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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…

“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…

UN says Ebola outbreak ‘not yet finished’

July 13, 2015

The worst recorded outbreak of Ebola has already killed more than 11,200 people across West Africa [AP]

Africa’s Ebola outbreak has not run its course and about 30 people are still getting infected each week, the United Nations’ special envoy for the deadly disease has said.

Under normal circumstances, such an infection rate would be considered “a major, major outbreak,” David Nabarro said on Monday.

“Probably about one third of these people are not coming from the contact list, which means they are surprise cases, and that’s a big worry,” Nabarro told a conference organised by the World Health Organization in Cape Town.

The worst recorded outbreak of Ebola has already killed more than 11,200 people across West Africa.

Infection rates are down from the peak of the crisis. But Liberia reported a 17-year-old boy tested positive for the virus on June 30 – almost two months after the country was declared free of Ebola.

Liberia, the country worst hit by the virus, had been hailed as an example for neighbouring Guinea and Sierra Leone, which are also struggling to stop the spread.

Source: Reuters

Ebola: Is it Already Here ?

March 8, 2015

Ebola: Is it Already Here ?

Ebola is rarely in the news these days. What we should be asking is why it isn’t in the news. It hasn’t gone away, in fact, cases are actually on the increase. The World Health Organisation states:

The steep decline in case incidence nationally in Sierra Leone from December until the end of January has halted. Transmission remains widespread, with 8 districts reporting new confirmed cases. A significant proportion of cases are still arising from unknown chains of transmission.

The report covers the 7days up to the 22nd February and was published on March 4th. The CDC lists almost 24,000 cases and almost 10,000 deaths and both organisations accept that many of the cases have an unknown outcome, that is, they have no idea if the victims lived or died which could mean the death rate from the outbreak is far higher than the official figures suggest.

So why is this not in the news? Have mainstream media outlets been ‘advised’ to reel in their coverage?

I worked for many years in the National Health service here in the UK, and I have been told, several times, by several people that are still working in the NHS that Ebola cases are currently being treated in UK and US hospitals, and that this has been the case in the US since the death of Thomas Duncan in October of last year. The first UK case arrived a short time later and the patient died. William Pooley, the public face of Ebola in the UK was apparently not the first case as stated but was the first survivor and he also returned to West Africa, which made him the ideal poster boy for the ‘we cured Ebola’ brigade.

I can’t verify that hospitals in the UK and the USA, and in a single instance Australia are reporting Ebola cases as malaria cases to avoid a pubic scrutiny in their handling of Ebola cases. The Australian case was listed as Dengue fever according to these sources.

– See more at: http://undergroundmedic.com/?p=7244#sthash.cyE6HNkL.dpuf

Ebola-Like Symptoms At London, Ontario Hospital Prompt Lockdown

February 11, 2015

Ebola-Like Symptoms At London, Ontario Hospital Prompt Lockdown

The London Health Science Centre said late Tuesday night that two patients had been admitted to the city’s Victoria Hospital with Ebola-like symptoms.

“As a designated treatment hospital, at approximately 9:45 p.m. this evening, two patients currently under investigation for Ebola Virus Disease were referred to LHSC,” according to a hospital statement. “The patients were not admitted through the Emergency Department and were placed directly in isolation in a negative pressure room at LHSC’s Victoria Hospital. All safety precautions are fully in place to contain risk.”

It was not clear if the patients were related, or what their symptoms were.

The hospital said in a tweet that there was “no impact to patient and visitor activity” as a result of the admissions.

There have been no confirmed cases of Ebola in Canada.

In previous cases, including at least 10 in Ontario, patient samples were sent to the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg for testing.

The World Health Organization said earlier this week that there have been 22,828 cases and 9,152 deaths as a result of the Ebola outbreak, which has been heavily concentrated in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Ebola outbreak: Virus mutating, scientists warn

January 29, 2015

Ebola outbreak: Virus mutating, scientists warn

Scientists tracking the Ebola outbreak in Guinea say the virus has mutated.

Researchers at the Institut Pasteur in France, which first identified the outbreak last March, are investigating whether it could have become more contagious.

More than 22,000 people have been infected with Ebola and 8,795 have died in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Scientists are starting to analyse hundreds of blood samples from Ebola patients in Guinea.

They are tracking how the virus is changing and trying to establish whether it’s able to jump more easily from person to person

“We know the virus is changing quite a lot,” said human geneticist Dr Anavaj Sakuntabhai.

“That’s important for diagnosing (new cases) and for treatment. We need to know how the virus (is changing) to keep up with our enemy.”

