The birthplace of an outbreak

A portrait of Sierra Leone in the wake of the Ebola virus

Photos by Pete Muller/Prime for The Washington Post

Published on August 28, 2014

The epicenter of the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone sits in the rural Kailahun district. Nearly half of the country’s Ebola cases have been found there. The province shares a border with Guinea and Liberia, the two other nations hardest hit by the worst Ebola outbreak in history.

ABOVE: A boy wanders through a field of rice near the village of Dia, Sierra Leone, in August. Many of the country’s Ebola cases are found in rural areas.

In Kailahun, the aid group Doctors Without Borders has established a treatment center with more than 80 beds. Caring for Ebola patients is difficult, stressful work. The virus spreads by contact with bodily fluids, such as blood, urine and sweat. So medical staff must wear specialized protective gear that covers them head to toe. Everything is washed down with chlorinated water, as disinfection is a major concern. There is no cure for Ebola, and survival rates hover around 50 percent.

Staff must not only care for patients, but they must carefully bury the dead. Traditional practices require family members to wash the body and touch it before burial. But someone who has died from Ebola is especially contagious. The virus is literally spilling out of their skin. Many infections are blamed on burial practices. So Red Cross teams have been tasked with retrieving the bodies of people even suspected of having the disease. More than 240 health-care workers have been infected by Ebola during the West African outbreak. “The emotional burden of doing this is high,” said Walter Lorenzi, head of mission for Doctor Without Borders in Sierra Leone. “The stress, sometimes, can be too much.”

Kailahun

Residents of Kailahun gather along a river at dusk in August. The Kailahun district, in eastern Sierra Leone, has been heavily affected by the ongoing Ebola outbreak. School has been suspended, and residents live in fear. A Doctors Without Borders treatment center in Kailahun is the largest in history. Caring for the disease’s victims has been in­cred­ibly stressful and dangerous.

Dia

Members of a Red Cross burial team take samples from a woman suspected of dying from Ebola in the village of Dia in August. The government of Sierra Leone mandates that all deaths in which the cause is unclear be treated as potential Ebola cases. Contact with the bodies of Ebola victims is a leading cause of virus transmission. “Safe burials” are conducted by the International Federation of the Red Cross in accordance with rigorous safety procedures. The workers must put on personal protective equipment before entering the home.

Sengema

Residents of Sengema, including relatives of a man suspected of dying of Ebola, gather in August to watch Red Cross workers prepare and take the man’s body. The dead bodies of Ebola victims are extremely infectious because the virus is transmitted by bodily fluids, such as sweat, urine and blood. Family and community members are encouraged not to touch the bodies of those suspected of dying from Ebola. As a result, traditional funeral ceremonies have been seriously disrupted by the outbreak. Bodies are buried away from residential areas to reduce the risk of infection.

Kenema

Sierra Leone’s police and military have established numerous checkpoints on roads leading into and out of Ebola-affected areas. People denied passage at a checkpoint outside of Kenema wait in August. Only those with a government-issued permit are allowed to cross Ebola quarantine checkpoints. http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/style/2014/08/28/ebola-outbreak/

An Ominous Ebola Forecast

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD 

AUG. 28, 2014

The World Health Organization warned on Thursday that the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, already the largest outbreak ever recorded, is going to get much worse over the next six months, the shortest window in which it might conceivably be brought under control. By then, the organization said, the virus could infect more than 20,000 people, almost seven times the current number of reported cases.

It is a frightening prospect that requires an urgent infusion of aid from public and private donors around the world. The situation as described by the health agency is so dire and the resources needed so daunting that it is hard to see how they can be supplied anytime soon.

The agency issued a road map listing tasks that must be carried out by countries with Ebola cases, nearby countries, the international community and nongovernmental organizations if the epidemic is to be contained.

A top official said the road map would require at least 750 international and 12,000 local health workers on the front lines delivering care. How can impoverished countries whose health workers are falling ill and dying or fleeing in fear possibly supply that many caregivers? If they cannot muster those workers, it seems inevitable that wealthier nations will need to step in with more personnel, but they, too, may have difficulty recruiting people.

The World Health Organization is belatedly catching up to a warning issued in June by Doctors Without Borders, a group that has been delivering care in some of the hardest hit areas, that said the epidemic was out of control. On Thursday, the health agency said that the reported death toll had risen to 1,552, from 3,069 cases of infection in four West African countries — Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria — and that the actual toll could be up to four times higher because many cases go undetected or unreported. That suggests there could already be up to 12,000 cases.

A top American official on the scene in West Africa said the situation is far worse than anticipated and raised concerns that, with each passing day, the virus might spread to additional countries. More than 40 percent of the total number of reported cases have occurred in the past three weeks. Most of those cases are concentrated in a few localities, offering hope that the outbreaks can be contained if more resources are sent to those places.

The road map could cost almost h... http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/29/opinion/an-ominous-ebola-forecast.html?_r=1

Collaborator MSF quarantined in Brussels is not suffering from Ebola

employee of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) quarantined in a Brussels hospital after suspected Ebola contamination, do not suffer
False alarm! Collaborator doctor Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which was in quarantine in a Brussels hospital after suspected Ebola infection, would not have the virus ravaging West Africa. "It is almost certain, but to be completely sure, a second test will be performed on Monday," explained Sven Heyndrickx the FPS Public Health.
This was the first real suspected case in Belgium.
Thursday noon, the man fell ill while giving training to the association on the Tour & Taxis in Brussels. As he was returning from a risk area, it was immediately transferred to St. Peter's Hospital. "This man met the three conditions of the high-risk category: it comes from a country affected by the disease, he was in personal contact with it and he has a fever," said Sven Heyndrickx... https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lesoir.be%2F640054%2Farticle%2Factualite%2Fsciences-et-sante%2F2014-08-29%2Fcollaborateur-msf-mis-en-quarantaine-bruxelles-n-est-pas-atteint-d-ebola&edit-text=

Children under attack in Kansas City… Two Viral Outbreaks… One Hospital Basically Locked Down to Non Patients.

August 29th, 2014

The First is Hand, Foot, and Mouth… No Biggie? Right… But I was working while this station was on it’s afternoon news cycle and several times they stated Children’s Mercy Hospital had stopped allowing non-patients in the hospital for fear of Hand, Foot and Mouth affecting any immuno-compromised children who were already admitted. 

http://www.kmbc.com/health/doctors-see-spike-in-cases-of-common-childhood-virus/27775414#!bL9vPE

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. —Johnson County doctors said they’re seeing an overwhelming number of patients being treated for the childhood virus known as hand, foot and mouth disease.

