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Thursday, August 7, 2014

No cases of Ebola in Mexico: Ministry of Health

No cases of Ebola in Mexico: Ministry of Health

Photo: AFP
The Ministry of Health of Coahuila reported that late on Wednesday, August 6, through a site named www.novatimes.net , a news spread about an alleged case of Ebola in Mexico, specifically a student in the District Federal.

That note was taken up through social networks Newspaper Zócalo Saltillo, Coahuila. Immediately, the news turned out to be false were investigated.

The spokesman for the theme of Ebola in Mexico, Dr. Ruiz Matus Cuitláhuac, Director General of Epidemiology, Federal Health Ministry, reaffirmed that there is no case in Mexico.

The Ministry of Health of Coahuila, part of the National Health System joins the surveillance efforts headed by the Federal Government.https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.imagenpoblana.com%2F2014%2F08%2F07%2Fningun-caso-de-ebola-en-mexico-secretaria-de-salud&edit-text=

Confirm first case of Ebola in Mexico

confirm first case of Ebola in Mexico

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Confirm first case of Ebola in Mexico

Agencies | 08.06.2014 | 23:28




District Federal.- Jose Antonio Gonzales Figueroa, the first case is confirmed in Mexico and infected with the deadly Ebola virus. Joseph was admitted and isolated immediately after going to the emergency room with high fever and having confessed that had just returned from vacation in an African country.



The first confirmed case after taking necessary and with the support of the United States government evidence, is in the city of Mexico. Young is a medical student at the UNAM of 22 who went on vacation to an African country and was there for almost a month. Young returned to Mexico on August 2 and was admitted the next day by high fever, vomiting and diarrhea. The young and being treated and medical staff came to the United States and Mexico today in the morning to determine the best control strategy.



So far the Ministry of Health has issued several statements to the federal government so far have not received any response. The releases include a recommendation to temporarily suspend the return to classes until you confirm that you have controlled the virus. The health secretary said he will continue trying to communicate with the government to prevent a pandemic in Mexico. ..https://translate.google.com/transla...%23&edit-text=
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Slow-motion disaster

As the death toll rises in West Africa amid the worst Ebola outbreak on record, a separate threat is compounding the problem: the rainy season and the malaria that comes with it.
In Sierra Leone, with the most Ebola cases in the epidemic, a fearful population is failing to seek medical attention for any diseases, health officials say. If they have malaria, the feeling is they don’t want to go near a hospital with Ebola cases. If it’s Ebola, they don’t believe the hospitals can help them anyway.
It’s a widening problem complicated by the fact that Ebola, malaria and cholera share common symptoms early on, including fever and vomiting, which can cause confusion among patients, said Cyprien Fabre, head of the West Africa office of the European Commission’s humanitarian aid department.

“We now have increased mortality for these other diseases” as well, Fabre said by telephone from Freetown, the country’s capital, after visiting Ebola treatment centers in Kenema and Kailahun near the eastern border. “This is a slow-motion disaster.
The issue threatens to further undermine health and welfare in Sierra Leone, which has the world’s highest rate of child and maternal mortality, Fabre said.
Source: AFP via Getty Images
A nurse sets an information sign about Ebola on the wall of a public health center in Monrovia, Liberia, on July 31, 2014. Close
A nurse sets an information sign about Ebola on the wall of a public health center in... Read More
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Source: AFP via Getty ImagesA nurse sets an information sign about Ebola on the wall of a public health center in Monrovia, Liberia, on July 31, 2014.
The outbreak has killed 932 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since it was first reported in March, according to the World Health Organization. That includes 45 deaths from Aug. 2 to Aug. 4, the health group said.

Broken Heart

“I’m afraid of going to the hospital because if they don’t tell you about having Ebola, it will be something else that will break your heart,” said Ibrahim Kalokoh, a 34-year-old disc jockey, in an interview in Freetown. “If I am experiencing malaria symptoms, I would rather rush to a pharmacy and buy drugs than go to the hospital.”....
Right now,” he added, “‘going to the hospital is the worst you can suggest to me, with all the Ebola noise around.’’
Beyond the fear are other challenges contributing to the problem, according to Fabre. Health workers afraid of getting infected are becoming increasingly reluctant to help out, and one treatment center has exceeded its capacity of 88 beds.

