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Ebola - The New Pandemic - Coming to someplace near you soon?! - Peter Lemkin - 31-07-2014 A generous offer by the Germans - who can certainly deal with such a deadly disease better than it can be in W. Africa - but it brings the danger of it eluding containment and spreading in Europe. Even without such an offer, the chances of Ebola spreading worldwide does now exist. About 50% in developed nations die from this disease - about 80-90% in developing nations. It is believed to be native to fruit bats [which are eaten in Africa] and not native to humans [why it is so virulent!], but it has the potential to be the Black Death of the modern world. It is about the most easily spread of any virus and has NO cure; no vaccinations against it - only shear luck of one's own immune system can save a person, along with early palliative care and isolation - so as to not spread it further. The current Ebola epidemic in West Africa is the largest ever and has taken over 1000 lives in just a few weeks. As any infected person can potentially infect a few to hundreds of others, the potential for nearly exponential growth/spread of the disease exists......... Treating the Ebola virus in HamburgUntil recently, the deadly Ebola epidemic in West Africa was far away from Germany. Now, infected patients may come to Hamburg for treatment. But specialists are prepared and hope to gain new insights into the virus.For Sheik Umar Khan, help came too late. He was supposed to fly on a military transport plane to Hamburg for treatment. The doctor from Sierra Leone, a local folk hero, was being treated at a makeshift hospital run by Doctors Without Borders in Kailahun in the eastern region of his home country. Khan caught Ebola after treating hundreds who were infected with the virus. "We were actually anticipating the patient's arrival over the weekend," Dr. Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit, head of the viral diagnostic unit at Hamburg's Bernhard-Nocht-Institute, told the German public broadcaster NDR. But Khan's arrival in Hamburg was delayed due to his touch-and-go health condition. On Tuesday, his condition rapidly deteriorated, and he succumbed to the virus. Although the clinic in Hamburg didn't have the chance to help Khan, it might take in other Ebola patients from West Africa. Taking every precaution Last week, the doctors in Hamburg agreed to a request from the World Health Organization (WHO), which asked the clinic to take in two Ebola patients. The city's health authorities activated their contamination unit and declared that they were prepared and could organize the arrival of the patients within a few hours. The plan was for the Hamburg fire department to transport the patients from a specially equipped plane to the university clinic in Hamburg-Eppendorf. The clinic says it takes every precaution to ensure the virus can't reach the outside world The university clinic has made six beds available in a segregated part of the facility. In this isolation unit, no liquids, gases or particles in the air can reach the outside world. Access is only possible through three airlocks. In the first, the air pressure is slightly reduced; in the second and the third even more so. That's to ensure clean air from outside is able to come in, but contaminated air from inside is not able to go out. Up until now, the unit has only been used for training. Three hours under pressure The doctors and nurses wear special pressurized suits that are similar to those used by astronauts. Sweat cannot reach the outside and exhaled air is recycled through a filter. But working in these suits for more than three hours at a time is very difficult, according to Dr. Stefan Schmiedel, who specializes in tropical diseases. Since cleaning the suits is difficult, they are incinerated after use. "The security precautions that we have taken here are so comprehensive that one can assume that the population is safe," Schmiedel told NDR. "And the medical personnel are protected to the greatest extent possible and can conduct their work without reservations." Fear of the virus But the possible arrival of Ebola patients in Hamburg has become a topic of heated debate, above all in Internet forums. The comments are sometimes openly racist. On the news website Spiegel Online, many users question whether there's really no danger of infection. They criticize the decision to bring Ebola patients to a city populated by more than a million people like Hamburg. It's a "delusional idea," according to one commentator. Other users say they trust the Hamburg doctors and believe that helping Ebola patients is appropriate. The Ebola virus is indeed very dangerous. There is no cure against the disease. But the human body is capable of defeating the virus on