“Kids have been out running around, doing all their stuff and now we throw them all into a classroom together,” said pediatrician Dr. Steve Lauer of the University of Kansas Hospital. “They start coughing on each other, touching each other.” 

Some of the symptoms include a fever, sore throat and painful sores in the mouth. Patients may also get a skin rash on their hands and feet.

The virus is easily spread and there’s no vaccine to protect against it, so doctors hope people can focus on practices that keep it from spreading.
_________________________________________________________

No mention of Children’s Mercy Hospital in THIS ARTICLE OR VIDEO? But the live news cycle mentioned this several times. 

_________________________________________________________

Ok Story #2… Made the Drudge Report: MYSTERY: MO hospital treats hundreds of children for unusual virus…

So this second virus is called Enterovirus 68.
Media Hype aside… This is a virus that seems to strike QUICKLY. Targets children, and is causing hospitals to see FLU Season levels of patients. 

http://fox4kc.com/2014/08/28/unusual-respiratory-virus-enterovirus-68-strikes-metro-kids/

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An unusual respiratory virus is striking children in the metro in big numbers. Children’s Mercy Hospital is hospitalizing 20 to 30 kids a day with the virus. The hospital is as full now as it is at the height of flu season.

This is not the same virus we told you about several weeks ago that can cause meningitis. This one can cause severe breathing trouble. Children’s Mercy has seen more than 300 cases in recent days in kids of all ages.(WTF)

Preston Sheldon’s mom says he seemed fine when she took him to pre-school Tuesday. But minutes later, the Grain Valley mom got the call. Her three-year-old son was having trouble breathing.

“You could see his ribs, and his stomach was pushing out really hard… I thought it was an asthma attack,” said Pam Sheldon.

“”To try to stop the spread, Children’s Mercy has posted signs at security entrances saying children 12 or younger should not visit in-patients. Nor should those with symptoms visit.“”
_______________________________________________________

So WTF is going on in KC… and for the record Overland Park IS the City in Kansas that borders Kansas City.

And this is the first time Enterovirus 68 has EVER been seen in Kansas City. 

Enterovirus can cause POLIO type symptoms. 

WTF is going on in KC?

 http://investmentwatchblog.com/children-under-attack-in-kansas-city-two-viral-outbreaks-one-hospital-basically-locked-down-to-non-patients/#w0djyhT6LbO3FFJe.99

Unusual respiratory virus strikes hundreds of metro kids-enterovirus 68

Unusual respiratory virus strikes hundreds of metro kids

Updated at 08:42am, August 29, 2014

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An unusual respiratory virus is striking children in the metro in big numbers. Children’s Mercy Hospital is hospitalizing 20 to 30 kids a day with the virus. The hospital is as full now as it is at the height of flu season.
This is not the same virus we told you about several weeks ago that can cause meningitis. This one can cause severe breathing trouble. Children’s Mercy has seen more than 300 cases in recent days in kids of all ages.
Preston Sheldon’s mom says he seemed fine when she took him to pre-school Tuesday. But minutes later, the Grain Valley mom got the call. Her three-year-old son was having trouble breathing.
“You could see his ribs, and his stomach was pushing out really hard… I thought it was an asthma attack,” said Pam Sheldon.
But it was a virus that is inundating Children’s Mercy with patients.
“To be at winter census is quite unusual in August obviously. To see a virus we’ve not seen before is unusual, too,” said Dr. Mary Anne Jackson, an infectious disease specialist.
It is enterovirus 68. The doctor says it’s well-known around the world, but cases have not been seen in Kansas City before.
“We have about 10 to 15 percent who have severe illness from this virus which actually acts like asthma exacerbations,” said Dr. Jackson.
She says about two-thirds of the hospitalized cases are in children like Preston who have a history of asthma or wheezing. But others are having trouble breathing, too. She says the virus will produce an ordinary cold in many kids. What should parents watch for?
“The difficulty breathing is a very obvious tip-off sign they need to come into the hospital,” said Dr. Jackson.
To try to stop the spread, Children’s Mercy has posted signs at security entrances saying children 12 or younger should not visit in-patients. Nor should those with symptoms visit.
Dr. Jackson says good hand washing, covering your cough and not sending your child to school if he or she appears sick can help control the spread.
There’s no anti-viral medicine for enterovirus 68 and no vaccine. Supportive care, including oxygen, has helped Preston. His mom is glad they didn’t wait to go to the emergency room.
“Cause it can hit really fast. And without medical treatment, it could get really bad,” she said. http://fox4kc.com/2014/08/28/unusual-respiratory-virus-enterovirus-68-strikes-metro-kids/

Ebola: the failures of the international outbreak response

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29 August 2014

First published in Le Temps on 27 August 2014.

Caroline Van Nespen/MSF

One of the MSF staff members at the Ebola treatment Centre in Monrovia. At the moment, MSF deployed a team of 350 people in Liberia only. A number which should increase in the days / weeks to come.

