CONAKRY,
June 21 (Xinhua) -- Four new cases of Ebola fever have been reported in
Guinea, bringing the total number to 258 in the west African nation,
the country's health authorities said on Friday.
There
were three new cases in Guekedou and one in Boffa. At the same time,
two people died from the disease in Tielimele and one died in Boffa
region.
Due to the continued spread of the
disease, health authorities have launched sensitization campaigns to
urge the population to wash their hands as a way of preventing the
contamination of Ebola virus.
Statistics showed
that since January, there have been 258 Ebola cases reported across the
country, out of which 160 people have died.
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The Ebola
outbreak ravaging West Africa is "totally out of control," according to a
senior official for Doctors Without Borders, who says the medical group
is stretched to the limit in responding.
The outbreak
has caused more deaths than any other of the disease, said another
official with the medical charity. Ebola has been linked to more than
330 deaths in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, according to the World
Health Organization.
International
organizations and the governments involved need to send in more health
experts and increase public education messages about how to stop the
spread of the disease, Bart Janssens, the director of operations for the
medical group in Brussels, told The Associated Press on Friday.
"The reality is clear that the epidemic is now in a second wave," Janssens said. "And, for me, it is totally out of control."
The
Ebola virus, which causes internal bleeding and organ failure, spreads
through direct contact with infected people. There is no cure or
vaccine, so containing an outbreak focuses on supportive care for the
ill and isolating them to limit the spread of the virus.
The
current outbreak, which began in Guinea either late last year or early
this year, had appeared to slow before picking up pace again in recent
weeks, including spreading to the Liberian capital for the first time.
Map locates Guinea.; 1c x 3 inches; 46.5 mm x 76 mm;
"This is the highest
outbreak on record and has the highest number of deaths, so this is
unprecedented so far," said Armand Sprecher, a public health specialist
with Doctors Without Borders.
According to the WHO, the highest
previous death toll was in the first recorded Ebola outbreak in Congo in
1976, when 280 deaths were reported. Because Ebola often touches remote
areas and the first cases sometimes go unrecognized, it is likely that
there are deaths that go uncounted during outbreaks.
The
multiple locations of the current outbreak and its movement across
borders make it one of the "most challenging Ebola outbreaks ever,"
Fadela Chaib, a spokeswoman for the World Health Organization, said
earlier in the week.
But
Janssens' description of the Ebola outbreak was even more alarming, and
he warned that the countries involved had not recognized the gravity of
the situation. He criticized WHO for not doing enough to prod local
leaders; the U.N. health agency did not immediately respond to requests
for comment.
"There needs to
be a real political commitment that this is a very big emergency," he
said. "Otherwise, it will continue to spread, and for sure it will
spread to more countries."
But
Tolbert Nyenswah, Liberia's deputy minister of health, said the highest
levels of government are working to contain the outbreak, noting that
Liberia had a long period with no new cases before this second wave.
Governments
and international agencies are definitely struggling to keep up with
the outbreak, said Unni Krishnan of Plan International, which is
providing equipment to the three countries. But he noted that the
disease is striking in one of the world's poorest regions, where public
health systems are already fragile.
With
more than 40 international staff currently on the ground and four
treatment centers, Doctors Without Borders has reached its limit to
respond, Janssens said. It is unclear, for instance, if the group will
be able to set up a treatment center in Liberia, like the ones it is
running in in Guinea and Sierra Leone, he said.
Janssens
said the only way to stop the disease's spread is to persuade people to
come forward when symptoms occur and to avoid touching the sick and
dead.
He said this outbreak
is particularly challenging because it began in an area where people are
very mobile and has spread to even more densely populated areas, like
the capitals of Guinea and Liberia. The disease typically strikes
sparsely populated areas in central or eastern Africa, where it spreads
less easily, he said.
A new case of avian
influenza has been found in Daegu, triggering fears that the disease may
be spreading across the country, officials said Wednesday.
According
to Daegu Metropolitan Government (DMG), the H5N8 virus was found in
three chickens that recently died at a poultry farm in Okcheon.
"The
presence of the highly pathogenic virus has been confirmed," said an
official from DMG. Since late last month, 100 chickens and 94 geese have
died on the farm.
This case follows two separate
cases reported in Hoengseong, Gangwon Province last Saturday and in
Muan, South Jeolla Province earlier this week.
Bird flu cases were rampant earlier this year, but had not been reported until last week.
The virus is deadly, resulting in massive deaths of many bird species.
The H5N1 subtype of the virus can be transmitted to humans; but H5N8 has not been found to infect people.
Authorities
in Daegu are stepping up efforts to contain the disease, setting up
checkpoints to disinfect vehicles and prohibiting poultry from being
transported within three kilometers from where the outbreak was
reported.
