Uganda Ebola patients boosted with supplies

Publish Date: Aug 24, 2012

• IA CEO Mariam Magala (L) shows a list of supplies to Dr. Lwamafa . PHOTO/Francis Emorut

newvision

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By Francis Emorut

Ebola patients at Kagadi Hospital have been aided with health supplies critical for their recovery.

The health boost packages were handed over to the ministry of health in Kampala Thursday by Uganda Insurers Association.

“This is a very generous contribution. We need a lot of supplies to manage the patients in the knowledge that this is very contagious,” Dr. D.KW Lwamafa, the commissioner for health services national disease control said.
Lwamafa pointed out that the ministry is in dire need of catheters which have to be changed every so often because they fill up with urine.

The commissioner said the western district hospital is in dire need of gloves to handle the patients and the antiseptics to keep disinfecting the place.

The health supplies were handled over by the chief executive officer of Uganda Insurers Association, Miriam Magala.

The entire package which was worth sh10m includes catheter Foley, gloves, theatre caps, urine collecting bags, alcohol swabs, mackintosh rubber, Aprons, oxygen gas.

Others are potassium chloride and prednisolone tablets.

Magala said the donation is aimed at supporting the ongoing efforts by the ministry of health to contain the disease which so far has killed over 20 people since its outbreak last month in Kibaale district and to boost the recovery of the victims.

“The outbreak is almost under control. However, more people continue to be followed up, investigated and discharged after receiving treatment for other ailments,” Magala said.

Lwamafa observed that the oxygen gas will come in handy when patients go into respiratory failure.

Magala called upon all people of goodwill to contribute to this noble cause as some work still needs to be done especially in terms of psychological support for Ebola affected victims and communities.
http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/634461-ebola-patients-boosted-with-supplies.html

Ebola: Ocha speaks a cumulative total of 15 cases reported case fatality rate of over 66%.

Ebola: Ocha speaks a cumulative total of 15 cases reported

Kinshasa, 23/08/2012 / Health

According Lobota Médard, OCHA spokesman, a cumulative total of 15 cases with haemorrhagic signs, including 10 deaths reported in the August 20, 2012 by the WHO, a case fatality rate of over 66%.
... [link to translate.google.com]

The Republic of Congo is implementing a response plan against Ebola

The Republic of Congo is implementing a response plan against EbolaGovernment of the Republic of Congo




Following the re-emergence of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Republic of Congo is taking all precautions to respond to outbreaks in the country. The information was given on August 23 in Brazzaville by the Director General of Health, Professor Alexis Dokekias Elect.According to Alexis Elect Dokekias all departments with border with the DRC have already been alerted (departmental directorates of health, medical officers of health social constituencies) to reactivate their system response against the epidemic. This is precisely the Departments of Likouala, Sangha, Cuvette, Plateaux, Pool, Niari, Bouenza and Kouilou. But also to the Cuvette-Ouest, due to the presence of a large forest.
The response plan is to implement prevention and promotion of health, that is to say, undertake awareness of the population on how to behave. First, the social mobilization, public information and health managers about the dangers of a possible extension of the epidemic of Ebola virus: do not touch or eat the meat of an animal found dead in the forest and strengthen epidemiological surveillance. The Directorate General of Health must also take precautions to protect healthcare workers and people who are suspected of being this type of virus.
"We have very long borders with DRC border river and land simultaneously. Even if we sometimes traffic control, we can not control the animals crossing from either side of land borders. Consequently, if we may face this epidemic, we could meet.
Only, for this response to be effective, will require financial resources are mobilized. We assure you that we are calm, the precautionary principle that guides us and this is in all our response, "said Alexis E. Dokekias.
He added that the only way to fight against this virus is prevention, because to date there is no cure. This is why the financial means must be mobilized in time to make the plan more effective response.
The Republic of Congo has already suffered from Ebola haemorrhagic fever, which caused the death of nearly a hundred people in the Cuvette-Ouest. On August 21, DRC, 16 probable or confirmed cases with 10 deaths were recorded at 570 km northeast of Kisangani and 84 cases remain under supervision contacts   http://reliefweb.int/report/congo/la-r%C3%A9publique-du-congo-met-en-place-un-plan-de-riposte-contre-le-virus-ebola

Bird Flu Outbreak? The Vaccine (Patch) Is in the Mail

 

Creators say the vaccine could save lives, prevent spread in case of an outbreak

By Jason Koebler

August 23, 2012    

This 'microneedle' device could eventually be delivered with a patch.

If a flu pandemic breaks out, the last thing the government wants is for people to rush to hospitals and doctors' offices to get vaccinated among lots of already sick people. To prevent such a scenario, a self-administered flu vaccine is being developed that could be mailed out to the masses.
The vaccine, developed by the Infectious Disease Research Institute, will start human trials next month and is designed to protect against H5N1, one of the most deadly strains of bird flu. While H5N1 kills about 80 percent of people who contract it, so far it is unable to spread from person to person.