Dead bodies in the street, families wiped out, dozens of health care workers infected, hospitals shut down and panic and mistrust in the eyes of the people in the streets. This is what Médecins Sans Frontières usually sees in countries that are ravaged by war, but in Sierra Leone, Liberia and - to a lesser extent – Guinea, it is Ebola that is generating immense, public distress. As of today more than 1,427 patients have succumbed to Ebola viral disease and the care centres established by Médecins Sans Frontières are overwhelmed. On 8 August, far too late, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Ebola epidemic a public health emergency of international concern. However, it had been officially declared in West Africa since March 2014. Health systems have imploded
The disaster is becoming even more dramatic as the health systems in the affected region have imploded. Patients are dying of Ebola, but also of malaria, diarrhoea or complicated deliveries due to the absence of effective medical care. In Liberia especially, hospitals are deserted. And fear is spreading.
MSF has been responding to the crisis since March 2014. We have opened up more and more isolation centres throughout the affected countries to care for the sick and we have assisted the communities. For the last three months, we have actively been calling for more hands-on assistance to control the epidemic and to provide the best possible care to patients.
International response is slow, derisory, irresponsible
However, the international response is slow and derisory. It can equally be defined as irresponsible. Today, only a handful of international actors are engaged in the fight against Ebola. But this is nowhere near enough. This is an exceptional crisis, the number of new infections is still on the rise, and the virus has a serious potential to spread to other countries.
Promises of funding and political statements are not sufficient – decisive action is needed now. Case finding must be intensified, more isolation centres have to be set up, epidemiological surveillance and laboratory capacity have to be reinforced, contact tracing and follow-up must be strengthened, communities must be sensitised, experienced staff and training are needed in the field, and general health services must be reopened: these activities must be properly coordinated inside and beyond the borders of the affected countries. This necessitates a hands-on, operational approach.
The situation can only be reversed if there is a significant commitment of states with available effective disaster response capacity - be it through civil protection mechanisms, the support of military medicine units or of logistics or medical staff who are used to working with strict infection prevention and control measures.
Closure of international borders
The successive closure of international borders including air travel renders our efforts increasingly difficult. Infected medical personnel cannot be evacuated anymore – another layer of collective irresponsibility. The international community must ensure that those who try to contain the outbreak can enter and leave the affected countries if need be. A functional system of medical evacuation has to be set up urgently.
Why is it that the international community is largely relying on the very fragile health systems in the affected countries to manage an international health crisis of this scope? And why are they entrusting global health security to private organisations that have, by nature, limited capacities to respond to major outbreaks? It is irresponsible to place exclusive management of such a devastating, deadly epidemic on the back of overwhelmed nations such as Sierra Leone and Liberia while praying that the private sector is filling the gaps left by the shortfalls of its heath system.
MSF asks for more: not lip service, but action
MSF has accumulated significant experience in dealing with Ebola outbreaks over the last 20 years. During the same period, operational capacities in the United Nations  system have been gradually reduced through reforms. For example, the restructuring of the World Health Organization in Geneva has led to the closure of its viral hemorrhagic fever unit. Member states should be held accountable for an unceasing reduction of response capacity. A destructive spiral has materialised, leading to what we see today: lack of leadership, deficient coordination and, last but not least, a striking absence of operational capacity. This is compounded by the fact that the international community simply doesn’t feel responsible for responding to what is happening in regions that are not perceived as politically or economically interesting.
Crises that are threatening global health security demand a commitment from all states. Once this commitment is ensured, response capacity can be built around either existing or newly established institutions or networks.
It is shortsighted of developed nations to limit their response to the potential arrival of one infected patient on their territory. If the aim is to avoid further spread of the epidemic, we have to control transmission of the virus. And this is only possible by caring for patients in West Africa.
Today and again, Médecins Sans Frontières asks for more – not more lip service, but more action.
Thomas Nierle (President) and Bruno Jochum (General Director)  http://www.msf.org/article/ebola-failures-international-outbreak-response

India-No Suspected Ebola Patient in the Last 24 Hours

No Suspected Ebola Patient in the Last 24 Hours

Updated: August 29, 2014 21:11 IST

New Delhi:  A total 161 passengers from the affected countries have arrived in India in the last 24 hours and no suspected case of Ebola patient has been admitted to any of the identified health facilities.

Three passengers from Sierra Leone who were admitted to the quarantine cum isolation facility at Delhi airport yesterday tested negative and were released from this facility, Health Ministry said.
Passengers have arrived at the airports of Mumbai (48), Delhi (73), Kochi (1), Bangalore (20), Kolkata(2) and Chennai (16) and Hyderabad (1).

Meanwhile state governments have been provided with the details of those 113 (including 2 Nepalese Nationals) passengers who were brought back by M/s Afcons and International SOS from Liberia to India.

"The Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) is tracking these passengers. Report has been received from the state IDSP units of 10 of the 20 states about 35 passengers being monitored. All are healthy," said Health Ministry officials.

Further, immigration officers have been trained in 12 of the 18 airports, where connecting flights arrive from the affected countries.

Crew members of flights arriving at Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kochi and Trivandrum (11 airlines) have been sensitised on the measures to be taken by the airline crew and on the standard operating procedures for passenger screening at the airports by Airport Health Organizations, they said.

Story First Published: August 29, 2014 20:13 IST http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/no-suspected-ebola-patient-in-the-last-24-hours-583898

 

Seychelles now requires advance Visa from West African visitors

Better safe than sorry – Seychelles now requires advance Visa from West African visitors

Posted August 17, 2014 by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang H. Thome
The Seychelles have with immediate effect introduced Visa requirements for visitors from West Africa and have listed a number of countries, not only those affected by the current Ebola outbreak but also countries bordering them. Visitors, citizens and persons living there alike, from the following countries are affected and need to place a Visa application with the nearest Seychelles diplomatic office: Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Mali, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Congo, DR Congo, Gambia, Mauritania and Senegal. The decision was taken after intergovernmental consultations bringing together the Ministries of Health, Home Affairs & Transport and Tourism & Culture.
Seychelles citizens wanting to travel to these countries equally now require formal permission from the office of the Commissioner for Public Health although government sources stressed that this was not a travel ban but simply a precautionary measure to make sure Seychellois’ are not heading into the Ebola danger zone. Expatriates working in the Seychelles were also advised to refrain from travelling to West Africa or else risk being denied re-entry until the outbreak has been officially declared over by the WHO.
Visitors arriving from Ebola affected countries should be aware that they will be placed under a 21 day precautionary quarantine for close observation to establish if any symptoms of the disease will develop. The Seychelles health authorities have made provisions for such cases.
It was also stressed to this correspondent that any visitors arriving from Yellow Fever zoned countries MUST carry a current Yellow Fever Inoculation Certificate from recognized medical facilities or clinics which must be presented at the health desk in the arrival hall of the international airport BEFORE proceeding to immigration.
Better safe than sorry comes to mind as the Seychelles truly is Another World. http://wolfganghthome.wordpress.com/2014/08/17/better-safe-than-sorry-seychelles-now-requires-advance-visa-from-west-african-visitors/

Ebola: Enuemo’s wife, three months old baby in Lagos

on August 29, 2014   

PORT HARCOURT  (AFP) – Some 160 people are being medically monitored in Port Harcourt after a doctor died from the virus, the local government said on Friday.
“As of today, none of them has shown symptoms of any kind. We are in touch with them constantly and they also call us to tell us their condition,” Rivers State health commissioner Sampson Parker told a news conference in the city.
The Nigerian government announced on Thursday that the doctor was Nigeria’s sixth person to die from the haemorrhagic fever and the first outside the country’s biggest city, Lagos.
Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers state, is the centre of Nigeria’s oil industry and is home to a number of oil majors, including Anglo-Dutch giant Shell, France’s Total and US firm Chevron.
The doctor, Ikyke Samuel Enuemo, fell ill after treating an official from the ECOWAS regional bloc, who travelled to the city after coming into contact with a Liberian-American man who brought the virus into Nigeria and died on July 25.
The official slipped through the surveillance net in Lagos. He was brought back to Lagos but found to have recovered from the virus, health minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said.
Enuemo’s wife, who gave birth only three months ago, is ill with symptoms of the disease and has been placed in quarantine.
She requested to be moved out of Port Harcourt for “emotional reasons” and has been taken to an isolation unit in Lagos for further observation and treatment, Parker told reporters.
“She is also a doctor. Her three-month-old baby is alive and well. The result of the test conducted on her (for Ebola) is not yet out,” he added.
Six people have died of the disease in Africa’s most populous country.
Specialists from the World Health Organization, the United States and Britain have joined experts from the Nigerian government in Rivers State to check the spread of the virus.
Rivers state has a quarantine centre at Oduoha, about 25 kilometres (16 miles) east of the city as well as a special isolation ward for Ebola patients at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH).
Neither has received any patient, Parker said.
A mobile laboratory has arrived in the city while the hotel where the ECOWAS official was treated has been decontaminated, as have the hospital where Enuemo was treated, his house and the morgue at UPTH.  http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/08/ebola-enuemos-wife-three-months-old-baby-in-lagos/

New Outbreak of African Swine Fever Reported in Ivory Coast #ebola

Pigs, humans and #ebola in close quarters..