All the surviving birds ― 13 geese and 388 chickens ― at the farm were culled.
The farm is known to have bought 107 baby geese from a farm in Hongseong on June 14.
This is the first outbreak since 2008 in the city.
Bird flu outbreaks have been common this year, affecting all parts of the country.
In
February alone, more than 13.8 million birds were culled. Studies are
underway to keep track of infection routes, as many believe migratory
birds are to blame.
Source: Reuters - Thu, 19 Jun 2014 19:29 GMTJune
19 (Reuters) - As many as 75 scientists working in U.S. federal
government laboratories in Atlanta may have been exposed to live anthrax
bacteria and are being offered treatment to prevent infection, the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday.
The
potential exposure occurred after researchers working in a high-level
biosecurity laboratory at the agency's Atlanta campus failed to follow
proper procedures to inactivate the bacteria. They then transferred the
samples, which may have contained live bacteria, to lower-security CDC
labs not equipped to handle live anthrax. (Reporting by Julie
Steenhuysen in Chicago; Editing by Michele Gershberg and James
Dalgleish) http://www.trust.org/item/20140619192611-23onl/?source=jtTheWire
Middle East Middle East respiratory syndrome Horror Night Corona Corona virus or virus matched the country's existence. Recently, the first man on Mars infected patients were identified. National Epidemiology roganiyantrana and Research Institute (victim) has confirmed the information. Sources said, the virus infection is very fast. The idea being, the virus infection than in the Middle East countries. A significant part of the labor force in Bangladesh come from the Middle East - you're going. Bangladesh are at risk of being infected as a result of Mars.
Pratidinake IEDCR director Prof Rahman said Bangladesh, the country has
recently come from the United States in Abu Dhabi is currently in a
hospital, one person taking Marsh virus. The idea being, the United States during the scheduled transit of Mars has been infected. Age 53 infected patients. He returned on June 4. 6 June to symptoms of virus infection. He was admitted to hospital on June 9 with a fierce breathing. On June 10, the victim of his health tests to ensure that the sample is the Mars infected. The casualty increasingly becoming fit. Rahman said, they already have bisbasbasthya companies. Sources said, Mars infected individuals become infected by exposure to the risk of a person to another very quickly.
_ Mars is usually infected patients in the patient's symptoms are fever
over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the sneezing - coughing and shortness of
breath, he'll be pneumonia.
IEDCR director precaution for two weeks in early patients who have
arrived from countries suffering from the above symptoms are advised to
check with their health soon went cikitsakendre concerned.
In addition, more people are gathering places such as the _ Hajj, wash
hands with soap before meals there and he was suggested to use a face
mask.
If you suspect that the same can be infected with the virus in the
patient and the patient is in the hospital taking atdiya aiidisiare
should contact them quickly. Victim may already be infected 39 people in the Marsh have a health check. At present, a total of 5 patients who were being monitored for fear that the disease may be. There is, however, a patient has an infection in the victim's body. With the company since last year aratipiarera see suspicious persons examined whether they were infected Marsh. According to the victim, at the city's main hospital, the doctors have been trained. Except at District - at doctors received training. There is no antidote for the disease has been discovered. No details about the origin of the virus. Experts predict, the camel has involvement with the Marsh virus. However, until now, out of a total of Bangladesh in the world infected patients found on Mars. June 1, 699 of a total of 014 people in the world have been infected. Disease death rates at 30 percent. Come from the Middle East to spread the dangerous virus can not yet read the general advice is not to scare the experts. Marsh Corona virus infection occurs in the first case and 01 in Saudi Arabia.
So far, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Jordan, Qatar,
Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, the virus has been found to exist. http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bd-pratidin.com%2F2014%2F06%2F16%2F12054
Posted by: APA Posted date : June 15, 2014 at 4:09 pm UTC 308 views In: Africa Copyright : APA
Liberia’s Health and Social Welfare Ministry (MOHSW) has
confirmed a fresh outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the western
Monrovia suburb of New Kru Town with seven cases reported.The Deputy
Minister of Health and Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Bernice Dahn told a
press conference Saturday that of the seven cases, six have been
confirmed dead, with laboratory tests confirming four to be caused by
Ebola.
“The seven cases include an index case and six contacts connected to the index case,â€� Dr, Dahn said.
She said the index case was a female who traveled from Kailahun
District in eastern Sierra Leone where an outbreak of Ebola was recently
reported.
She is said to have settled in one of the communities in New Kru Town with family members, where she fell sick and later died.
At the same time, the Chief Medical Officer has disclosed that there
are reports of fresh cases of Ebola outbreak in Foya, Lofa County in
northwestern Liberia which shares a common border with Guinea where the
Ebola virus is reported to be on the rampage.
