Ebola Outbreak 'Tip of the Iceberg,' Experts Say

By Maggie Fox

First published June 22nd 2014, 12:03 pm

An "out of control" outbreak of Ebola in West Africa that’s being called the deadliest ever is far from over and it’s likely to get worse before it gets better, experts predict.

And health workers who have been fighting the outbreak, which spans three countries and has killed more than 300 people, say they are certain many cases are going unreported as they see gruesome infections, dangerous myths and people fleeing the virus, potentially spreading it further. 

Dr. Mwayabo Kazadi, from the health unit for Catholic Relief Services, agreed that many cases could go uncounted and undiagnosed in the region, where Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia come together.

“When you don’t have a proper health system in place, it is pretty difficult,” Kazadi said.

Garry says team members arrived in at least one village to find it deserted, and the body of an Ebola victim left unattended in a house. It’s not hard to imagine what happened, but it makes it impossible to track down people who might have been infected and get them to hospitals for what care can be provided, and to prevent them from infecting others.

A Doctors Without Borders official said Friday that the outbreak was out of control.

And the numbers make it clear this is the biggest outbreak yet of Ebola since the virus was first identified in 1976. The virus, which causes a particularly nasty form of hemorrhagic fever, has killed 337 people out of 528 infected.

“This is the biggest outbreak we have ever actually seen of Ebola,” Kazadi said. “It’s the biggest both in numbers and in terms of geography,” Garry agreed.

Jonathan Paye-Layleh / AP

Empty hospital beds are seen at Redemption hospital after nurses and patients fled the hospital due to Ebola deaths in Monrovia, Liberia, Tuesday, June 17, 2014.

The biggest outbreak affected 425 people in Uganda in 2000, killing 224 of them.

Ebola is spread in bodily fluids, and the worst stages of the disease make that frighteningly easy. “People are throwing up. They have diarrhea,” Garry said. Patients can develop tiny blood hemorrhages on their skin and in their eyes.

At least a dozen women were infected by a healer, probably as they washed and kissed her body when she died of Ebola and they were preparing her for her funeral. The case illustrates just why this outbreak is so difficult to fight.

The healer, who used snakes as part of her practice, made some frightening and dire predictions from her death bed. “She said she was going to release the snakes and said anybody who saw the snakes would die the way she did,” Garry said.

This frightened some of the people in her village, and they attacked some volunteers from Garry’s team, throwing rocks at their vehicle.

AHMED JALLANZO / EPA

UNICEF field workers educate villagers on the prevention of Ebola disease in Liberia.

Garry's back in the U.S. for a few days trying to scrape up funding to buy protective gear for health care workers. The WHO and other groups are also providing such gear, but it's getting spread thin.

If workers start re-using gloves, gowns or goggles, they could end up spreading the virus. There's no cure and no vaccine, and the outbreak is killing 60 percent of its victims.

Volunteers are trying to get the word out about how the virus is spread, but it’s tricky getting the message right.

“People have been resisting the idea that it was just not some type of curse or spirit. Or that it’s people trying to keep them from eating bush meat,” Garry said.

One suspicion was that people initially got Ebola by eating bush meat — apes, monkeys, bats, and rodents slaughtered for food. That’s how experts now believe the AIDS virus first started circulating among people and it’s possible Ebola originated there, too.

But now it’s spread mostly person-to-person, Garry said. “The only thing that people hear is ‘Don’t eat bushmeat.’ It just gets people riled up. It’s not a useful message.”

ISSOUF SANOGO / AFP - Getty Images

A woman prepares food at a "maquis," a small African restaurant, in Kobakro, outside Abidjan, which now serves various types of meat instead of bushmeat, on April 8, 2014. The Ministry of Health has asked Ivorians, "particularly fond of porcupine and agouti," a small rodent, to avoid consuming or handling bushmeat.

The porous borders in the area make things difficult, also. People, many of them in the same ethnic groups, pass freely from one country to another.

Genetic testing makes it clear this particular Ebola outbreak is being caused by a local strain that arose in West Africa. Ebola had only been seen in central Africa before, but the discovery suggests that the virus had been circulating undetected before. Hemorrhagic fevers are common in Africa — Garry’s team was originally in Sierra Leone to study and fight another virus, one that causes Lassa fever.

“We’re probably finding (Ebola) now because we are looking for it,” he said.

Bats are another suspected source. Bats carry hundreds of viruses and carry antibodies to Ebola, which suggests they can be infected. Bat meat could be one source, but so could bat spit.

“It’s mango season. The bats are eating the mangoes and the people are eating the mangoes,” Garry said.

It’s not an unusual idea. Researchers tracking Middle East Respiratory Syndrome virus or MERS are also checking the theory that fruit-eating bats may spread that virus in their saliva.

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/ebola-outbreak-tip-iceberg-experts-say-n137081

4 new Ebola cases reported in Guinea

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.

The southern region that borders Liberia and Sierra Leone has been the epicenter of the epidemic, with 139 cases and 102 deaths.http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/xinhua-news-agency/140621/4-new-ebola-cases-reported-guinea

Doctors Without Borders: Ebola 'out of control'

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.

View gallery

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.

By contrast, the epicenter of this outbreak is near a major regional transport hub, the Guinean city of Gueckedou. http://news.yahoo.com/doctors-without-borders-ebola-control-133729407.html

H5N8 New bird flu case in Daegu fuels concerns for nationwide spread

2014-06-18 18:52

By Kim Se-jeong

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.

