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Ebola outbreak: Mali on alert
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26882013

Staff of the "Doctors without Borders" ("Medecin sans frontieres") medical aid organisation carry the body of a person killed by viral haemorrhagic fever, at a centre for victims of the Ebola virus in Guekedou, on April 1, 2014.
'
Mali is on alert over the deadly Ebola virus after three suspected cases were reported near the border with Guinea, where 86 people have died.

A BBC correspondent says there are tight controls on people entering the capital, Bamako, from the border area.

He says thermal-imaging cameras are screening passengers at the airport in case they have a fever.

The virus, which is spread by close contact and kills 25%- 90% of its victims, has already spread to Liberia.

Six people have died in Liberia, out of 12 suspected cases, according to the local health authorities.

Continue reading the main story

Start Quote

A few days later I noticed that several of those who had been near her had become ill. Then they started dying. ”

Firmin Bogon
'I lost 10 relatives to Ebola'
Sierra Leone has also reported suspected cases, while Senegal has closed its normally busy border with Guinea.

The BBC's Alou Diawara in Bamako says the three people feared to have Ebola have been moved to isolation wards on the the edge of the city.

Samples have been sent to the US for testing and the results are expected in a few days.

Mali's government has advised its national against all non-essential travel to areas affected by Ebola.

The virus was first spotted in Guinea's remote south-eastern region of Gueckedou, where most of the deaths have been recorded.

But it was not confirmed as Ebola for six weeks.

It has now spread to Guinea's capital, Conakry, where five deaths have been recorded out of 12 suspected cases.

Saudi Arabia suspended visas for Muslim pilgrims from Guinea and Liberia on Tuesday, in a sign of the growing unease about the outbreak.

This is the first known outbreak in Guinea - most recent cases have been thousands of miles away in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.

There is no known cure or vaccine for Ebola.

The tropical virus leads to haemorrhagic fever, causing muscle pain, weakness, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in severe cases, organ failure and unstoppable bleeding.
 
I think what really scares me and other people is the thought that the airborne one that is less deadly and the one transmitted by bodily fluids but is almost always deadly combine. At that point in time, I think we may well see a lot of humanity wiped out.
 
Loquaciousness said:
I think what really scares me and other people is the thought that the airborne one that is less deadly and the one transmitted by bodily fluids but is almost always deadly combine. At that point in time, I think we may well see a lot of humanity wiped out.

Ebola Zaire is the blood borne virus and Ebola Reston is the aerosol carried one. Luckily for us as a species, Ebola Reston only kills primates.

One can only imagine what the folks who discovered Ebola Reston went through, it broke out in a reseach facility near Washington DC and killed over 30% of the monkeys there, the virus only having been identified and the place locked down after the handlers had been exposed for a period of weeks. They were then basically placed in quarantine where they waited to see if they would develop the disease.

The depressing thought is if Ebola mutated in this way and produced Ebola Reston, it's possible it could do so again and become aerosol carried and lethal to humans.
 
Ebola outbreak 'most challenging' as Guinea deaths pass 100
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26941698

Staff of the "Doctors without Borders" ("Medecins Sans Frontieres") medical aid organisation carry the body of a person killed by viral haemorrhagic fever, at a centre for victims of the Ebola virus in Guekedou, on 1 April 2014

There is no known cure or vaccine for Ebola

The number of people believed to have been killed by the Ebola virus in Guinea has passed 100, the UN World Health Organization says.

It was "one of the most challenging Ebola outbreaks we have ever dealt with" and could take another four months to contain, the WHO said.

The virus had now killed 101 people in Guinea and 10 in Liberia, it said.

Ebola is spread by close contact and kills between 25% and 90% of its victims.

Many West African states have porous borders, and people travel frequently between countries.

'High alert'
Southern Guinea is at the epicentre of the outbreak, with the first case reported last month.

The geographical spread of the outbreak is continuing to make it particularly challenging to contain - past outbreaks have involved much smaller areas.

"We fully expect to be engaged in this outbreak for the next two to three to four months before we are comfortable that we are through it," Keija Fukuda, WHO's assistant director-general, said at a news briefing in Geneva, Reuters news agency reports.

The WHO said 157 suspected cases had been recorded in Guinea, including 20 in the capital, Conakry.

