Research scientist Glenn Marsh
working at CSIRO'™s Australian Animal Health Laboratory in Geelong. Photo: Supplied
Scientists at CSIRO’s Australian
Animal Health Laboratory in Geelong are playing their part in a global
effort to tame the highly infectious Ebola virus wreaking havoc in west
Africa. Since the first live sample of the Ebola virus arrived in
Australia last September, CSIRO researchers have been working in a
high-security laboratory, one of only a few worldwide where scientists
can work with live samples of the most deadly viruses, including Ebola,
SARS and Nipah.
‘’Working with Ebola is a fairly new area for us,’’ research scientist Glenn Marsh said.
The
first step is to identify a suitable animal species in which to study
the virus. This means finding an animal that reacts to Ebola in a
similar way to humans – expressing the same incubation period, symptoms,
disease progression and outcome.
While internationally primates are the most common animal used to
study Ebola, Dr Marsh said the Geelong team had started with pigs. And
ferrets, which have a good track record with human respiratory diseases
such as influenza, will soon follow. ‘’No one has ever put Ebola
into a ferret, so we don’t know what will happen,’’ he said. ‘’But we
will be looking for similar symptoms in the ferret to what you would see
in humans.’’
Curiously fruit bats, where it is believed the virus
originated, can carry the Ebola virus without illness. In humans Ebola
has a 90 per cent fatality rate.
Spread by contact with infected
body fluids, early symptoms in humans include fever, muscle pain and a
headache. These are followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, impaired kidney and
liver function and internal and external bleeding.
Considered the
worst Ebola outbreak in history, the latest epidemic in west Africa has
been predicted to last for several months.
According to the
latest figures from the World Health Organisation, which is monitoring
the virus’ deadly impact in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, there have
been 844 cases, including 518 deaths.
There is no vaccination or treatment for the virus, although several vaccines are being tested.
The
Geelong laboratory operates at the highest biosecurity level. Only when
behind air-locked doors, can researchers in protective suits filled
with oxygen work with ‘’level-four pathogens’’ – the most dangerous
viruses because they remain without a vaccine or cure. The CSIRO
lab holds both types of Ebola. The original strain known as Zaire
ebolavirus, which was first identified in Africa in 1976, is behind the
latest outbreak. A second strain, Reston ebolavirus, was first described
in America in 1990.
While the Zaire ebolavirus has a 90 per cent
fatality rate in humans, Reston ebolavirus, which emerged from
south-east Asia, causes illness but is not fatal.
‘’It would be
great to find an animal model that has a similar response to humans, in
that one strain causes disease and the other doesn’t,’’ Dr Marsh said. A
live sample of the Zaire ebolavirus arrived from America last September
after ‘’a significant amount of paperwork’’, according to Dr Marsh. Approval
was needed from American departments of agriculture, health and defence
and from the department of agriculture and health in Australia. The
live American sample, which arrived in a vial packed in dry ice, will
allow local researchers to grow fresh samples in cell cultures as
needed.http://www.watoday.com.au/technology/sci-tech/local-scientists-try-to-tame-ebola-20140712-zt4k8.html
Former Health Minister, Sherry Ayitey says the Ebola scare has not
reached the level where borders should be closed to neighbouring
countries.
“You cannot stop people from moving, you can’t! Because it hasn’t
reached the situation where we have to close our borders,”She said.
More than 500 people have died from the disease in Sierra Leone,
Liberia and Guinea-Bissau since the outbreak of the deadly virus in
February.
Ghana has not recorded any case. The disease is known to kill 90 percent of persons who get infected within days.
West African leaders on Thursday agree to set up a fund to deal with
the spread of the Ebola Virus Disease in the sub-region at the end of
the 45th ECOWAS Summit of Heads of State and Government in Accra.
The leaders, in principle, also agreed to abolish resident permits,
which would see the introduction of new biometric identity cards for all
ECOWAS citizens for easy identification across borders.
This according to critics would not only increase the socio-economic
pressure on countries which are attractive destinations in the
sub-region, but will also contribute to the spread of the Ebola virus.
But Madam Sherry Ayitey noted in an interview with Citi News, “there is
a fear but then we have to be in the position that we can manage the
border control. We just have to follow the WHO health program and people
will be safe.”http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=316594
Escaped Ebola patients, besieged hospitals, and deadly denial in West Africa
By Umaru Fofana
In
the doorway of an Ebola isolation facility in Kenema, Sierra Leone,
stood a group of 10 or so patients. I could see them from a distance—I’d
been advised by the medics not to get too close since I was not wearing
protective clothing. They were mostly women, but I also saw two
children: a boy and a girl. Ebola was eating him up. I was later told
that the boy’s name was Kinnie, and that he was five years old. I
shouted across to him, but he was too emaciated and weak to reply.
Inside
the isolation wards were dozens of people who had tested positive for
the rampaging hemorrhagic fever, including at least five nurses. They
had apparently been infected by patients who had not been suspected of
carrying the virus. Until recently, health workers didn’t use protective
gloves unless they knew they were treating a confirmed case of
Ebola—even though the virus is hard to diagnose, easily transmitted
through bodily fluids, and Sierra Leone is in the middle of an outbreak
that has stricken more than 300 and killed 92. One of the nurses died a
few days ago. Her name was Sarah, and she got married last December. She
was a few weeks pregnant.
Despite
the danger facing these medical workers, they are being blamed for the
disease by the public—a public so poorly informed about Ebola that many
didn’t know of its existence before the outbreak began.
A
few yards from the isolation facility lay the main wards of the Kenema
Government Hospital. Many patients there fled after one of the nurses
tested positive, headed for who knows where. And a couple of days after I
visited, a colleague of mine watched relatives of Ebola patients pelt
the hospital itself with stones. Confirmed Ebola cases are quarantined,
and the attackers accused the nurses of sorcery and demanded their sick
relatives be released to them — if they were dead, they said, they
wanted the bodies to bury themselves. Such is the respect and reverence
people have for the dead that the way Ebola victims are laid to rest is
hard for most to stomach. Medics place them into a bag, and bury them
without ceremony in a mass grave. The confrontation became so violent
that police used tear gas to disperse the crowds, and have remained in
and around the hospital since.
It
is amazing—shocking—to see the denial of so many people here. Just 500
yards from the hospital, a group of revelers stood outside a video
center (as cinemas are known here), pulling on cigarettes and even
sharing the same butt. Backslapping and hugging having just come from
the unventilated room. Sweating profusely in the 90-degree heat. There
are other such video centers throughout Kenema, all over Sierra Leone.