Scientists started a political firestorm earlier this year after they published a paper proving they could manipulate the virus so that it could spread from ferret to ferret, animals that are often used to model the human immune system.
If H5N1 mutates on its own so that it can be spread among humans, doctors are worried that standard vaccine dispensaries, such as hospitals and doctors offices, will become a prime location at which to contract the disease. So the Infectious Disease Research Institute is using microneedles—a series of tiny needles that can be applied to a patch—to deliver the vaccine. A microneedle vaccine could be easily self-administered.
"The idea is to send it through the mail as a patch that's self-assembled and stable," says Darrick Carter, who helped develop the vaccine. "We could stop people from going to a hospital where there's a bunch of sick people."
Sending a vaccine through ....
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/08/23/bird-flu-outbreak-the-vaccine-patch-is-in-the-mail

DRC: MSF emergency team responds to Ebola outbreak

 

Date Published: 23/08/2012 04:44

An emergency team from Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is responding to an outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Isiro, northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). MSF’s team is implementing safety measures at the Ebola treatment centre in Isiro to contain the virus.
So far there have been nine deaths in the current outbreak, only one of which has been laboratory-confirmed as Ebola. Twelve more people are suspected of having the disease, one of whom has been admitted to the treatment centre in Isiro. One patient who contracted the disease has made a full recovery.

Different strains

An MSF team working to stop the 2007 Ebola outbreak in West Kasai province of Congo (DRC). September 2007.
© Pascale Zintzen/MSF

Another MSF emergency team has been in Kibaale district, in western Uganda, since late July in response to an outbreak that has killed 16 people.
However, these two outbreaks involve different strains of the virus: the Ebola-Bundibugyo strain in DRC and the Ebola-Sudan strain in western Uganda.
“The outbreak in Uganda and the one in DRC are not related,” says Olimpia de la Rosa, MSF emergency coordinator. “This strengthens the idea that the Ebola virus is transmitted by close contact, making it less likely to cross borders.”   ..uuhh what?
In Uganda’s Kibaale district, an MSF team is continuing to work with the Ugandan Ministry of Health and organisations including the Ugandan Red Cross, the US Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization.

Ugandan epidemic contained ? [see previous story]

Indications are that the epidemic centred in the town of Kagadi is being successfully contained. The last confirmed case of Ebola was reported on 4th August. An outbreak is considered at an end after 42 days without any new confirmed cases.
Ebola haemorrhagic fever was detected for the first time in humans in 1976 in Zaire (now DRC). It is transmitted through body fluids and has a high mortality rate, depending on the strain of the virus and people’s genetic susceptibility to the disease.  http://www.msf.org.uk/articledetail.aspx?fId=Ebola_outbreak_in_DRC_20120823

Ebola Update: Patient dies in Kagadi Hospital

 One of the last two known Ebola positive patients in the country has died. The patient, Olivia Tumwebaze was undergoing treatment in Kagadi Government hospital in Kibaale district and has been battling the deadly Ebola virus for 19 days.
 Fears however continue to run through Kibaale District as more suspected alert cases were being admitted earlier this week.


http://www.facebook.com/ntvugandafanpage/posts/408299935885133

DRC: Back by killer waves of Ebola

By Rachel Kesseng with APA - 23/08/2012
Ten deaths from hemorrhagic fever were reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) north-east


Ebola, discovered 35 years ago in Zaire, continues to return regularly by the killer waves in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in particular Isiro, a city in the Eastern Province where the Ebola epidemic continues. 15 cases combined with signs of bleeding including 10 deaths, have been reported in 20 August 2012 by the World Health Organization (WHO), a case fatality rate of over 66%, according to the latest meeting of crisis held in Kisangani under the chairmanship of Provincial Minister of Health. Wednesday, August 22, 2012 Yesterday evening, there were ten people, including three members of the health personnel who had contact with the victims. Meanwhile, more than a hundred people are currently under surveillance after contact with infected patients.
 A WHO report published yesterday in Kinshasa Wednesday, August 22, indicates that apart from the health zones of Dungu and Isiro latter being the epicenter of the disease, Ebola hit two neighboring areas of health, including those of Pawa and Viadana in the district of Bas-Uele in Orientale Province in north-eastern DRC. Cases have been reported with one death and alerts recorded in riparian areas. But the strain that occurs in Isiro is considered less dangerous than the initial form of the virus called Zaire, discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River, whose name was given to this terrible hemorrhagic fever against which there is no treatment or vaccine.

 The epidemic of haemorrhagic fever Ebola Bundibugyo strain, was officially declared on 17 August by the Congolese Minister of Public Health, Felix Kabange Numbi. To cope, two emergency committees have been set up in Kinshasa and Kisangani. WHO, MSF, CDC-Atlanta and other partners have sent experts on site and provide technical support, logistics and financial authorities to curb the epidemic in APA also reports this information.
The Minister of Public Health and the WHO Representative in the DRC are expected to Isiro this Thursday, August 23 for a rapid assessment mission to strengthen the fight against this epidemic, the UN agency announced. This epidemic Congolese follows that which is declared in Uganda. But these two epidemics may have nothing to do with each other, strains are not the same. Prevention messages are broadcast towards the population, mainly hygiene measures.  http://journaldekin.com/article.php?aid=1326