Map of West Africa
Sixty-seven of the cases have been confirmed as Ebola, it added.

In neighbouring Liberia, 21 cases had been reported, with five confirmed as Ebola, WHO said.

Mali had reported nine suspected cases, but medical tests done so far showed that two of them did not have Ebola, it said.

Last week, Mali said it was on high alert because of fears of an outbreak of Ebola and it would tighten border controls.

Saudi Arabia has suspended visas for Muslim pilgrims from Guinea and Liberia, in a sign of the growing unease about the outbreak.

This is the first known outbreak in Guinea - most recent cases have been thousands of miles away in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.

There is no known cure or vaccine for Ebola.

The tropical virus leads to haemorrhagic fever, causing muscle pain, weakness, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in severe cases, organ failure and unstoppable bleeding.
 
Some good news.

Guinea Ebola outbreak: 'Some patients recovering'
By Tulip Mazumdar
Global health reporter
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-26963083

Rose Komano, who has recovered from Ebola, is hugged by a nurse in Guinea

At least seven patients infected with Ebola in Guinea have recovered from the virus and been allowed to return home, an international medical charity says.

Although the virus has a high mortality rate, a number of patients have managed to fight it off, Medecins Sans Frontieres has said.

There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola - one of the world's deadliest viruses.

But people have a better chance of surviving if it is identified early and they get supportive medical care.

So far this outbreak has killed more than two-thirds of those who have been infected, including 101 people in Guinea and 10 in neighbouring Liberia.

Health specialists work in an isolation ward for patients in southern Guinea. Photo: 1 April 2014
Health workers have to wear protective clothing
Ebola can kill up to 90% of those infected.

It is passed on through contact with the fluids of infected people or animals, such as urine, sweat and blood.

'Cheering'
MSF, along with the UN World Health Organization (WHO) and other charities such as the International Federation of the Red Cross, is helping Guinea's health ministry to try and contain the outbreak.

Continue reading the main story

Start Quote

Rose Komano
I don't feel sick anymore and I'm really glad I recovered my health”

Rose Komano
Ebola survivor
'No handshakes, no sex'
"When the first patient came out from the treatment centre, I was so happy and the whole team was cheering," said Dr Marie-Claire Lamah, who works at a MSF Ebola treatment centre in Guinea's capital, Conakry.

MSF spokesperson Sam Taylor says it shows patients are "able to beat" the disease.

"When you see them and you can hold their hand and see that they are totally fine, it improves everyone's morale and it's great news for the families and the communities these people are going back to," he said.

MSF said the first patient to be discharged, an 18-year-old Rose Komano, was from their medical ward in Gueckedou, where the outbreak started.

"I don't feel sick anymore and I'm really glad I recovered my health... I don't understand why I become sick," she told health workers.

Ms Komano had spent 10 days being treated by medics who could not touch her and were covered from head to toe in yellow protective gear.

She had to shower with chlorine and was given new clothes before being allowed to leave the ward.

The WHO says patients can be discharged from isolation units soon after their clinical symptoms, such as fever and diarrhoea, disappear.

"Ebola is clearly a very deadly disease, but a number of people manage to survive," said Dr Philippe Barboza, a WHO epidemiologist in Conakry.

"Although there is no specific treatment, there is medical care that can be provided that can improve their [chances] of survival... supportive care includes rehydration, nutrition and pain relief."

It is more than two months since the outbreak started in the south-east of Guinea.

The WHO says there could be more cases to come, and dealing with the outbreak could take months.
 
You can survive Ebola.

I caught Ebola in Guinea and survived

The number of people who have contracted the Ebola virus in Guinea, according to the World Health Organization, has risen to 208 - and 136 of them have died. About half of these cases have been confirmed in a laboratory - earlier cases were not tested.

There is no cure for Ebola but with early medical support some people's bodies are able to develop antibodies to fight it off.

One survivor, who asked not to be named, told the BBC his story.

Testimony:

None of us could sleep - we thought we would never make it to the morning”

The first doctor I saw at a village health centre said it was malaria - it was only when I was brought to a special unit at the hospital in [the capital] Conakry that I was told I had the Ebola virus.