Beneath the veneer of that excitement and camaraderie lies the acrid
reality that Ebola is tearing the country apart.
The next day, at the
Holy Trinity Secondary School, I saw scores of high school kids playing
soccer. Some had removed their white uniforms to avoid them getting
dirty, and their bodies glistened. The longer they played, the more they
sweated, and the more dangerous the game became for them. But they were
either oblivious to the dangers of a virus that can kill nine in 10,
often by internal bleeding and organ failure, or they did not care.
Kenema
hosts the only Ebola-testing laboratory in the country, one of the best
in the world, run by the U.S.-based Metabiota and Tulane University.
And yet some people here are even questioning the existence of the
disease. At a roadside store selling candies and sodas, I talked with a
high school student who gave his name only as Konneh. “Ebola is unreal,”
he told me. He peeled a banana and guffawed before biting into it. “I
have not seen anyone who has suffered from or died of it,” he said as he
munched.
There are
other conspiracy theories flying fast and thick. My mother fell ill last
week, while I was on a short trip abroad. She was vomiting and needed
to see a medic, but some of my relatives advised her against going to
hospital. They had heard rumors of a desperate attempt to stem the
spread of Ebola: patients with signs of the disease, which include
symptoms as broad as fever, were being injected with poison by health
workers. It was only after my return that I could persuade her to seek
treatment.
Three days after the hospital was attacked—and more than a month
after the outbreak began—President Ernest Bai Koroma finally ended his
curious silence, and addressed the nation. He said that “the national
efforts of patriotic citizens from all regions, all political parties
and districts must not be derailed by a misguided few.” He added:
“Anyone who knowingly harbors an Ebola victim without notifying health
authorities is also guilty of an offense and we will ensure that the
full penalty of the law is meted out on them.” But he fell short of
declaring the disease a public health emergency, which would have put
the country’s resources toward the fight, and he has yet to visit any of
the areas affected.
Koroma’s
slow response recalls the civil war of the 1990s. Like Ebola, it
started abroad, in Liberia, and snaked across the border. The army was
ill-prepared; war was strange to the soldiers; many ordinary people took
it lightly—I dare say, scornfully. It was not until fighting reached
Freetown that the government made a serious effort to end it. By then,
tens of thousands were dead. With the casualties in neighboring
countries, the death toll from the current Ebola outbreak has already
topped 500, and figures keep rising every day. No one knows how many
more have died outside of health facilities, or are mistakenly being
treated for another disease. The World Health Organization has described
the situation in the region as “out of control.”
People
who actually acknowledge the situation are uncertain about what to do
now. At my wife’s church—she’s Catholic—the body of Christ as epitomized
by bread is now dipped into wine by a glove-wearing priest. Handshakes
have been minimized in mosques in this Muslim-dominated country.“It is
the hard tradition-breaking sacrifices we have been forced to make,” a
Friday worshiper told me. At one restaurant I visited, the owner had
placed a bottle of chlorinated water at the door; everyone who entered
was asked to wash their hands with it. But the chemical has become hard
to find, and the owner of the restaurant told me that the price of
chlorine has tripled.
Meanwhile,
suspected Ebola patients are doing exactly what public health workers
would like them not to do, which is to move around and potentially
infect others. Almost 60 have disappeared after testing positive,
officials say. “They may have died somewhere after infecting others,”
one doctor told me, looking worried. One of the escapees was a man named
Mohamed Swarray, who fled Kenema last month for Freetown, the capital,
where he went into hiding. Police found him a week or so later, after he
was spotted by someone who knew him in Kenema, and who had heard the
announcements on local radio calling for information on his whereabouts.
By then Swarray had visited a hospital in the capital, and may have
infected the nurse who treated him.(The authorities are also on the
lookout for his mother with whom he is believed to have escaped.)
I
was standing outside the Kenema hospital when a new-looking ambulance
raced into the hospital compound, sirens blaring. The driver wound down
his window and asked shakily in a local language where the Ebola ward
was. I pointed it out, and the driver meandered toward it, dodging the
potholes made muddy by the country’s rainy season. I was curious as to
how an ambulance in this part of the country could not know where the
Ebola ward was, and suspected they must have come from Freetown. Moments
later I saw Mohamed Swarray being guided to the isolation ward by a
nurse in protective clothing. He looked hopeless and forlorn, as if he
were being led to the gallows. https://medium.com/matter/how-to-ignore-a-plague-14ea08694cc
By Wade C. L. Williams, 11 July 2014Panic is brewing among health workers
including doctors and nurses in Liberia as the Ebola virus continues to
spread and claim lives. At the John F. Kennedy Medical Center the
country’s leading referral hospital, health workers abandoned duties in
the emergency ward after a patient who was brought in very sick died. Health authorities in Monrovia speaking to FrontPageAfrica confirmed
the incident and stated that everything is being done to put the
situation under control. “There was a death that occurred there and it is true the people were
running away from there; but our case management team went there to put
the issue under control,” Assistant health minister for curative
services Tolbert Nyenswah told FrontPageAfrica Friday following the
incident at the hospital.
“The person was sick and taken there and died there but it was not a
health worker. The patient was showing signs of Ebola so the health
workers did not want to go in contact with them, so our team went in.”
The JFK scare comes at a time when nurses and patients have abandoned
the Redemption Hospital in New Kru Town over similar fears.
Since the outbreak of the new round of the disease was reported in
early June, health workers who have been in the frontline fighting the
disease by giving care to sick people have been at risk with ten deaths
reported in health practitioners who have succumbed to the deadly virus.
Recently a Ugandan Doctor died after being infected with the virus.
Many health workers have abandoned duties because they are afraid of
coming in contact with people infected with the disease but the ministry
of health argues that all is being done to minimize the risk to
healthcare providers by training people in over 500 health facilities
across the country.
“We did all of the facilities and provided them with gloves,
disposable gowns, chlorine and other assorted materials and the training
still continued for other facilities,” said Nyenswah. New cases Despite the fight against the virus, the cases continues to rise with
Bomi becoming one of the new counties to report cases, joining
Montserrado, Lofa and Margibi counties as counties with persons infected
by the virus. “One case has been confirmed from Bomi. As of today in Liberia we
have one hundred and thirty seven cases with confirmed cases of 54. Out
of the confirmed cases, one in Bomi, 39 in Lofa, one in Margibi and 23
in Montserrado,” he said. Continued Nyenswah: “If you combine cumulative, confirmed, probable
and suspected cases, we have 137, of that number, one in Bomi, 87 in
Lofa 3 in Margibi and 66 in Montserrado.”