U.S. DOD Has Running Start on Biosurveillance Strategy

08:13 GMT, August 23, 2012 WASHINGTON | The White House has issued the first U.S. National Strategy for Biosurveillance to quickly detect a range of global health and security hazards, and the Defense Department has a running start in implementing the new plan, a senior defense official said. Andrew C. Weber, assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical and biological defense programs, told American Forces Press Service that many of the activities described in the strategy are ongoing at DOD. Such efforts, he said, “have been a little bit siloed.” “So much of what we’re doing is integrating the efforts and working hard on the overlap between global security and global health, in what [President Barack Obama] refers to as global health security,” he said. Biosurveillance is defined as data gathering, analysis and interpretation of data related to disease activity and threats to human and animal health to achieve early warning, detection and situational awareness. In a letter that introduces the new strategy, Obama said the United States “must be prepared for the full range of threats, including a terrorist attack involving a biological agent [and] the spread of infectious diseases and food-borne illnesses.” The strategy calls for a coordinated approach involving federal, state, local and tribal governments; the private sector; nongovernmental organizations; and international partners. “It challenges us,” the president wrote, “to take full advantage of the advanced technologies, new vaccines, the latest science, and social media that can help keep our citizens safe. It describes the core functions and critical capabilities we need to succeed.” Within 120 days, the White House will complete a strategic implementation plan that lays out the required actions and responsibilities of all partners in the mission, Obama said. As the strategy is released, 43 U.S. states have reported West Nile virus infections in people, birds and mosquitoes, and about 700 cases and 26 deaths have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The virus was first isolated from a feverish woman in the West Nile District of Uganda in 1937, and from there it spread to Egypt, Israel, France and, in 1999, to the United States. According to CDC, the virus’s spread in the U.S is a milestone in its evolving history. Monitoring and understanding infectious disease always has been a DOD priority, Weber said, “because for much of our history we’ve been a global force, and we’ve had to understand what we call exotic infectious diseases.” Defense Department researchers developed many of the vaccines that protect against malaria, dengue fever and other diseases, he said, “and [Army Maj. (Dr.)] Walter Reed in the 19th century did groundbreaking work on the yellow fever virus.” The renewed focus on biosurveillance speeds up the convergence of traditional battlefield biodefense and health surveillance, Weber said. “It’s all about saving lives,” he added. “The sooner you recognize that a biological event is happening, the greater your ability to isolate it, contain it and prevent it from spreading around the world, like H1N1,” the novel swine flu virus whose spreading infections the World Health Organization announced as a pandemic on June 11, 2009. Many DOD components have long been directly involved in global biosurveillance. These include Weber’s office, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, and Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System Operations, called GEIS, which is part of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center. “Through our Armed Forces Health Surveillance Network and our Medical Research and Materiel Command,” Weber said, “we have a network of three U.S. Army and three U.S. Navy laboratories in places like Cairo, Egypt; Lima, Peru; Nairobi, Kenya; Bangkok, Thailand; and now in Tbilisi, Georgia.” Last week Weber, along with Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, rededicated a central public health reference laboratory in Tbilisi built with funding from the Pentagon’s Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. “This is a partnership with the government of Georgia, the Walter Reed Institute of Research and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control that will provide a regional biosurveillance hub linked to the World Health Organization so we can map, detect and understand infectious diseases circulating in the South Caucasus and the Black Sea regions,” Weber said. The other six GEIS laboratories focus on human health and disease carriers, or vectors, like birds and mosquitoes, he added, but the Georgia center will be different. “From the beginning on the Georgian side, [work on the center’s mission] includes their agricultural ministry, their health ministry and their national center for disease control,” Weber said. “On the U.S. side, we have participation from different parts of DOD, including the GEIS program and the Medical Research and Materiel Command, as well as other U.S. government partners like [CDC].” Internationally, he added, “we’re working with OIE -- the World Organization for Animal Health. … We’re also working with the Food and Agriculture Organization in .... ---- Cheryl Pellerin American Forces Press Service http://www.defpro.com/news/details/38572/?SID=2262d117f8ca3db52d3fa13bf326fa50

DRC: lifestyles of rural facilitate the spread of Ebola outbreak

 The doctor in charge of controlling communicable disease prevention at WHO, Dr. Vital Mondonge, stated Wednesday, August 22 during the weekly conference of the United Nations, that the fight against the spread of the Ebola epidemic will be played on prevention. . According to him, the lifestyles of rural Congolese facilitate contamination.
 "These are the usual work [rural] as hunting exposing them to the disease. . The infected person in the forest will transmit the disease to other villagers, "said Dr. Vital Mondonge. Ebola hemorrhagic fever is a disease of animal origin.. The first patient, identified in 1976 were contaminated by hunting apes and bats of the rainforest.
 . In addition, the doctor asked the Congolese people to respect the measures taken by the health authorities...   http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=fr&tl=en&twu=1&u=http://radiookapi.net/actualite/2012/08/22/rdc-les-modes-de-vie-des-populations-rurales-faciliteraient-la-propagation-de-lepidemie-debola/&usg=ALkJrhhBikOreLvvnOy7odV0B8M-QYWSuw

Ebola virus continues to kill in the DRC

 Ebola virus continues to kill in the DRC

  The Ebola outbreak continues Isiro, a city in the Eastern Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Wednesday, August 22, 2012 in the evening, there were ten people, including three members of the health personnel who had contact with the victims.  At last count we had ten deaths of 17 reported cases of Ebola.. More than a hundred people are currently under surveillance after contact with infected patients.

 

  http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pressafrik.com%2FLe-virus-Ebola-continue-a-tuer-en-RDC_a87963.html

ECDC Report

ECDC Report
It is unlikely, but not impossible, that travellers infected in DRC could arrive in the EU while incubating the disease and develop symptoms while in the EU.

[link to ecdc.europa.eu]

Resurgence of #Ebola, a total of 15 cases for 10 deaths

 Thursday, August 23, 2012

  Ebola haemorrhagic fever that has resurfaced in the Democratic Republic of Congo in recent days by the Eastern Province, covers the areas of health and Pawa Viadana in Bas Uele district, it was revealed yesterday Wednesday, August 22 at the joint press conference of the United Nations.