I felt really depressed - I had heard about Ebola so when the doctors told me, I was very scared. I tried to be positive - I was thinking about death, but deep inside I thought my time had not come yet and I would get over it. That's how I overcame the pain and the fear.

Doctors from the charity Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) were here to comfort me and give their moral support. I tried to stay positive although I was scared when I saw my relatives dying in front of me.

There was a moment when I thought I might die when I lost two of my uncles and their bodies were taken away.

On that night none of us could sleep - we thought we would never make it to the morning. Some doctors from MSF came to collect and wrap the bodies and sterilise the area. It all happened in front of us.

A short while after I was admitted to the hospital for treatment I started feeling better, step by step.

At first I was scared to eat as I thought I would be sick but after a while I took a few drops of water and realised it was OK and the diarrhoea gradually stopped as well.

The doctors would come to see me and ask questions and one day nearly all my answers were "no" - the doctors were pleased and I realised that I would make it. That was a very powerful feeling for me.

It was a great feeling when I walked out of the hospital. We had a little celebration with the doctors, all the nurses and the people who had been waiting for me.

They took pictures of me, they shook my hands - I saw that they felt safe touching me and I realised I was better. I was really happy on that day. Now I feel good although I sometimes get some pain in my joints.

I prefer not be identified in the media - many people are aware that I had the disease but many others are not. We have been through difficult times - people were afraid of us.

You know about African solidarity - usually when someone dies people visit you but when we lost one and then two, three, four members of our family, nobody came to visit us and we realised we were being kept at bay because of fear.

It gets even worse if everybody hears about your condition on the radio and television. Even people close to us, neighbours and relatives, are met with suspicion when they mention they know us. Immediately the other person takes two or three steps back for fear of contracting the virus. People are very poorly informed about the disease.

Nine people in my family had the virus in total. My wife and my cousin survived too, so it is the three of us out of nine. We were very affected by the deaths of our relatives but we were also relieved that not all of us had died.

It would have been such a catastrophe if we had all passed away. This was a lesson on a spiritual level and it has changed the way I look at life. The short time we spent in hospital has really transformed us. I feel lucky. I feel very happy to be alive.

This interview was featured on Newsday on the BBC World Service.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27112397
 
Ebola vaccine success highlights dilemma of testing on captive chimps to save wild apes

A study illustrates 'high conservation potential' of vaccines for endangered wild primates devastated by viral disease, but highlights need for access to captive chimpanzees so vaccines can be trialled before being administered in the wild.

The first conservation-specific vaccine trial on captive chimpanzees has proved a vaccine against Ebola virus is both safe and capable of producing a robust immune response in chimpanzees.

This unprecedented study, published in the journal PNAS, shows that 'orphan' vaccines - which never complete the expensive licensing process for human use - can be co-opted for use on wildlife and might be a godsend for highly endangered species such as gorillas and chimpanzees, say researchers.

They suggest that, by ending captive research in an effort to pay back an "ethical debt" to captive chimpanzees, the US Government is poised to "renege on an even larger debt to wild chimpanzees" at risk from viruses transmitted by tourists and researchers – as safety testing on captive chimpanzees is required before vaccines can be used in the wild.

"The ape conservation community has long been non-interventionist, taking a 'Garden of Eden' approach to modern medicine for wild animals, but we ended Eden by destroying habitats and spreading disease," said Dr Peter Walsh, the senior author on the study from the Division of Biological Anthropology, University of Cambridge, who conducted the trial at the New Iberia Research Centre in the US with researchers from the Centre, as well as the US Army, the University of Louisiana and the conservation charity Apes Incorporated (ApesInc.org).

"Half of deaths among chimps and gorillas that live in proximity to humans are from our respiratory viruses. For us it's a sore throat - for them it's death."

"We need to be pragmatic about saving these animals now before they are wiped out forever, and vaccination could be a turning point. But park managers are adamant - and rightly so at this stage - that all vaccines are tested on captive apes before deployment in the wild. This means access to captive chimpanzees for vaccine trials."

Infectious diseases pose extinction-level threats to African ape species on a par with poaching and habitat loss, say researchers, with populations continuing to be devastated by malaria, anthrax and "spillover" respiratory viruses - as well as massive Ebola outbreaks which had killed roughly one third of the world gorilla population by 2007. ...
http://phys.org/news/2014-05-ebola-vacc ... lemma.html
 
How long before a pandemic?