The health ministry is meanwhile urging the general public to remain
calm and go about their normal business as all is being done to curtail
the spread of the disease by the government.
Since the outbreak of the virus in Liberia from Guinea few months ago,
the disease has so far claimed the lives of 17 people out of a total
of 31 people who were reported to have been infected.http://en.starafrica.com/news/liberi...-monrovia.html
About
six months ago, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control issued a travel
warning for people visiting islands in the Caribbean because chikungunya
virus had been detected on the island of St. Martin. This was the first time it had been detected in the Americas. Now, in addition to the islands, health authorities are preparing for the virus to infect people in the U.S. itself.
“It’s not a matter of if, but when,” Dr. James Crowe, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University, recently said to USA Today.
The
most common symptoms of chikungunya are fever and joint pain. Other
symptoms may include headache, muscle pain, joint swelling, or rash.
However, it is very rarely fatal.[link to entomologytoday.org]
...The first case was detected on Sunday. The 53-year-old man had returned Dhaka on June 4.
Symptoms showed up on June 6 and the person landed up in a hospital on June 9 with severe breathlessness.
The IEDCR director said they had made hospitals aware of the disease so that they report them if a suspect patient was found.
“We have tested 39 suspects, but only has tested positive so far,” Rahman said.
He said they had tested several times in the past but this virus was indeed new to Bangladesh.
IEDCR hosts WHO-accredited laboratory to detect viruses.
“We even took a second sample from him,” he said, “he is recuperating”.
“He (patient) was shifted from the ICU to general bed,” he said.
At least 1500 doctors have been trained up to handle the new infection across Bangladesh, he said. No travel restriction
Hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshis live in middle-eastern countries.
DHAKA: Bangladesh Sunday reported its first case of the deadly MERS
virus after a Bangladesh-born US resident was admitted to hospital days
after returning to his homeland via Abu Dhabi.
The condition of
the unidentified 53-year-old man had improved but he was still in
intensive care in a Dhaka clinic, Mahmudur Rahman, the director of the
Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research, told AFP.
"He
is Bangladesh-born but lives in the US. He came to the country on June 4
and became sick two days later. Most probably he contracted the virus
during the three hours at Abu Dhabi airport or in the plane," he said.
Scientists have identified a Bangladeshi expatriate to be the first ever person disgnosed with MERS corona virus in the country. The 53-year old Bangladeshi expatriate arrived in Dhaka from New York
via Abu Dhabi two weeks ago, said Dr Moshtak Hossain, principal
scientific officer of the Institute of IEDCR, Institute of Epidemiology,
Disease Control & Research (IEDCR).
The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), which
was first identified in 2012, has affected a total of 700 people in 22
countries of the world. Most of them were found in Saudi Arabia, he told
The Daily Star.
Of the total 700 people, 209 persons, or around 30 percent, died, he said.
As per the rules, the IEDCR has reported to the World Health Organisation.
Scientists have yet to identify the source of the virus, but camels are suspected to be the major source, Dr Moshtak added.
The symptoms of those affected by the virus are respiratory problems, coughs and cold.
"If anybody feels so, we advise them to report to the nearest hospital," he said.
The IEDCR would arrange a desk at the Shahjalal International Airport
in a day or two for those travelling from the Middle East for a check
up. "We would not check the travellers. But if anyone wants, he or she can report to us," the physician said.http://www.thedailystar.net/mers-detected-first-time-in-bangladesh-28635
Bangladesh has confirmed
the first case of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome
coronavirus (MERS) after a 53-year-old man returning from the US via Abu
Dhabi was found afflicted with it.
0
1
52
“We urge everyone to report to the hospital if they fall sick after returning from abroad,” IEDCR director says.
Prof Mahmudur Rahman, director of the national disease control agency, IEDCR, said the man was recuperating in a hospital. “We have notified it to the WHO,” he told bdnews24.com on Sunday. Coronaviruses
are a large family of viruses that cause a range of illnesses in
humans, from the common cold to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
(SARS).
Viruses in this family also cause a number of animal diseases.
The
strain of coronavirus that causes MERS was first identified in 2012 in
Saudi Arabia and has remained a global concern since then.
It has spread to 22 countries, including Bangladesh, from the Middle-East.
So far, WHO recorded 699 cases of MERS with a mortality rate of 30 percent.
WHO says its understanding of the virus and the disease it causes is continuing to evolve.
Prof Rahman, also a WHO expert on the board reviewing MERS, warned against unnecessary panic .
He said the virus has not spread further within the country after it has come here from the Middle East...http://bdnews24.com/health/2014/06/15/first-case-of-mers-in-bangladesh
An international team of researchers has shown that circulating
avian influenza viruses contain all the genetic ingredients necessary to
underpin the emergence of a virus similar to the deadly 1918 influenza
virus. Searching public databases, the researchers, led by Yoshihiro
Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, identified eight genes
from influenza viruses isolated from wild ducks that possessed
remarkable genetic similarities to the genes that made up the 1918
pandemic flu virus.