 The latest statistics supplied by the World Health Organization (WHO) that provides information on the cumulative total of 15 cases, all showing signs of bleeding including 10 deaths Is a fatality rate of over 66%.   http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lobservateur.cd%2Findex.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26view%3Darticle%26id%3D7849%3Aepidemie-debola-en-ouganda-la-rdc-renforce-la-surveillance-aux-frontieres%26catid%3D44%3Apolitique%26Itemid%3D58

27,000 birds culled in central Quang Ngai province

Bird flu has recently been spreading widely to many localities in central Quang Ngai province, with more than 27,000 birds culled.
On August 22, veterinarians and authorities in Tu Nghia district culled 2,000 ducks at a farm in Nghia Thang commune after blood samples show that the ducks tested positive for the H5N1 virus.

There have been nine outbreaks of bird flu in Tu Nghia and Nghia Hanh districts since early August. More than 27,600 birds have died or been killed, most of which had not been vaccinated. Unfavourable weather has also been a factor in the large scale spread of the disease.

Nguyen Van Thuan, Deputy Head of the provincial Veterinary Department, said it has been working with local authorities to implement strict measures to prevent the disease spreading further by banning trading and transporting poultry in affected localities.

Quang Ngai proposed that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and its Department of Animal Health provide two million more doses of vaccine and 20,000 litres of disinfectant to sterilize poultry pens and stamp out the disease

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/society/26075/society-in-brief-23-8.html

Conference Wednesday, August 22, 2012

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fradiookapi.net%2Ffiles%2FVerbatim-du-mercredi-22-ao%C3%BBt.pdf%3F55c0b5

http://radiookapi.net/files/Verbatim-du-mercredi-22-août.pdf?55c0b5

Mexico H7N3 -11million birds culled

The National Service of Health, Food Safety and Quality (Senasica) reported that the repopulation began laying hens in the previously empty disinfected poultry units that were contaminated by the virus of avian influenza A H7N3. Monthly enter 5 million birds and thereby restore egg production gradually. From this week began the second phase of vaccination with 90 million doses. From 19 June to 20 August were 10.9 million birds culled.  http://www.radioformula.com.mx/notas.asp?Idn=265025

Mexico-11 million slaughtered poultry from bird flu in Jalisco

 21/08/2012

Due to the outbreak of bird flu farms presented in Jalisco, the Senasica announces second phase of vaccination with the application of 90 million doses, 10.9 million birds slaughtered to prevent contagion
MEXICO CITY, Mexico, Aug. 21, 2012. - The Government of Mexico announced the start of the second stage of poultry vaccination before the outbreak of avian influenza AH7N3, which has led to the culling of nearly 11 million birds.The National Service of Health, Food Safety and Quality (Senasica) announced in a statement that the second stage will begin this week on farms in the region of Los Altos, Jalisco, and provides for the application of 90 million additional doses to 88.3 million applied in the first phase.Additionally, we have a reserve bank of 53 million vaccines and viral seeds for greater production if necessary, according to the director of Senasica, Enrique Sanchez Cruz.He also revealed that as of this month begins the repopulation of laying hens and will be around five million birds that enter monthly empty poultry units in which the agency intervened.He explained that this move will gradually restore egg production that was before the outbreak of avian influenza.To eradicate the virus from poultry farms, SENASICA, working with producers, has made stamping 10.9 million birds from 19 June to 20 August.In making an assessment of the first phase of combat the outbreak, Sanchez explained that this figure must be added corresponding to the measures applied by the poultry before the announcement of the presence of the virus to the authorities and the subsequent voluntary sacrifice made by own poultry farmers to protect their flocks.To date, there have been sampled in 438 production units in 45 municipalities of Los Altos, and only 43 of them (commercial farms posture) have tested positive for AH7N3 virus.The official reported that the program has strengthened epidemiological surveillance in the area and have been tested on farms in 22 of the 32 states of the country, with negative results.For now, the outbreak is localized exclusively in the highlands of Jalisco, said.The bird flu epidemic has caused an increase in the price of eggs and chicken meat in the domestic market, so that the authorities are considering reducing import tariffs on these products at competitive prices.Sanchez said the measures in support of the Secretariat of Economy to normalize the supply of eggs, has issued two weeks ago the health requirements to be met by producing countries that want to market their product in Mexico at this juncture of AH7N3.The National Poultry Union reported today that the increase in the price of a kilo of eggs is due primarily to the depopulation that caused the outbreak of avian influenza in Jalisco and the increase in the prices of corn and soybean meal used by the poultry industry to feed the birds.  http://noticierostelevisa.esmas.com/nacional/490001/sacrifican-11-millones-aves-gripe-aviar-jalisco/

Ko Wing-man said that the concern of the corpses of the dead bird with the bird flu virus samples collected in the summer increase

22/08/2012 11:58 AM

Ko Wing-man afternoon turn into a chicken farm in Yuen Long inspections, he said earlier in Bird Street, random testing of samples positive for avian flu, in addition to the dead bird corpses collected in the summer, with an increase in samples of the H5N1 avian influenza virus, the authorities Concerned about the situation. due to the avian influenza virus has a slight variation, not the effectiveness of existing vaccines, the new vaccine will be introduced before the winter.

http://www.metroradio.com.hk/997/News/Default.aspx?NewsID=5c639cc9-4b6e-4aa9-ad46-ac1f7ebed162

Vietnam-#H5N1 avian influenza outbreak in Cho Don (Bac Kan)

Last updated at 09:53, Wednesday, 08/22/2012 (GMT 7)


Nhan Dan Online-After appearing two H5N1 avian influenza outbreak, in which many new epidemic outbreaks simultaneously in Cho Don (Bac Kan). Provincial Department of Animal Health, said the disease is in danger of spreading in the area.