Despite the rise in the death of health workers and the growing panic
among nurses and doctors, Assistant Minister Nyenswah said there has
been no reported death among health workers in the last few days but the
number of deaths in persons affected by the disease continues to rise.
“In about four to five days we have not reported any new case in
health workers, so the cases in health workers still remain ten, with
nine deaths in health workers,” he said.
“The number of deaths has hit 85 now, with confirmed 40 cases confirmed in the number of deaths,” he said. He
said the ministry is following up on people who might have come in
direct contact with people infected with the virus by either caring for
them or touching them. “Contacts tracing is going on. We have line-listed 364 contacts and we are currently following up 305 of the 364,” he said.
“It means, on a daily basis, these people might have come in contact
with an infected person; so we are doing the 21 days of follow-up. Out
of the 364 contacts, 134 are in Lofa County, 28 in Margibi and 202 in
Montserrado County.” Not under control
Minister Nyenswah said Liberia is still battling the deadly virus and
it is still finding it difficult to contain it, but is optimistic that
Liberia will find a way to overcome the disease.
“It is not under control, because if an outbreak is under control,
then you are not reporting new cases;do the outbreak is still active,”
he said. “We have not stabilized the transmission of cases yet. We are still
reporting new cases, in the context of public health outbreak, if an
outbreak is not being controlled or contained yet, that’s how we call
it.” http://allafrica.com/stories/201407111593.html?viewall=1
Kailahun.
Sierra Leone. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Ebola Treatment Center. In
the high-risk zone a nurse takes the temperature of a patient.
Over
the last two weeks, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders
(MSF) has treated more than 70 patients with symptoms resembling those
of Ebola in Kailahun treatment centre, eastern Sierra Leone. MSF is
concerned about a possible increase in patients in the coming weeks, as
teams on the ground are starting working to find people sick with the
virus. Jump to videoJump to gallery
“To accommodate growing patient numbers, MSF has expanded the
capacity of the treatment centre from 32 to 65 beds”, says MSF emergency
coordinator Anja Wolz.
Beyond medical treatment, controlling the outbreak will require the
deployment of large numbers of people to train healthcare personnel in
infection control measures, to follow up with and trace cases and their
contacts, to set up an epidemiological surveillance network, and to
promote public health messages.
Because of limited human resources, MSF is concentrating its efforts
on treating patients and educating communities about the disease, with
more than 150 national and international staff now working on the
outbreak in Sierra Leone.
MSF concerned about hidden cases
MSF teams are racing against time to stop the spread of the disease.
“We’re under massive time pressure: the longer it takes to find and
follow up with people who have come in contact with sick people, the
more difficult it will be to control the outbreak,” says Wolz. At the moment, the Ministry of Health and the World Health
Organisation (WHO) are starting to reinforce teams for contact tracing.
Indeed, patients still need to be identified – nearly 40 were reported
in just one village in Ngolahun (Eastern Province, Sierra Leone). “We
still have no idea how many villages are affected. I’m afraid we’ve only
seen the tip of the iceberg,” says Wolz.
Specialised treatment facilities
By setting up treatment centres and transit units close to affected
villages, MSF can treat patients quickly, and reduce the risk of
infection in local hospitals and the in the community. In the transit
units in Koindu and Daru, patients showing symptoms are isolated while
waiting for the results of their tests.
The Zaire strain of Ebola virus can kill up to 90% of patients, but
if patients receive treatment at the first signs of the disease, they
have better chance to survive.
Education is indispensable
Ebola creates fear inside communities, and sick people are often
stigmatised. "Families can be driven out of their villages, and sick
people can be cast out to die on their own,” says Wolz. Psychological
support is provided to patients and their families.
Photo: Joffrey Monnier/MSF
The
MSF teams organise participatory health promotion activities with
healed patients. To reduce fear, they are also conducting sensitisation
campaigns to inform people on how the virus spreads. As such, they are
encouraging people to flag up cases of haemorrhagic fever, to avoid
contact with people sick with the virus and not to touch the dead body
of someone who had been ill with Ebola.
The Ebola outbreak
that is currently sweeping through West Africa is reaching an
unprecedented scale in terms of its geographical spread, the number of
cases and the number of victims. According to the WHO, there have been
848 cases of Ebola and 518 deaths in Guinea, Sierra Leone and in Liberia since the beginning of the outbreak. http://www.msf.ie/article/sierra-leone-race-against-time-control-ebola-outbreak
The 2 and 3 July 2014, 11 Ministers of Health from the region, the WHO and international organisations met in Accra (Ghana) to evaluate the situation and take measures to stop the outbreak.
The Ebola disease has claimed about 500
lives in three West African countries in less than six months, ECOWAS
Heads of State and governments were told in Accra yesterday at the
commencement of a two-day summit.
Chairman of ECOWAS and Ghanaian
President John Dramani Mahama who disclosed this at the session, did not
name the affected countries but said the authority was deeply concerned
with the situation. “I wish to express our deep concern about the
unprecedented outbreak of Ebola in three member states of our community.