It’s not unusual for viruses to change over a period time. Ebola is an RNA virus – like HIV and influenza – which have a high rate of mutation. That makes the virus more able to adapt and raises the potential for it to become more contagious.

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

Davos: Western world ‘vulnerable’ to epidemics, warns Ebola expert

January 21, 2015

Davos: Western world ‘vulnerable’ to epidemics, warns Ebola expert

The Western world is “vulnerable” to epidemics such as Ebola, and must invest more in researching vaccines, a leading scientist has warned.

Prof Peter Piot told the BBC that developed nations would be in “deep trouble” if they failed to adequately prepare for another outbreak.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum, in Davos, he urged global leaders to take a “long-term view”.

Public health policies must “transcend politics and borders”, he said.

Prof Piot co-discovered the Ebola virus in 1976, and is now in charge of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

He said the UK was relatively well prepared for an outbreak, and praised NHS staff who travelled to West Africa to combat the recent Ebola epidemic.

The threat of Ebola, and other infectious diseases such as influenza and Sars, are set to be discussed in Switzerland this week, as politicians and business leaders from around the globe gather for the annual WEF.

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

RT trails Ebola’s path of devastation in Liberia

January 8, 2015

RT trails Ebola’s path of devastation in Liberia

Behind the stark headlines of the Ebola outbreak, which has killed thousands of people in Western Africa, are endless tales of hope and courage as average people do what they can to help others.

On March 31, 2014, the West African country of Liberia confirmed its first two cases of Ebola. One month later, six people had already succumbed to the deadly disease and dozens more were infected. Some of the fatalities included unsuspecting doctors, who initially thought their patients were suffering from malaria.

RT met with members of the Liberian Red Cross, many of them volunteers with little or no previous medical experience who, nevertheless, want to do what they can to help their country in this time of emergency.

alvin, for example, is an artist who used to decorate the tombstones of Ebola victims before the government started cremating the bodies out of safety concerns. As he and several other Red Cross volunteers prepare to remove a body of an Ebola victim from a street in Monrovia, the Liberian capital, Malvin explains that his work is for the living not the dead.

He tells relatives and friends of the Ebola victims, “If you keep the body of a [Ebola victim] in your house for 2, 3, 4 days, even the community will get concerned. So we talk to them and calm them down so we can remove the body.”

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

Ebola outbreak: Quarantine ‘just like a jail’ in Sierra Leone

January 6, 2015

Ebola outbreak: Quarantine ‘just like a jail’ in Sierra Leone

For 18 days, Alieru Deen Bangura’s family has been quarantined in a slum in Sierra Leone’s capital of Freetown.

As part of the West African city’s efforts to stem the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, the family lives under the watchful eye of armed guards 24 hours a day.

Seventeen families are cordoned off with a thin, orange, plastic rope, a constant reminder that they are not free to go about their daily business.

“I would say it’s just like a jail for someone to be sitting down the whole day,” Bangurasays.

From behind the plastic rope, he is mourning his brother’s death from Ebola.

So far, none of the rest of the family has shown signs of illness. But their conditions are wearing on them.

Food and water, which are supposed to be delivered daily, are sometimes late and often not enough, Bangura says.

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

Ebola crisis: Experts warn against complacency in fight to contain worst outbreak in history – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

January 4, 2015

Ebola crisis: Experts warn against complacency in fight to contain worst outbreak in history – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).

It has been one of the biggest stories of 2014 and it does not look like it is going anywhere.

The Ebola crisis in West Africa has killed thousands of people and it will continue to do so in 2015.

Given the Ebola story has been a constant on the news for the best part of a year, some of the interest has gone. But ignoring the disease is fraught with danger.

On a US talk show recently, White House Ebola response coordinator Ron Klain warned the world against complacency.

“I think we’re nearing a pivot point in this, where the number of new cases overall in West Africa has somewhat stabilized,” he said.

“But this won’t be done until we get all the way to zero. It’s like a forest fire: a few embers burning, and the thing can reignite at any time.”

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

UN predicts end of Ebola outbreak in 2015

January 3, 2015

UN predicts end of Ebola outbreak in 2015

The outgoing chief of the United Nations’ anti-Ebola mission has voiced hope that global efforts would put an end to the outbreak of the deadly virus in West Africa by the end of 2015, but said that months of tough work remain.

Anthony Banbury told reporters on Friday that 2015 could see the eradication of the epidemic that has struck six West African nations, with Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia bearing the brunt of the 20,000 infections and nearly 8,000 deaths.