Preventable Deaths

‘‘Health-care practitioners are afraid to accept new patients, especially in community clinics all across the country,’’ Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf said. ‘‘Consequently, many common diseases which are especially prevalent during the rainy season, such as malaria, typhoid and common cold, are going untreated and may lead to unnecessary and preventable deaths.’’.....http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-06/malaria-cases-mix-with-ebola-amid-slow-motion-disaster-.html

US allows use of Ebola test overseas as crisis deepens

U.S. health regulators on Wednesday authorized the use of an Ebola diagnostic test developed by the Pentagon to help contain the world's worst outbreak of the deadly virus.
The move was one of a number of steps taken by the U.S. government this week to address the highly contagious disease that has killed more than 930 people in Africa and sickened hundreds more, including two Americans being treated in Atlanta.
The diagnostic test was authorized for use abroad on military personnel, aid workers and emergency responders in laboratories designated by the Department of Defense to respond to the Ebola outbreak, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said.
The test, called DoD EZ1 Real-time RT-PCR Assay, is designed for use on individuals who have symptoms of Ebola infection, who are at risk for exposure or who may have been exposed. It can take as long as 21 days for symptoms to appear after infections.
The agency can evoke emergency authorization for a medical product it has not approved when there are no adequate alternatives.
There is no known cure for Ebola, a hemorrhagic fever that has overwhelmed rudimentary healthcare systems and prompted the deployment of troops to quarantine the worst-hit areas in the remote border region of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The World Health Organization is meeting in Geneva to consider declaring an international health emergency.
U.S. health officials met on Monday in Washington with Guinea President Alpha Conde and senior officials from Liberia and Sierra Leone to discuss the crisis and identify what kind of help they most needed, a State Department official said.
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell and Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, met with the leaders on the sidelines of an African Summit.
Frieden was to testify on Thursday at a congressional subcommittee hearing on "Combating the Ebola Threat," along with representatives from the State Department's Africa bureau and the U.S. Agency for International Development...http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/08/07/us-allows-use-ebola-test-overseas-as-crisis-deepens/

Ebola crisis: Liberia and Sierra Leone blockades go up



A Liberian woman weeps over the death of a relative from Ebola on the outskirts of Monrovia (6 August 2014) A Liberian woman weeps over the death of a relative from Ebola on the outskirts of Monrovia
Liberian soldiers have set up a blockade stopping people from western regions affected by the Ebola outbreak from entering the capital, Monrovia.
It follows the president's declaration of a state of emergency to tackle the outbreak that has killed more than 930 people in West Africa this year.
In Sierra Leone the security forces have now imposed a complete blockade of eastern areas hit by Ebola.
Health experts in Switzerland are discussing a response to the outbreak.
It is the world's deadliest outbreak and the two-day World Health Organization (WHO) meeting will decide whether to declare a global health emergency.
Ebola, a viral haemorrhagic fever, is one of the deadliest diseases known to humans, with a fatality rate in this outbreak of between 50% and 60%. It is spread through contact with the bodily fluids of Ebola patients showing symptoms.
line
Analysis: Jonathan Paye-Layleh, BBC News, Monrovia
Liberian nurses carry the body of an Ebola victim on the way to bury them in the Banjor Community on the outskirts of Monrovia, Liberia, on 6 August 2014. Most of the latest Ebola fatalities have come from Liberia
Already reports are reaching Monrovia that a military blockade is stopping people from western regions of Grand Cape Mount and Bomi, where Ebola is prevalent, from entering the capital.
These counties largely rely on Monrovia for their goods - and the blockade means that the cities of Robertsport and Tubmanburg are now cut off. One Tubmanburg resident phoned into a radio show to complain that rice, the national staple, was already in short supply in the market.
The head of the National Health Workers Association said while the state of emergency was necessary, people should have been given time to prepare. Fear has prompted hospital workers to abandon clinics - meaning many are now shut.
President Sirleaf said this meant many diseases prevalent during the rainy season, such as malaria and typhoid, were going untreated and there could be unnecessary and preventable deaths as a result.
line
Announcing a state of emergency for 90 days, President Sirleaf said the government and people of Liberia required "extraordinary measures for the very survival of our state and for the protection of the lives of our people".
Speaking from a crossroads 37km (23 miles) west of Monrovia, the BBC's Jonathan Paye-Layleh said soldiers had been deployed to stop the movement of people - many of whom are traders.
In neighbouring Sierra Leone, the head of the police in the east of the country said police and soldiers had imposed a "complete blockade" of the Kenema and Kailahun districts.
"No vehicles or persons will be allowed in or out of the districts" except those with essential food and medicines, he said.
In other developments:
  • A Spanish priest who contracted Ebola while working in a hospital in Liberia was flown back to Spain for treatment, along with a nun who is to be isolated in case of infection
  • The WHO said it would convene a meeting of medical ethics specialists next week to decide whether to approve experimental treatment for Ebola
Map showing Ebola outbreaks since 1976
Graph showing Ebola deaths since 1976
If a public health emergency is declared by the WHO, it could involve detailed plans to identify, isolate and treat cases, as well as impose travel restrictions on affected areas.
There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola - but patients have a better chance of survival if they receive early treatment.
Ebola has initial flu-like symptoms that can lead to external haemorrhaging from areas like eyes and gums, and internal bleeding which can lead to organ failure....  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-28690799
....Zimbabwe President Mugabe is considering withdrawing Zimbabwean soldiers, police and prison officers serving as U.N. peacekeepers in Liberia because of the Ebola outbreak, Zimbabwe's state-run Herald newspaper reported. "We must not expose ourselves unnecessarily," Mugabe was quoted as saying. Peacekeepers are in Liberia until elections in 2017.. http://www.kctv5.com/story/26220364/liberia-s-leone-race-to-enforce-ebola-quarantine