29 August 2014
IVORY COAST - There has been a new outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) reported in the Ivory Coast, San-Pedro area.
The outbreak has affected 600 out of 1,500 domesticated pigs on a farm in San-Pedro.
All of the 600 pigs died suddenly; no animals were destroyed. 
The source of the outbreak is thought to have been swill feeding.
The last outbreak of African Swine Fever in the country was in December 1996.

http://www.thepigsite.com/swinenews/37526/new-outbreak-of-african-swine-fever-reported-in-ivory-coast

Sister Of Dead Ebola Doctor Escapes From Port Harcourt As 200 Are Quarantined In Rivers State

SaharaReporters has learned that a sister of a Port Harcourt-based medical doctor, Iyke Enemuo, who recently died from the Ebola virus, fled to Abia State to avoid being quarantined along with others who came into contact with the late doctor.

---

by SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK Aug 29, 2014

SaharaReporters has learned that a sister of a Port Harcourt-based medical doctor, Iyke Enemuo, who recently died from the Ebola virus, fled to Abia State to avoid being quarantined along with others who came into contact with the late doctor. However, one of her siblings, who is also a doctor, forced her to return to the quarantine center in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State. A nurse helps a health worker put on protective gear before treating Ebola patients at a clinic in Kailahun, Sierra Leone, in July. NPR

The woman helped care for her doctor brother as he suffered from the debilitating disease caused by the Ebola virus.
At least 200 people who came in contact with Dr. Enemuo, who died last Friday in Port Harcourt, have been placed in quarantine for close medical watch.
Dr. Enemuo had contracted the virus when he was secretly treating a staff of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) who, in turn, had had contact with Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian-American who initially brought the disease into Nigeria. Mr. Sawyer had slumped at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos shortly after arriving there on July 20. He was rushed to a Lagos Hospital where he died five days later. A doctor, Ameyo Stella Adadevoh, and two nurses who helped care for Mr. Sawyer in Lagos have also died.
SaharaReporters discovered that the ECOWAS diplomat who had had contact with Mr. Sawyer flew to Port Harcourt the same day the Liberian American died, and met up with Dr. Enemuo. Apparently aware of the deadly nature of the disease afflicting the diplomat, Dr. Enemuo opted to treat him secretly at a local hotel.
After recovering, the ECOWAS staff flew back to Lagos to seek clearance to travel out of Nigeria. Quarantined and checked for Ebola in Lagos, he was found to be free of the virus. However, a few days after he left Port Harcourt, Dr. Enemuo took ill and was hospitalized at Good Health Hospital in Port Harcourt where he died of the disease.
The hospital has been closed down, and close to 70 people immediately quarantined by Nigerian health officials. However, as at last night, more than 200 people who had been in contact with Dr. Enemuo and the ECOWAS diplomat had been quarantined as well. Dr. Enemuo’s wife recently took ill with Ebola http://saharareporters.com/2014/08/29/sister-dead-ebola-doctor-escapes-port-harcourt-200-are-quarantined-rivers-statesymptoms.

Friday, August 29, 2014 by Agence France-Presse (AFP ©)

Nigeria / Ebola: 160 people under surveillance after the death of a doctor

DR.
Port Harcourt (Nigeria) - Some 160 people were placed under surveillance in Port Harcourt, the city in southern Nigeria where a doctor died of the Ebola virus, but no new cases have been discovered so far, said Friday the Minister of Local Health.
Port Harcourt is the hub of oil production in Nigeria. Several foreign majors are installed, such as Anglo-Dutch Shell, the French Total and American Chevron.
Until now, none (of those involved) showed any symptoms of any kind, said Sampson Parker, Minister of Health of Rivers State, including Port Harcourt is the capital.
The widow of the deceased physician, doctor herself, was sent to Lagos to his request and placed in solitary confinement pending the outcome of the tests, he has said.
The baby of the couple, three months old, is healthy, has he added.
160 people followed were in contact with the doctor died, his wife, or the man who infected the doctor, a diplomat of ECOWAS (the West African regional organization), himself healthy after yet developed symptoms of Ebola.
The announcement Thursday of the death of the doctor, which occurred on August 22, has revived fears of the spread of Ebola in Nigeria, as the epidemic seemed subdued.
The most populous nation in Africa, with 170 million people country, regrets that six deaths and 15 confirmed cases of Ebola for a month, without a common assessment measure with the three countries in West Africa where epidemic flames, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
According to Mr. Parker, American experts, British and WHO and the Nigerian federal government arrived in Rivers state to help take the necessary measures to prevent any further spread of the deadly virus.
The hospital where the doctor was treated died, the morgue and his home were decontaminated, he has said.
Health authorities have a special treatment center with an isolation room at the University Hospital in Port Harcourt and a quarantine center 25 kilometers from the city, but none has yet received a patient has the minister said.

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.afriscoop.net%2Fjournal%2Fspip.php%3Farticle13220%23.U-qMK_9m4A4.twitter&edit-text=

Experimental Ebola drug shows 100% success in monkeys

The Ebola virus as viewed through an electron microscope. (Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine)

CTVNews.ca Staff Published Friday, August 29, 2014 1:06PM EDT

An experimental Ebola drug used to treat monkeys has been shown to reverse the virus in the infected primates.
The research paper published online in the journal Nature on Friday shows the drug, called ZMapp, resulted in 100 per cent recovery in the 18 monkeys tested.
The drug, developed by Canadian and U.S. researchers, was credited with helping two American aid workers who were infected with Ebola in Liberia. They both have since recovered from the virus.