Evidence has shown that in less than six months, the decease has
claimed the lives of almost 500 people,” he said. Mahama urged member
states to provide the resources required to fight the disease, saying,
“We must scale up efforts to defeat the deadly disease. We must exercise
vigilance and avoid any panic on misinformation.” He also charged
medical and research centres in the sub-region to help in developing
vaccines and cure for the disease. Leaders at the session also discussed
the proposed biometric identity cards for ECOWAS citizens to aide easy
identification and movement for trade purposes. They identified
Illegal check points, unnecessary documentation requirements,
substantial informal payments at borders and transit fees as huddles
hindering free trade.http://dailytrust.com.ng/news/28995-ebola-kills-500-in-west-africa-within-6-months
GENEVAFri Jul 11, 2014 4:07am EDT
(Reuters) - Ebola
continues to rage in Sierra Leone, Liberia and to a lesser extent in
Guinea, with a combined 44 new cases and 21 deaths between July 6-8, the
World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. This brought the total
in West Africa's first outbreak of the deadly viral disease to 888
cases including 539 deaths since February, the United Nations agency
said. "The epidemic trend
in Liberia and Sierra Leone remains precarious with high numbers of new
cases and deaths being reported," the WHO said. Just one confirmed new
case had been reported during the past week in Guinea, where the WHO
said it was closely monitoring the situation. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/11/us-health-ebola-idUSKBN0FG0JQ20140711?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews&rpc=401
Authorities recommend Kazakh travellers returning from Africa to undergo Ebola test
ASTANA. KAZINFORM - Kazakh authorities recommend people returning from Africa to undergo medial testes for Ebola."Committee
of Tourism Industry under the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies
of Kazakhstan reminds people to undergo tests and visit doctors after
returning from Africa. Ministry urges tour operators and travel agents
to inform travellers about the epidemiological situation and warn about
the security measures", the press-service of the Committee informs... http://www.inform.kz/eng/article/2676853
The body of the American expatriate at the centre of the Ebola virus
scare is to be flown back to the United States of America (USA). The
expatriate, who is said to have travelled to one of the infected
countries in the sub-region, died on Monday, July 7, 2014.
The body is to be released to the American Embassy in Ghana. A source at
the Ministry of Health (MoH), who disclosed this to the Daily Graphic,
said the four nurses who were also quarantined after they had come into
contact with the American before his death were released on Tuesday
evening.
No Ebola in Ghana
The release of the followed four tests conducted by the Noguchi Memorial
Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) which proved that the patient
did not suffer from Ebola fever.
Although the American, who died at the Nyaho Medical Centre, on Sunday,
July 6, 2014, presented symptoms suggestive of haemorrhagic fever, all
the test conducted on him proved that he did not have Ebola fever.
... http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePag....php?ID=316342
African Minerals Limited continues with its awareness raising campaigns on Ebola as part of its health and safety commitment to employees and communities at the mines, port and rail operations in Tonkolili and Pepel, north of the country.
The initiative, being undertaken by the community relations department with support from all other departments at AML, was inspired by the recent visit of the chairman, Frank Timis, who came in the country at the height of the Ebola outbreak and gave his moral support to the government and people of Sierra Leone. He spent days meeting with his employees and local authorities to encourage confidence and give help respectively. The latest of such sensitization moves, especially in relocated communities in the Kalasonsogia, Sambaya and Kafesimira chiefdoms, were done in local languages and with simple messages on the nature of the sickness, its symptoms, its effects on people and society and most importantly how it could be avoided.
Local authorities, community youth groups and other stakeholders were capacitated to mobilise their people at Court Barries, community halls, chief compounds and open fields where megaphones, videos and huge speakers, were used to pass on the messages. The activity, which started on Wednesday 2July in these chiefdoms, would end on 14 July. “We use video messages compiled by the ministry of health in collaboration with UNFPA and the Sierra Leone Red Cross, to pass the message across to our local communities. We started at new Ferengbaia, targeting relocated communities of Foria, Wondugu and Feregbaia”, said Isata Tejan, a nurse in the community relations department. She explained that the messages were well understood based on the type of questions people asked about the disease at the end of the meetings, adding that they started by targeting school children and later met with chiefdom elders, ‘mammy queens’, young men and women... -http://www.sierraexpressmedia.com/archives/68884
African
Minerals Limited continues with its awareness raising campaigns on
Ebola as part of its health and safety commitment to employees and
communities at the mines, port and rail operations in Tonkolili and
Pepel, north of the country. (Photo: Nurse Isata engages school children)
The initiative, being undertaken by the
community relations department with support from all other departments
at AML, was inspired by the recent visit of the chairman, Frank Timis,
who came in the country at the height of the Ebola outbreak and gave his
moral support to the government and people of Sierra Leone. He spent
days meeting with his employees and local authorities to encourage
confidence and give help respectively.
The latest of such sensitization moves,
especially in relocated communities in the Kalasonsogia, Sambaya and
Kafesimira chiefdoms, were done in local languages and with simple
messages on the nature of the sickness, its symptoms, its effects on
people and society and most importantly how it could be avoided.
Local authorities, community youth
groups and other stakeholders were capacitated to mobilise their people
at Court Barries, community halls, chief compounds and open fields where
megaphones, videos and huge speakers, were used to pass on the
messages. The activity, which started on Wednesday 2July in these
chiefdoms, would end on 14 July.
“We use video messages compiled by the
ministry of health in collaboration with UNFPA and the Sierra Leone Red
Cross, to pass the message across to our local communities. We started
at new Ferengbaia, targeting relocated communities of Foria, Wondugu and
Feregbaia”, said Isata Tejan, a nurse in the community relations
department.
She explained that the messages were
well understood based on the type of questions people asked about the
disease at the end of the meetings, adding that they started by
targeting school children and later met with chiefdom elders, ‘mammy
queens’, young men and women.
- See more at: http://www.sierraexpressmedia.com/archives/68884#sthash.VMPeTSch.dpuf
Ivorian refugees in Liberia: Violence that caused their departure now mars their return
The United Nations has reported that the return of Ivorian refugees
from Liberia has been undermined by recent cross-border attacks into
Western Ivory Coast. The refugees would now have to wait as the
temporary halt in repatriation remains in place, according to UN
officials in Liberia, on Tuesday. More than 150,000 Ivorian refugees
fled to Liberia in 2010, in the wake of the post election violence in
the Ivory Coast. Among the 60,000 refugees remaining in camps are
fighters who supported former President Laurent Gbagbo. http://cmiliberia.org/blog/2013/03/27/border-incident-halts-refugee-return/
Exactly two months ago, when the initial ebola outbreak seemed to be subsiding in the country, I wrote an article entitled, When the Nurse Happens to Be Your Mom: More Reasons Why Environmental and Occupational Health Must be Prioritized.
It was published in the Daily Observer in May. While the intent of that
article was to review pertinent lessons learnt from the passing
epidemic and hopefully draw attention to the plight of health care
workers in the line of danger, little did I know that just few weeks
later, the very lessons I attempted to draw from the situation would be
the headlines of an even more tragic national outbreak. Little did I
also know that it would hit so close to home.
In late May, during a work related visit to Lofa, a colleague fell
ill and had to be taken to the Tellowoyan Hospital. It was with great
shock and sorrow that we found out that the pleasant young nurse who
attended to my colleague during his bout of malaria lost her life to
ebola just a few days ago. With an ever increasing spread and death
toll, the “rumor” many believed to be just another story has sadly
proven to be much more than fiction, but a real Greek tragedy which the
nation is struggling to grapple with.