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Dumped with Others in Johnsonville Mass Grave



By: Alaskai Moore Johnson, Observer Health Correspondent
Mon, 08/04/2014 - 11:30 admin

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The Daily Observer was told on Saturday, August 2, that the St. Joseph Catholic Hospital Chief Administrator, Bro/Dr. Patrick Nshamdze, has died, having contracted the deadly Ebola virus disease at least three weeks ago. He died Friday, August 1; he was 57.

....
The Observer was told by other high-placed sources within the Catholic Church that the Church had requested his remains to be interred differently so that the Church and his relatives can one day pay homage to him but their plead was not granted as he was "dumped in a mass grave" containing at least 25 other victims, in Johnsonville, outside Monrovia..[link to www.liberianobserver.com]

I can't make this shit up...


CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta spoke about six patients in New York City that were tested for Ebola and one who had recently traveled to Africa that is undergoing tests for the Ebola virus on Monday’s broadcast of “Wolf.” Gupta said, “I would guess by tomorrow sometime we'll have a better idea” what malady the individual has.

He also pointed out that even though the patient isn’t in isolation, “This isn't the kind of thing that they worry about spreading to other patients in the hospital, spreading to people who are walking around the hospital. This is not an airborne virus. This is something that spreads only when somebody is very sick and they start to actually shed the virus in their bodily fluids. So, it's somebody who comes in contact with those bodily fluids who is not protected. While we don't know the particular story with this patient, we don't know if in fact he has the Ebola infection, in terms of concern for the hospital population at large or the population around the hospital, it's still very minimal.”
Gupta added, “There have been about a half-a-dozen patients who have had their blood tested because of the concern. Those particular patients, their stories were not made public. This patient was. I'm not sure if that's because of heightened concern by the hospital or what that means exactly. But, again, we just can't say for sure until the final tests come back and you know, they want to be sure on this. It takes about a day or so.”
Anchor Wolf Blitzer concluded by pointing out that all of these six individuals tested negative for Ebola. http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2014/08/04/Patient-in-NYC-Tested-for-Ebola

Missionary contagious Ebola, Miguel Pajares, land in Madrid in the coming hours

Missionary contagious Ebola, Miguel Pajares, land in Madrid in the coming hours

Predictably, transfer and isolated in the Hospital Carlos III or La Paz.

