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SLOPPY: CDC Shuts Down Military Lab Studying Ebola, Plague, etc. Amid Fears It’s GETTING OUT Through Wastewater

August 8, 2019

SLOPPY: CDC Shuts Down Military Lab Studying Ebola, Plague, etc. Amid Fears It’s GETTING OUT Through Wastewater

We may not have to wait for a traveler from the Democratic Republic of Congo to visit the United States for an Ebola outbreak. It just might be brought to us by our own military along with the plague and other horrifying germs.

The laboratory at Fort Detrick, the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, has been sent a cease-and-desist order by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention after a second inspection showed sloppy handling of deadly germs and viruses.

The CDC inspected the military research institute in June and inspectors found several areas of concern in standard operating procedures, which are in place to protect workers in biosafety level 3 and 4 laboratories, spokeswoman Caree Vander Linden confirmed in an email Friday.
The CDC sent a cease and desist order in July.
After USAMRIID received the order from the CDC, its registration with the Federal Select Agent Program, which oversees disease-causing material use and possession, was suspended. That suspension effectively halted all biological select agents and toxin research at USAMRIID, Vander Linden said in her email. (source)

At this time “no infectious pathogens, or disease-causing material, have been found outside authorized areas.” The New York Times reports that the CDC could not provide more specific details due to “national security reasons.”

What was USMRIID doing wrong?

The laboratory, which is located in Frederick, Maryland, studies different deadly bugs for biological warfare purposes. They have failed inspection specifically by the Federal Select Agent Program, which oversees the possession, use and transfer of biological select agents and toxins that could potentially pose a severe threat to public, animal or plant health.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

“Massive Loss Of Life”: 3,500 Deaths As Simultaneous Ebola & Measles Outbreaks Hit Congo

July 13, 2019

“Massive Loss Of Life”: 3,500 Deaths As Simultaneous Ebola & Measles Outbreaks Hit Congo

World Health Organization (WHO) officials released new staggering numbers this week on the death toll from central Africa’s latest deadly Ebola virus outbreak.

Confirmed deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo have risen to 1,536 since the outbreak began there a little under a year ago. And by July 7, a total of 2,418 what are deemed confirmed and probable cases have been reported, Bloomberg said, citing the WHO’s latest report on the outbreak.Image source: Reuters

“While the number of new cases continues to ease in former hot spots, such as Butembo, Katwa and Mandima health zones, there has been an increase in cases in Beni and a high incidence continues in parts of Mabalako health zone,” according to the report.

The report further noted that in parts of the DRC the “Ebola outbreak continues this past week with a similar transmission intensity,” suggesting while it’s still largely contained within the country’s borders, the outbreak is still going strong despite emergency interventions.

“The Ministry of Health (MoH) and other national authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, WHO, and partners are implementing several outbreak control interventions together with teams in the surrounding provinces, who are taking measures to ensure that they are response-ready,” the report continued.

*From the World Health Organization’s (WHO) new External Situation Report in the DRC.*

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

WHO Expected To Declare Ebola Outbreak “International Emergency” As It Jumps Borders

June 15, 2019

WHO Expected To Declare Ebola Outbreak “International Emergency” As It Jumps Borders

In April, we pointed out that over the prior months, many public health experts had claimed the deadly Ebola virus outbreak that has been ravaging the Congo will not become a global health threat, despite recent events painting a much less optimistic picture. We also warned that despite people in the West often thinking of Ebola as a disease that only strikes “superstitious locals” in the deepest jungles of the Democratic Republic of Congo, there are now pressing warning signs and it’s time to start paying attention.

According to Reuters, the World Health Organization (WHO) is now preparing to declare an “international emergency” over the latest Ebola epidemic fast spreading through central Africa.

The deadly disease, which can take just days to kill an infected person, has now jumped from the Democratic Republic of Congo where the newest outbreak was first documented, to neighboring Uganda.

