Category Archives: pandemic

Emory Healthcare to treat Ebola patient | www.ajc.com

Agence France-Presse interviewed Dr. Peter Piot, a discoverer of the virus and head of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who said there was little risk of pandemic.

“Spreading in the population here, I’m not that worried about it,” he told AFP.

“I wouldn’t be worried to sit next to someone with Ebola virus on the Tube as long as they don’t vomit on you or something,” he said, referring to London’s underground train system. “This is an infection that requires very close contact.” (if this is as true, as we are led to believe, then how did well trained and outfitted people contract the disease – including top doctor who had treated 100 patients – all knowing they had to take extreme precautions)

via Emory Healthcare to treat Ebola patient | www.ajc.com.

WHO, West African countries launching emergency plan to combat Ebola | News | DW.DE | 31.07.2014

Finally getting really serious (after key doctor died, two Americans died and one still fighting for life)

The response identifies the need for “several hundred more personnel” to be deployed to affected regions in order to ease the strain on medical facilities, the WHO said, appealing to donor countries for clinical doctors and nurses, epidemiologists and logisticians.

It aims to stop the transmission of Ebola by boosting disease surveillance, particularly in border areas, protecting health workers from infection and doing a better job of informing communities about the virus.

“The plan sets out new needs to respond to the outbreak across the countries and bring up the level of preparedness in neighboring countries,” said WHO spokesman Paul Garwood. “They need better information and infection-control measures.”

Travel warning (Everyone in area had been resisting travel warnings to not harm income from tourists)

The severity of the epidemic prompted the US government on Thursday to issue travel warnings to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Tom Frieden said the outbreak “represents a potential risk to travelers.”

The CDC is also sending 50 extra specials to affected areas, he added.

Sierra Leone declared a state of emergency Thursday and called on troops to quarantine Ebola victims, joining neighbor Liberia in implementing strict government controls.

via WHO, West African countries launching emergency plan to combat Ebola | News | DW.DE | 31.07.2014.

NIH to launch early Ebola vaccine trial in September

Promising but here’s the catch:If someone has full-blown Ebola hemorrhagic virus, there is no drug on the planet that is going to protect them. But in the monkey model, we do have drugs where, if you have an early stage of infection and an early stage of illness, some of them are pretty successful.”

via NIH to launch early Ebola vaccine trial in September.

Update on Ebola Evacuees! Ebola cases rise to 1,323; 2 African doctors die | CIDRAP

People being evacuated will follow CDC advice and protocols – good! Two US-based relief organizations announced yesterday that they were evacuating all nonessential personnel from Liberia because of the surge of EVD cases in the region. In a statement yesterday, SIM, based in Charlotte, N.C., said it and Samaritan’s Purse were taking the step as a precaution and were in the process of setting up the evacuation details.

SIM said no EVD symptoms are present in any of the evacuees, who are being monitored based on protocols recommended by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other global health groups.

Two medical missionaries from the relief groups recently contracted EVD infections during joint operations in Monrovia, Liberia’s capital. They are Kent Brantly, MD, medical director for the Samaritan’s Purse care center, and Nancy Writebol, who has been working as a hygienist decontaminating medical staff entering and leaving a hospital isolation ward.

In a related development, the Peace Corps announced today that it is temporarily removing its volunteers from Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, due to the increasing spread of EVD. In a statement it said it will closely monitor developments with experts from the CDC and the US State Department. Currently the agency has 340 volunteers working in the three countries.

“All Peace Corps programs have emergency action plans specific to that country in place, and staff and volunteers are trained and prepared to respond in situations like this one,” the group said

via Ebola cases rise to 1,323; 2 African doctors die | CIDRAP.

US Peace Corps Pulling Volunteers Out of Ebola Epidemic Areas – With What Precautions?

Ebola is spread by people who have it and showing symptoms coming in contact with people as they travel, in hospital, at work, or at home.

People leaving an infected area should be screened before leaving and isolated, perhaps, when they arrive at new destination.

LA Times reports: The Peace Corps is removing more than 300 of its volunteers from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea as an Ebola outbreak that has left hundreds dead continues to worsen in West Africa.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Peace Corps said it is temporarily removing volunteers from the affected countries, and did not offer any comment on a possible return date.

The news came just days after two American charity workers contracted the disease in Monrovia, the Liberian capital. Patrick Sawyer, a 40-year-old consultant with the Liberian government, was also revealed to be the first American to die of the disease, relatives said Tuesday.

“The Peace Corps has enjoyed long partnerships with the government and people of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, and is committed to continuing volunteers’ work there,” the statement read. “A determination on when volunteers can return will be made at a later date.”

The Peace Corps is removing more than 300 of its volunteers from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea as an Ebola outbreak that has left hundreds dead continues to worsen in West Africa.