The experimental drug requires safety testing in humans, but the researchers said the drug could be a promising option for treating the ongoing Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 1,500 people in Western Africa.
The authors reported that three doses of ZMapp, administered at three-day intervals beginning on the third, fourth or fifth day after monkeys were infected with Ebola, resulted in the survival of all 18 animals.
The treatment reversed severe Ebola symptoms such as excessive bleeding and rashes.
The three monkeys that did not receive ZMapp all died of the Ebola virus by day eight.
The Ebola virus strain used to infect monkeys in the experiment is different than the strain in the current West Africa outbreak. However, the authors noted that they studied the two strains and concluded that ZMapp can prevent replication of the Ebola strain in Africa. http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/experimental-ebola-drug-shows-100-success-in-monkeys-1.1982965

West Point Quarantine Illegally Violated by security officers

Drop-off Point to West Point

Fri, 08/29/2014 - 08:23 admin

Quarantined residents getting much love from relatives on the outside; A ‘cold water’ opportunity for checkpoint commanders

By: 

Yewa Sandy

Liberian law enforcement has been enabling personal contact between quarantined residents of West Point and the general public, including persons who want to drop off food provisions and other essential items that those quarantined might need.
According to citizens who stood in line at the checkpoint on lower Mechlin Street at Waterside, they have been able to bring items such as food, charcoal, cosmetics, rice and other necessary items that their relatives in West Point might not otherwise have access to as a result of the government-imposed quarantine.
“This is my third time in line and I always make sure to bring exactly what my mother says she needs here. Sometimes I leave small thing with the police to make sure that she gets everything that I send,” stated Princess, who stood in line patiently for her turn.

Another witness, who asked not to be named, said that she has seen some of the West Pointers themselves stand in line to collect their goods from the law enforcement officers, outside the check point area.
“They don’t come right here to where we stand in line, but usually when the law enforcement officers’ hearts cut, they can allow some of us to go inside waterside to give the things to our relatives and take whatever they have for us too,” she added.
Assistant Minister for Public Affairs at the Ministry of Defense, David Dahn acknowledged the arrangement, saying that in spite of the quarantine order, “the opportunity exists” to convey goods in and out of the quarantine area “but with the coordination of the law enforcement officers.”
Lots of people were seen stacking bundles on their heads or resting them at their feet while waiting for the checkpoint commanders to allow them through to drop off their things. During the wait, a burst of noise came from one line as AFL/DEA officers were seen rushing there.
“Almost two days now, you people are refusing to take our things to our people, what happened?” the impatient crowd questioned as officers promised to situate them all.
Meanwhile, three boy scouts were also observed the going in and out at the check point, seemingly unnoticed by the officers who were assisting those on the line.
“As for us, we are free to go in and come out. We came to check for someone, and my brother came to buy something in waterside and also visit someone. As for the line, well, if you call your people to tell them you have something for them, they will come for whatever it is,” one of the scouts stated.

Also, an employee at the YMCA, identified as Nathan, was seen taking pictures of immigration officers who ran after him while yelling, “He’s taking picture! We don’t take pictures here; we don’t allow anyone taking pictures, we don’t want to put you in trouble.”
Nathan, who said he wanted to take a photo of the drop off activity and post it on facebook to show the outside world how law enforcement officers, “take bribes to break the quarantine order” was given his silver and black camera back without the memory chip. The bribery allegation was denied by officers interviewed by the Daily Observer.
“They took my memory card, but it’s okay, I will get another one. The government is doing their job while security people are taking bribe to let people in and let people out,” he complained.
Many of the quarantined residents told the Daily Observer they are hoping the Government of Liberia could complete the process to enable them return to their normal lives.  http://www.liberianobserver.com/news/drop-point-west-point

Sierra Leone News: Clinical & Blood Bank labs closed in Kenema

Sierra Leone News: Clinical & Blood Bank labs closed in Kenema

Following the loss of a handful of its staff to the Ebola disease, the clinical and blood bank laboratories in Kenema have been closed indefinitely.
Information on the closure of the lab facility was disclosed to Awoko by the President of the Sierra Leone Medical Laboratory Association, Rtd. Captain Hafiju M. Kanja.
He said that the blood bank and the Clinical laboratory were housed in the same building where testing for the viral haemorrhagic fever-Ebola is being conducted.
The retired Captain said since the outbreak of the Ebola virus in the country, the laboratory department alone had lost six of its staff, five of whom died in just two days.

He listed them as: Hawa Samba, E.K.Fayia, Lansana Koroma, Gemba Brima and Brima Fambuleh in the clinical laboratory, and Mohamed Fullah in the Haemorrhagic laboratory who, he said, died few weeks ago in Kailahun management centre, following the death of Dr. Umar Khan.

Captain Kanja explained that the Blood bank is in a separate building where HIV and other tests are being conducted and the main clinical laboratory is hosted in the same building where Hemorrhagic fever tests are being conducted.
He said that because of the great loss they have experienced for the past two days, he has instructed his members to withhold their service for the next 21 days to observe whether  another case of Ebola infection will not come up among the remaining lab technicians.

He noted that the out-patients department where the malaria rapid test has been going on will still continue.
He added that doctors will now prescribe drugs based on the medical history of the patient. He described the situation as “unfortunate” as they too need to be protected.

He disclosed that after the death of Hawa Samba, an Indian laboratory scientist, Dr. Nadia working at Metabiota lab and John Goba attached to the Tulane University laboratory, provided them with some protective gears: the type they had been using earlier for Ebola prevention.

A visit to the main laboratory close to the Ebola case management centre, the only staff that was spotted around was the waiter at the entrance, whose job is to ensure that patients entering the lab washed their hands.
However, during the programme, members of the populace expressed fear that if the workers at the laboratory are not fully protected, they too will continue infecting patients from outside.
They viewed that now that the Haemorrhagic fever laboratory is temporarily closed in Kailahun district, more cases will be sent to Kenema and there will be more pressure on the few staff that will volunteer to work.
They therefore called on the government and international organizations for immediate intervention to rescue the situation before it gets out of control.
Friday August 29, 2014
http://awoko.org/2014/08/29/sierra-leone-news-clinical-blood-bank-labs-closed-in-kenema/

DRC: 7 new cases of Ebola in Djera

August 29, 2014
The Health Minister Felix Kabange, announced Thursday, Aug. 28 that seven new cases of Ebola have been confirmed by laboratory tests. Bringing to thirteen the number of people affected by the virus in the area Djera people in northern Ecuador, where the epidemic was declared. The Minister ensures that for now the epidemic is contained in this sector alone.
"Instead of six, we now have thirteen cases involved. The number of probable cases is still thirteen and the number of suspects is sixteen, "explains the Minister of Health.
The new cases were confirmed after analysis of samples taken from the seven suspects.
Moreover, Felix Kabange indicates that alerts reported in recent days in Kinshasa and Katanga Ebola virus proved false after analysis.
"I would like to point out that we had alerts. On Wednesday, we have a large warning in university clinics where we had two subjects (one adult with a bleeding nose with fever and a child of 9 years). Both cases were suspected of Ebola hemorrhagic fever. The samples were taken by the National Institute for Biomedical Research. The results have just been released tonight. Both are negative, "says the Minister of Health.
Felix Kabange adds that another suspected case in Katanga was also negative after analysis.
"We had a suspect who came Katanga. Suspected Ebola virus on an adult who went Malemba Nkulu to the hospital in Kamina. The sample was taken and the case is negative, "he says, confirming that the epidemic is still contained Djera.
"I continue to confirm there is no Ebola at Kinshasa. We continue to confirm that the positive Ebola cases are cases that are located at sector Djera "says the minister.  https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://radiookapi.net/actualite/2014/08/29/rdc-7-nouveaux-cas-debola-djera/&usg=ALkJrhg0KqBPtZxi9qIMWUKLQCnaL7TEQg