The number of total confirmed cases is reported as follows:

Congo’s epidemic is the second worst worldwide since West Africa’s Ebola outbreak in 2014-16, with 2,084 cases and 1,405 deaths since being declared in August. The WHO said on Thursday that two people had died in Uganda having arrived with the disease from Congo.

Despite hopefulness that the virus can be contained in Uganda, given so far there’s been no known human-to-human cases of its spreading inside Uganda, health officials are still urging the WHO to quickly move forward with a global emergency declaration.

The WHO’s Emergency Committee (EC) reportedly met Friday to evaluate whether the epidemic constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) amid growing pressure to immediately make the declaration.

Reuters reports further of the outbreak:

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Ebola Outbreak “Worst In Congo’s History” As Hundreds Dead; Risk Of Spread To Uganda “Very High”

November 16, 2018

Ebola Outbreak “Worst In Congo’s History” As Hundreds Dead; Risk Of Spread To Uganda “Very High”

The most recent Ebola outbreak spreading through the Democratic Republic of Congo is now the worst in the country’s history, with 209 dead and 333 confirmed or probable cases, according to the DRC’s health ministry.

According to The Express, efforts to contain the disease have been hampered by localized armed conflict and community resistance to health officials.

The outbreak, the second this year, began in North Kivu before spreading east to Ituri. Oly Ilunga Kalenga, the DRC’s minister of public health, said efforts to contain the deadly outbreak have been thwarted by violence against health officials and civilians as militant groups battle for control in the affected region. –Express

Two health workers were killed during the militant attack according to the minister, while 11 civilians and a soldier were killed last month in the city of Beni – the outbreak’s epicenter.

And on Thursday, the United Nations announced that at least seven UN peacekeepers were killed by militants in at the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak.

“Our peacekeeping colleagues tell us that six peacekeepers from Malawi and one from Tanzania who are part of the U.N. peacekeeping operation in the DRC … were killed yesterday, in Beni territory, in North Kivu,” said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

Meanwhile, a USAID worker speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity said “We are absolutely concerned about the ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is occurring in an area of active conflict, so physical insecurity is a persistent challenge and complication to the ongoing response efforts.”

“No other epidemic in the world has been as complex as the one we are currently experiencing,” said Kalenga.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

CDC Director: Congo’s Ebola Outbreak May Not Be Containable

November 9, 2018

CDC Director: Congo’s Ebola Outbreak May Not Be Containable

Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that people need to be prepared for the worst. Redfield said the Democratic Republic of Congo’s newest Ebola outbreak may not be containable.

Tom Inglesby, the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore, said that if the Ebola outbreak becomes endemic in the Congo’s North Kivu province, it shows “we’ve lost the ability to trace contacts, stop transmission chains and contain the outbreak.” In this situation, Ebola could spread, which could negatively impact both trade and travel, according to a report by Becker’s Hospital Review.

“I do think this is one of the challenges we’ll have to see, whether we’re able to contain, control and end the current outbreak with the current security situation, or do we move into the idea that this becomes more of an endemic Ebola outbreak in this region, which we’ve never really confronted,” Dr. Redfield told The Washington Post.

According to The Washington Post, if international Ebola containment efforts fail in the Congo, it would mark the first time the virus was not stopped since 1976 when Ebola was first identified. The current Ebola outbreak is going on its fourth month, totaling 300 cases and 186 deaths as of November 4th.

The problems with containment of this particular Ebola outbreak stem from the fact that the disease is spreading in an active war zone with several armed groups attacking health officials, government aids and civilians. Some civilians with Ebola have refused treatment, and health care workers are still being infected. About 60 to 80 percent of new cases do not show an epidemiological link to prior cases.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

A “Perfect Storm” Is Surrounding One of the Worst Ebola Outbreaks in History in the DRC Right Now

September 27, 2018

A “Perfect Storm” Is Surrounding One of the Worst Ebola Outbreaks in History in the DRC Right Now

An Ebola outbreak that has been going on in the Democratic Republic of Congo since August is already one of the worst in history – the 7th worst to be precise – and it looks like it may spiral out of control. Peter Salama, WHO Deputy Director-General for Emergency Preparedness and Response, called the situation “a perfect storm.”

