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Ebola: Is it Already Here ?
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
Nearly Halted in Sierra Leone, Ebola Makes Comeback by Sea
Nearly Halted in Sierra Leone, Ebola Makes Comeback by Sea
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — It seemed as if the Ebola crisis was abating.
New cases were plummeting. The president lifted travel restrictions, and schools were to reopen. A local politician announced on the radio that two 21-day incubation cycles had passed with no new infections in his Freetown neighborhood. The country, many health officials said, was “on the road to zero.”
Then Ebola washed in from the sea.
Sick fishermen came ashore in early February to the packed wharf-side slums that surround the country’s fanciest hotels, which were filled with public health workers. Volunteers fanned out to contain the outbreak, but the virus jumped quarantine lines and cascaded into the countryside, bringing dozens of new infections and deaths.
“We worked so hard,” said Emmanuel Conteh, an Ebola response coordinator in a rural district. “It is a shame to all of us.”
Public health experts preparing for an international conference on Ebola on Tuesday seem to have no doubt that the disease can be vanquished in the West African countries ravaged by it in the last year. But the steep downward trajectory of new cases late last year and into January did not lead to the end of the epidemic.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Ebola outbreak: Virus mutating, scientists warn
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…
Ebola outbreak: Quarantine ‘just like a jail’ in Sierra Leone
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…
Scottish Government Confirms Ebola Diagnosed In Glasgow Patient | Zero Hedge
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…
Ebola death toll rises to 7,588 globally, WHO says – Business – CBC News
Ebola death toll rises to 7,588 globally, WHO says – Business – CBC News.
The global death toll from Ebola has risen to 7,588 out of 19,497 confirmed cases recorded in the year-old epidemic raging in West Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.
The virus is still spreading intensely in Sierra Leone, especially in the north and west, with 315 new confirmed cases reported in the former British colony in the week to December 21, it said. These included 115 cases in the capital Freetown.
“The neighbouring district of Port Loko experienced a surge in new cases, reporting 92 confirmed cases compared with 56 the previous week,” the WHO said.
In Sierra Leone, information about how to prevent and treat Ebola was provided to more than 5,000 households between 10 and 17 December as part of a major awareness campaign, it said.
In Guinea, 156 confirmed cases were recorded during the same period, “the highest weekly case incidence reported by the country in this outbreak”, the WHO said.
“This largely due to a surge in cases in the south-eastern district of Kissidougou, which reported 58 confirmed cases – one-third of cases reported in the country in the past week.”
Sierra Leone orders lockdown over Ebola – Africa – Al Jazeera English
Sierra Leone orders lockdown over Ebola – Africa – Al Jazeera English.
The Sierra Leone government has declared a five-day lockdown in the country’s north to step up efforts to contain the Ebola epidemic, while making an exception for Christmas.
The lockdown is designed to intensify the containment of the Ebola virus, the government said on Wednesday.
“Muslims and Christians are not allowed to hold services in mosques and churches throughout the lockdown except for Christians on Christmas Day [Thursday],” Alie Kamara, resident minister for the Northern Region, told the AFP news agency.
“We are working to break the chain of transmission,” he said.
Ebola death toll in three African countries hits 7,373: WHO | Reuters
Ebola death toll in three African countries hits 7,373: WHO | Reuters.
The death toll from Ebola in the three worst-affected countries in West Africa has risen to 7,373 among 19,031 cases known to date there, the World Health Organization said on Saturday.
The latest data, posted overnight on the WHO website, reflected nearly 500 new deaths from the worst ever outbreak of the hemorrhagic fever in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since previous WHO figures were issued on Dec. 17.
Sierra Leone accounts for the most cases, 8,759, against 7,819 for Liberia. But Sierra Leone’s death toll of 2,477 is far less than 3,346 recorded in Liberia, leading some experts to question the credibility of the figures reported by Freetown.
