affected areas of the DRC. The cash infusion adds to $100 million the organization has provided since the outbreak surfaced in August 2018.

In declaring the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 17 July, WHO officials argued the global community’s response in money, technical assistance, and human resources had been inadequate.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/201...ly_2019-07-24&et_rid=394299689&et_cid=2918222

 

[ramonmercado]

Good news.

Amid unrelenting chaos and violence, scientists and doctors in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been running a clinical trial of new drugs to try to combat a year-long Ebola outbreak. On Monday, the trial’s cosponsors at the World Health Organization and the National Institutes of Health announced that two of the experimental treatments appear to dramatically boost survival rates.

While an experimental vaccine previously had been shown to shield people from catching Ebola, the news marks a first for people who already have been infected. “From now on, we will no longer say that Ebola is incurable,” said Jean-Jacques Muyembe, director general of the Institut National de Recherche Biomedicale in the DRC, which has overseen the trial’s operations on the ground.

https://www.wired.com/story/ebola-is-now-curable-heres-how-the-new-treatments-work/

 

[ramonmercado]

You're not going to beat Ebola by pretending it doesn't exist.

he World Health Organisation (WHO) has publicly criticised Tanzania for withholding information on suspected cases of ebola, complicating the battle against what is already the second worst outbreak of the deadly disease in human history.

In a statement on Sunday the WHO said that, despite repeated requests, “to date clinical data, results of the investigations, possible contacts and potential laboratory tests performed... have not been communicated to the WHO”.

The disease has already infected nearly 3,000 people, and killed nearly 2,000 in the volatile eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the epidemic has been concentrated. There endemic violence and mistrust of authorities have prevented authorities from bringing it under control.

Last month a nine-year-old girl died of ebola in Uganda, which neighbours Congo, marking the fourth case in that country. However, unlike Tanzania, Ugandan authorities were quick to share information with the WHO and to mobilise international forces to prevent the spread of the disease.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/wor...nformation-on-suspected-ebola-cases-1.4026557

 

[ramonmercado]

Campaigner killed.

A radio host who ran a campaign to educate communities in the centre of the ebola epidemic has been murdered at his home.

The killing of Papy Mumbere Mahamba, 35, has been linked to hundreds of attacks on health workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where fear and suspicion over the outbreak is hampering efforts to bring the disease under control. The DJ’s widow, Kahindo, who was also stabbed in the raid on Sunday, managed to escape with their four children after the attackers set their home alight.

The highly contagious haemorrhagic fever has so far killed 2,185 people in the lawless eastern provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri since August last year.

Health teams have run the gauntlet of armed bandits who have overrun the region, where they fight over mineral riches. Emergency staff are also facing violence and suspicion from remote communities, who doubt their true motives. Mahamba had provided a valuable service in raising awareness about the virus’s prevention and treatment via his show on Radio Lwemba in Ituri province, colleagues said.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six...ign-in-democratic-republic-of-congo-f82sjwq95

 

[Mythopoeika]

Outright stupidity.
[Shaking my head]

 

[AlchoPwn]

Outright stupidity.
[Shaking my head]

Nah, it's the wheel of Karma. These thugs murdered people trying to save them from ebola. I'd say what happens next is quite predictable.

 

[EnolaGaia]

The WHO has given approval to the first Ebola vaccine ...

1st Ebola vaccine gets full approval

The World Health Organization has approved the world's first Ebola vaccine amid history's second largest outbreak of the disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

WHO prequalified the inoculation Tuesday, which means it meets the agency's standards for quality and safety, and it can now be made available in at-risk countries. The step came less than 48 hours after the European Commission grated a conditional marketing authorization for the vaccine.

The vaccine, called Ervebo, is manufactured by Merck. It and another vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson, were already being used under a compassionate use protocol. Ervebo is now approved for clinical use. ...

WHO said it accelerated the prequalification process for the vaccine because of the "urgent public health need," particularly in Africa. The DRC's current epidemic began Aug. 1, 2018, and has caused 2,192 deaths and sickened 1,067 others as of Wednesday, the DRC Ministry of Health said. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-...accine-gets-full-approval/9041573677387/?sl=3

 

[Ringo]

The WHO has given approval to the first Ebola vaccine ...

"EBOLA TRIES TO TAKE YOU .....DOWN!"
Talking 'bout your vaccinations"

 

[Kondoru]

My GP friend has told me she sure wouldnt put her life at risk helping people who dont want to be helped.

(I will say she is Indian, and not some barbarous European...)

 

[ramonmercado]

The WHO has given approval to the first Ebola vaccine ...



FULL STORY: https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-...accine-gets-full-approval/9041573677387/?sl=3

Now the US FDA approves it.

An Ebola vaccine, already deployed against the often deadly disease in an ongoing outbreak in Congo, is the first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The vaccine, called Ervebo and developed by the pharmaceutical company Merck, underwent testing during the 2014–2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa and was found to be effective at warding off an infection (SN: 12/22/16).

Approved for those 18 and older, the vaccine prevents disease caused by one species of Ebola virus, Zaire ebolavirus. The FDA’s action, announced December 19, follows in the footsteps of European regulators’ approval in November (SN: 12/16/19). While cases of Ebola in the United States are extremely rare, the FDA considers the vaccine a crucial tool to stop the spread of the disease.

In Congo’s Ebola outbreak, there have been 3,351 cases and 2,211 deaths as of December 18, according to the World Health Organization (SN: 5/21/18). More than 250,000 people have been vaccinated.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/first-ebola-vaccine-wins-fda-approval

 

[ramonmercado]

To relieve the doom & gloom, here's a story about a so what virus.

A group of scientists led by Jana Batovska of the AgriBio Centre for AgriBioscience in Victoria, Australia, has found a rather unusual name for their newly discovered virus and it comes from a catchphrase in the TV show Seinfeld. The phrase is Yada Yada and it refers to boring talk.

That's because the scientists believe their new discovery is well... kinda boring. Looking at RNA from mosquitoes in Victoria the team found a new alphavirus. The only thing is the new virus poses no threat to humans at all. It only infects mosquitoes. What it isn't, however, is an exciting breakthrough. As such Batovska felt Yada Yada was the perfect name for her new discovery. “Lastly, we did name the virus after Seinfeld!” Batovska tweeted. “The rise of metagenomic sequencing has resulted in an explosion of virus discovery, with new viruses being announced every day - this is another one: Yada Yada virus.”

https://interestingengineering.com/...d-catchphrase-because-its-not-such-a-big-deal

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[EnolaGaia]

Just when it appeared the latest Ebola outbreak had subsided a new case has surfaced ...

Re-emerging Ebola reported in Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo's Emergency Committee reported a new case of Ebola fever Friday just as the nation was preparing to celebrate the end of a two-year fight against the virus, authorities said.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced that Ebola had re-emerged after the country had 52 days without a case. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-...mocratic-Republic-of-the-Congo/6841586543890/

 

[Mythopoeika]

Nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

 

[ramonmercado]

It's back ...

At least three people have died of Ebola in Guinea, with five others testing positive for the virus, health officials say.

They fell ill with diarrhoea, vomiting and bleeding after attending a burial. Between 2013 and 2016 more than 11,000 people died in the West Africa Ebola epidemic, which began in Guinea. But in response to that epidemic several vaccines were developed, which have since been used to fight outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

• Why Ebola is so dangerous
• First Ebola case linked to bat play

Ebola infects humans through close contact with infected animals, including chimpanzees, fruit bats and forest antelope.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56060728