Ebola: Deadly outbreak crosses border as mistrust hampers medical staff

The highly contagious virus has spread from Guinea to Sierra Leone, but villagers are removing infected relatives from hospitals

West Africa’s deadly Ebola outbreak, which has already killed nearly 200 people in Guinea, has crossed the border and claimed its first lives in Sierra Leone, placing health authorities across the region on high alert.

The World Health Organisation and Médecins sans Frontières have dispatched teams to the east of the country, while health authorities in the capital are meeting daily to monitor the disease, amid fears that it could spread quickly among remote rural communities with little access to healthcare.

The current outbreak began in neighbouring Guinea in March. The first confirmed cases were detected in Sierra Leone earlier this week and the country has now recorded 16 cases and five deaths.

Ebola is a highly infectious virus which proves fatal in up to 90 per cent of its victims. It can be passed on through contact with the fluids of infected people, including sweat – meaning that just touching the body of an infected person can cause transmission. Healthcare workers have been forced to wear protective body suits.

An Ebola task force has been formed at Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Health and Sanitation in the capital Freetown, incorporating government and international volunteer healthcare workers.

Shirley Simbo, head of the Voluntary Service Overseas Sierra Leone health programme, told The Independent that the outbreak was already being treated as an emergency. “It is causing major concern,” she said. “We are currently working together with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation. Every day we have a task force meeting.”

The VSO’s team of 14 volunteer and nurses was helping government health workers to treat potential Ebola victims, alert remote communities to the threat and advise on measures to prevent the virus’s spread, she said. “The ministry has dispatched its teams to every district. Right now the prevalence is on the eastern side of Sierra Leone. There are still misconceptions in communities, especially rural communities. Some people are still doubtful that it is Ebola that is manifesting in Sierra Leone. Some still think it is cholera.”

At an emergency meeting on Wednesday, the task force heard that Koindu, a town in the eastern Kailahun district, had become the “epicentre” for the outbreak.

In Kenema, Sierra Leone’s third largest city, it was confirmed that one of three Ebola patients had died after being admitted to hospital. One woman, the daughter of one of the patients admitted to hospital in Kenema, said she had been told from relatives in Koindu that her mother had died. Her mother was among eight patients said to have been “forcibly removed” from a health centre in the town.

Health authorities are particularly concerned that mistrust of healthcare workers in some communities could prevent effective monitoring and prevention of the disease.

A team of health workers, who had entered Koindu, have already been “ambushed” and its ambulance “attacked”, minutes from Wednesday’s meeting revealed.

Earlier this week, six suspected Ebola patients were taken out of hospitals in Koindu by their families against doctors’ orders. One of the patients has since died and the breach is considered a major infection risk.

Dr Amara Jambai, director of disease prevention and control at Sierra Leone’s health ministry, told the BBC that staff at the clinic had tried to stop them but the families, who were said to have been afraid their loved ones would die alone, became “aggressive”.

The government has prioritised 13 key messages, which it is attempting to disseminate to every Sierra Leonean. People have been told to attend the nearest health clinic immediately if they have symptoms of fever, diarrhoea or vomiting. There have also been warnings over hand-washing, and eating bush meat, especially from monkeys, chimpanzees or bats, or to eat fruit that might have been eaten by animals. Fruit bats are believed to be the natural host of the virus.

Ebola treatment has been made available free of charge at all health facilities.

Tarik Jasarevic, spokesperson for the World Health Organisation on Ebola, said the outbreak required a “huge social mobilisation activity” to alert the population to the dangers. “We really have to work with population,” he said. “We need to talk to people to use every means, go to religious leaders, to village chiefs to explain what Ebola is. If you come to a village without preparing you can encounter some resistance.”

Ebola has also been detected in Liberia during the outbreak, but no new cases have been recorded since April. There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola, but people have a much better chance of survival if the virus is detected early.

As of Wednesday, 281 cases of Ebola had been detected in Guinea, with 186 deaths.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 56917.html
 
But late last week the families of several infected patients went to a rural clinic and forcibly removed their relatives.

BBC international development correspondent Mark Doyle says the families apparently wanted to have their loved ones treated by traditional African healers, and this action is bound to have spread the disease further.