Unrest and war in the region combined with community resistance and mistrust of medical personnel are making it difficult for the World Health Organization to get a handle on the outbreak. Dr. Salama said:

“We are now extremely concerned, that several factors may be coming together over the next weeks to months to create a potential perfect storm. A perfect storm of active conflict, limiting our ability to access civilians, distress by segments of the community, already traumatized by decades of conflict and of murder…

…We’ve seen attacks now on August 24, September 3, 9, 11, 16, 21 and most recently and most dramatically September 22 in the city itself of Beni,” he said. He said that Beni was the base for the agency’s base for the “entire operation.” (source)

The outbreak is based in North Kivu, which is on the border of Uganda and Rwanda. Violence has displaced more than a million people in the area, and there have been a number of brutal machete attacks against civilians. Things got so bad that the WHO was forced to cease their operations for an entire week while the Ebola virus spread.

One of the armed groups in DRC which pose a threat to civilians and the international response to Ebola, the ADF – Allied Democratic Forces – has sufficient military capacity to ambush blue helmets from the UN’a Stabilization Mission in DRC (MONUSCO) and government forces – the FARDC.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Bill Gates: The Threat Of A “Disease X” Global Pandemic Is “Very Real”

September 20, 2018

Bill Gates: The Threat Of A “Disease X” Global Pandemic Is “Very Real”

When it comes to global health policy, Bill Gates has never been known for subtlety. So it’s hardly surprising that his charitable foundation’s latest report on the greatest challenges facing mankind might make some readers want to lock themselves in an indefinite quarantine.

Readers familiar with Gates’ previous warnings about the rising risk of a global pandemicwill recognize the top three risks: antibiotic resistance, governmental reluctance to fund health-care solutions and the next global contagion. The latter risk factor has become so universally feared by health professionals that the World Health Organization already has a name for it: “Disease X”. The likelihood of an explosive global pandemic breaking out in the relatively near future increases along with the population in the world’s poorest countries, which are presently experiencing explosive population growth even as birth rates in the developed world plummet. And if the world’s wealthiest countries don’t invest resources to combat these issues in Africa, South America and Asia now, it will be infinitely more expensive grappling with the consequences on the back-end, as Gates explained in an interview with the Telegraph.

“We are not fully prepared for the next global pandemic,” he says. “The threat of the unknown pathogen – highly-contagious, lethal, fast-moving – is real. It could be a mutated flu strain or something else entirely. The Swine Flu and 2014 Ebola outbreaks underscored the threat.”

The risks associated with the population boom in the poorest countries in Africa has long been treated as “the elephant in the room” by global policy makers. Even if one sets aside the risk of disease, the developing world must step up to monitor the economic impacts of rapidly increasing populations, confronting issues like political instability to ensure that the expansion will yield unbridled growth like similar periods in China and India.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Congo: Ebola “Bungle in the Jungle” a Planned Mishap

August 28, 2018

Congo: Ebola “Bungle in the Jungle” a Planned Mishap

Malthusian theory holds that depopulation (or zero population growth) is a necessity to control a species (namely humanity) that reproduces and consumes natural resources without limits. This is a “New Age” mantra adopted early on by Communists as far back as Marx and Lenin. The ball has been carried successively by Edward House and Woodrow Wilson, and further exacerbated by such “gems” as Kissinger, Bill Gates, Al Gore, and so forth. Much of the public and almost all of the youth (a recent poll taken showed young people prefer Socialism to Capitalism) have fallen for this mantra.

The “problem” for them is how to push it along quickly: war is one answer, and disease is another.

There has been another outbreak of Ebola in the Congo, with WHO (World Health Organization) estimates as many as 1,500 people have been exposed to it. The Daily Mail has a good article on this that was posted on 8/17/18, titled to that effect. It is a good read, as it summarizes with brevity the parameters of the disease itself.