29 August 2014

Senegal: Health Minister Confirms First Ebola Case

Dakar, Senegal — A young Guinean infected with Ebola virus has been quarantined at the Hospital Fann of Dakar, the Minister of Health and Social Action, Awa Marie Cole Seck announced Friday.
'This 21 year old student at the University in Conakry (Guinea) was reported on August 27 by Guinean officials who had lost track of them, to Senegalese health authorities' said Mrs. Seck during a press conference.
The young person who presented himself at Fann (Hospital) for consultation was showing no signs of bleeding, the minister said, adding that his case is satisfactory and quite stable.
This is the first confirmed case of Ebola in Senegal, which had decided on Aug. 21 to continue to keep borders with Guinea closed, "taking into account the evolution of the Ebola virus, which constitutes a serious problem in global public health".
This measure is extended to air and sea borders for aircraft and ships from the Republic of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.  http://allafrica.com/stories/201408291564.html

Alert in Belgium for possible case of Ebola

Alert in Belgium for possible case of Ebola

29/08/2014

Brussels, (EFE) .- An aid worker being held in quarantine in a hospital in Brussels by "real" suspected of having contracted the Ebola virus, the Belgian Ministry of Public Health reported today.

The man, an employee of the international organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has been in contact with Ebola patients in a country in West Africa before returning to Brussels, about two weeks ago.
"His case meets the three conditions of the high-risk category: in a country has been affected by the disease, has been in contact with the disease and has a fever," he told the Belgian press ministry spokesman, Sven Heyndrickx.
The person, whose name and age have not been revealed, has started to feel ill on Thursday night and was immediately hospitalized.
Last week a first suspicion of Ebola in Belgium was ruled out.
It was a young 13 year old Guinean whose analyzes revealed that he was ill with malaria.  https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sondeo.com.mx%2Fsitio%2Findex.php%2Finternacional%2Fitem%2F4747-alerta-en-belgica-por-posible-caso-de-ebola.html&edit-text=

WHO: Most Ebola Cases Recorded This Week Since Outbreak Began

 | By BABACAR DIONE

Posted: 08/29/2014 8:26 am EDT Updated: 35 minutes ago

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — A man infected with Ebola traveled to Senegal, bringing the disease to that country for the first time in an outbreak that has hit four other West African nations and killed more than 1,500 people, the Ministry of Health said Friday.
The infected person, a university student from Guinea, sought treatment at a hospital in Senegal's capital, Dakar, on Tuesday but gave no indication he might have Ebola, Health Minister Awa Marie Coll Seck told reporters. The next day, an epidemiological surveillance team in Guinea alerted Senegalese authorities that they had lost track of a person who had had contact with sick people. The team said that the person disappeared three weeks ago and may have come to Senegal.
The student was tracked to the hospital in Dakar that same day and was immediately quarantined, Seck said.

A test has confirmed that he has Ebola, and the World Health Organization has been alerted.
The Ebola outbreak ravaging West Africa began last year in Guinea. Since then, the disease has spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. More than 3,000 people have contracted the disease, which is spread by bodily fluids and for which there is no licensed treatment or vaccine. A separate Ebola outbreak was reported this week in Congo, where 13 people have died from the disease.
The arrival of the dreaded disease in Senegal, which is a tourist destination and whose capital is a major transportation hub for the region, underscores that the outbreak remains out of control, despite efforts by the World Health Organization, Doctors Without Borders and other organizations.
WHO on Friday said the past week has seen the highest increase of cases — more than 500 — since the outbreak began.
It is not clear how or when the young man came to Senegal, which closed its border with Guinea last week. Seck said his condition is "satisfactory."
WHO, which is the U.N. health agency, has warned that the disease could eventually infect 20,000 people, and unveiled a plan Thursday to stop transmission in the next six to nine months.
But a top official from Doctors Without Borders, which is running many of the Ebola treatment centers, said the agency wasn't doing enough.
"The World Health Organization can't handle" the outbreak, Mego Terzian, the group's president for France, told France Inter radio. "I don't see how, with the current measures, we're going to control the outbreak."
He called for a far greater response from the international community, saying the U.N. Security Council should take up the matter and noting that there are countries with military medical units that could be useful.
In a detailed report Friday, WHO said more than 500 cases were recorded over the past week, by far the worst toll of any week so far. The week before, around 400 new cases were reported.
"There are serious problems with case management and infection prevention and control," the report said. "The situation is worsening in Liberia and Sierra Leone."
Because there is no known cure for Ebola, doctors can only isolate the sick and try to help their immune systems fight off the disease. But one previously untested drug has been tried in this outbreak. It's still unclear whether it's effective. On Friday, a Liberian physician's assistant and a Congolese doctor who received the ZMapp drug in Liberia were expected to be released from the hospital.
The California-based company that makes ZMapp has said its supplies are exhausted, and it will take months to make more.
The hardest-hit countries have sealed off entire villages or neighborhoods, several countries in the region have closed their borders and major airlines have suspended flights to those locations.
Measures to control the outbreak have sometimes provoked unrest. On Thursday, people in a town in southern Guinea ransacked a market that had been disinfected and attacked the vehicles of sanitation workers.
The World Health Organization has warned that closing borders is ineffective, especially in a region where people easily avoid official crossings, and that canceling flights is only exacerbating the crisis by making it harder to get aid workers and supplies into infected countries.
"We have to install health security measures at airports and on borders," Terzian said. "We can't create a prison in the region and watch the Africans die." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/29/increase-ebola-cases_n_5735712.html?&ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067

Mission possible: UNICEF's largest emergency air operation

JUSTINA OBI, ANOTHER NURSE DIES OF EBOLA

August 28, 2014 by ebrubru

In a joint press briefing yesterday, Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi chukwu confirmed the death of a nurse, Justina Obi Echelonu, 25, who hails from Mbaise in Imo State and one of the primary contacts who participated in the initial management of the index case, late American-Liberian, Patrick Sawyer, at the First Consultant Hospital, Obalende, Lagos.
Justina who graduated from the Department of Nursing Science in Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki had previously worked at Otunba Tunwase National Paediatric Centre, Ijebu-Ode in Ogun State before relocating to Lagos to take up appointment with First Consultants Hospital.