This is a worrying development.

UK employees leave Sierra Leone over Ebola threat

The Ebola outbreak was first reported in Guinea and has spread in west Africa

A number of "non-essential" staff at a British firm in Sierra Leone have left the country following an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus.

London Mining has restricted some travel to the area but said production at its Marampa mine was unaffected.

It said it was working with local and international agencies to monitor the situation.

The incurable and highly contagious disease was reported in the west African country last week.

There are already about 50 suspected cases in Sierra Leone and five people have died. There have been more than 100 deaths in neighbouring Guinea where the outbreak started, with cases also reported in Liberia earlier this year.

Iron ore company London Mining said essential staff continued to travel in and out of the country and it was carefully monitoring the health of all of its employees.

But non-essential travel of its staff to the region has been restricted.

The eight staff who had already left the country departed on regular flights, the firm added.

The company is one of two large extraction companies in the country, but the first to reveal that staff have left the region.

map
Ebola first emerged in central Africa 20 years ago and kills between 25% and 90% of victims. Symptoms include internal and external bleeding, diarrhoea and vomiting.

It is spread from one person to another by contact with infected blood, bodily fluids or organs or through contact with contaminated environments.

The Sierra Leone government, with help from aid agencies, is doing what it can to isolate known cases.

But late last week the families of several infected patients went to a rural clinic and forcibly removed their relatives.

BBC international development correspondent Mark Doyle says the families apparently wanted to have their loved ones treated by traditional African healers, and this action is bound to have spread the disease further.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-27675747
 
Ebola death toll hits 208 in Guinea

Most of the new cases were in the southern Guekedou region

Some 208 people have now died from the Ebola virus in Guinea after a deadly spike in recent days, world health officials say.

At least 21 people died and 37 new cases of suspected Ebola were found between 29 May and 1 June, bringing the total number of cases in the West African country to 328.

Of these, 193 have been confirmed by laboratory tests.

There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola - one of the world's deadliest viruses.

More than half of the new deaths were in the southern Guekedou region, where the outbreak is centred.

Three confirmed and 10 suspected new cases were recorded in neighbouring Sierra Leone over the same period.

Six people are believed to have died there, as well as 10 in Liberia. ...
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27703781
 
Sierra Leone ebola death toll 'doubles to 12 in a week'

Sierra Leone says its death toll from the contagious Ebola virus has doubled in one week, with hopes of containing the outbreak fading.

Health ministry officials said at least 12 people had been killed by the deadly virus, up from six last week.

They say the confirmed deaths were in the east, near the border with Guinea - the epicentre of the outbreak that has killed more than 200 people this year.

There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola - one of the world's deadliest viruses.

The impoverished west African nation confirmed its first deaths from Ebola two weeks ago.

Resistance to treatment
Dr Amara Jambai, the director of disease prevention and control at Sierra Leone's health ministry, announced on Monday that the deaths in the east were mainly in the Kailahun district.

There are now 42 confirmed cases from 113 people tested, with new cases recorded in the northern district of Kambia, she added.

She said that the disease was spreading as local authorities were struggling to control the movement of people, according to Reuters news agency.

Guinea has been worst-affected, with some 328 cases - 193 of which have been confirmed by laboratory tests - and 208 deaths.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27774233
 
Seven die in Monrovia Ebola outbreak

The deadly Ebola virus has killed seven people in Liberia's capital, Monrovia, health officials have said.

These are the first deaths reported in the city since the outbreak of the contagious virus in several West African states.

Among the dead are a nurse and four people from the same household, including a baby, officials said.

Guinea has been worst-affected by Ebola, with 208 deaths since the outbreak was first reported in March.

There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola - one of the world's deadliest viruses.

Liberia's Deputy Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah said the nurse died on Saturday at the state-run Redemption Hospital in the densely populated township of New Kru Town, west of Monrovia. ...
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27888363
 
Ebola deaths pass 300 in West Africa - WHO

The number of people killed by the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa has risen to 337, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.

Fourteen deaths and 47 new cases were reported across the region over the last week, it added.

Guinea is worst-affected with 264 Ebola-related deaths. In Sierra Leone, there have been 49 deaths and in Liberia 24, the WHO said.