Just think about it for a minute. How can we possibly live in a
country riding taxis and vehicles with four persons cramped in the
backseat and not exchange some amount of bodily fluids? How does a mother stop caring for her sick child even though that
child is showing possible signs of the disease? How does a husband not
care for a sick wife? How do you overcome the grief of not being able to
partake in the burial of your loved one lost to ebola? Indeed, this is
one epidemic which cuts to the very core of our humanity as a nation.
Ever more relevant today, I revisited my May article: “Lookin..http://www.liberianobserver.com/environment/ebola-%E2%80%9Crumor%E2%80%9D-proving-be-national-tragedy
Thursday July 10, 2014
The Bo District Medical Officer Dr Alhaji S. Turay has told
Journalists that “the people of Sierra Leone have got some good news to
celebrate about Ebola.” He made this disclosure to Journalists and the
11 Members of Parliament from the Bo District at the Endemic Disease
Control office on Wednesday July 2. Ever since the outbreak of Ebola, he explained that out of the 433
Screened Ebola cases, 211 have been confirmed positive of the dreadful
disease. Out of the 211, Kailahun he expressed has 165; Kenema has 42;
Kambia 1; Port Loko 2 and Bo 1.
And out of the 211 total infected cases within the country, 67, he revealed, have died of the disease.
Kailahun he narrated has recorded 57 deaths with the remaining 10 deaths happening in Kenema.
The 28 people that have survived the terrible disease he explicated did
so after having been put on “supportive treatment” at the Government
Hospital in Kenema which he over emphasized was the only Hospital in
Sierra Leone to diagnose and treat Ebola.
“The 28 people were put on supportive treatment and they have survived,”
Dr Turay stated. This he said was “good news to everybody concerned.” Meanwhile, he further stated that there were still 45 people admitted with Ebola at the Government Hospital in Kenema. He further revealed that at the newly established Ebola Tent Treatment Camp in Kailahun, 13 people were still admitted.
By Jenkins Bawoh http://awoko.org/2014/07/10/sierra-leone-news-28-people-survive-ebola-in-salone/
The
Deputy Director-General of WHO responsible for safety and the
environment, Dr Keiji Fukuba is on a working visit to Conakry, found on
site Guineenews.
Arrived
yesterday in 20 hours (note: local time), from Sierra Leone, Dr. Keiji
Fukuba will have a working session with the WHO Representative in
Guinea,the Special Representative of the Regional Director of WHOAfrica and the Coordinator of the emergency responsethe Ebola outbreak in Guinea.
When we put online this dispatch, he was going to visit the treatment center Ebola Donka.It
was after this visit that he could have a meeting with President Alpha
Condé, the Minister of Health and the Interministerial Commission
response to the epidemic that has307 deaths in 408 confirmed cases (according to the latest statistics).
It is also scheduled a meeting with the partners involved in the fightagainst the epidemic of Ebola haemorrhagic fever.
Before his scheduled departure on July 11, Dr. Keiji Fukuba could host a conference in the early evening on Thursday July 10.
Gambia Bird Airlines has announced the launch of services to three new destinations in West Africa. The new services will operate from Gambia Bird’s home base of Banjul, The Gambia, to Bissau, in Guinea-Bissau, Lagos, in Nigeria, Dakar in Senegal, and Douala, in Cameroon, as well as from each of the new destinations to points across the airline’s growing network. The new services will allow Gambia Bird to double the number of connections previously offered, with 25 connections each week from Dakar, 20 from Banjul, 20 from Freetown, 18 from Accra, 15 from Lagos and 18 from Monrovia. Flights to a fourth new destination, Conakry, in Guinea, will be launched as soon as local conditions allow. - See more http://www.ghanaiantimes.com.gh/gambia-bird-launches-3-new-destinations-west-africa/
Gambia Bird Airlines has announced the launch of services to three new destinations in West Africa.
The new services will operate from Gambia Bird’s home base of Banjul,
The Gambia, to Bissau, in Guinea-Bissau, Lagos, in Nigeria, Dakar in
Senegal, and Douala, in Cameroon, as well as from each of the new
destinations to points across the airline’s growing network.
The new services will allow Gambia Bird to double the number of
connections previously offered, with 25 connections each week from
Dakar, 20 from Banjul, 20 from Freetown, 18 from Accra, 15 from Lagos
and 18 from Monrovia.
Flights to a fourth new destination, Conakry, in Guinea, will be launched as soon as local conditions allow.
- See more at: http://www.ghanaiantimes.com.gh/gambia-bird-launches-3-new-destinations-west-africa/#sthash.hmRO4Py6.dpuf
Gambia Bird Airlines has announced the launch of services to three new destinations in West Africa.
The new services will operate from Gambia Bird’s home base of Banjul,
The Gambia, to Bissau, in Guinea-Bissau, Lagos, in Nigeria, Dakar in
Senegal, and Douala, in Cameroon, as well as from each of the new
destinations to points across the airline’s growing network.
The new services will allow Gambia Bird to double the number of
connections previously offered, with 25 connections each week from
Dakar, 20 from Banjul, 20 from Freetown, 18 from Accra, 15 from Lagos
and 18 from Monrovia.
Flights to a fourth new destination, Conakry, in Guinea, will be launched as soon as local conditions allow.
- See more at: http://www.ghanaiantimes.com.gh/gambia-bird-launches-3-new-destinations-west-africa/#sthash.hmRO4Py6.dpuf
•A
total of 114 cases have been tested with 43 confirmed cases of Ebola
and 16 deaths. All deaths are confirmed cases from Kailahun District;
two (2) of which traveled from Kailahun to Kambia district. These
patients have been isolated and contacts are being traced.
Interventions
•The outreach medical team is still in the field searching for more cases
•Sensitization of the communities including the traditional healers is still on going.
•Ebola Physician Specialist from WHO Head Quarter now in Kenema to support case management at the treatment
•A
meeting with SLANGO (Sierra Leone Association of Non-governmental
Organizations) which includes faith based organizations and non-health
international NGO members was concluded today. The Minister was able to
get commitment from these organizations to support the fight against the
spread of the disease. http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/article_200525558.shtml
As
a matter of fighting the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone or more so
stopping its transfer to Bo, the District Medical Officer has proposed
the stopping of the killing and sales of “bush meat” in the city of Bo.