This is how they’re “setting the stage” for this planned “mishap” tied in to the recent outbreak. Read this excerpt very carefully to see the hidden agenda:

The World Health Organization said on Friday [8/17/18] that at least 1,500 people had potentially been exposed to the deadly Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu region, where fear of local militia is preventing aid workers from reaching some areas. But it is expected more people to become infected and could not be sure that it had identified all chains by which the virus is spreading in the eastern part of the country beset by militia violence. The region is haunted in particular by the Allied Defence Forces, a Ugandan Islamist rebel group blamed for hundreds of civilian deaths over the past four years.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Ebola Deaths In DRC Spike 21% In Four Days, Bordering Countries On High Alert

August 25, 2018

Ebola Deaths In DRC Spike 21% In Four Days, Bordering Countries On High Alert

The latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DNC) has claimed 67 lives, up from 55, according to Robert Redfield, director of the CDC. On Friday the WHO said that the virus has spread to an area of “high security risk,” and that ongoing local conflicts have made finding and monitoring infected people extremely difficult.

“Really, in two weeks, we’ve gone from 24 cases to 105 cases,” said Redfield, who just returned from the hot zone where an outbreak centered in North Kivu is responsible for 105 confirmed or suspected cases, according to the Washington Post. There are currently 77 confirmed cases, 28 probable cases in which biological samples are not available for laboratory testing, while 3,000 people have received an experimental Ebola vaccine.

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Update on #Ebola in #DRC for 24 August, with data up to 23 August:

Total of 105 cases (77 confirmed & 28 probable), including 67 deaths. In addition, 10 suspect cases are under investigation

https://bola_kivu_24aout

7:04 AM – Aug 25, 2018

*Source: World Health Organiztion (WHO)*

Redfield said the rapid spread of the disease was primarily because many health workers at a hospital in the town of Mangina, where the outbreak started, contracted the virus after treating early patients without recognizing that they had Ebola. The disease spreads through contact with the bodily fluids of victims, putting health workers and patients’ family members at greatest risk, notes the Post.

“In the next couple of weeks, we’ll have greater clarity,” about the scope of the outbreak, said Redfield.

In response, neighboring Uganda has beefed up precautions at the border, making it more difficult for the roughly 19,000 people who travel from Congo’s North Kivu province across the border into the Ugandan town of Mpondwe to shop at an open-air market.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Ebola Death Toll Climbs To 55 As Number Of Infected Rise; Congo Authorities Lay Plans For Crisis

August 22, 2018

Ebola Death Toll Climbs To 55 As Number Of Infected Rise; Congo Authorities Lay Plans For Crisis

Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DNC), South Africa, announced five new cases of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in the Mabalako hot zone of the North Kivu district, bringing the total number deaths to 55. Of the 69 currently infected with the disease, 13 are heath workers – just under 20%.

To manage the crisis, DNC officials have announced free treatment for all victims over the next three months, supplies are being delivered to vital areas, and new facilities are being constructed to handle the ill.

Health officials in Mabalako, Beni and Mangina are have been utilizing the unlicensed vaccine, rVSV-ZEBOV, which was used during another DRC Ebola outbreak earlier this year in which there were 33 fatalities out of 54 confirmed cases. The DRC, meanwhile, has said a new Ebola treatment center (ETC) will soon open in nearby Ituri province, as the currently established ETCs are at capacity.

Tarik Jasarevic, a spokesperson with the World Health Organization (WHO), told CIDRAP News that 13 healthcare workers have tested positive for Ebola, a troubling development, because infected health workers were one of the main factors in the rapid spread of the disease during the 2013-2016 outbreak in West Africa.