Three days, with further outbreaks of avian influenza H5N1 outbreak in groups 2, 3, and 6 in the town of Bang Lung and three Na Chang, A New and Sen Village, East List of Cho Don district. Agencies and local authorities carried out the destruction of the entire poultry outbreaks, chemical spray disinfection cages, set up checkpoints to disinfectants and media from the service outside, stop selling poultry in the villages surrounding area.

Earlier, appearing two H5N1 avian influenza outbreak in the 4 in the town of Bang Lung and Copyright Contact Village, Yen Thuong, Cho Don District. Although professional bodies and local authorities have culled all poultry in two outbreaks with a total of 500 children, spray disinfectant chemicals, set up checkpoints, but the disease has spread, outbreaks add new outbreak in the district.  http://www.nhandan.com.vn/cmlink/nhandandientu/thoisu/doi-song/i-s-ng-tin-chung/bung-phat-d-ch-cum-gia-c-m-h5n1-t-i-ch-n-1.363857

Vietnam- 2.3.2.1 slight mutation #H5N1

Deal with the bird flu virus has modified
5:53 PM, 22/08/2012

(VOV) - It is worrying that the H5N1 vaccine is only effective below 75% should not universal use in the prevention and control of avian influenza.Department of Animal Health, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said: experimental results in 8/2012 shows the newly discovered group of H5N1 avian influenza virus in arm A (2.3.2.1) has changed a number of amino- acid.Although this virus is still attached to the 2.3.2.1 branch but there was a difference, the virulence of the virus group is the professional body research and evaluation. It is worrying that the H5N1 vaccine is only effective below 75% should not universal use in the prevention and control of avian influenza.Van Dang Ky, Head of Hygiene and Epidemiology - Department of Animal Health said the most effective way to protect poultry is still detected, localized translation. "At present we are mainly applied for early detection and destruction of human disease, hygiene and disinfection, management tightly outbreak, not to spread to other places. Currently we are making this problem very efficiently, and vaccine use in the northern, central and Central Highlands virtually very little use. We only use the vaccine program countries to encircle outbreak, reduce the spread only problem, "Ky said.
Animal Health Department warned, this stage of the season is very convenient for developing bird flu virus, so the local need close monitoring to detect early cases. At the same time, while no effective vaccine to prevent and control the situation cross-border smuggling of poultry to limit pathogen spread, making it difficult to work management epidemic  http://vov.vn/Home/Doi-pho-voi-virus-cum-gia-cam-co-su-bien-doi/20128/222112.vov

Market Vendors In Kakumiro Defy Ebola Ban

In defiance of the ban on public gatherings, a group of about 40 vendors from Mityana and Mubende districts on Wednesday displayed their merchandise in the market as usual. This attracted the attention of the sub county officials led by the Birembo LC3 Chairman, John Baruuli.

Read more: http://ugandaradionetwork.com/a/story.php?s=44782#ixzz24H0GOhlY

DRC: Three aides among the victims of the Ebola

KINSHASA (© 2012 AFP) - Three aides were among the nine people recently died of Ebola in the region of Isiro in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), reported Wednesday the World Health Organization (WHO).

Wednesday, August 22, 2012 | 12:42 UTC



 WHO / AFP / Christopher Black Archives. Members of Médecins sans Frontières caring for a man with Ebola in DRC

Of these 9 people, 8 died in Isiro, three nurses, WHO said in a statement. Another died in Dungu, towards the Ugandan border, and two cases were reported in Pawa, south of Isiro.
According to WHO, a team was formed with representatives from the Ministry of Health DRC, WHO and Doctors Without Borders to perform an epidemiological survey. For now WHO does not recommend travel restrictions or trade to the DRC.
These cases dating back to mid-August are the result of an outbreak in a neighboring region of Western Uganda but the virus has been detected is different from the one that hit Uganda. DRC is struck by the virus less virulent Bundibungyo-theoretically-, while in Uganda it is a strain that plagued Sudan.
Isiro, a city of 200,000 inhabitants in the Eastern Province, is located a few hundred kilometers of the affected region of Uganda.
Ugandan authorities have announced a week ago that the epidemic was "under control" but not yet eradicated. It has done so far 16 people and 165 people remain under observation.
Ebola hemorrhagic fever, a highly contagious, kills between 25 and 90% of patients, according to WHO. There is no treatment or vaccine. It is transmitted by direct contact with blood, bodily fluids (sweat, feces ...), by sex and by the mishandling of corpses contaminated.http://www.afriquinfos.com/articles/2012/8/22/trois-aides-soignants-parmi-victimes-fievre-ebola-208655.asp

Vietnam- #H5N1 in five districts 40 thousand birds were destroyed

H5N1 outbreak

- By this time, the H5N1 avian influenza has spread to five districts in Thanh Hoa and Ha Tinh provinces. Nearly 40 thousand birds were destroyed. While in Ha Tinh, stop signs, in Thanh Hoa, the risk of outbreak is very high.
 
H5N1 flu situation has appeared in Thanh Hoa province for more than a week in the local as Loc, the United Loc, Loc Thinh Hau Loc district.
Earlier in August, 2600 the son of the family flock Tong Van Luyen and more than 600 birds including chickens, ducks and his family Vu Van Duy in Peace village Thinh Loc unusual symptoms. The first few days I die then simultaneously infected herd.