The DMO, Dr Alhaji S Turay also proposed the putting up of check points
at some strategic entrance locations in the Bo City. The Paramount Chief
Prince Lappia Boima accepted the first proposal of “not selling bush
meat” in the city but held reservation towards the second proposal of
check pointsTherefore, a Task Force has been set up in the city for
monitoring the importation animals like “monkeys, baboons, bush cows,”
from which bush meats could be attained. As at present, the Market
Sellers Association has accepted the proposal too and is also helping
with the monitoring of the sales of bush meat in both the markets and
outside the market.
The Government of Liberia is in high-level consultations with the
management of Delta Airlines intended to explore options that will not
disrupt the experience and convenience of traveling via Delta.
A government delegation comprising Counselor Seward Cooper, Minister of State for Legal and Economic Affairs and Mr. Gyude
Moore, Deputy Chief of Office Staff in the Office of the President, is
in Atlanta, Georgia, to meet with the management of Delta Airlines,
after Delta informed the government of the suspension of its service to
Monrovia, effective August 31, 2014, due to weak passenger demand.
It
can be recalled that in 2010, Delta Airlines commenced direct flights
to New York from Monrovia via Accra, Ghana. While Nigeria and Ghana, two
other destinations of Delta Airlines, are netting 10,000,000 and over
2,000,000 passengers per year respectively, Liberia’s highest passenger level was only 205,000, recorded in 2013.
Delta
has informed the Liberian Government that the last eastbound flight
from New York will occur on August 30th, and the last westbound flight
from Monrovia will be on August 31st.
Thursday, 10 July 2014 01:38
E. J. Nathaniel Daygbor
Health workers in Liberia are said to be fleeing and returning from
their areas of assignment due to the increasing number of Ebola
patients. Some are said to have died from treating patients infected by
the deadly virus.
Speaking in plenary yesterday at the Capitol Building, Senate’s
Committee Chairman on Health, Dr. Peter Coleman disclosed that there
were 12 cases of health workers infected by the Ebola Virus- ten of whom
have already died; and as a result, trained and professional health
workers were leaving their areas of assignment at clinics and hospitals
for fear of being infected.
The Grand Kru County Senator noted
that the only option to maintain these health workers is for the
government to direct sufficient funds to efforts against the deadly
virus which has engulfed the sub region and could be uncontrollable for
months.
He said the Ministry of Health has proposed the amount of US$1.5 million to combat the epidemic or the population of the country could be in serious danger.
Maryland
County Senator H. Dan Morais called on the administration to decide on a
national state of emergency- an action that would enable officers of
the Armed Forces of Liberia along with health workers to be posted from
the Red-light via Gardnerville to the Gabriel Tucker Bridge for
inspection and testing to determine carriers of the virus.
The Liberian Senate, through a motion from Lofa County Senator George Tingbeh, agreed that the leaderships of the both House
of Representatives and Liberian Senate submit a resolution to President
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, calling for the immediate provision of the US$1.5
million in order to combat the deadly. On July 1, 2014, a medical
practitioner from Uganda, involved with the fight against the spread of
the Ebola virus in Liberia, died... http://www.thenewdawnliberia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12101:health-workers-flee-ebola&catid=46:health&Itemid=60
A
high level delegation from the World Health Organization (WHO) led by
Dr Keiji Fukunda, Assistant Director General for Health Security paid a
courtesy call on President Dr Ernest Bai Koroma at State House on
Wednesday 9th July while on its mission to evaluate the situation on the
ground and how best to partner with the Ministry of Health and
Sanitation to contain the Ebola outbreak in the country.
The
delegation was accompanied by the Minister of Health and Sanitation,
Miatta Kargbo. Other members of the delegation included Dr Benido
Impouma, WHO Ebola Coordinator in West Africa and Dr Jacob Mufunda, WHO
Country Representative in Sierra Leone.
Welcoming
the delegation, President Koroma commended the efforts of the Ministry
of Health and Sanitation for putting trained personnel in the field to
handle cases of Ebola in the two affected districts of Kailahun and
Kenema. “By the update we are getting,” the President said, “the Ebola
virus is a serious matter and needs very serious attention. Even though
the number of deaths has increased, we have cases of people that have
been discharged which is an indication that something positive is
happening,” he stressed.
Meanwhile,
the President also reported on government’s collaborative efforts
through ministries, parliamentarians and political parties in addressing
the challenges, especially the perception of local communities that
Ebola does not exist; a situation that has been addressed with high
sensitization campaigns. Now that the people have fully realized that
Ebola is real, President Koroma strongly appealed to all including donor
partners to come onboard to get rid of this deadly disease. “I am sure
with those collaborative efforts we will be able to address it and in
this regard we direly need the support of the international community to
align their own intervention with ours so as to work as a team. We
don’t need to have parallel programs in this approach.”
“I
am happy that you indicated that the situation has not yet gone out of
control. We hope that WHO will do all that it can to ensure that the
issue of additional professional equipment, ambulances, protective
gears, the training of people that will handle the situation within the
affected areas and also those that we need to put in a state of
preparedness out of Kenema and Kailahun districts will enhance and
continue the overall sensitization,” said President Koroma.
In
response, Dr Keiji Fukunda said the visit was not only to do an
assessment with respect to the gravity of the situation on the ground,
but to discuss with President Koroma and the people of Sierra Leone
about what WHO and other partners can do to help the country in the
fight against the outbreak. Dr Fukunda reported that during a meeting in
Accra on the Ebola outbreak in the sub-region, it was noted that
President Koroma’s speech on the outbreak was considered to be a
critical step forward as it captured the attention of all participants
owing to the tone and gravity of the situation reported in the speech.
According
to the WHO representative, some of the major challenges of the outbreak
have to do with people and communities being scared and terrified by
rumours, which he said are the most difficult things to address in such a
situation. He commended the efforts of the Health Minister, saying that
she has been on top of the situation. “I know that this kind of
situation needs the right staff and expertise, and WHO will therefore
continue working closely with the ministry and other organizations
working here to bring as much of the world’s resources as possible to
attend to this bad disease”.
Allaying
the fears of the people, the WHO Assistant Director General for Health
Security who had travelled with the Health Minister to Kailahun and
Kenema, disagreed with the views that the Ebola situation in the country
is out of control. “I don’t believe that the situation is out of
control; I do believe however that the situation is urgent and serious,
but I believe that the right steps have been implemented,” adding that
it is a matter of more persistence and more work to get a turn around.