The minister disclosed that another of the doctors who treated the late Patrick Sawyer tested positive to the deadly virus, said Nigeria has now recorded 10 confirmed cases of Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, of which four have died and six are currently under treatment.
Please read below in his words:
“The total number of persons under surveillance in Lagos is now 169. These are all secondary contacts as all the primary contacts have completed the 21-day incubation period and have been de-listed to resume their normal lives.
Also in a statement issued yesterday, the Abia State Governor, Theodore Orji commended the late nurse for her selfless service to the nation and prayed for the repose of the dead.
Read below the statement:
“My heart bleeds as I write this. On behalf of my family, the Government and the good people of Abia State, I commiserate with family, friends and colleagues of our dear lady nurse, Justina Echelonu, who died following the contact she had with the American-Liberian, Mr. Patrick Sawyer, in the course of discharging her duty as a nurse. I pray God to give them the fortitude to bear this tragic and irreparable loss. Rest in Peace Ms Justina Echelonu.”
.
Please read Justina’s story before she died as culled from her facebook page:
“I never contacted his fluids. I checked his vitals, helped him with his food (he was too weak)….I basically touched where his hands touched and that’s the only contact, not directly with his fluids. At a stage, he yanked off his infusion and we had blood everywhere on his bed…but the ward maids took care of that and changed his linen with great precaution.


http://hephzx.wordpress.com/2014/08/28/justina-obi-another-nurse-dies-of-ebola/ 

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/inside-liberian-ebola-ward-burial-team-25155405

Genetic clues to spread of Ebola

28 August 2014 Last updated at 14:00 ET 

By Helen Briggs Health editor, BBC News website

Scientists have tracked the spread of Ebola in West Africa, revealing genetic clues to the course of the outbreak.

Genetic analysis of patient samples suggests the virus spread from Guinea to Sierra Leone at a single funeral.
The virus is mutating and must be contained rapidly, warn African and US experts. But they say there is no evidence the virus is changing its behaviour.

The current outbreak is the largest ever, with more than 3,000 cases.
The number of cases could exceed 20,000 before the outbreak is stemmed, according to the World Health Organization.
"We've uncovered more than 300 genetic clues about what sets this outbreak apart from previous outbreaks," said Stephen Gire from the Broad Institute and Harvard University in the US.

The isolation ward at Kenema Government Hospital in Kenema, Sierra Leone

"Although we don't know whether these differences are related to the severity of the current outbreak, by sharing these data with the research community, we hope to speed up our understanding of this epidemic and support global efforts to contain it."
The data, published in Science, suggests the virus made the leap from animals to humans only once in the current outbreak.

“Start Quote

Clearly this virus is evolving, but what's not clear is whether or not the mutations it's accumulating affect the way it behaves.”

Prof Jonathan Ball Nottingham University

The strain emerged in Central Africa in the past 10 years, probably carried by animals such as fruit bats or primates.

The first human cases appeared in Guinea, then the disease spread to Sierra Leone, reportedly at the funeral of a traditional healer.
There is evidence the virus is mutating, "underscoring the need for rapid containment", the team writes in Science.
"The longer the outbreak happens, the more opportunity the virus has to accumulate mutations," Dr Gire told the BBC.

But he said there was no evidence at present that the virus was changing its behaviour and becoming better adapted to humans.
Commenting on the research, Prof Jonathan Ball, a virus expert at Nottingham University, said: "Clearly this virus is evolving, but what's not clear is whether or not the mutations it's accumulating affect the way it behaves."
The genetic samples came from 78 patients at a hospital in Sierra Leone who were infected in May and June.
These were compared with existing virus samples from Guinea.
Five of the 58 experts named on the paper died from Ebola in Sierra Leone during the study. 
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-28958495

Ebola Necessitates Withdrawal of NTM USA Members

 

 

POSTED ON August 27, 2014

All New Tribes Mission USA personnel in Liberia and Guinea are leaving those countries as soon as flights are available because of the Ebola epidemic there.
NTM made this decision because of the increasing difficulty of transiting out of those countries. Some airlines have suspended service to the region and remaining flights are filling. Some countries are closing their borders.
This was a difficult decision that required balancing the safety of NTM personnel against the needs of the people with whom they work and was only made after a process of monitoring the situation for many weeks. Most of our families are in these countries with their children and are also not performing intensive medical services, so their presence there could become a detriment to critical healthcare teams if the crisis escalates.
Liberia and Guinea are the only countries affected by the Ebola epidemic where NTM currently has personnel.
We are closely monitoring the spread of this disease and the safety and effectiveness of our members in other nearby countries.
We would appreciate your prayer for our families in transition as a result of these decisions and also for the people of Guinea and Liberia who are dealing with the Ebola crisis.  http://usa.ntm.org/mission-news/79993/ebola-necessitates-withdrawal-of-ntm-usa-members

Nigeria confirms Ebola death in oil city of Port Harcourt

Posted on 28 August 2014 - 09:29pm
Last updated on 28 August 2014 - 09:54pm

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ABUJA: Nigeria on Thursday said that a doctor had died from Ebola in the southeastern oil city of Port Harcourt in the first case of the deadly virus outside the country's biggest city, Lagos.
Health minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said the medic died on Aug 22 after treating a patient who had contact with Liberian-American Patrick Sawyer, who brought the virus to Nigeria and who died in a Lagos hospital on July 25.
"Following the report of this death by the doctor's widow the next day, the case had been thoroughly investigated and laboratory analysis showed that this doctor died from EVD (Ebola Virus Disease)," he told reporters in the capital Abuja.
The latest case brings to six the number of people who have died from the haemorrhagic fever in Nigeria. Fifteen people have now been confirmed to have the disease.
On Wednesday, Chukwu had said that the virus was contained as there were no cases outside Lagos but warned against complacency in fighting the disease.
News that a doctor died 435 kilometres (270 miles) away will raise fears about the spread of the virus, just as Nigerians began to think that they had stopped Ebola in its tracks.
Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers state, is the centre of Nigeria's oil industry and home to a number of oil giants, including Anglo-Dutch giant Shell, France's Total and US firm Chevron.
Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer, churning out roughly two million barrels a day, with crude accounting for more than 90% of its foreign exchange earnings.
Residents in Port Harcourt said they were shocked and scared by the arrival of Ebola and called on the state government to tackle the virus.
"Port Harcourt plays host to a lot of people, including foreigners. All efforts should be made to check the spread of the virus," said local student Lucy Ekeh.
Hotel room
Chukwu said the patient, an official with the ECOWAS regional bloc who took Sawyer to hospital after he arrived unwell at Lagos airport on July 20, managed to evade detection and went to Port Harcourt in the last week of July.
Another ECOWAS official died of Ebola, the bloc announced on Aug 12.
His colleague saw the doctor who died in Port Harcourt in a city hotel room after showing Ebola-like symptoms, Rivers State health commissioner Sampson Parker said separately.
Chukwu added: "After four days, following a manhunt for him, he (the patient) returned to Lagos by which time he was found to be without symptoms.
"This case would have been of no further interest since he had completed the 21 days of surveillance without any other issue but for the fact that the doctor who treated him died last Friday."
Following the doctor's death, the minister said that several contacts had now been "traced, registered and placed under surveillance".