Veterinarian vaccinating poultry flocks infected in Thanh Hoa.









Authorities take samples and test results positive for the H5N1 virus, the local authorities were quick to destroy the bird. Since the start of the outbreak, Thinh Loc commune with all 12 households with poultry infected with H5N1, with the total number of birds to be destroyed is 11,584 children.
The localities where the A/H5N1 flu has timely destruction of poultry suspected of being rabid, parallel to which is to strengthen the advocacy of animal husbandry, trade, movement of poultry products Bird flu alert, often organized sanitation, disinfection cages, established key security on duty 24/24 to prevent movement of poultry from other areas or from local out.
 

Sick birds die in Thach Tan Thach Ha district, Ha Tinh

  Before that, the end of July and the first days of August, in Yen Dinh District, and Sam Son town has also appeared status of birds killed by H5N1 influenza virus. According to statistics, nearly 600 children infected birds have been culled in the two localities.
Mr. Le Van Hien, Deputy Director of Thanh Hoa DARD said, after appearing bird flu, authorities instructed local prevention, zoning, do not spread disease. For two units is Sam Son and Yen Dinh far not arise any more bird flu drive.
In Hau Loc district, the destruction of infected poultry and poultry disease prevention spread is being strictly implemented. Thanh Hoa province has not announced bird flu in the province. "


In Ha Tinh, bird flu has appeared and spread over the past one month. 23/7, in two households in Cam Quan (Cam Xuyen district) and Thach Tan (Thach Ha district) appeared sick birds died.
According to Pham Thanh Binh, Director of the Department of Animal Health, Ha Tinh, H5N1 appeared in 17 in 2 Cam Xuyen and Thach Ha. There have been two thousand birds were destroyed, and many days, does not appear any outbreak. However, the information that we hold, in addition to the two districts, in Can Loc, Loc Ha, Ky He also appeared more households with infected poultry.The number of birds culled, in Cam Xuyen and Thach Ha, now has more than 3 thousand birds culled (Thach Ha 2.5 still, Cam Xuyen 6,100 children). Also in the spread Can Loc, Loc Ha, United Kingdom,
To 19/8 has spread to 17 communes in two districts with of poultry disease more than 3 thousand (in Thach Ha 2.5 still; Cam Xuyen 6,100). Can Loc district in the, Loc Ha States United Kingdom, there were 6,700 birds sick, dying to be destroyed. Total over 20 communes with a total bird damage to almost four thousand children.

http://vietnamnet.vn/vn/xa-hoi/85561/dich-h5n1-lai-dang-bung-phat.html

Two dead as cholera, dysentery hit Kibaale

 

 Aug 22, 2012

The district has been in efforts to contain the Ebola fever just recently

 

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* Cholera and dystentry outbreak in Kibaale

* Two dead, 14 admitted

* The same district where Ebola struck

By Ismael Kasooha

Residents of Kibaale district will not live settled lives yet even after the deadly Ebola virus was last week declared contained in the area. Now it is a double strike of cholera and dysentery in the same district.

Already, two people have succumbed to the cholera outbreak on the shores of Lake Albert in the western district of the country.

The dead have been identified as Aduba Kabaja, 42, a resident of Kitebere landing site and Peter Kasanga, 50, a resident of Songalawo landing site in Ndaiga sub-county.

Dr. Dana Kyamanywa, the district health officer said that the duo died on the August 13 and August 16 respectively.

"It has been confirmed that it is cholera and we have already set up an isolation unit to treat patients at Ndaiga health centre II at the lake shores," said Kyamanywa.

The two middle-aged men both died at their homes before they could report to the health centre.

So far 14 people are currently admitted at the Cholera Isolation Centre at Ndaiga health centre II in Ndaiga sub-county.

But Dr. Jackson Amony, who is currently the national coordinator of the Ebola taskforce said the isolation centre does not meet the standards of an isolation unit which poses danger in the area.

"The problem is aggravated by the mobility of the communities living on the lake shores and sanitation is very poor and there are no toilets," he explained.

“The air smells of faecal matter as one arrives at the fishing villages, which poses higher health risks.”

He said that although Intravenous-IV fluids have been supplied, there are no treatment guidelines and no attendants at the isolation centre which has only one government health worker.

"These people lack protective gear and are not facilitated," Dr. Amony said.

Kibaale district health officer, Dr. Dan Kyamanywa said they have already dispatched some drugs and other necessities to contain the situation.

He appealed to the public to maintain high levels of hygiene and sanitation to prevent contracting cholera.

Caution!

Medical theory suggests that cholera is spread through eating foods and drinks contaminated with human faeces.

The public has been cautioned to wash their hands after using the toilet and before eating food, eat food when it is still hot, avoid eating foods and drinks sold at the roadside and ensure that human waste is properly disposed of in the latrine.

A person can also take Erythromycin tabs every six hours as a preventive measure, especially for those staying in high-risk areas.

Meanwhile the outbreak of dysentery also has been confirmed in Kijonjomi village, Kyanaisoke sub-county in Kibaale district.

Eighat people have been hospitalized with dysentery but have not been brought to the hospital.

The revelation was made by Dr. Kyamanywa during the Ebola coordination meeting at Kagadi hospital on Sunday.

He said that dysentery was reported some two days back by residents who had suspected it for were Ebola.

The medics have decided to do Syndromic treatment for the dysentery outbreak.

Caution, again!

Dysentery is characterized by abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea.