He
further intimated that Ebola is now a sub-regional issue. “This is
really now a sub-regional issue and I think working with your
counterparts will be very important.” Dr Fukunda also noted that
countries like Uganda and DR Congo which had been previously affected
can be called upon to provide expertise and technical assistance to help
with the fight against the disease. “The appropriate person to call for
such assistance is you, Mr. President,” he suggested. http://www.statehouse.gov.sl/index.php/component/content/article/34-news-articles/909-who-delegation-pays-courtesy-call-on-president-koroma
DENVER (Reuters) - A Colorado man
diagnosed with pneumonic plague, a rare form of the disease that is also
the most life-threatening, is the state's first confirmed human case of
the illness in a decade, officials said on Wednesday.
The man was found to have the
disease after the family dog died unexpectedly, and a necropsy concluded
the animal was afflicted with pneumonic plague, the Colorado Department
of Public Health and Environment said in a statement. The
unidentified man and his dog were believed to have contracted the
disease in an eastern Colorado county. There was no word on the man's
condition.
The bacteria that causes plague occurs naturally in the
western United States, particularly in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona
and California, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The
plague is transmitted by fleas to rodents, usually prairie dogs. When
an infected animal dies, the disease is spread when the fleas find
another host.
Pneumonic plague is the same bacteria that causes
bubonic plague, but it infects a person's lungs. Symptoms include fever,
headaches, shortness of breath, chest pains and a cough.
It is
the most serious form of the disease, Colorado health officials said,
adding that it is the only form of plague that can be transmitted
person-to-person, usually through infectious droplets from coughing.
Since
1957, 60 human cases of pneumonic plague have been identified in
Colorado, and nine were fatal, the health department said.
"Although
human cases occur infrequently, plague is severe and potentially
life-threatening if not detected and quickly treated with common
antibiotics," the department said.
Medical Superintendent of the Nixon Hospital Dr. Tamba Missa
Residents of Kailahun especially in Segbwema
Town had been living in a state of panic since one of the major teaching
hospitals; Nixon Memorial Hospital permitted its students to go on
French Leave.The hospital which also serves as a major referral hospital
and its services almost came to a halt since the dreadful Ebola Disease
commenced a death race in the Kailahun District. Even though there has
been no report of Ebola patients in that Community, yet many residents
are now asking critical questions as to whether the hospital is not
prepared to fight the Ebola Disease.
In
times of war, when a barracks closes down, it is always a cause for
concern especially when there are not enough boots on the ground and
when the enemy is advancing. In most cases it is called tactical
withdrawal; but for strategic locations like these, the answer should be
to defend at all cost. Such sites should be well fortified to bring
security to its environs. The fall or capture of a major military
location is dangerous. The people are hoping that the Nixon Memorial
Hospital be re-opened to meet the challenges of the epidemic and be used
as a spring board to effectively contain the spread of the virus with
the supply of all necessary gargets to fight Ebola.
The morale of our frontline fighters (medical personnel and first handlers) must not be demoralized.
According
to the MP for Constituency 07, Hon. Abu Jajua, the people in his
constituency have complied with the government public notice to close
all schools and centres which gather people in large numbers. He said
the closure of the Nixon Memorial Teaching Hospital was due to lack of
medical equipment and protective gears to support staff to safely and
effectively handle Ebola cases that may be referred to the hospital.
Hon.
Jajua, said his constituents fear that all fever symptoms are now
regarded as suspected Ebola cases, and since Ebola treatment is free,
they can visit the hospital and take treatment without paying. When
asked whether medical students and staff should take part in the
effective training for this outbreak and any similar outbreak, he said
government should provide more support and training for staff and
students at the hospital and also noted that the hospital is running at a
loss because since the outbreak started no payment has been made for
any treatment as patients now claim that because of the Ebola,
government has made free treatment for all of them no matter their
ailment.
This he said has however greatly reduced the capacity of the hospital to administer generally to the people.
The
Manager of the Nixon Memorial Hospital, John Saffa told our reporter
recently in Segbwema that the absence of students in the hospital had
created panic among community members and the entire Eastern Province.
He said 80% of the job is being done by students as part of their
practicals and since they all went abandoned post, everything has come
to a standstill. According to him there were only 8 patients in the
entire hospital owning to the absence of the students. “The staff is
just there to support but the students do the bulk of the job” he
stated.
The Manager said they were earlier asked by the Nurses Board to close the Nixon Memorial Hospital.
Though they were reluctant, the local authorities later came in and compelled them to do so.
The
Councilor for Ward 24 Amos Kai said the closure of Nixon Memorial has
brought some doubt among the people of Kailahun and Segbwema in
particular. He said Nixon was a major referral and teaching hospital and
if a dreadful disease is now ravaging the lives of people in that area
the best they could have been done was to train the student nurses well
in order to properly handle the containment of the outbreak rather than
taking leave.
He
used this medium to appeal to the Government of Sierra Leone to
intervene immediate by ensuring that Nursing Students of Nixon Memorial
go back to work and be recruited for awareness raising and well trained
to combat the Ebola outbreak. He disclosed that nurses fight diseases as
soldiers fight wars but if they withdraw it will adversely affect the
people they are suppose to protect and such a situation will cause
panic.
In
his contribution, the Medical Superintendent of the Nixon Hospital Dr.
Tamba Missa said even though they are contributing immensely to the
health service delivery of Sierra Leone, but most often the District
Health Management Team in Kailahun always neglect them. He disclosed
that as a missionary hospital they rendered free TB services for the
people but they always find it difficult to receive their drug
supplies.According to him, the hospital deserves to be equipped in order
to fight Ebola. http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/article_200525732.shtml
The Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Immigration Service, Francis
Palm Deti has said new arrangements have been put in place at major
entry points to screen foreigners visiting the country.
He said at the Elubo border, personnel of the Ports Health Authority
(PHA) have started carrying out initial screening of passengers onboard
buses before they enter the country.
According to him, it is a way of ensuring that possible carriers of the
deadly Ebola virus which allegedly killed an American Monday afternoon
at the Nyaho Clinic are identified and immediately handled properly.
Meanwhile, as a result of the American’s death, Ghana’s Health Ministry
met with stakeholders Tuesday to strategize on how to contain the
deadly Ebola virus, should it break out in the country.