Sierra Leone’s government this week launched a major operation to contain the epidemic in West Africa’s worst-hit country.
President Ernest Bai Koroma said on national television that travel between all parts of the country had been restricted as part of “Operation Western Area Surge”, and public gatherings would be strictly controlled in the run-up to Christmas.
Top Sierra Leone doctor dies of Ebola – Africa – Al Jazeera English
Top Sierra Leone doctor dies of Ebola – Africa – Al Jazeera English.
One of Sierra Leone’s most senior physicians has died from Ebola, the 11th doctor in the country to succumb to the disease, a health official said.
Dr. Victor Willoughby, who tested positive for Ebola on Saturday, died on Thursday, Dr. Brima Kargbo, the country’s chief medical officer said.
“Dr. Victor Willoughby was a mentor to us physicians and a big loss to the medical profession,” said Kargbo.
“He has always been available to help junior colleagues.”
The 67-year-old died just hours after an experimental drug arrived in the country for him.
The arrival of ZMAb, developed in Canada, had raised hopes for Willoughby’s survival. But he died before a dose could be administered, said Kargbo.
UN says Ebola-hit nations at risk of hunger – Africa – Al Jazeera English
UN says Ebola-hit nations at risk of hunger – Africa – Al Jazeera English.
Up to one million people are at risk of going hungry in West African nations battling the Ebola virus due to border closures, quarantines and crop losses, UN food agencies have said.
The deadly haemorrhagic fever that has killed 6,800 people has severely disrupted daily life in the worst-hit nations of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. Guinea and Sierra Leone have gone so far as to ban Christmas celebrations.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Food Programme said on Wednesday the disease and the resulting restrictions had “caused a significant shock to the food and agriculture sectors in the affected countries”.
“The loss of productivity and household income due to Ebola-related deaths and illness as well as people staying away from work, for fear of contagion, is compounding an economic slowdown in the three countries,” the agencies said in a joint statement.
Restrictions put in place to curb the disease were also “seriously hindering people’s access to food, threatening their livelihoods, disrupting food markets and processing chains, and exacerbating shortages stemming from crop losses”.
Ebola outbreak: Sierra Leone to search house-to-house for patients – World – CBC News
Ebola outbreak: Sierra Leone to search house-to-house for patients – World – CBC News.
Sierra Leone said it would start house-to-house searches for Ebola patients on Wednesday and impose internal travel restrictions as part of a new push to combat the epidemic.
Health workers will seek Ebola victims and anyone with whom they have had contact, transporting those infected to new British-built treatment centres, according to a government plan announced this week.
Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia are at the heart of the world’s worst recorded outbreak of Ebola. Rates of infection are rising fastest in Sierra Leone and the country has more than half of the 18,000 confirmed cases of the virus.
- CBC’s Ebola coverage
- Ebola outbreak: Mali’s last known case released
- Canadian-developed Ebola vaccine trial suspended
President Ernest Bai Koroma said that under the measures, worshippers on Christmas Day must return home after services, and other festivities are banned. New Year’s Eve services must stop by 5 p.m. local time, while New Year’s Day festivities are prohibited.
“This is the festive season where Sierra Leoneans often celebrate with families in a flamboyant and joyous manner, but all must be reminded that our country is at war with a vicious enemy,” he said in a nationwide address.
Sierra Leone district faces Ebola lockdown – Africa – Al Jazeera English
Sierra Leone district faces Ebola lockdown – Africa – Al Jazeera English.
Authorities in Sierra Leone have imposed a two-week lockdown in the eastern district of Kono after health workers uncovered a surge of Ebola infections in the area where the epidemic was thought to be largely under control.
The worst outbreak of Ebola on record has killed 6,533 people in the three West African countries most hit by the disease – Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea – and infected 18,118 people, the World Health Organization [WHO] said on Thursday.