Experts say that dysentery is caused by contaminated water drawn from unprotected water sources.

They have already trained village health teams in the affected village for a follow-up to manage the outbreak.  http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/634387-Two-dead-as-cholera--dysentery-hit-Kibaale.html

#Ebola kills 3 health care workers in DR Congo, raising death toll to 9

 

   

KINSHASA, DR CONGO (BNO NEWS) -- Three health care workers in the northeastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are believed to have died from Ebola, raising the number of fatalities from the outbreak to at least nine, local and international health authorities said on Tuesday.
The Congolese Ministry of Health said it is aware of at least fifteen suspected Ebola cases, including nine fatal cases. The initial death toll given on Friday was risen to nine after three health care workers died in the town of Isiro, located in the province of Orientale which borders the Central African Republic and South Sudan to the north and Uganda to the east.
In addition to the nine deaths in Isiro, three other suspected Ebola cases have also been reported in the town. Two suspected cases have further been reported in Pawa, about 42 kilometers (26 miles) south of Isiro, and one fatal case has been reported in Dungu, some 139 kilometers (86 miles) northeast of Isiro.
Last week, three samples from two of the victims were taken to the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) in the Ugandan city of Entebbe where they tested positive for the Bundibugyo species of the deadly Ebola virus. The first case was reported on August 1 and some experts have expressed concern that the disease may spread because the towns are remote but busy and the country's health system is poor.
http://wireupdate.com/ebola-kills-3-health-care-workers-in-dr-congo-raising-death-toll-to-9.html

VOA -DRC Confirms Ebola Outbreak

21, 2012

KINSHASA — The Democratic Republic of Congo DRC has confirmed an outbreak of Ebola fever in the northeast of the country. The announcement follows confirmation of an outbreak of the incurable disease in Uganda last month.

DRC Health Minister Felix Kabange Numbi confirmed the Ebola outbreak in the Orientale Province.

Kabange says they had been monitoring several suspected cases of Ebola in Isiro in Haut Uele district in the past few weeks. Several blood samples tested positive and, in one case, the virus has been identified as so-called Bundibugyo Ebola - a strain of the disease associated with Uganda’s outbreak.

The health minister says a 15 cases have been identified in Isiro, a town of some 200,000 people in north eastern Congo, about 250 kilometers from the Ugandan border. Nine people have died and another 88 have been identified as having had exposure to those with Ebola.

The minister says those cases are being monitored and they are isolated in their homes, for now. He says an infected person’s disease is not contagious until the person shows symptoms and only then would they consider quarantine.

Officials in Kinshasa are concerned that health workers in Isiro may refuse to admit people showing Ebola symptoms to clinics or hospitals for fear of being infected. It is believed that at least one of the 15 presumed Ebola victims was a nurse.

The health minister says protective clothing is being sent to health workers in Isiro and that people leaving the town will be screened at the airport and at other exit points.

He says the authorities have informed the airport of the symptoms of Ebola and anyone suspected of having the virus will not be allowed to board a plane, but will be examined by a team of doctors.

Symptoms include headache, loss of appetite, intense tiredness, muscular pain, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pains and difficulties in breathing or swallowing.

A team to coordinate response to the disease has been set up in Isiro. International health groups participating include Doctors Without Borders and the U,S. Centers for Disease Control.  http://www.voanews.com/content/Ebola-drc-outbreak/1492233.html

EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE - DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (05): (ORIENTALE) WHO

Date: Tue 21 Aug 2012
Source: WHO Global Alert and Response (GAR), Disease Outbreak News [edited]
http://www.who.int/csr/don/2012_08_21/en/index.html


Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) - update
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As of Mon 20 Aug 2012, a total of 15 (13 probable and 2 confirmed) cases with 10 deaths have been reported in Province Orientale in Eastern DRC. The reported cases and deaths have occurred in 3 health zones as follows: 12 cases and 8 deaths in Isiro, including 3 health care workers who have died; 2 cases and one death in Pawa; and one fatal case in Dungu.

The Congolese Ministry of Health has convened a National Task Force and is working with several partners including WHO, UNICEF, Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) Suisse, MSF Belgique, and the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Similar Task Forces have been established at provincial and district levels to oversee and guide the response.

A joint MoH, WHO, and MSF emergency response team is in the field to conduct a detailed epidemiological investigation and support case management. Control activities that are being carried out include active case finding and contact tracing, enhanced surveillance, case management, public information and social mobilization, and reinforcing infection control practices.

WHO is supporting the Ministry of Health in the areas of coordination, surveillance, field epidemiology, laboratory, case management, outbreak logistics, public information and social mobilization. An additional team of epidemiologists, a logistician, an anthropologist, and social mobilization officers is being mobilized from the DRC, Republic of Congo, the WHO AFRO regional rapid response team, WHO Inter-Country Support team (IST) based in Gabon, and WHO HQ, for possible deployment in the field.

WHO does not recommend that any travel or trade restrictions be applied to Democratic Republic of Congo.

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Marianne Hopp

[This new WHO report raises the number of cases from 10 on 17 Aug 2012 to 15 on 20 Aug 2012, and the number of fatalities from 9 to 10. A 3rd health zone, Pawa, is involved now in addition to the Isiro and Dungu Health Zones. These 3 health zones are located in the Orientale Province of eastern DRC.