Jasarevic also commented on a recent UNICEF report that said children were being infected at high rates during this outbreak. –CIDRAP News

“The case distribution is slightly younger than what we might expect when compared to previous outbreaks, but still within the general range; each outbreak is different,” said Jasarevic.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced over Twitter that 10 vaccination rings had been identified around 28 recently confirmed cases, while around 1,300 have been vaccinated.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

“This Is A Very Dangerous Outbreak” WHO Chief ‘Worried’ Over Ebola In DRC

August 16, 2018

“This Is A Very Dangerous Outbreak” WHO Chief ‘Worried’ Over Ebola In DRC

The director of the World Health Organization (WHO) is urging a ceasefire between armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as raging conflicts in the region have hampered efforts to stop a new Ebola outbreak which is transmitting freely, reports the Daily Mail.

So far 41 deaths had been reported as of August 1 between the DRC’s North Kivu province, including the cities of Beni and Mangina.

As the death toll in the outbreak declared on August 1 in DRC’s violence-wracked North Kivu province hit 41, the World Health Organization chief also called for the rapid roll-out of an unlicenced drug being used for the first time to treat Ebola patients.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva he feared conditions on the ground in the eastern province had created “a conducive environment for the transmission of Ebola.” –Daily Mail

Ghebreyesus, who traveled to the hot zones in Beni and Mangina in recent days, says that while he was worried before his trip – since his return “I am actually more worried.”

The latest outbreak now encompasses 57 probable and confirmed cases of Ebola in the DRC’s 10th outbreak since 1976, when the disease was first identified near the DRC’s Ebola river.

Beni was the scene of a 2016 massacre in which at least 64 people were killed by militants, bringing the toll to over 700 dead since October 2014.

in North Kivu, health workers are being forced to navigate their response among more than 100 armed groups, and Tedros said that there have been 120 violent incidents since January alone.

He said the region was sprinkled with so-called “red zones”, or inaccessible areas. –Daily Mail

“That environment is really conducive for Ebola … to transmit freely.”

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Ebola Breach: Vomiting Patients “In Active Phase” Smuggled Out Of Quarantine, Die Within Hours

May 28, 2018

Ebola Breach: Vomiting Patients “In Active Phase” Smuggled Out Of Quarantine, Die Within Hours

Congo health officials are scrambling to contain the country’s newest Ebola outbreak, which has made its way from the small remote town of Bikoro to the town of Mbandaka, home to around 1.2 million residents.

On Thursday, Dr. Jean-Clement Cabrol of Doctors Without Borders revealed that two vomiting patients “in the active phase of the disease” were smuggled out of quarantine on Monday, put on motorcycles, and taken to a prayer meeting with 50 people – where they died hours later.

“The escape was organised by the families, with six motorcycles as the patients were very ill and couldn’t walk,” Cabrol said at a news briefing in Geneva after returning from the affected region.

“They were taken to a prayer room with 50 people to pray. They were found at two in the morning, one of them dead and one was dying. So that’s 50-60 contacts right there. The patients were in the active phase of the disease, vomiting.”

Health officials started trying to trace the motorcycle drivers and other people who came into contact with the patients as soon as the escape was reported, Dr. Peter Salama, head of emergency response at the World Health Organization (WHO), told Reuters on Thursday. -Reuters

“From the moment that they escaped, the (health) ministry, WHO and partners have been following very closely every contact,” he said.

Ebola is highly contagious through bodily fluids, and can move from infected animals to humans who come into contact with contaminated blood. For those who come into contact with the disease, the incubation period lasts between two and 21 days, with a fatality rate of 42.3% in the current outbreak.

While Congo’s health ministry says the death toll stands at 12, the WHO puts the total number at 52 cases and 22 deaths as of Wednesday, while the number of suspected cases has spiked over the last several days.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Escaped Ebola Patients Risked Spreading Virus At Packed Prayer Meeting

May 25, 2018

Escaped Ebola Patients Risked Spreading Virus At Packed Prayer Meeting

According to the Daily Star, health agencies confirmed that two of the three fugitives from the quarantine may have spread the virus before dying. Government officials are now worried that the deadly and highly infectious disease could spread as victims fail to grasp the seriousness of being infected.

The virus appears to be spreading despite 7,540 vaccines being distributed in the DRC by the World Health Organization. Another 8,000 doses are due to be provided in the coming days.