Sierra Leone, with a shortage of treatment centres and trained staff, has overtaken Liberia as the worst affected nation, and until now, the recent spread was believed to be centred on western areas around the capital Freetown.
However, the WHO said on Wednesday that it had found bodies piled up at the only hospital in Kono, a district of about 350,000 people bordering Guinea.
Officials from the WHO, health ministry and US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) discovered 87 bodies had been buried in 11 days.
Night-time curfew
Kono District Ebola Response Centre said it was placing the area on lockdown, allowing only essential vehicles in and out and introducing a night-time curfew.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
BBC News – Ebola crisis: Sierra Leone bodies found piled up in Kono
BBC News – Ebola crisis: Sierra Leone bodies found piled up in Kono.
Health officials in Sierra Leone have discovered scores of bodies in a remote diamond-mining area, raising fears that the scale of the Ebola outbreak may have been underreported.
The World Health Organization said they uncovered a “grim scene” in the eastern district of Kono.
A WHO response team had been sent to Kono to investigate a sharp rise in Ebola cases.
Ebola has killed 6,346 people in West Africa, with more than 17,800 infected.
Sierra Leone has the highest number of Ebola cases in West Africa, with 7,897 cases since the beginning of the outbreak.
Continue reading the main story
Ebola deaths in West Africa
Up to 3 – 6 December
6,346
Deaths – probable, confirmed and suspected
(Includes one in the US and six in Mali)
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3,177 Liberia
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1,742 Sierra Leone
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1,412 Guinea
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8 Nigeria
The WHO said in a statement on Wednesday that over 11 days in Kono, “two teams buried 87 bodies, including a nurse, an ambulance driver, and a janitor drafted into removing bodies as they piled up”.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
BBC News – Ebola outbreak: Virus still ‘running ahead of us’, says WHO
BBC News – Ebola outbreak: Virus still ‘running ahead of us’, says WHO.
The Ebola virus that has killed thousands in West Africa is still “running ahead” of efforts to contain it, the head of the World Health Organization has said.
Director general Margaret Chan said the situation had improved in some parts of the worst-affected countries, but she warned against complacency.
The risk to the world “is always there” while the outbreak continues, she said.
She said the WHO and the international community failed to act quickly enough.
The death toll in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone stands at 6,331. More than 17,800 people have been infected, according to the WHO.
“In Liberia we are beginning to see some good progress, especially in Lofa county [close to where the outbreak first started] and the capital,” said Dr Chan.
Cases in Guinea and Sierra Leone were “less severe” than a couple of months ago, but she said “we are still seeing large numbers of cases”.
‘Hunting the virus’
Dr Chan said: “It’s not as bad as it was in September. But going forward we are now hunting the virus, chasing after the virus. Hopefully we can bring [the number of cases] down to zero.”
The official figures do not show the entire picture of the outbreak. In August, the WHO said the numbers were “vastly under-estimated”, due to people not reporting illnesses and deaths from Ebola.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Ebola Fight Sees Canadian Forces Medical Team Deployed To Sierra Leone
Ebola Fight Sees Canadian Forces Medical Team Deployed To Sierra Leone.
A Canadian Forces medical team left CFB Trenton in Ontario on Saturday en route to Britain, where they’ll undergo training before deploying to Sierra Leone as part of the effort to combat the Ebola outbreak, the military said.
The Forces said about 40 nurses, doctors, physicians’ assistants, medics and support are to train alongside U.K. military personnel, and most of them will continue on to Sierra Leone by later this month.
“There’s no question it’s a little scary, but we also have very good training and we’re a team. We’ll be working with the British and will be there to help people,” said Cpl. Lisa Ouellette before departing for the U.K.
Lt. Melanie Espina, a physician, said contagion risks are minimal “when proper equipment is worn.”
Treating health workers
The Canadian Forces team will be working at a British-built clinic in Sierra Leone treating local and international health care workers, who themselves have become infected in the course of treating Ebola patients from the general population.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