Of the 15 cases, 2 have been confirmed as cases of infection by the Bundibugyo strain of ebolavirus. In contrast the outbreak of Ebola fever in an adjacent region of Uganda has been a result of infection by the Sudan strain of ebolavirus. The almost simultaneous outbreaks of ebolavirus infection in close proximity, caused by different strains of the virus, suggests that climatic or environmental factors may be playing a role. Further information is awaited.

N.B. "Ebola virus disease" has been substituted for "Ebola hemorrhagic fever" in the thread name in response to an observation from a correspondent that the ebolavirus fever is rarely hemorrhagic.

A map of the provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo is available at http://www.mapsofworld.com/democratic-republic-of-congo/democratic-republic-of-congo-political-map.html. The HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of the Democratic Republic of the Congo can be accessed at http://healthmap.org/r/35-r. - 

Nine dead as Ebola spreads in DR Congo

 

Listen / Download

© MSF — Hospital of Kagadi, in Western Uganda, where MSF launched an emergency intervention against an Ebola outbreak at the end of July 2012

The deadly Ebola Virus has killed at least nine people including three health care workers in the eastern part of the Democratic republic of Congo, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
WHO says at least 15 cases of the disease have been reported in Isiro, Pawa and Dungu regions of Province Orientale in Eastern DR Congo.
Glenn Thomas from WHO says efforts are underway to establish if the Ebola outbreak in Eastern DR Congo is linked to the outbreak in Uganda which has killed 16 people.
"There are 12 cases and eight deaths in Isiro including three health workers who have died, two cases and no deaths in Pawa and one fatal case in Dungu. The Congolese Ministry of Health has convened a national task force and is working with several partners including WHO, MSF Swiss, MSF Belgique and the CDC. Similar task force have been set up and established at provincial and district levels to oversee and guide the response to this latest outbreak. At the moment WHO is not recommending any travel or trade restrictions be applied to DR Congo."  http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/2012/08/nine-dead-as-ebola-spreads-in-dr-congo/

Livestock health risk to billions revealed

 

Tuesday August 21 2012

A new report reveals that just 13 diseases or infections that are transmitted from animals to humans, such as tuberculosis, avian flu and Rift Valley fever, are responsible for around 2.4 billion cases of human illness and 2.2 million deaths per year.
The study by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) shows that most of the victims are in low and middle-income countries. In the least developed countries some 20% of human sickness and death is due to zoonotic disease that had recently jumped species from animals to people.

http://www.agra-net.com/portal2/home.jsp?template=newsarticle&artid=20017983355&pubid=ag002

Russia bans poultry from Dutch bird flu area

 

Tuesday August 21 2012

Russia has announced temporary restrictions on poultry imports from the Dutch province of Utrecht following an outbreak of low pathogenic avian flu.
The ban applies to live poultry, hatching eggs and all types of uncooked poultrymeat, along with slaughtering equipment, feed and feed additives for birds

http://www.agra-net.com/portal2/home.jsp?template=newsarticle&artid=20017983363&pubid=ag002

Close pig barns at fairs, U.S. expert says, amid swine flu fears

 

08/21/2012 | Helen Branswell, The Canadian Press

Enclosures in the Swine Barn stand empty after all except the champion pigs were cleared from the building at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Aug. 7, 2012. AP/The Indianapolis Star, Chet Strange

 

It's been found in pigs and-or people in more than 10 U.S. states and counting. In less than a month, more than 200 people — most young children — have been infected by an unwanted visitor to many of the state and county fairs that are held at this time of year.

A new swine flu virus is infecting a growing number of people in the United States. But the official response to this outbreak is substantially different from the one that greeted the swine H1N1 virus that emerged in 2009.
Public health authorities, perhaps still stinging from criticism of the response to the H1N1 pandemic, are struggling to strike the right note with this virus, which so far doesn't seem to be spreading from person to person. But is their low-key strategy the right one to take?

One prominent flu expert is questioning the approach, which has largely focused on encouraging people not to eat or drink while touring pig barns at fairs and to wash their hands after visiting these exhibits.

Michael Osterholm suggests it's too soon to conclude that this new virus is going to be a mere nuisance or just another weird chapter in the ever-perplexing saga of influenza viruses.

And he says it's time to take what likely would be a very unpopular step — tell organizers that this year, pigs should stay home from the fair.
"I'm convinced that wherever you have pigs and fairs right now you're seeing this transmission —at least in North America," says Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy, and of the Minnesota Center for Excellence in Influenza Research and Surveillance.

"These pigs shouldn't be at the fairs."

The virus, an influenza A of the H3N2 family and a distant cousin of human viruses of the same name, was first spotted in humans ...  http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/life/health/article/220679--close-pig-barns-at-fairs-u-s-expert-says-amid-swine-flu-fears

Swine Flu Case Reported Days Before State Fair

video

August 21, 2012 7:26 AM

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Just a couple days out from the start of the Minnesota State Fair, officials have a confirmed case of the swine flu in the state.
The new strain is called H3N2v, and people usually get this flu from pigs, not from other people. About 1,000 pigs are scheduled to arrive at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds in the next couple days.
State health officials said they had a feeling a few cases might happen in Minnesota. That’s because there have been more than 200 cases in eight other states this summer, mainly at other fairs in the Midwest.
A lot of kids show their pigs at the Minnesota State Fair, and this new swine flu that’s in Minnesota was found ..
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/08/21/swine-flu-case-reported-days-before-state-fair/

Deadly Ebola virus strikes Congo-CNN video

http://edition.cnn.com/video/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=cnni#/video/world/2012/08/21/intv-congo-ebola-outbreak-bazira.cnn?eref=edition