The 1918 or "Spanish flu" pandemic was one of
recorded history's most devastating outbreaks of disease, resulting in
an estimated 40 million deaths worldwide.
The new work was published today (June 11, 2014) in the journal Cell Host and Microbe.
It shows that "there are gene pools in nature that have the potential
to cause a severe pandemic in the future," says Kawaoka, an
international authority on influenza and the senior author of the new
report. To assess the risk posed by a virus that could acquire all eight of
the 1918-like genes, the team used reverse genetics methods to generate a
virus that differed from the 1918 virus by only 3 percent of the amino
acids that make the virus proteins. The resulting virus was more
pathogenic in mice and ferrets that an ordinary avian flu virus, but was
not as pathogenic as the 1918 virus and it did not transmit in ferrets
via respiratory droplets, the primary mode of flu transmission.
Since pandemic risk escalates when a virus become transmissible,
Kawaoka's group then conducted additional experiments to determine how
many changes would be required for the avian 1918-like virus to become
transmissible in ferrets, a well accepted model for influenza
transmission studies. The researchers identified seven mutations in
three viral genes that enabled the pathogen to transmit as efficiently
as the 1918 virus. The resulting virus, composed of genetic factors
circulating in wild a.. http://esciencenews.com/articles/2014/06/12/genes.found.nature.yield.1918.virus.with.pandemic.potential
Hong Kong has activated an alert for the
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome as it launched a preparedness plan for
the SARS-like virus for the first time. Secretary for Food and Health Ko Wing-man said that under the new MERS plan, the "Alert Response Level" is activated.
The three-tier response level - Alert, Serious and Emergency - is in line with the Influenza Plan of 2012.
The response plan comes two years after the first human case of MERS -
caused by the same family of coronaviruses that mutated from civet cats
into the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome that spread
globally.
A total of 663 confirmed cases of MERS have been reported to the World
Health Organization, including 570 in Saudi Arabia, where it first
emerged. http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=4&art_id=146364&sid=42436974&con_type=1&d_str=20140613&fc=8
The
management of the hospital to allow Luxor International confirmed cases
Balchororna to leave the hospital and go to her home, in the act
threatens the lives of the citizens of Luxor and allows the transfer of
the province to a new focus for the spread of virus Coruna.
The
Luxor International Hospital has received citizenship "flower Mohamed
Ahmed," 60-year resident of al-Baghdadi area south of the province of
Luxor, developed symptoms of infection during and Balchororna returning
from Saudi Arabia last April, to perform Umrah.
And
conducting medical tests tests proved her were booked for several days
inside the special isolation room Luxor International Hospital, and days
after the case to leave the hospital before the completion of a similar
nature to heal .....
- See more at:
http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.rassd.com/15-98186_%25D8%25A7%25D9%2584%25D8%25B3%25D9%2585%25D8%25A7%25D8%25AD_%25D8%25A8%25D9%2585%25D8%25BA%25D8%25A7%25D8%25AF%25D8%25B1%25D8%25A9_%25D8%25AD%25D8%25A7%25D9%2584%25D8%25A9_%25D9%2583%25D9%2588%25D8%25B1%25D9%2588%25D9%2586%25D8%25A7_%25D9%2585%25D8%25A4%25D9%2583%25D8%25AF%25D8%25A9_%25D9%2585%25D9%2586_%25D9%2585%25D8%25B3%25D8%25AA%25D8%25B4%25D9%2581%25D9%258A_%25D8%25A7%25D9%2584%25D8%25AF%25D9%2588%25D9%2584%25D9%258A_%25D8%25A8%25D8%25A7%25D9%2584%25D8%25A3%25D9%2582%25D8%25B5%25D8%25B1&usg=ALkJrhgpwsMJr2B9-W88zWjkDQpJjV5KOg#sthash.JM0F7hmj.3sye3k0Q.dpuf
By Correspondents in Kambia, Kailahun & Freetown
Jun 9, 2014, 12:18
The
much dreaded Ebola disease which has been ravaging the people of
eastern Kailahun district is now confirmed to have moved up to the
northern town of Mambolo in the Kambia district where there are two
confirmed Ebola cases and ten other persons having blood samples
collected from them as possibly infected with Ebola.
This
was disclosed on Sunday 8th June 2012 to Awareness Times in Kambia by
Mr. Hassan Kanu of Kambia District Health Management Team (DHMT) of the
Ministry of Health & Sanitation.
Mr.