The three countries have been battling to contain the outbreak since February.

The outbreak began in southern Guinea's Guekedou region, but then spread to its neighbours.

More than 500 suspected or confirmed cases of the virus have been recorded, the WHO said. ...
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27902139
 
West African nations neighbouring those hit by the Ebola epidemic — Mali, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Guinea Bissau — should prepare for the possible arrival of people carrying the deadly virus, said the World Health Organisation.

“We want other countries in West Africa to be ready — bordering countries, Ivory Coast, Mali, Senegal, Guinea Bissau — to prepare themselves in case people affected with the disease may be also travelling,” WHO medical officer Dr Pierre Formenty told a briefing in Geneva.

Despite efforts by national health authorities and international aid organisations to contain the spread of Ebola, the WHO has recorded some 635 infections, including 399 deaths, in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia since the outbreak began in February.

The outbreak is already the deadliest since Ebola first emerged in central Africa in 1976, and the number of infections continues to rise.

Dr Formenty said it was difficult to stop the spread of the virus in forested areas of the three countries already affected by the epidemic and to change people’s burial practices which facilitate its transmission.

He said the UN health agency is not considering recommending travel or trade restrictions on the three countries, however.

“This is not out of hand,” Dr Formenty said.

WHO’s regional director for Africa, Luis Sambo, called for drastic action to halt what he said has turned into a cross-border crisis.

“This is no longer a country specific outbreak but a sub-regional crisis that requires firm action by governments and partners,” Mr Sambo said in a statement.

He added: “WHO is gravely concerned by the on-going cross-border transmission into neighbouring countries as well as the potential for further international spread.”

In response to the worsening crisis, the WHO said it will convene a special meeting of health ministers from some 11 countries in Accra, Ghana, on July 2 and July 3 to develop a comprehensive inter-country response plan.

Ebola — with a fatality rate of up to 90%, no vaccine and no known cure — has not previously occurred in the West Africa region. ...

http://www.irishexaminer.com/world/west ... 73623.html
 
Sierra Leone: Sheltering Ebola-infected people 'is a crime'

Sierra Leone has warned it is a serious crime to shelter patients infected with the Ebola virus who are in hiding.

The Health Ministry said several patients had discharged themselves from hospital in Kenema district, the heart of the country's outbreak.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for "drastic action" to contain the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which has killed almost 400 people.

It is the largest outbreak in terms of cases, deaths and geographical spread.

There have been more than 600 cases in Guinea - where the outbreak started four months ago - and neighbouring Sierra Leone and Liberia. Around 60% of those infected with the virus have died.

The WHO says that in Sierra Leone alone, there have been at least 46 fatalities out of a total 176 people infected with the Ebola virus. ...

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-28060966
 
Getting really serious now, but very little MSM coverage.

Death toll from Ebola outbreak in West Africa hits 603

The death toll from an Ebola outbreak in West Africa has risen to 603 since February, with at least 68 deaths reported from three countries in the region in the last week alone, the World Health Organisation said.

WHO said there were 85 new cases between July 8 and 12, highlighting continued high levels of transmission.

International and local medics were struggling to get access to communities as many residents feared outsiders were spreading rather than fighting Ebola.

“It’s very difficult for us to get into communities where there is hostility to outsiders,” WHO spokes- man Dan Epstein told a news briefing in Geneva.

“We still face rumours, and suspicion and hostility... People are isolated, they’re afraid, they’re scared.”

Sierra Leone recorded the highest number of deaths, which include confirmed, probable, and suspect cases of Ebola, at 52. Liberia reported 13 and Guinea 3, according to the WHO figures.

Epstein said the main focus in the three countries is tracing people who have been exposed to people with Ebola and monitoring them for the 21 day incubation period to see if they were infected.

“It’s probably going to be several months before we are able to get a grip on this epidemic,” Epstein added. ...

http://www.irishexaminer.com/world/deat ... 75523.html
 
Worrying.

ramonmercado said:
Getting really serious now, but very little MSM coverage.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it.

Now where's that conspiracy thread...
 
A real tragedy.