Miguel Pajares (Source:joseatrujillo).
Miguel Pajares (Source:joseatrujillo).
The missionary priest Miguel Pajares, infected by the Ebola virus will be transferred to Madrid in the coming hours. Thus, as has officially Ministry of Defence, the pastor will travel from Liberia on a medicalized aircraft accompanied by a provision of effective health specialist medical safety, as specified in his instructions to the World Health Organization. This airplane will in the coming hours toward the African country since the Madrid suburb of Torrejon de Ardoz.
As has been made ​​public, the decision to repatriate Miguel Pajares was reached after a meeting between the Ministries of Defence, Interior and Exterior. Starting Health, say the risk of infection is "very low".
Similarly, scheduled to land at the base of Torrejón de Ardoz in the coming hours, where you will find a mobile ICU SUMMA and police patrol. Is expected to be transferred to the Hospital Carlos III or General Hospital Universitario La Paz. It is possible that Miguel Pajares isolate a plant. https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Feldigitaldealcorcon.es%2Fel-misionero-contagiado-de-ebola-miguel-pajares-aterrizara-en-madrid-en-las-proximas-horas%2F&edit-text=

Spanish missionary repatriated after contracting Ebola


Latest update : 2014-08-06
A Spanish air force plane departed Wednesday for Liberia to fly home a 75-year-old Spanish missionary infected with Ebola, the first patient to be returned to Europe in a fast-spreading outbreak of the deadly disease.

The military Airbus A310, equipped overnight for a medical evacuation, took off for the west African country from Madrid's Torrejon military air base at around 1:30pm (1130 GMT), the defence ministry said in a Twitter message.
Miguel Pajares, a Roman Catholic priest, tested positive for Ebola at the Saint Joseph Hospital in Monrovia where he was employed, according to the Spanish aid organisation he works for, Juan Ciudad ONGD.... http://www.france24.com/en/20140806-...racting-ebola/

Ebola death toll reaches 932; 1,700 cases: WHO


August 6, 2014 | Updated: August 6, 2014 9:44am
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — A Nigerian nurse who treated a man with Ebola is now dead and five others are sick with one of the world's most virulent diseases, authorities said Wednesday as the death toll rose to at least 932 people in four West African countries.
The growing number of cases in Lagos, a megacity of some 21 million people, comes as authorities acknowledge they did not treat Patrick Sawyer as an Ebola patient and isolate him for the first 24 hours after his arrival in Nigeria last month. Sawyer, a 40-year-old American of Liberian descent with a wife and three young daughters in Minnesota, was traveling on a business flight to Nigeria when he fell ill.
The death of the unidentified nurse marks the second Ebola death in Nigeria, and this worries health experts as it is the Africa's most populous country and Lagos, where the deaths occurred, one of its biggest cities.
Ben Webster, a Red Cross disaster response manager in London, said it is "critically important" that people displaying symptoms are identified quickly.
"It's impossible to say whether this specific situation could have been avoided, but there is certainly more likelihood of travelers coming from an Ebola-affected country in the region and authorities need to be aware, even if the infrastructure and situation is challenging."
In Saudi Arabia officials say a man who was being tested for the Ebola virus has died. The 40-year-old returned on Sunday from Sierra Leone, where at least 286 people have died from Ebola, and was then hospitalized in Jiddah after showing symptoms of the viral hemorrhagic fever.
Spain's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said a medically-equipped Airbus 310 is ready to fly to Liberia to repatriate a Spanish missionary priest who has Ebola. The ministry said Wednesday that preparations for the flight are being finalized but it is not yet known what time the plane will take off.
The priest, Miguel Pajares, is one of three missionaries being kept in isolation at the San Jose de Monrovia Hospital in Liberia who have tested positive for the virus, Spain's San Juan de Dios hospital order, a Catholic humanitarian group that runs hospitals around the world, said Tuesday.