Hassan Kanu who is the Disease Surveillance Officer for Kambia district
and the Ministry’s official spokesperson for Kambia told Awareness
Times that a certain driver was recently doing assignment in Koindu,
Kissi Teng chiefdom of Kailahun and upon his return to his residence in
Mambolo town of Kambia, he later developed symptoms of Ebola. Shortly
after, the wife of the driver also developed symptoms of Ebola and when
their blood samples were sent to be checked by the Mambolo paramedics,
they both proved positive as infected with Ebola. The two (driver and
wife) are now isolated for treatment in Kenema.
According
to competent Kambia sources, there are now concerns that the driver
might have also transferred the infection to the fishing islands of
Yeliboya and Kortimoh because he was known to have also been recently
involved in transporting fish for people from those islands.
However,
Hassan Kanu said ten contacts of the Ebola infected duo of Mambolo,
have had blood samples drawn from them which have now been sent to
Kenema Ebola laboratories for testing.
Kambia
District Medical Officer has over this past weekend led a team from
Kambia town into Mambolo town to raise awareness and sensitise the
residents on the dangers of Ebola.
It
can be recalled that a devastating outbreak of Ebola in Kailahun was
poorly managed when the news first broke. Carelessness has now led to
widespread infection of residents in the Kissi chiefdoms bordering
neighbouring countries of Liberia and Guinea as well as another major
Kailahun locality known as Jawei chiefdom whose headquarters of Daru
town and its surrounding villages have been particularly hit by the
illness.
Madam Miatta
Kargbo poses with Kawusu-Konte, 1 of 3 State House staff whom, as
Kailahun citizens lay dying, mocked around on Facebook about what was
laughed and joked to be discussed as a so-called ‘Human Ebola’
The
infection and widespread deaths in Kailahun have left traditional
rulers, honourable parliamentarians and ordinary residents weeping and
wailing. The wife and children of the Paramount Chief of Jawei, P.C.
Musa Ngoumbuklah Kallon II have been admitted as they are very sick with
the Ebola virus. The two wives of a key traditional ruler, the Section
Chief of a section located just 6 miles from Daru, have also been
infected as have many other residents of the chiefdom. In one village
alone, an entire family has been wiped out.
The
Honourable Parliamentarian for neighbouring Constituency 07 (Segbwema),
Hon. Abu Jajua, has lost his sister who died from Ebola infection. The
sister was a Maternal & Child Healthcare (MCH) nurse who had been
amongst those treating late Nurse Messie Konneh, another MCH nurse from
Koindu, Kissi Teng.
Nurse
Konneh had been infected with Ebola in Koindu and in a glaring sign of
failure of the Health Ministry, the poor nurse, with symptoms of Ebola,
was not tested for Ebola but was left in the border town of Koindu until
her condition totally deteriorated. At this point, her husband, Sheku
Konneh was summoned from Daru to take her from Koindu and try to provide
better medical check-up than what was available in Koindu.
Not
knowing his wife was infected with Ebola, Mr. Sheku Konneh brought her
for treatment to Bombohun in Jawei and then from Bombohun, on the way to
Kenema from Daru, the poor nurse died. Innocently, still not informed
it could be Ebola, her corpse was washed & prepared for burial by
her mother, sisters & other women. All these women have since died
from Ebola. The mother of Nurse Konneh, her sisters and the husband,
Sheku Konneh have all died from Ebola.
Furthermore,
Jawei health staff who treated late Messie Konneh, have all now died or
are said to be in critical condition from Ebola.
According to Charles Mambu of the civil society organisation known as Health For All Coalition,
up to 70% of those who have died from Ebola in recent days, have been
frontline staff of Ministry of Health & Sanitation. Paramedics like
Aruna Kallon, the Community Health Officer in charge of Daru and Jawei
Chiefdom of Constituency 06, has painfully died from the Ebola he
contacted from Nurse Messie Konneh. Similarly, unconfirmed but highly
credible reports indicate that some one dozen of Health Ministry’s
nursing staff & birth attendants in Kailahun, have to date, been
infected with Ebola.
Awareness
Times can confirm that despite the fact that Ebola was known to be
raging in Guinea and also found in neighbouring Liberia, the Health
Ministry did not send protective clothing to many of our hardworking MCH
nurses and paramedics in Kailahun.
Furthermore,
the Rapid Response Diagnostic Test Kits for Kailahun district which
would have helped in differential diagnosis to eliminate non-Ebola
conditions, had EXPIRED since March 2014.
It
can be recalled that when the news first broke that Ebola had hit
Sierra Leone, the Minister of Health & Sanitation, Madam Miatta
Kargbo, in a callous show of insensitivity, had publicly blamed the dead
victims as having caused their deaths by not listening to what she said
were the orders she gave to citizens about how to avoid contacting
Ebola. However, with the deaths from Ebola of so many innocent nursing
and paramedic staff in Kailahun, dying for lack of protective gears, it
is unclear right now as to whom Minister Miatta Kargbo will blame for
the deaths of so many of her ministry’s innocent health care staff in
Kailahun district.