its own, according to Schmiedel. But that's only possible when the body's functions are successfully stabilized. The patient has to use a breathing machine; their digestive system has to be artificially supported; and their body temperature has to be regulated. In addition, constant infusions are necessary, because Ebola patients lose a lot of fluid through vomiting and diarrhea. One could consider using experimental treatments on Ebola patients in Hamburg, according to Schmiedel. Admitting Ebola patients to the clinic could help advance medical research. But even if the virus doesn't come to Hamburg, the researchers have been active in the epidemic region. Since March, medical personnel from the Bernhard-Nocht-Institute in Hamburg have been operating a mobile laboratory in Guinea, where the epidemic first started. Ebola - The New Pandemic - Coming to someplace near you soon?! - Peter Lemkin - 31-07-2014 Liberia has closed its major airport and other transportation; government employees and others are to be given a month's forced leave. Many large gatherings and some markets will be banned; schools are closed and some villages are no-go areas. The Military is now on orders to enforce certain 'hygiene laws' to prevent the spread of Ebola, now out of control in parts of West Africa and spreading quickly. Ebola - The New Pandemic - Coming to someplace near you soon?! - Dawn Meredith - 31-07-2014 Peter Lemkin Wrote:Liberia has closed its major airport and other transportation; government employees and others are to be given a month's forced leave. Many large gatherings and some markets will be banned; schools are closed and some villages are no-go areas. The Military is now on orders to enforce certain 'hygiene laws' to prevent the spread of Ebola, now out of control in parts of West Africa and spreading quickly. Agenda 21? There is no cure, spreads rapidly, death is certain. However I will bet that the ptb have a cure...or am I just cynical??? Dawn Ebola - The New Pandemic - Coming to someplace near you soon?! - Peter Lemkin - 03-08-2014 Ebola Virus Is Outpacing Efforts to Control It, World Health Body WarnsBy ADAM NOSSITER and ALAN COWELLAUG. 1, 2014Photo Disinfectant is used in an attempt to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus at a government building in Monrovia, Liberia. Credit Abbas Dulleh/Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria In an ominous warning as fatalities mounted in West Africa from the worst known outbreak of the Ebola virus, the head of the World Health Organization said on Friday that the disease was moving faster than efforts to curb it, with potentially catastrophic consequences, including a "high risk" that it will spread. The assessment was among the most dire since the outbreak was identified in March. The outbreak has been blamed for the deaths of 729 people, according to W.H.O. figures, and has left over 1,300 people with confirmed or suspected infections. Dr. Margaret Chan, the W.H.O. director general, was speaking as she met with the leaders of the three most affected countries Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in Conakry, the Guinean capital, for the introduction of a $100 million plan to deploy hundreds more medical professionals in support of overstretched regional and international health workers. "This meeting must mark a turning point in the outbreak response," Dr. Chan said, according to a W.H.O. transcript of her remarks. "If the situation continues to deteriorate, the consequences can be catastrophic in terms of lost lives but also severe socioeconomic disruption and a high risk of spread to other countries." [URL="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/07/31/world/africa/ebola-virus-outbreak-qa.html"] OPEN Graphic [/URL]She said the outbreak was "caused by the most lethal strain in the family of Ebola viruses." The gathering in Conakry came a day after West African leaders seemed to quicken the pace of efforts to combat the disease, in what some analysts depicted as a belated acknowledgment that the response so far had been inadequate. Before the meeting started, there were indications of discord. The leader of Guinea's Ebola task force said that emergency measures in Liberia, where schools have been closed, and Sierra Leone could set back efforts to control the worst outbreak of the virus since it was identified almost four decades ago. "Currently, some measures taken by our neighbors could make the fight against Ebola even harder," Aboubacar Sidiki Diakité, the Ebola task force leader, told Reuters. "When children are not supervised, they can go anywhere and make the problem worse. It is part of what we will be talking about." Sierra Leone's emergency measures include house-to-house searches for infected people and the deployment of the army and the