Ebola outbreak: Royal Air Force ‘on standby’ to bring back infected Brits – Telegraph

Hard to get more racist and elitist than this – ya think? But there is an election coming soon and Cameron has to look like he is doing something – like sticking foot in mouth again!

The Royal Air Force could be called in to bring back UK citizens infected with the deadly Ebola disease from West Africa.

David Cameron has said that Ebola outbreak is a ‘very serious threat’ to the UK and the foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, is preparing to chair an emergency meeting today on how to tighten Britain’s defences against the virus.

Major Thomas Fletcher, of the Royal Army Medical Corps said it was likely the meeting would discuss putting the military on alert to ‘repatriate’ Britons infected with the disease.

The Royal Air Force’s Infection Prevention Control Team is likely to be placed on standby to collect UK citizens and return them to Britain in quarantine conditions.

via Ebola outbreak: Royal Air Force ‘on standby’ to bring back infected Brits – Telegraph.

Europe on alert over spread of Ebola virus | News | DW.DE | 30.07.2014

Virus goes unseen

However, in an interview the Belgian newspaper La Libre, a leading official from the medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned that there was no comprehensive plan on how to deal with the disease. A major problem, according to MSF director of operations Bart Janssens, was the lack of rapid identification – particularly in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

“We are extremely worried by the turn of events, particularly in these two countries where there is a lack of visibility on the epidemic,” said Janssens.

“If the situation does not improve fairly quickly, there is a real risk of new countries being affected.”

“That is certainly not ruled out, but it is difficult to predict, because we have never known such an epidemic.”

There have been 1,201 cases of Ebola in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since March, with one isolated case in Nigeria

via Europe on alert over spread of Ebola virus | News | DW.DE | 30.07.2014.

Ebola Outbreak: NC Missionaries Evacuating 60 People

Will this be how ebola is imported to the US?

Will these people be screened before getting on a flight home?

Will they isolated for 21 days when they get home?

North Carolina groups, SIM in Charlotte and Samaritan’s Purse in Boone, announced Tuesday they are bringing some of their missionaries home because of the growing Ebola outbreak in West Africa. SIM is similar to Samaritan’s Purse, it’s a Christian organization that sends missionaries across the world. SIM USA President Bruce Johnson said around 60 people, mostly nonessential personnel like children and spouses, will return to the U.S.

via Ebola Outbreak: NC Missionaries Evacuating 60 People.

Thirty-five U.S. states report travel-related cases of chikungunya | Vaccine News Daily

Health officials in 35 states have reported a total of 284 cases of the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus, according to recent data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

The total number of cases reported in U.S. and its territories has risen to 497, most of which are associated with travelers returning from the Caribbean and South America. Locally-transmitted cases have been reported in Florida, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

According to the CDC, the number of cases will likely increase, thereby leading to additional local spread of the virus in the continental U.S. Between 2006 and 2013, an average of 28 people, all of whom were travelers returning from affected areas, tested positive for the virus.

Florida and New York have reported the most cases, followed by Tennessee, New Jersey, Rhode Island, California and Connecticut.

via Thirty-five U.S. states report travel-related cases of chikungunya | Vaccine News Daily.

Deja vu: EBOLA Fear Like Early Reactions to HIV/AIDS Liberia: ‘Greet Him From Distance’ – Phebe Doctor Face Ebola Stigma After Survival

Even though he is completely healthy, people are afraid to come near him or to have anything to do with him.

For example, Korkor arrived on the campus of Cuttington University Monday to ‘attend to personal issues’ but was kept at bay by friends, students and loved ones. ‘We want to hug our doctor but fear we would come in contact with the virus,’ one student told FrontPageAfrica. I will greet him from a distance.’

Another student only identified as Catherine told FrontPageAfrica: ‘I am happy doctor Korkor has returned but I am totally not convinced he is Ebola free. I will shake his hands after 21 days.’

That is the level of stigma that is lingering long after the virus has been purged from Korkor’s body. ‘Thanks to God, I am cured. But now I have a new disease: the stigmatization that I am a victim of,” Korkor was quoted by a local radio station in Gbarnga. ‘This disease (the stigma) is worse than the fever. I should have died, but I responded to care, which includes intensive hydration.’

Even though Korkor said he has been cleared of Ebola, he says that people avoid him. ‘Now, everywhere in my neighborhood, all the looks bore into me like I’m the plague,” he said. FrontPageAfrica reporter who trailed the Phebe doctor on Cuttington campus Monday observed that people left places when he showed up while friends, students and loved ones avoided his handshake or eat with him.

via allAfrica.com: Liberia: ‘Greet Him From Distance’ – Phebe Doctor Face Ebola Stigma After Survival.