This
newspaper can also confirm that since the outbreak, the Ministry is yet
to transform the Koindu Community Health Center into a Field Hospital.
Rather, folks of Kissi Kingdom have been all but abandoned by Ministry
of Health and Sanitation. The ministry is claiming they have not built
the proposed MSF Isolation tents because Koindu folks are stoning their
vehicle out of town. However, this newspaper can confirm that the place
where the ministry’s vehicle got stoned, was Korosur village and not
Koindu. The ministry’s insensitiveness to locals deaths plus glaring
lack of proper sensitisation of those areas about Ebola, led to that
singular incident. Truthfully, implications of this abandonment of the
Kissi Kingdom chiefdoms, are enormous.
As
has been displayed with the new emergence of Ebola infection in
Mambolo, up Kambia, the fact is that no area of Sierra Leone is safe
from an Ebola epidemic if Kissi people continue to be left abandoned. http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/article_200525533.shtml
When
a team from Tulane University sent a batch of protective clothing and
equipment to help workers fighting an outbreak of Ebola virus in Sierra
Leone last month, they were fairly confident the 300 or so packs would
be enough for a good start.
They couldn’t have predicted what they would be up against.
The World Health Organization says 22 new cases of Ebola virus were
reported in Sierra Leone between May 29th and June 5. WHO counts 81
cases with 6 deaths but Sierra Leone’s health ministry says it has a
total of 95 confirmed and suspected cases.
“This is worse than
expected. I am fearful that it could get much worse,” said Robert Garry,
a virologist and specialist in viral hemorrhagic fevers at Tulane
University. Garry flew to Kenema Government Hospital last month with as
much personal protective equipment (PPE) as he could carry, but he says
they are running out fast.
"We have to ration them," he said.
Robert Garry/Tulane University / Robert Garry/Tulane University
Nurse Veronica Koroma stands in
the doorway of the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever (VHF) ward at Kenema
Government Hospital in Sierra Leone.
Kenema Hospital is
treating 11 patients with Ebola, all being kept in isolation. Six more
have died. With each worker needing a complete change of gown, mask,
gloves, goggle and other protective gear with each visit, that means
supplies go fast.
At least 35
lab-confirmed Ebola cases have been traced to a traditional healer whose
grieving patients apparently handled her body at her funeral and became
infected themselves, Garry says.
The healer had treated
patients just over the border in neighboring Guinea. This cross-border
outbreak is worrying health officials because it's spreading in an area
where people cross from one country into another casually, passing
through large cities on their travels.
Ebola is one of the
deadliest viruses known. It kills quickly, taking anywhere between 50
percent and 90 percent of victims, depending on the strain.
The good news is it
doesn’t spread terribly easily — it requires direct contact with bodily
fluids. But caregivers and health care workers can become infected while
caring for patients, and funeral rituals such as washing a body can
expose more people.
“Community resistance is hindering the identification and follow-up of contacts."
And
if people don’t know they’ve been exposed, they can travel sometimes
long distances to spreads the virus to others when they themselves
become ill. WHO says experts are trying to track down 30 people now.
“Community resistance is hindering the identification and follow-up of contacts,” WHO says.
“They are just
scattering,” Garry confirmed. “It’s very hard to track them down.”
Garry's working with local and international experts to identify cases,
distribute protective gear, train workers and test samples.
"Unfortunately, these
numbers will rise dramatically as cases from the Koindu and Daru regions
are tallied. Reports from the field for villages surrounding Koindu and
Daru are grim."
The outbreak started in Guinea
earlier this year, the first time Ebola had been seen in West Africa.
WHO says at least 21 people died and 48 new cases of suspected Ebola
were recorded in Guinea between May 29 and June 3, taking Guinea’s total
to 344.
With more than 215 deaths so far, the West African outbreak is one of the worst on record.
Ebola first arose in
Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, in 1976. In that outbreak,
318 people were sickened and 280 died, with a mortality rate of 88
percent. The biggest outbreak affected 425 people in Uganda in 2000,
killing 224 of them.
Education is the key to
fighting it. Garry says many people in affected regions don’t
understand it’s a virus and often don’t believe advisories about how
it’s spread. His team is educating health care workers so they can
protect themselves and teach others.
Robert Garry/Tulane University / Courtesy of Robert Garry
A poster used to educate health
care workers in Sierra Leone about symptoms of Ebola virus. A team from
Tulane University is working with at Kenema Government Hospital to help
fight the outbreak.
“They pay attention
once they hear how it’s spread,” Garry said. “The idea is to train these
people here to go back and disseminate the main instructions about the
disease.”