One doctor said the world is “on the knife’s edge” of another outbreak.

“We are on the epidemiological knife edge,” Dr. Peter Salama, the World Health Organization’s deputy director.

“The next few weeks will really tell if this outbreak is going to expand to urban areas or if we are going to be able to keep it under control.”

So far, seven of the confirmed Ebola cases have been found in urban settings. Doctors say the outbreak has “potential to expand.” Following a meeting with reporters, Dr. Peter Salama said the outbreak “could go either way in the coming weeks.” At last count, 27 people have died and at least 58 cases have been reported in the DRC since May 8.

“We are working around the clock to make sure it [goes] in the right direction,” he said.

According to Al Jazeera, the fatality rate for those infected with Ebola is roughly 50%. The DRC’s present Ebola outbreak – its ninth since the virus was identified in 1976 – initially appeared confined to a remote village in the country’s northwestern province, but no more.

One case was confirmed last week in the city of Mbandaka, home to 1.2 million people.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

“We Now Have Urban Ebola” In Congo, WHO Warns Of “Potentially Explosive Increase” In Cases

May 18, 2018

“We Now Have Urban Ebola” In Congo, WHO Warns Of “Potentially Explosive Increase” In Cases

Experts fear an “explosive increase” in Ebola cases after an outbreak in Congo entered a “new phase” and spread from the countryside to a city.

The BBC reports that Health Minister Oly Ilunga Kalenga confirmed a case in Mbandaka, a city of a million people about 130km (80 miles) from the area where the first cases were confirmed earlier this month.

The city is a major transportation hub with routes to the capital Kinshasa.

Forty-four people have been infected and 23 people are known to have died.

Senior World Health Organization (WHO) official Peter Salama said the spread to Mbandaka meant there was the potential for an “explosive increase” in cases.

“This is a major development in the outbreak,” he told the BBC. “We have urban Ebola, which is a very different animal from rural Ebola. The potential for an explosive increase in cases is now there.”

Mr Salama, the WHO’s deputy director-general for emergency preparedness and response, said Mbandaka’s location on the Congo river, widely used for transportation, raised the prospect of Ebola spreading to surrounding countries such as Congo-Brazzaville and the Central African Republic as well as downstream to Kinshasa, a city of 10 million people.

“This puts a whole different lens on this outbreak and gives us increased urgency to move very quickly into Mbandaka to stop this new first sign of transmission,” he said.

The BBC adds that the WHO said it was not recommending any trade or travel restrictions either within DR Congo, for example between Mbandaka and Kinshasa, or internationally.

But Mr Salama said that 13 countries in the region were boosting border screening measures and said DR Congo itself was increasing exit screening measures.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

WHO Prepares For “Worst Case” As Congo Ebola Outbreak Spreads

May 15, 2018

WHO Prepares For “Worst Case” As Congo Ebola Outbreak Spreads

In the week since we first noted the new outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the number of cases has risen by 50%, and The World Health Organization has now said it is preparing for “the worst case scenario.”

The WHO has tallied 32 suspected or confirmed cases in the northwestern area of Bikoro, on the shores of Lake Tumbathe near the border with the Republic of Congo, including 18 deaths, between April 4 and May 9.

The outbreak, declared by the DRC health ministry on Tuesday, is the DRC’s ninth known outbreak of Ebola since 1976, when the deadly viral disease was first identified in then-Zaire by a Belgian-led team.

Scientists are greatly concerned that this outbreak in the remote Bikoro region will travel 175 miles to the city of Mbandaka – the capital of Equateur province and home to around 1.2 million residents.

View image on Twitter

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Replying to @HelenBranswell

We’ve updated this map. Turns out that the provincial capital of Equateur, Mbandaka, is home to roughly 1M people. It’s less than 300 km or 175 miles from Bikoro and reachable by water.

6:47 PM – May 11, 2018

What’s worrisome is that the most recent WHO update says that there are two probably cases at Wangata – which is very close to Mbandaka.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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