police. One person, traveling from Liberia, died in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, which introduced airport screening of travelers from the stricken region on Thursday. Photo Disinfecting an office in Liberia, where many businesses were closed. Since the outbreak was identified in March, 729 have died. Credit Zoom Dosso/Agence France-Presse Getty Images Dr. Chan said that the virus seemed to be spreading in ways never seen before. "It is taking place in areas with fluid population movements over porous borders, and it has demonstrated its ability to spread via air travel," she said. Making matters worse, health workers have been hit particularly hard. Top doctors in Sierra Leone and Liberia have died, and two American aid workers have contracted Ebola and were due to be flown back to the United States for further treatment at Emory University in Atlanta. The two Americans will be flown in a private air ambulance specially equipped to isolate patients with infectious diseases. The first patient is expected to arrive as soon as Saturday, an Emory spokeswoman said. "We feel that we have the environment and expertise to safely care for these patients and offer them the maximum opportunity for recovery from these infections," said Dr. Bruce S. Ribner, an infectious disease specialist at Emory, in a news conference on Friday. According to the W.H.O., the $100 million plan "identifies the need for several hundred more personnel to be deployed in affected countries to supplement overstretched treatment facilities." Continue reading the main story Video As the alarm about the outbreak has grown, so, too, have concerns that the disease will be carried farther afield by travelers from the stricken countries, despite official efforts to tamp down such fears. The African Union, for instance, announced on Friday that it was postponing a routine rotation of its peacekeeping force in Somalia for fear that new soldiers arriving from Sierra Leone could be infected. The Philippines said Friday that it would screen travelers from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia when they arrived and monitor them for a month. Lebanon was reported to have suspended work permits for residents of the same three countries, news reports said. Emirates, an airline based in Dubai, said it was suspending flights to Conakry as of Saturday. At the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Moses Sesay, a cyclist from Sierra Leone, told the British tabloid The Daily Mirror that he had been quarantined for four days and tested for Ebola after feeling ill. He has since been pronounced healthy. "I was sick. I felt tired and listless," he said. "All the doctors were in special suits to treat me they dressed like I had Ebola. I was very scared." Jackie Brock-Doyle, a spokeswoman for the games, told reporters on Friday: "Just to be really clear, there is no Ebola in the athletes' village. There is no Ebola virus in Scotland." Only weeks after the beginning of the outbreak, the Italian authorities tightened health checks at airports and on ships from West Africa. But epidemiologists in Italy suggested there was little risk that the hundreds of unauthorized migrants who reach southern Italy every day were carrying the virus. "Migrants cross the desert in journeys that take weeks, if not months, before getting on a boat to Europe," Dr. Massimo Galli, a specialist in infectious diseases at the University of Milan, said in a telephone interview. "They would manifest the disease long before arriving." Ebola - The New Pandemic - Coming to someplace near you soon?! - Peter Lemkin - 06-08-2014 A second person died in Lagos, Nigeria's capital, and five more have confirmed cases there. Just under 1000 have died so far in W. Africa and the numbers are increasing RAPIDLY. Several health care providers have contracted it. One doctor has died and two are in the USA in Atlanta in an isolation facility. Lagos has 20,000,000 people and the incubation period is several weeks without symptoms...but in that period the six infected could well have [likely have] passed it on to others and they, in turn, to yet others. It could rapidly go exponential...and it is extremely difficult to treat - as all the care givers must be in isolation suits and undergo strict disinfection procedures several times per hour! With air travel what it is, it is only a matter of time before it comes to other continents. It is endemic in parts of Africa, with the suspect reservoir being fruit bats. Ebola - The New Pandemic - Coming to someplace near you soon?! - Lauren Johnson - 07-08-2014 With over 932 dead, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued its highest level alert for an all-hands on deck response to the crisis in West Africa (that is spreading across the world). While