Many also questioned the possibility of human infection, as authorities found the virus was transmitted to dogs in the previous outbreak.http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2014/06/116_159387.html

EXCLUSIVE-U.S. says 75 government scientists possibly exposed to live anthrax

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

Reported cases of fever in Maltese Tendlta

06-16-2014 02:36 PMMedical sources said, in the city of Tendlta that there Maltese fever cases have emerged in the city during the past week, the same sources added that the situation has received the necessary treatment, and is still under observation. However Abuhrirh Abdul Rahman Director General of the Ministry of Health White Nile, said he had not been notified of any cases of infection, and confirmed that the ministry Sttqsy for Truth http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&sandbox=0&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.almshaheer.com/article-927396&usg=ALkJrhg31-xG33RfTZ_FwgSjopJlbBskUw#

The virus in the Middle East Marsh

The virus in the Middle East Marsh

Reporter

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 

 

Liberia: Fresh Ebola outbreak in Monrovia

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

Chikungunya Virus is Expected to Become Established in the U.S

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]

MORE ON BANGLADESH

...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.

Thousands also travel to Saudi Arabia, which is grappling to contain the virus, for performing Umra and Hajj....  http://bdnews24.com/health/2014/06/15/first-case-of-mers-in-bangladesh

  He is currently receiving treatment at a hospital. Dubai on June 9, he came in about 6 hours journey. After the country's condition deteriorated and he was admitted to the hospital. Because it is not possible to diagnose the disease Department of Health, Hospital Authority was approached. Health Department collected samples of her body issues. Several of the test - to ensure that the experimental Mars infected patients on Sunday declared the country's first victim.. http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.abnews24.com/article.php%3Fdetails%3D37942&usg=ALkJrhhNwpZouxCbAfx3uG5hiZ49VYfFqw


 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.

"After a series of tests we got confirmation yesterday that he was suffering from MERS coronavirus."..  http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/health/bangladesh-reports-first/1162024.html

MERS detected first time in BangladeshB

MERS detected first time in Bangladesh^Breaking

Star Online Report

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

Published: 3:43 pm Sunday, June 15, 2014

First case of MERS in Bangladesh

Nurul Islam Hasib,  bdnews24.com

Published: 2014-06-15 13:29:30.0 BdST Updated: 2014-06-15 15:53:16.0 BdST

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.

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“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

Genes found in nature yield 1918-like virus with pandemic potential

Published: Thursday, June 12, 2014 - 09:28 in Health & Medicine

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 Alert activated in the wake of MERS threat

Alert activated in the wake of MERS threat

Friday, June 13, 2014

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

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Allowed to leave the state of Corona uncertain of Luxor International Hospital

Observation

06/12/2014
19:37

Section: Local News

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Leave , hospital , allowing , Corona , uncertain

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 .....

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Sierra Leone News: Ebola hits Mambolo, Kambia as Kailahun Weeps from its Effects

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

Growing Ebola Outbreak Threatens to Overwhelm Volunteers

By Maggie Fox

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.

First published June 6th 2014, 6:08 pm http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/growing-ebola-outbreak-threatens-overwhelm-volunteers-n124961

MERS coronavirus threatens thousands of Afghan pilgrims

By Ghanizada - Fri Jun 06 2014, 10:35 pm

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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

Exempt hospital director dedicated to isolate Arthritis Corona city

17:43 - June 8, 2014

City - Harmony - Samir Lahibi:

Decided Director of Health Affairs in the city, d. Abdullah sectarian, Sunday, commissioned Dr. Sami Salim Rehaily director of a hospital, for a year, and Dr. Ali Krbja exemption from office; upon request.
Spokesman outlined for Health Affairs in the city, Hafiz Abdul Razak - for "harmony" - the director of the hospital exemption a "Krbja Ali" because of his health and his desire to exercise his medical consultant eyes.
It is worth mentioning that Dr. Ali Krbja, he worked as general manager of a hospital for more than 8 years, and it is devoted to isolate the Victims of the virus, "Corona", after the decision of the tripartite co-Taibah University. http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alweeam.com.sa%2F274613%2F%25D8%25A5%25D8%25B9%25D9%2581%25D8%25A7%25D8%25A1-%25D9%2585%25D8%25AF%25D9%258A%25D8%25B1-%25D9%2585%25D8%25B3%25D8%25AA%25D8%25B4%25D9%2581%25D9%2589-%25D9%2585%25D8%25AE%25D8%25B5%25D8%25B5-%25D9%2584%25D8%25B9%25D8%25B2%25D9%2584-%25D9%2585%25D8%25B5%25D8%25A7%25D8%25A8%25D9%258A-%25D9%2583%25D9%2588%25D8%25B1%25D9%2588%2F

Sierra Leone Politics : As Suspected Cases Approach 100, SLPP Joins to Fight Ebola

By Awareness Times Jun 6, 2014, 17:16

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 by  defeated 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 the  patient 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.

Confirmed cases are isolated at treatment centers for better care while negative suspected cases are to be discharged and allowed to go back home. http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/article_200525530.shtml

Ebola: the National Management Committee deplores "error" WHO

Sat, June 7th, 2014, 10:10 p.m.  

The latest figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) Ebola haemorrhagic fever have been contradicted Saturday    by 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.

 

In announcing this Saturday, April 7,   the latest figures on the disease, the health minister reiterated that the spread of the disease is due to the abandonment of hygiene. Once more he asked the media to continue their support in raising awareness of the population.http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&sandbox=0&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://guineenews.org/2014/06/fievre-ebola-le-comite-national-de-gestion-deplore-lerreur-de-loms/&usg=ALkJrhiThuGjQijSuG-uOYHDewuEk7rIJA