There have now been at least 1,711 cases of Ebola this year, which has no proven vaccine or treatment, according to new figures released Wednesday by the World Health Organization. More than 932 people have died in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia and Nigeria as of Aug. 4, WHO said. In announcing the new deaths, WHO noted in particular that "community resistance remains high" in Liberia. Many fearful family members are refusing to bring sick relatives to isolation centers, preferring to treat them at home and pray for their survival as no proven cure or treatment exists for Ebola.
The difficulties in quarantining sick people are complicating efforts to stop Ebola's spread.
In Nigeria, the five people now infected from Sawyer would not have been contagious to their neighbors or family members until they started showing symptoms of their own, health experts say. The delay in enforcing infection control measures, though, is another setback in the battle to stamp out the worst Ebola outbreak in history.
The specter of the virus spreading through Nigeria is particularly alarming, said Stephen Morse, an epidemiology professor at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.
"It makes you nervous when so many people are potentially at risk," he said.
Lagos is a bewildering combination of wealth and abject poverty, awash in luxury SUVs and decrepit buses alike that carry passengers through hours of crowded traffic on the bridges linking the city's islands to the mainland.
Ebola can only be transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of someone who is sick — blood, semen, saliva, urine, feces or sweat. Millions live in cramped conditions without access to flushable toilets, and signs posted across the megacity tell people not to urinate in public.
Authorities in Liberia said Sawyer's sister had recently died of Ebola, though Sawyer said he had not had close contact with her while she was ill.
In announcing his death, Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu maintained that Nigerian officials had been vigilant.
"It was right there (at the airport) that the problem was noticed because we have maintained our surveillance," he told reporters. "And immediately, he went into the custody of the port health services of the federal ministry of health so there was no time for him to mingle in Lagos. He has not been in touch with any other person again since we took him from the airport."
On Tuesday, the Lagos state health commissioner said, however, that they did not suspect Ebola immediately and it was only after about 24 hours in the hospital that they identified him as a possible Ebola case.
"They went back to the history and they were like 'Oh, this is Liberia,' and that's why he was put into isolation," Lagos state health commissioner Jide Idris told reporters. "So even in that window period it was possible that some of these people got infected."
Nigeria was among the countries present at a regional meeting of health officials in Ghana at the beginning of July where they agreed to step up surveillance of potential Ebola cases and quickly share information with the World Health Organization.
Sawyer, who had a fever and was vomiting on the plane, was coming from the infected country of Liberia but had a layover in Togo. As a result, officials may not have initially known his original point of departure and it was unclear whether he was traveling on a Liberian or American passport.
Experts say people infected with Ebola can spread the disease only through their bodily fluids and after they show symptoms. Since the incubation period can last up to three weeks, some of the Nigerians who treated Sawyer are only now showing signs of illness that can mimic many common tropical illnesses — fever, muscle aches and vomiting.
The national health minister on Wednesday said special tents would be used to speed up the establishment of isolation wards in all of Nigeria's states. Authorities are setting up an emergency center in Lagos to deal with Ebola that will be "fully functional" by Thursday, he said.
"We are embarking on recruiting additional health personnel to strengthen the team who are currently managing the situation in Lagos," said his statement.http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/world/article/Nigerian-Health-Minister-says-nurse-died-of-Ebola-5671456.php?cmpid=email-premium&t=bdd9f083806c634be6&cmpid=twitter-premium&t=bdd9f083806c634be6#/0