His widow, also a medical doctor, has shown symptoms of the virus and has been placed in isolation pending results of laboratory tests, he added.
"We don't know what the result will turn out to be but certainly if it turns out to be positive, it's likely we will move her to Lagos," the minister said.

Chukwu said that there were 70 people under surveillance in Port Harcourt, while six people were being watched in the eastern city of Enugu, where a nurse who treated Sawyer visited before displaying symptoms.
A treatment group has been in Port Harcourt since Wednesday morning and a mobile laboratory was being sent to the city this weekend, he added.
Parker said that the hotel had been decontaminated.http://www.thesundaily.my/news/1154642

 Port Harcourt lies at the heart of Nigeria's two million barrels per day oil industry, Africa's biggest, and is a hub for expatriate workers in major international oil companies, including Royal Dutch Shell, ENI, Total and Exxonmobil. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/28/health-ebola-nigeria-idUSL5N0QY2D620140828

Ebola in Nigeria's Oil Hub

August 28, 2014

A doctor in Nigeria's oil industry hub of Port Harcourt has died from Ebola fever, after he was infected by man linked to the first case in Africa's most populous country, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.

Heath Ministry spokesman Dan Nwomeh said on his Twitter feed that the doctor had treated a primary contact of Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian who brought Ebola to Lagos. His death brings the number of Ebola fatalities in Nigeria to 6.

The total number of recorded cases had risen by two to 15, Nwomeh said, the other one being the wife of the doctor who is showing Ebola symptoms and whose test results are awaited.

Port Harcourt lies at the heart of Nigeria's two million barrels per day oil industry, Africa's biggest, and is a hub for expatriate workers in major international oil companies.

Nwomeh said 70 contacts of the doctor were now under surveillance in Port Harcourt.

It was not immediately clear what impact the arrival of Ebola would have on oil operations. The majors operating in Nigeria have historically been comfortable with a fair degree of risk in the oil producing Niger Delta, including attacks on oil installations and rampant kidnapping of expatriates.

The news came two days after Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said authorities had "thus far contained" the Ebola outbreak in Africa's largest economy, with only one case left being treated in an isolation ward in Lagos.

All Nigerian cases have been direct or indirect contacts of Sawyer, who collapsed on arrival at Lagos airport on July 25 and later died but was treated before anyone knew what he had.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has taken 1,552 lives out of 3,069 known cases in four countries and "continues to accelerate", the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday.  http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/Ebola-in-Nigerias-Oil-Hub-2014-08-28

How Diplomat Secretly Exported Ebola to Port Harcourt

on Aug 28, 2014 |

Facts have emerged on how a Nigerian diplomat infected a medical doctor with the deadly Ebola Virus just as health authorities announced that it had been effectively controlled in Lagos.
Street Journal gathered that the diplomat who had primary contact with Patrick Sawyer, the index case of the disease and after showing symptoms, he reportedly evaded health workers in Lagos and moved to Port Harcourt where he engaged the service of Dr. I. S. Enemuo of Sam Steel Clinic, East West Road, Rumuokoro who treated him secretly. Street Journal gathered that the diplomat, on being stabilized, flew back to Lagos.
Findings also revealed that the Monday after he concluded the diplomat’s treatment, Dr. Enemuo did a surgery on a woman, only dor him to fall ill on Tuesday. When he was not responding to treatment and it became noticeable that he was peesenting symptoms including vomiting blood and bloody diarrhoea, he was rushed to Prime Clinic but was rejected. He was later taken to Good Heart on Evo Road, GRA where he was placed on admission. He died on Friday.
Sensing what might happen, Rivers State Governor, Hon Rotimi Amaechi appealed for calm as it has become obvious that there might be well over 200 contacts already. The deceased doctor’s wife is a primary contact, so also is his 3-month-old baby and as many as might have come in contact with them for medical reasons or otherwise.
Meanwhile, the diplomat was said to have submitted himself for medical checks in order to he cleared to travel out of the country.
Contact tracing efforts have started while health workers are being trained on how to manage the situation  http://thestreetjournal.org/2014/08/how-diplomat-secretly-exported-ebola-to-port-harcourt/

Rivers doctor dies of Ebola

• Thursday, 28 August 2014 15:42
• Written by Kelvin Ebiri

THE enormity of the Ebola outbreak now pervades Port Harcourt following the death of a medical doctor,  Ike  Sam Enemuo, who allegedly contacted the virus from an Ebola patient he allegedly  secretly treated.
The  reported death of Mr. Enemuo due to Ebola virus has  triggered panic Thursday  at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) where his  corpse is said to be in the morgue.
As part of precautionary measure to curb the spread of the dreaded diseases, the Rivers state government said it has placed no fewer than 100 persons under surveillance.The has however refused to reveal location of the isolation centers and the hotel where the man who brought the virus to the state stayed.
Though there has been speculation  in the past two week that an Ebola patient flew into Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Commissioner of Health, Sampson Parker,  yesterday acknowledged  the death of  Enemuo from Ebola virus disease. The late doctor is said to be the owner of a private hospital at Rumuokoro in Port Harcourt.
"The Governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has directed me to make this solemn announcement to you. And it is with a heavy heart that I announce to you that the ebola virus has claimed its first victim in Rivers State. Dr. Iyke Sam Enemuo died last week Friday, August 22, 2014 as a result of what was suspected to be ebola virus disease," he said.
Parker told journalists at his residence in Port Harcourt that  the Rivers State Ministry of Health on becoming aware of the conditions of Enemuo's  death, immediately commenced investigations and contact tracing.  According to him, about one hundred contacts from a  hotel, patients of  Enemuo and patients of the hospital where the late Enemuo was treated until his demise have been identified and restricted in Rivers State and that  locations are being decontaminated.  http://ngrguardiannews.com/news/national-news/176829-rivers-doctor-dies-of-ebola