Chief Ebola doctor in Sierra Leone has contracted the deadly disease himself

The virus has mortality rates of up to 90 per cent

The “national hero” chief doctor leading the fight against the deadly Ebola virus outbreak in Sierra Leone has himself been infected with the disease, the president’s office has announced.

Sheik Umar Khan, a 39-year-old virologist who is personally credited with treating more than 100 Ebola victims, has now been admitted to a treatment ward at the heart of the outbreak in Kailahun.

According to the latest data from the World Health Organisation, the virus has killed more than 600 people across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone – including 19 new deaths in just the four days prior to Saturday’s report.

There is no vaccination, specific treatment or cure for Ebola, which has in the past killed up to 90 per cent of those infected. The mortality rate of the present outbreak currently stands at around 60 per cent.

In the statement from the president’s office, the Health Minister Miatta Kargbo said she was in tears when she heard the news about Dr Khan. She described him as a “national hero” and pledged to do “anything and everything in my power to ensure he survives”. ...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 23860.html
 
Nigeria 'placed on red alert' over Ebola death

Nigeria says it has put all entries into the country on red alert after confirming the death of a Liberian man who was carrying the Ebola virus.

The man died after arriving at Lagos airport on Tuesday, in the first Ebola case in Africa's most populous country.

Surveillance has been stepped up at all "airports, seaports and land borders", says Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu.

Since February, more than 660 people have died of Ebola in West Africa - the world's deadliest outbreak to date.

It began in southern Guinea and spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The Liberian man collapsed on arrival in Lagos last Sunday. He was taken from the airport to hospital, where he was put in quarantine.

Officials have identified the 40-year-old man as an employee of the Liberian government.

Members of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) wearing protective gear walk outside the isolation ward of the Donka Hospital, on 23 July 2014 in Conakry.

Mr Chukwu confirmed that the other passengers on board the flight had been traced and were being monitored ...

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-28498665
 
Starting to get more media attention now; was mentioned on BBC News.

American doctor infected with Ebola in intensive care

An American doctor is receiving intensive medical treatment in Liberia after he was infected with the deadly Ebola virus while treating patients in the West African nation, a spokeswoman for an aid organisation said.

Dr Kent Brantly was in a stable condition, talking with his doctors and working on his computer while receiving care at a hospital in the Liberian capital of Monrovia, said Melissa Strickland, a spokeswoman for North Carolina-based Samaritan’s Purse.

She cautioned that Dr Brantly is “not out of the woods yet”. She said patients have a better chance of survival if they receive treatment immediately after being infected, which Dr Brantly did.

Dr Brantly, 33, has been working as a medical director for Samaritan’s Purse in Liberia since October 2013 as part of the group’s post-residency programme for doctors, Ms Strickland said.

The highly contagious Ebola virus is one of the most deadly diseases in the world. It has killed at least 672 people in several African countries since the outbreak began earlier this year.

A government official said earlier that one of Liberia’s most high-profile doctors had died of the virus, highlighting the risks facing health workers.

Dr Samuel Brisbane is the first Liberian doctor to die in the outbreak. A Ugandan doctor working in the country died earlier this month. ...
http://www.irishexaminer.com/world/amer ... 76921.html
 
Ebola virus a threat to UK, Philip Hammond warns

The Ebola virus, which has killed more than 670 people in West Africa, poses a threat to the UK, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has told the BBC.

He chaired an emergency Cobra meeting on the issue on Wednesday afternoon.

Mr Hammond said no Britons had been affected so far and there were no cases in the UK, but the government was viewing the outbreak very seriously.

Earlier this month Public Health England issued an alert to UK doctors to be aware of Ebola's symptoms.

Several West African airlines have now stopped flying to Liberia and Sierra Leone amid concerns about the spread of the disease to those countries from Guinea.

The move by airlines comes after an infected American man of Liberian descent was found to have flown from Liberia to Nigeria last week. He developed symptoms during the flight. ...

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-28558783

Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUAvTn3uz5w
 
Is it Ebola?

Ebola terror at Gatwick as passenger collapses and dies getting off Sierra Leone flight
Aug 03, 2014 22:30 By Rebecca Younger, Andy Lines

Staff tell of fears as jet from Africa is quarantined after the death of passenger who was 'sweating and vomiting' before she collapsed

Ebola fears: A passenger died at Gatwick after getting off a glight fromm Sierra Leone
Airport staff tonight told of their fears of an Ebola outbreak after a passenger from Sierra Leone collapsed and died as she got off a plane at Gatwick.