Faced with criticism the world was not doing enough, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon set up the UN Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) mission in September to coordinate global efforts against the outbreak, first identified in Guinea’s remote southeast in early 2014.

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

UK passengers on Ebola flights traced.

January 3, 2015

UK passengers on Ebola flights traced.

All the UK-based passengers and crew on two flights taken by a British nurse who contracted Ebola have now received health advice, officials say.

Pauline Cafferkey was diagnosed with Ebola after returning from Sierra Leone and is receiving specialist treatment at London’s Royal Free Hospital.

She flew from Casablanca to Heathrow, where she boarded a flight to Glasgow.

Passengers and crews on the flights were given “advice and reassurance”, a Public Health England spokeswoman said.

Officials from Health Protection Scotland had spoken to all 71 passengers and members of crew aboard the British Airways flight from Heathrow to Glasgow, a PHE spokeswoman said.

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

Weaponized Ebola? ISIS Militants Said To Contract Deadly Virus | Zero Hedge

January 1, 2015

Weaponized Ebola? ISIS Militants Said To Contract Deadly Virus | Zero Hedge.

Forget targeted US airstrikes, ISIS faces a new existential threat. Citing an unnamed source in a Mosul hospital, Iraq’s official pro-government newspaper, al Sabaah, said Ebola arrived in Mosul from “terrorists” who came “from several countries” and Africa. Mashable further confirms, three outlets reported that Ebola showed up at a hospital in Mosul. For now, it’s unclear if any disease experts or doctors in Mosul are even able to test for the Ebola virus; but it would mark the first time the virus had been detected in an area controlled by ISIS, a group that doesn’t embrace science and modern medicine.

As Mashable reports,

Reports that Islamic State militants in Mosul have contracted Ebola swirled though Iraqi media sources on Wednesday. World Health Organization officials said they haven’t confirmed the cases, but the organization has reached out to offer assistance.

…

“We have no official notification from [the Iraqi government] that it is Ebola,” Christy Feig, WHO’s director of communications told Mashable.

Feig added that WHO is in the process of reaching out to government officials in Iraq to see if they need help investigating the cases, a task that could be a challenge, given the restrictions that would come with operating in ISIS-controlled territory.

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

BBC News – First Ebola boy likely infected by playing with bats

December 30, 2014

BBC News – First Ebola boy likely infected by playing with bats.

The Ebola victim who is believed to have triggered the current outbreak – a two-year-old boy called Emile Ouamouno from Guinea – may have been infected by playing in a hollow tree housing a colony of bats, say scientists.

They made the connection on an expedition to the boy’s village, Meliandou.

They took samples and chatted to locals to find out more about Ebola’s source.

The team’s findings are published in EMBO Molecular Medicine.

Ebola trail

Meliandou is a small village of 31 houses.

It sits deep within the Guinean forest region, surrounded by towering reeds and oil palm cultivations – these are believed to have attracted the fruit bats carrying the virus passed on to Emile.

During their four-week field trip in April 2014, Dr Fabian Leendertz and colleagues found a large tree stump situated about 50m from Emile’s home.

Villagers reported that children used to play frequently in the hollow tree.

Emile – who died of Ebola in December 2013 – used to play there, according to his friends.

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

Scottish Government Confirms Ebola Diagnosed In Glasgow Patient | Zero Hedge

December 29, 2014

Scottish Government Confirms Ebola Diagnosed In Glasgow Patient | Zero Hedge.

We wonder if England will be reconsidering the secession vote?

*SCOTTISH GOVT: CONFIRMED EBOLA CASE DIAGNOSED IN GLASGOW
*SCOTLAND: PATIENT IS A HEALTH CARE WORKER, RETURNED FROM SIERRA LEONE DEC. 28

After Japan’s stock market slid overnight following reports of Ebola in Tokyo, one wonders what a recurrence of Ebola headlines will do to risk complacency this time? Perhaps, since the Ebola Tzar’s work is done in America, they can lend him out to The Scots?

Bloomberg notes

*SCOTTISH GOVT: NHS SCOTLAND PROCEDURES PUT INTO EFFECT
*SCOTLAND: PATIENT IS A HEALTH CARE WORKER IN WEST AFRICA
*SCOTLAND:PATIENT RETURNED FROM SIERRA LEONE DEC. 28

As The BBC reports,

The Scottish government confirmed the case being investigated was at Glasgow’s Gartnavel Hospital.

This follows news from Japan overnight of a possible Ebola case…

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

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