Liberia shuts hospital where Spanish priest infected, Ebola toll hits 932

August 6, 2014
By Derick Snyder
MONROVIA (Reuters) - Liberia shut a major hospital in the capital Monrovia on Wednesday after a Spanish priest and six other staff contracted Ebola, as the death toll from the worst outbreak of the disease hit 932 in West Africa.
The outbreak of the deadly haemorrhagic fever has overwhelmed rudimentary healthcare systems and prompted the deployment of troops to quarantine the worst-hit areas in the remote border region of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported 45 new deaths in the three days to Aug. 4, and its experts began an emergency meeting in Geneva on Wednesday to discuss whether the outbreak constitutes a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern" and to discuss new measures to contain the outbreak.
International alarm at the spread of the disease increased when a U.S. citizen died in Nigeria late last month after flying there from Liberia. The health minister said on Wednesday that a Nigerian nurse who had treated the deceased Patrick Sawyer had herself died of Ebola, and five other people were being treated in an isolation ward in Lagos, Africa's largest city.
In Saudi Arabia, a man suspected of contracting Ebola during a recent business trip to Sierra Leone also died early on Wednesday in Jeddah, the Health Ministry said. Saudi Arabia has already suspended pilgrimage visas from West African countries, which could prevent those hoping to visit Mecca for the Haj in early October.
Liberia, where the death toll is rising fastest, is struggling to cope. Many residents are panicking, in some cases casting out the bodies of family members onto the streets of Monrovia to avoid quarantine measures.
Beneath heavy rain, ambulance sirens wailed through the otherwise quiet streets of Monrovia on Wednesday as residents heeded a government request to stay at home for three days of fasting and prayers.
"Everyone is afraid of Ebola. You cannot tell who has Ebola or not. Ebola is not like a cut mark that you can see and run," said Sarah Wehyee as she stocked up on food at the local market in Paynesville, an eastern suburb of Monrovia.
St. Joseph's Catholic hospital was shut down after the Cameroonian hospital director died from Ebola, authorities said. Six staff subsequently tested positive for the disease, including two nuns and 75-year old Spanish priest Miguel Pajares, who is due to be repatriated by a special medical aircraft on Wednesday.
TROOPS DEPLOYED IN OPERATION "WHITE SHIELD"
Spain's health ministry denied that one of the nuns - born in Equatorial Guinea but holding Spanish nationality - had tested positive for Ebola. The other nun is Congolese.
"We hope they can evacuate us. It would be marvellous, because we know that, if they take us to Spain, at least we will be in good hands," Pajares told CNN in Spanish this week. Healthcare workers are in the front line of fighting the virus, and two U.S. health workers from Christian medical charity Samaritan's Purse caught the virus in Monrovia and are now receiving treatment in an Atlanta hospital.
The two saw their conditions improve by varying degrees in Liberia after they received an experimental drug, a representative for the charity said.
Three of the world's leading Ebola specialists urged the WHO to offer people in West Africa the chance to take experimental drugs, too, but the agency said it "would not recommend any drug that has not gone through the normal process of licensing and clinical trials".
Highly contagious, Ebola kills more than half of the people who contract it. Victims suffer from fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and internal and external bleeding.
Many regular hospitals and clinics have been forced to close across Liberia, often because health workers are too afraid of contracting the virus themselves or because of abuse by locals who think the disease is a government conspiracy.
In an effort to control the disease's spread, Liberia has deployed the army to implement controls and isolate severely affected communities, an operation codenamed "White Shield".
The information ministry said on Wednesday that soldiers were being deployed to the isolated, rural counties of Lofa, Bong, Cape Mount and Bomi to set up checkpoints and implement tracing measures on residents suspected of coming into contact with victims.
Neighbouring Sierra Leone said it has implemented new restrictions at the airport and that it was asking passengers to fill in forms and take a temperature test.
Some major airlines, such as British Airways and Emirates, have halted flights to affected countries, while many expatriates were getting out, government officials said. "We've seen international workers leaving the country in numbers," Liberia's Finance Minister Amara Konneh told Reuters.
Greece advised its citizens on Wednesday against non-essential travel to Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria and said it would take extra measures at its entry ports. https://in.news.yahoo.com/liberia-shuts-hospital-where-spanish-priest-infected-ebola-140453650.html

Sawyer: Lagos matron shows Ebola symptoms

Sawyer: Lagos matron shows Ebola symptoms

August 6, 2014
There was gloom at the secretariat of the Nigerian Medical Association,Lagos State chapter when the association’s Chairman, Dr. Tope Ojo, disclosed that the matron of the hospital where the Liberian-born American, Patrick Sawyer, was admitted for treatment was showing symptoms of Ebola virus.
The matron is one of the health workers at the Obalende, Lagos hospital who attended to Sawyer before he died of the disease (Ebola) on July 25..
A female medical doctor, who also participated in managing the Liberian- American was confirmed on Monday by the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, to have contracted the deadly virus.
Apart from the female medical doctor and the matron, six other people suspected to have been infected with the virus are being quarantined at the IDH, Yaba.
Ojo, who added that 30 striking doctors had volunteered to attend to the medical needs of all those with Ebola-related case, stated that the female medical doctor was stable.
He said, “We know that the infected doctor is stable, however, the matron is showing symptoms too. But everybody, including the experts from the World Health Organisation, are doing all they can.
“Strike or no strike, we must respond to emergencies. Our doctors are at the Yaba hospital where isolated contacts are being monitored.”
Ojo however said the NMA was having a challenge getting volunteers to be part of the Ebola Case Management Committee because of the fear of contracting the virus.
The NMA chairman said, “There are seven committees working on the management of the disease at the centre in Lagos which our members are part of.
“ But the committee which we are having a challenge getting volunteers is that of case management. This committee comprises people that work directly with confirmed cases.
“Our doctors are worried about the danger it(Ebola virus) poses to their lives and they need to be reassured.
“We understand their fears andovernment for doctors.”
He stressed the need for we are making moves to confirm the level of preparedness of the g the government to put adequate measures in place to assure health workers of their safety in stemming the virus.
“ Look at the protective measures that doctors in Liberia and Guinea wear. They are well protected, yet some of them still caught it,” Ojo said.
A doctor in one of the committees, Dr. Babajide Saheed, said they were working closely with WHO and other stakeholders to contain the spread of the virus.