Workers said they were terrified the virus could spread globally through the busy international hub from the West African country which is in the grip of the deadly epidemic.

The woman, said to be 72, became ill on the gangway after she left a Gambia Bird jet with 128 passengers on board. She died in hospital.

Ebola has killed 256 people in Sierra Leone. A total of 826 have died in West Africa since the outbreak began in February. Tests are now being carried out to see if the woman had disease.

The plane was quarantined as ­officials desperately tried to trace everyone who had been in contact with the woman.

Airport workers face an anxious wait to see if the woman had Ebola. One said: “Everyone’s just ­petrified.

“We’ve all seen how many people have died from Ebola, especially in Sierra Leone, and it’s terrifying.”


Speaking of the horrific moment the passenger collapsed, the shocked staff member added: “The woman was sweating buckets and vomiting.

“Paramedics arrived to try and help her. The next thing everybody was there… emergency crews, airfield operations, even immigration.

“They closed down the jet bridge and put the aircraft into quarantine.

“They took everyone’s details, even the guy who fuels the aircraft.”

The plane carrying the woman came from Freetown in Sierra Leone – a country with the highest number of victims from the disease. ...

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/eb ... z39MwRaWEj
 
No.

She died of natural causes, but it wasn't ebola.

Pheeeewwww...........

A test for Ebola has been carried out on a female passenger who died after arriving in the UK from The Gambia.

The Department for Health said the test on the elderly woman, who landed at Gatwick Airport, came back negative on Sunday afternoon.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28634903 for the rest.
 
CarlosTheDJ said:
No.

She died of natural causes, but it wasn't ebola.

Pheeeewwww...........

A test for Ebola has been carried out on a female passenger who died after arriving in the UK from The Gambia.

The Department for Health said the test on the elderly woman, who landed at Gatwick Airport, came back negative on Sunday afternoon.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28634903 for the rest.

They would say that...
 
Ebola outbreak: Sierra Leone suspends football matches as virus sweeps through west Africa

The Sierra Leone Football Association has followed Liberia in cancelling all football matches to help prevent spread of the disease

Sierra Leone has cancelled all football matches with immediate effect in an effort to stem the spread of the virulent Ebola disease.

It comes almost a week after Liberia also suspended football activities, with the countries having lost 250 and 230 people respectively, to the virus.

Last Thursday, the President of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma, declared a public health emergency as Ebola swept through western Africa and showed no signs of slowing down.

It has become the largest outbreak ever and threatens to take more victims, with Guinea and Nigeria also affected.

According to the BBC, the football ban means that the national team may not be able to play their at-home 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Cameroon next month. ...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 47327.html
 
WHO: Ebola 'an international emergency'

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the spread of Ebola in West Africa an international health emergency.
WHO officials said the possible consequences were "particularly serious" because of the virulence of the virus.
The announcement came after experts convened a two-day emergency meeting in Switzerland.

So far more than 930 people have died from Ebola in West Africa this year.
The United Nations health agency said the outbreak was an "extraordinary event".
"A coordinated international response is deemed essential to stop and reverse the international spread of Ebola," it said in a statement.

The outbreak involves transmission in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
The WHO said there would be no general ban on international travel or trade.
However, states should be prepared to detect, investigate and manage Ebola cases, including at airports, it said.

--------------------------------------

Ebola virus disease (EVD)

Symptoms include high fever, bleeding and central nervous system damage
Fatality rate can reach 90% - but the current outbreak is about 55%
Incubation period is two to 21 days
There is no vaccine or cure
Supportive care such as rehydrating patients who have diarrhoea and vomiting can help recovery
Fruit bats are considered to be virus' natural host

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-28702356
 
:( I do wish they hadn't included that last sentence. Fruit bats have got enough problems without being slaughtered by people who think they're responsible for the outbreak.
 
monops said:
:( I do wish they hadn't included that last sentence. Fruit bats have got enough problems without being slaughtered by people who think they're responsible for the outbreak.

They eat enough fruit ye know. Many a time I've been peeved to find that a fruit bat has eaten the last kiwi.
 
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