An Ebola infection often looks like malaria at first, so people may not suspect they have it. It later progresses to the classic symptoms of a hemorrhagic fever, with vomiting, diarrhea, high fever and both internal and external bleeding.
With so many bodily fluids pouring from a patient, it is easy to see how caregivers could become infected.
“They pay attention once they hear how it’s spread."
“Ebola
is a disease that scares people and that is perceived as mysterious,
but people can overcome it,” says Marie-Christine Ferir, emergency
coordinator for the group Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without
Borders. “Earning people’s trust is essential in efforts to fight the
epidemic."
WHO says six experts and 5,000 sets of protective equipment have been sent to Sierra Leone by various groups.
Garry says his team is
building on years of groundwork. He's been working with the Kenema
hospital for a decade to build its capacity to fight another viral
hemorrhagic fever, Lassa.
Lassa fever is a
serious problem in West Africa, making between 100,000 to 300,000 people
sick every year and causing 5,000 deaths. It can also cause hemorrhagic
symptoms, although it is far less deadly than Ebola, killing 20 percent
of patients sick enough to be hospitalized and 1 percent of patients
overall.
Protective measures for health care workers treating patients with Lassa fever or Ebola are the same.
“We tell them to wear
gloves and to protect their eyes,” Garry said, speaking by telephone
from the hospital. “And we’ve shown people how to do a traditional
burial, only wearing gloves. And you can allow the body to be washed
briefly. Workers have been attentive to the traditions, allowing the
body to be wrapped without exposing people to the virus.”
Genetic analysis of the virus causing the current outbreaks show it’s distinct from
the virus seen in east Africa. This suggests it may be from a local
source. No one’s sure just where Ebola cames from. It can affect great
apes but fruit bats are a prime suspect.
Garry, who was only
scheduled to stay for a couple of weeks, now says he is not sure when he
can leave. "I don't think it's going to be soon," he said.
The
Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus threatens thousands
of Afghan pilgrims who are due to visit Saudi Arabia for Hajj
pilgrimage.
According to the Ministry of Hajj and
Religious Affairs of Afghanistan, around 24,000 Afghans will visit Saudi
Arabia for Hajj pilgrimage this year.
However, the Afghan pilgrims are
concerned regarding the outspread of Middle East respiratory syndrome
(MERS) coronavirus since they have not received any information from the
ministry in this regard so far.
In the meantime, Qazir Faiz Mohammad
Mukhtar, head of Hajj and Pilgrimage directorate in the Ministry of Hajj
and Islamic Affairs of Afghanistan said they have taken necessary steps
to provide better facilities for Afghan pilgrims and the minister
himself has visited Saudi Arabia to meet the Saudi officials in this
regard.
Mr. Mukhtar further added that they have
not received any information from the ministry of public health
regarding the issue of MERS coronavirus and they will take necessary
steps for the safety of pilgrims if such information is received from
public health ministry and Saudi Arabia.
He said the ministry of public health of
Afghanistan should provide information regarding the MERS coronavirus
to the pilgrims and provide vaccination.
In the meantime, public health ministry
officials are saying that information are provided regarding exceptional
cases like MERS coronavirus to pilgrims besides provide vaccination on
three different illness including polio, Meningitis and seasonal flu.
But the Afghan pilgrims are saying that they have not received such information from the authorities so far.
MERS is a strain of coronavirus, the
same type of virus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome whose
symptoms include fever, coughing and shortness of breath.
Gastrointestinal problems, renal failure and pneumonia has also been
noted in some patients. http://www.khaama.com/mers-coronavirus-threatens-thousands-of-afghan-pilgrims-6191
According
to our competent sources, “at least two dozen” residents of Kailahun
are now confirmed to be Ebola positive with number of suspect cases
rising to one hundred or more. This prompts main opposition Sierra Leone
Peoples Party (SLPP) to issue a clarion call that Ebola is not a myth
but a reality. In release signed by its scribe Sulaiman Tejan-Sie, the
party calls on its membership to work with the Government and Health
Ministry to combat Ebola scourge that is known to be killing Kailahun
residents.
The
release also follows a call made last week by the SLPP leader in
Parliament, Hon. Dr. Bernadette Lahai, for a multi-party approach in
combating the disease. Hon. Lahai's call had been followed by a similar
call in a well-written release issued from UK bydefeated SLPP presidential candidate Julius Maada Bio.
Meanwhile,
as of Wednesday June 4th 2014, Health Ministry Ebola Update informs
that the total number of their suspected cases tested was 71 of which 24
Kailahun residents are all confirmed as sick from Ebola.
The
Health Ministry describes a suspected case as one which has symptoms of
Ebola disease and for which body samples are collected to be tested in a
laboratory to ascertain if thepatient is positive or negative.