The man arrived from Guinea on Sunday and reported at the infirmary for medical attention.
Mr Deti said there were no visible quarantine zones available yet to
keep suspected carriers of the virus but assured the PHA would have such
a facility somewhere around the entry point to serve as a useful hub to
detain persons who have all kinds of ailments.
He said prohibited immigrants who refused to submit to medical
screening when needed would be put back on the flight refused entry into
Ghana.
Initial tests run on the American at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for
Medical Research (NMIMR), according to hospital sources, was
inconclusive because the officials used the wrong reagent (chemical).
Hospital sources told Joy News “the test should have taken Noguchi not more than five hours.”
The final results of his blood samples are yet to be made public.
Myjoyonline.com also learnt that the samples were likely to be flown to
Atlanta in the United States for further testing.
There have been some 467 deaths out of 759 cases reported in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia as at June 30, this year.
The Public Relations Officer of the Health Ministry, Tony Goodman
earlier told Myjoyonline.com that the Ministry had requested for some
reagents from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology to
help the investigations.
TNN
|
Jul 9, 2014, 01.44 AM ISTPassengers
flying in from the Middle East and West Africa will be screened for
Mers-Cov and Ebola virus at all Indian airports from September. The move
comes after WHO advised all countries to step up surveillance of
respiratory illnesses and monitor unusual patterns.
The
government plan to start stepping up screening procedures at airports
and hospitals comes ahead of the Haj season, which is likely to see
around 1,36,000 Indians visit Saudi Arabia and return. The Haj season
this year is between October 1 and 6.
"We have requested
airport authorities to start informing us when Haj pilgrims start
returning to the country," said deputy director of public health A
Somasundaram. "But we intend to start screening all passengers returning
from Saudi Arabia at least a month earlier," he added. A team from the
state's public health department will be posted at all the international
airports in the state from September. "All the state governments in
other states will also be doing the same in their respective
international airports," he said.
While passengers from Saudi
Arabia will be screened for Mers-Cov (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome
Coronavirus), all passengers from Sierra Leone and Guinea will be
screened for Ebola virus. Though no case of Mers-Cov or Ebola
has been reported in India, Mers cases were seen in the United States in
May this year. "All the cases in the US had a history of travel to
Saudi Arabia. Some had worked in hospitals that treated patients with
this condition," said the World Health Organization website.
Mers-Cov was first seen in 2012. Transmitted through air, it presents
itself through cough and fever, and shortness of breath. It causes a
condition called atypical pneumonia. WHO has recorded 701 cases and 249
deaths worldwide.
Ebola is a disease caused by a virus by that
name. Symptoms start two to three weeks after contracting the virus. It
begins with fever, muscle pain and headache, and slowly adds diarrhea
and nausea.
The state's public health department met on Monday
to review the control of epidemics. "WHO has issued a red alert of three
viruses—dengue, Mers-Cov and Ebola. Since all these viruses spread
easily, we will initiate measures for detection, quarantine and
treatment," said a public health department official.
GENEVA, July 8 (Reuters) - Fifty new cases of Ebola and 25
deaths have been reported in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea
since July 3,as the deadly virus continues to spread, the World
Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
In a statement, the United Nations agency said that the
latest figures from health ministries in the three countries
showed a total of 844 cases including 518 deaths in the epidemic
that began in February.
Guinea's ministry reported two deaths since July 3, but no
new cases in the past week, the WHO said, calling the situation
in the affected region of West Africa a "mixed picture".
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Louise Ireland) http://af.reuters.com/article/liberiaNews/idAFL6N0PJ3H820140708
...Meanwhile, the Health Ministry has said that at least 41 persons have
now been confirmed killed by the virus since the outbreak was reported
in Liberia on March 22. However, the Ministry also said that 46 other
deaths, have reported to be in the “probable” and “suspected” cases;
this brings the total number of deaths to 87 in the “confirmed, probable
and suspected” category.
Of the number of deaths in all the cases, 47 are reported to have
taken place in Lofa, five in Margibi and 35 in Montserrado. Among these
deaths are 11 health workers.
The Ministry further said it has so far confirmed 63 nationally to
have contracted the virus and additional 38 and 30 fall within the
probable and suspected cases, making it 131 cases in all the cases,
including “probable, confirmed and suspected.” http://www.liberianobserver.com/news/good-news-ebola-fight-least-five-have-%E2%80%98successfully-recovered%E2%80%99
Dr. Jill Biden, wife of the Vice President of the United States of
America, Joe Biden has arrived in Freetown on a-two day working visit.
The visit of Dr. Biden to Sierra Leone accompanied by Catherine Russel,
US Ambassador at-large for Global Women’s Issues marks the end of
a-three country tour of Africa following visits[...] http://awoko.org/2014/07/07/sierra-leone-news-salone-welcomes-us-vice-presidents-wife/
An Ebola virus patient being carried on a stretcher
The American who was suspected to be carrying the Ebola virus at the
Nyaho Clinic in Accra is reported dead after blood testing on him
revealed signs of the disease were glaring. The said American, name withheld, died yesterday afternoon while under surveillance at the infirmary. He arrived from Guinea on Sunday and reported at the clinic for medical attention. As a result, Ghana’s Health Ministry is currently having a crunch meeting with stakeholders on the matter. The said meeting is supposed to strategize on how to contain the deadly Ebola virus, should it break out in the country.
There have been some 467 deaths of 759 cases reported in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia by the close of June 30, this year. The initial tests run on the American, now deceased, according to the
source, was inconclusive because the officials used the wrong reagent. The sources, who are medical practitioners, told Joy News “the test should have taken Noguchi not more than five hours.”
But Myjoyonline.com learnt from the Public Relations Officer of the
Health Ministry, Tony Goodman that his outfit had requested for some
reagents from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology to
further help with the investigations. Signals are that the blood samples could also be flown to Atlanta in the United States for further testing. Early on, Head of Disease Surveillance at the Ghana Health Service,
Dr. Badu Sarkodie told Joy News more work would be done later today on
the sample before a substantive conclusion could be determined. http://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2014/July-8th/nyaho-clinic-suspected-ebola-virus-patient-dies.php
Research scientist Glenn Marsh
working at CSIRO'™s Australian Animal Health Laboratory in Geelong. Photo: Supplied
![Reuters]({"default":"http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/4a/e07b8dadb83df2faa22fa8d5ea4068/_h17_w0_m6_otrue_lfalse.gif"})