President Obama proclaimed we are prepared and itis "not easily transmitted," it appears that is not entirely true. Meanwhile, CDC Director Frieden's "deep concerns" have been confirmed as Nigeria's health minister has declared a health emergency as the deadly Ebola virus gained a foothold in Africa's most populous nation, according to news reports. Nigerian authorities moved quickly late Wednesday, gathering isolation tents as five more cases of the Ebola Virus were confirmed in Lagos (the world's 4th most populous city with 21 million people). Most international flights from West Africa are also now screening passengers. As Yahoo reports, The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday issued its highest alert for an all-hands on deck response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa. "Ops Center moved to Level 1 response to given the extension to Nigeria & potential to affect many lives," CDC chief Tom Frieden said on Twitter. Level 1 is the highest on a 1-6 scale and signals that increased staff and resources will be devoted to the outbreak. "Basically this activation allows us to pull resources from throughout the agency to respond to this," said CDC spokesman Tom Skinner. He said it was the first time since 2009 that the Level 1 alert had been issued. Back then it was in response to the outbreak of H1N1 flu. Nigeria's health minister has declared a health emergency as the deadly Ebola virus gained a foothold in Africa's most populous nation, according to news reports. "This is a national emergency. Everyone in the world today is at risk. The experience of Nigeria opens the eyes of the world," Minister of Health Onyebuchi Chukwu told the country's House of Representatives. Nigerian authorities moved quickly late Wednesday, gathering isolation tents as five more cases of the Ebola Virus were confirmed in Lagos, a city bursting with 21 million people. All five people are believed to be health workers who had direct contact with one man traveling from Ebola-ridden Liberia to Nigeria making this country the fourth now infiltrated by the deadly disease. ... "Yesterday the first known Nigerian to die of Ebola was recorded," Chukwu told reporters in Abuja on Wednesday. "This was one of the nurses that attended to the Liberian. The other five [newly confirmed] cases are being treated at an isolation ward." Idris said this is the time "for everyone to be vigilant, especially with regard to relating to people who are ill." Most international airlines flying to West Africa in the grip of the deadly Ebola outbreak are counting on stepped-up passenger screening as they continue serving the region. Air France fliers in some cities must complete health questionnaires and be checked for symptoms, including an elevated temperature, before boarding cards are issued. Delta Air Lines Inc. said travelers are being checked at the airport in Monrovia, Liberia, one of the countries hit by Ebola. Only two airlines have suspended flights to West Africa so far, with British Airways opting yesterday to join Gulf carrier Emirates in pulling back. U.S. carriers "that fly to the affected countries remain in steady contact with government agencies and health officials, and have procedures in place to monitor and quickly respond to potential health concerns," said Victoria Day, a spokeswoman for the Washington-based Airlines for America trade group. Barack Obama says that Ebola is "not something that is easily transmitted" and that everything is under control... According to this comment - supposedly written by someone who works in a hospital laboratory. Michael Snyder shares three quotes that we found particularly sobering... #1 "Even in the United States, out of all the various hospitals I have worked at, there is no hope of containing anything like this. One of the largest hospitals I worked at only had two reverse flow isolation rooms. TWO, let that sink in for a minute." #2 "Patients only show up to the hospital when they go symptomatic. So by the time they get there, they've already infected their entire family, their work group, and anyone they got within a few feet of on the way to the hospital. When they get there the ER nurses would treat it either like Flu, or Sepsis. But the whole time the patient is infecting all of them. And all of them, in turn, begin to infect everyone else in the exact same way. If this is as virulent as the WHO thinks it might be, by the time people realize what is going on, there will be more sick people than there would be beds available at every hospital in the US combined." #3 "So don't expect miracles from front line hospital staff, we don't have the tools, and we certainly do not have the manpower. Ask anyone in the medical field how much overtime they could work if they felt like it, don't even get me started on how thinly stretched people in the industry are. Though I suppose if this does turn into something, that will become apparent very, very fast." There is no way in the world that our medical professionals are going to be able to handle a full-blown Ebola pandemic. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-08-07/nigeria-declares-state-emergency-everyone-world-risk-ebola-cdc-issues-level-1-all-ha Ebola - The New Pandemic - Coming to someplace near you soon?! - Peter Lemkin - 09-08-2014 In the don't know what to make of it department - I was reading up on the experimental drug for Ebola. It consists of three antibodies to parts of the Ebola virus. That is not strange. However, it is made by a company connected to the Defense Dept....and is actually 'grown' not in animals, but in genetically modified Tobacco under Reynolds Tobacco care, with help from Montsanto. I think this is NOT anything other than a strange sign of 'who out there' is getting funding these days. Anyway, both companies said they were ready to try to turn out increased levels of the drug, but that it would be months before they could even turn out a few hundred doses, a year before a thousand or two doses...so, no panacea there, even if it works. The two persons getting it are improving, but there is almost no way to know if it is the drug or not. One thing is for sure, the Ebola spread is expanding quickly and just about out of control [the point at which all efforts could possibly fail to contain it!]. It is time to ring the alarm - even in places it has not yet come to. Ebola - The New Pandemic - Coming to someplace near you soon?! - Peter Lemkin - 15-08-2014 The epidemic is picking up speed - not stabilizing or slowing down! More nations are now involved and there is no more Zmap for many months [if it works at all]. Kenya has been warned they may be next. Spread out of Africa is only a matter of a short time, I'm afraid. It is time to worry! Ebola - The New Pandemic - Coming to someplace near you soon?! - Peter Lemkin - 16-08-2014 This is from the World Health Organization - Africa Division. Do note that the number of new cases and deaths each day is increasing. The three most affected countries are now all but shut off from other countries by air travel and most conjoining countries are also planning on closing the land borders shortly. Liberia has almost no doctors - never did - half of the few they had have now left................ Disease Outbreak News Ebola virus disease, West Africa update 15 August 2014 Epidemiology and surveillance Between 12 and 13 August 2014, a total of 152 new cases of Ebola virus disease (laboratory-confirmed, probable, and suspect cases) as well as 76 deaths were reported from Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Read more... Ebola virus disease, West Africa update 13 August 2014 Epidemiology and surveillance Between 10 and 11 August 2014, a total of 128 new cases of Ebola virus disease (laboratory-confirmed, probable, and suspect cases) as well as 56 deaths were reported from Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. Read more... Ebola virus disease, West Africa update 11 August 2014 Epidemiology and surveillance Between 7 and 9 August 2014, a total of 69 new cases of Ebola virus disease (laboratory-confirmed, probable, and suspect cases) as well as 52 deaths were reported from Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. Read more... Ebola - The New Pandemic - Coming to someplace near you soon?! - Peter Lemkin - 17-08-2014 With Aid Doctors Gone, Ebola Fight Grows HarderBy SHERI FINK AUG. 16, 2014Slide Show|12 PhotosWhen people started dying of Ebola in Liberia, Clarine Vaughn faced a wrenching choice: Should she send home, for their own health and safety, four American doctors working for Heartt, the aid group she led there? Or should she keep them in the country without proper supplies or training to fight the virulent, contagious disease, which was already spreading panic? After much agonizing, Ms. Vaughn, who lives in Liberia, pulled the doctors out and canceled plans to bring in more. The African physicians and nurses left behind told her they understood, but felt abandoned. They said, "We need you guys here," she recalled. Since then, Ms. Vaughn has wondered if the American doctors might have made a difference, and she asked the aid group AmeriCares to help. It sent in a planeload of supplies that landed in Monrovia, the Liberian capital, last Sunday.
Play Video|1:29"The locals' seeing this mass exodus of expatriates has contributed to the sense that there's an apocalypse happening and they're in it on their own," said Raphael Frankfurter, executive director of the Wellbody Alliance, which provides clinical services in a diamond-mining district of Sierra Leone bordering Guinea, where the outbreak began. |