However, a confirmed case is one whose sample is confirmed through a laboratory test to be positive for the Ebola Virus.
The latest figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) Ebola haemorrhagic fever have been contradicted Saturdayby the National Committee for management of the disease,which speaks of a "mistake" on the part of the UN institution, state media reported.
According to the National Committee, the disease was 126 deaths instead of 208 developed by WHO.The
Minister for Development Cooperation, Kutub Moustapha Sanoh, member of
the Committee, said that advanced by WHO in Geneva figures do not come
from his representation of Conakry.
Koutoub Moustapha Sanoh and the Minister of Health, Colonel Remy Lamah, say WHO made a "mistake" on the numbers.They indicate that there was 208 Ebola cases in general.Among them, there are 126 dead,the cured and the sick. "The representative of WHO recontacted us to say that this figure was not correct," reported Koutoub Sanoh.
"Instead
of coming to us to try to understand what the numbers represent, WHO
issued directly that there has been 208 deaths of Ebola in Guinea.
Initially we saw Doctors Without Borders speak of a unprecedented
epidemic ... This is not normal. must try to find out exactly what we
are talking ", has outraged Fode Sylla Tass, another member of the National Committee.
This is the second time that the National Committee disapproves the WHO disease.On
April 19, the Committee of national health crisis held to "grooming"
numbers after WHO has reported 122 deaths out of 197 confirmed cases.After
this correction, the technical coordinator of the WHO Ebola outbreak,
Dr. J. Bosco Ndohokvzwayo had said he must follow the communications
strategy and government figures.
By Anne Look, 4 June 2014 The ongoing Ebola outbreak is "resurging" in
Guinea, where the virus has killed about 200 people since it appeared in
February, and in neighboring Sierra Leone, said Doctors Without Borders
on Wednesday.
Health workers appeared to be making progress against the outbreak,
but Guinea and Sierra Leone are now reporting fresh cases, some in areas
previously unaffected by the disease, said the doctors group, known by
its French acronym, MSF.
MSF said it has seen more than 20 new cases of Ebola at its treatment centers in Guinea in the past week.
MSF said areas like the capital, Conakry, and the towns of Gueckedou
and Macenta, near the border with Liberia, have seen a spike in the
number of new patients.
But Ebola is also cropping up in previously unaffected towns, such as
Telimele, north of the capital, and the coastal town of Boffa. Between May 29 and June 1, at least 21 people died and 37 new cases
of suspected Ebola were recorded in Guinea, the World Health
Organization said, undermining the government's claims that the disease
was coming under control, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
The new figures take to 328 the number of cases linked to the disease
in the West African country, of which 193 have been confirmed by
laboratory tests. In total, 208 deaths have been linked to Ebola, making
the outbreak one of the deadliest in recent years, according to WHO, as
reported by Reuters. Spread of disease Bart Janssens, director of operations for MSF, said the geographical spread of the disease in Guinea is a problem. "It clearly indicates that the epidemic is not at all under control
as we might have hoped one or two weeks ago, when we really saw cases
continually going down over time," Janssens said.
He said people should seek treatment as soon as they show symptoms or if they believe they have been exposed.
The Ebola virus is spread through direct contact with the bodily
fluids of an infected person, and the virus can be transmitted even
after that person dies. Health workers said families moving bodies for
funerals have been a factor in the spread of the disease.
It can take up to three weeks for symptoms, including fever,
vomiting, body aches and uncontrollable bleeding, to appear. There is no
cure.
Health workers try to isolate suspected cases. Fatality rate
Janssens said some people do recover with medical care. "People are afraid to come out. It's difficult to identify all cases and also to track the contact of these cases," he said. "These people travel to new sites either because they do not know
they are sick or because they want to get away from places where they
can be identified."
The ongoing outbreak in West Africa has had a fatality rate of about 70 percent.
Those who have survived, as well as relatives of those who have died, reported being stigmatized by their communities. Border areas
The outbreak spread into border areas of Liberia and Sierra Leone in April.
Liberia has not reported any new cases in a month.
That is not the case for Sierra Leone, which recorded three confirmed
and 10 suspected new cases of Ebola in the May 29 - June 1 period, WHO
reported, according to Reuters.
MSF said it is setting up a new clinic in Koindu, Sierra Leone, near the border with Guinea.
One person confirmed to have Ebola and three others suspected of
having the disease died in Koindu this week. Sierra Leone's health
ministry had reported 18 possible new cases there at the end of May. Some information for this report provided by Reuters.http://allafrica.com/stories/201406050257.html?viewall=1
Copyright : APA 
Robert Garry/Tulane University / Robert Garry/Tulane University
Robert Garry/Tulane University / Courtesy of Robert Garry
