All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

Israeli company says it can produce experimental Ebola drug | The Times of Israel

No one knows if ZMapp drug is actually effective but everyone is in publicity high gear and profits dancing in their eyes wants to cash in on current attention to ebola – and news folks looking for same is happy to play along with them so they can seem to be up to date too. 

In the end it just fuels distrust of everything – think twice, three times before adding to cynicism…

With ZMapp vaccine depleted, a Carmiel-based biopharmaceutical firm says it can extract medication from tobacco plants quickly and effectively

via Israeli company says it can produce experimental Ebola drug | The Times of Israel.

Local newspaper correspondent beaten in her office in Guanajuato state – Reporters Without Borders

So? Where is El Presidente?

Newspaper reporter Karla Silva was beaten up by three assailants yesterday in her office in Silao, a town in the central state of Guanajuato, where she works as the local correspondent of El Heraldo de León.

“Three men went to our correspondent’s bureau in Silao and attacked her, beating her bloody, threatening her and telling her to stop ‘pissing everyone off’ with her articles,” El Heraldo de León deputy editor Carlos Martínez Vertí told Reporters Without Borders.

They had visited Silva’s office several times earlier in the day, asking for her by name, harassing her assistant and taking a computer and four mobile phones.

Silva’s reporting has been very critical of the Silao municipal government, headed by a mayor who is a member of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). She has written about the poor services in Silao, the high crime rate, wasteful use of resources and the lack of transparency.

via Local newspaper correspondent beaten in her office in Guanajuato state – Reporters Without Borders.

Avian Flu Diary: WHO Statement: Consultation On Potential Use of Ebola Therapies & Vaccines

There was consensus that the use of whole blood therapies and convalescent blood serums needs to be considered as a matter of priority. {From people who have survived ebola, since antibodies that help to fight off the virus are present in the blood and serum}

via Avian Flu Diary: WHO Statement: Consultation On Potential Use of Ebola Therapies & Vaccines.

Ebola: [New] Updated Charts

Mens et Manus

Last Update: 24 August 2014 [Charts]
Current Update:
04 September 2014 [Data Source]

Historical Data Sources:
[1] World Health Organization. Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Zaire, 1976. Report of an International Convention. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 1978;56(2):271-293.
[2] World Health Organization. Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Sudan, 1976. Report of a WHO/International Study Team. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 1978;56(2):247-270.
[3] Heymann DL, Weisfeld JS, Webb PA, et al. Ebola hemorrhagic fever: Tandala, Zaire, 1977-1978. Journal of Infectious Diseases. 1980;142(3):372-376.
[4] Baron RC, McCormick JB, and Zubeir OA. Ebola virus disease in southern Sudan: hospital dissemination and intrafamilial spread. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 1983;61(6):997-1003.
[5] Georges AJ, Leroy EM, Renaud AA, et al. Ebola hemorrhagic fever outbreaks in Gabon, 1994-1997: epidemiologic and health control issues. Journal of Infectious Diseases. 1999;179:S65-75.
[6] Le Guenno B, Formenty P, Wyers M, et al. Isolation and partial…

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DEVELOPING: Estonian Counterintelligence Officer Abducted to Russia at Gunpoint, Foreign Ministry Summons Russian Ambassador | News | ERR

An official from the Internal Security Service (ISS), Estonia’s national agency for counterintelligence and high-profile corruption investigations, was abducted at gunpoint at Luhamaa border checkpoint this morning where he was discharging service duties, and taken to Russia. There is no indication that the abduction is more than an isolated criminal incident, but on the backdrop of international tensions, the situation is being treated seriously.

The incident occurred at about 9:00 on the Estonian side of the border and was preceded by jamming of communications and use of a smoke grenade, the agency said; the interference was said to originate from the Russia side.

The ISS said the official was in the process of interdiction of a cross-border crime.

via DEVELOPING: Estonian Counterintelligence Officer Abducted to Russia at Gunpoint, Foreign Ministry Summons Russian Ambassador | News | ERR.

Food Politics » Never mind low-carb v. low-fat: Get a Lab (dog, that is)

A reader who prefers his name to go unmentioned writes this in response to yesterday’s post about low-carb v. low-fat diets:

Hi Marion,

It is pretty simple.

1. Calories in, Calories out!

2.  Eat less. I cut out beer and ice cream.

3.  Get a Labrador retriever and walk everyday. If you don’t the dog will drive you crazy and probably destroy your house.

I got my first Lab in 2002 and weighed 240.  I am on my second Lab and now continue to weigh about 210 after having lost 35 pounds by 2006, and have crept up about 5 pounds.

It ain’t complicated!

He could make a fortune.  Just think: the “Get a Lab” diet—a guaranteed success!

via Food Politics » Never mind low-carb v. low-fat: Get a Lab (dog, that is).

Imperial researcher to lead Ebola vaccine trial in the Gambia

{The university ought to think about changing its name but beyond that – this confirms pretty well that pharmaceutical firms are not really interested in helping humanity, just in making a profit – even though nearly all of them get funds from governments/taxes, as well as foundations and investors}

The incentive for pharmaceutical companies to develop a product are therefore very low, as product development, testing and in particular the licensure procedures are expensive and the profit will be small, if any at all.

via Imperial researcher to lead Ebola vaccine trial in the Gambia.