Saheed said,” Not all doctors can attend to an Ebola patient. In fact, you must limit the number of health workers treating affected persons just to contain the risk.
“We will be escalating the situation if doctors rush to the Mainland hospital to attend to patients.”
A top official of the IDH said the Lagos State Government should designate one of its hospitals to accommodate more persons that might be isolated for monitoring.
“The mainland hospital may not be enough if we are to isolate more persons who had contact with Sawyer and those who have had direct contact with those people too,” he added.
He said that “ instead of using a ward in an hospital, it is better to just designate a whole hospital and evacuate patients from it.”


The Bloomberg Businessweek reported on Tuesday that Nigeria was considering applying for a dose of the experimental Ebola therapy to treat the Lagos female doctor.
“We will exploit the possibility of getting some (ZMapp Experimental Drug),” the Lagos State Health Commissioner, Jide Idris, said.
The San Diego, United States-based Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc.’s experimental ZMapp drug had only been tested on infected animals before it was given to Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, the two U S health workers who were infected with the virus in Liberia.
Airline’s manifest with FG, says LASG
Also on Tuesday, the Lagos State Government said Asky Airline had made the full manifest of passengers on its flight KP50 available to the Federal Government.
.....
However, the Health Commissioner , Dr. Idris, said on Tuesday that the Federal Government had the list.
The commissioner, while updating journalists on development on the virus in the state, said, ”The airline has made the comprehensive list of the people on the flight available to the Federal Government through the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria.”
Idris added that the government was still compiling a list of all the primary and secondary contacts of the Lagos female doctor who contracted the Ebola virus from Sawyer.
The Commissioner, who also dispelled the rumour that the doctor had died, said the development was part of measures to curb the spread of the disease.
According to him, contact tracing is one of the measures needed to curb the spread of the virus.
He urged the public to be vigilant, especially with regards to relating with ill people.
Idris said, “Contact tracing is essential and very important to stop the spread of Ebola virus. In the case of the doctor, who was infected, we have contacted her family and have opened a comprehensive list of people that had contact with her.
.....
Flight manifest can’t be made public- FAAN
However, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has said that it cannot reveal to the public, the names of passengers onboard the flight that brought in the late Sawyer into Nigeria.
Reacting to request in some quarters that the names of those onboard the flight be made public, the General Manager, Public Affairs, NCAA, Mr. Fan Ndubuoke, told one of our correspondents in Abuja that it was the duty of the agency to protect the passengers.
He said, “If we mention your name as one of the passengers on that flight, tell me, how will people see you? This is not a plane crash that will require us to say that the deseased’s relatives need to know those on the flight.
“These people are not dead; they are alive and we have a duty to protect them while they are receiving treatment. You can’t release such a manifest to the public because this will cause stigmatisation. We have had reason to state that it is not possible.”
On what is currently happening to those onboard the flight, Ndubuoke said the FederaL Ministry of Health was in contact with them.
He said, “The Minister of Health has stated that there were 50 passengers onboard that flight apart from Sawyer. He made it clear that the ministry was getting in touch with all of them. The Health ministry had explained that it was in touch with all of them and was monitoring and investigating them. Even the driver that took Sawyer is being monitored.”

World Bank pledges N32bn to fight Ebola
Meanwhile, the World Bank Group on Tuesday pledged $200m (N32bn) to contain the spread of Ebola in West Africa.

.....http://www.punchng.com/news/sawyer-l...bola-symptoms/

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Bodies dumped in streets as West Africa struggles to curb #Ebola

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MONROVIA/DAKAR Tue Aug 5, 2014 12:43pm EDT

(Reuters) - Relatives of Ebola victims in Liberia defied government quarantine orders and dumped infected bodies in the streets as West African governments struggled to enforce tough measures to curb an outbreak of the virus that has killed 887 people.
In Nigeria, which recorded its first death from Ebola in late July, authorities in Lagos said eight people who came in contact with the deceased U.S. citizen Patrick Sawyer were showing signs of the deadly disease.
The outbreak was detected in March in the remote forest regions of Guinea, where the death toll is rising. In neighboring Sierra Leone and Liberia, where the outbreak is now spreading fastest, authorities deployed troops to quarantine the border areas where 70 percent of cases have been detected.
Those three countries announced a raft of tough measures last week to contain the disease, shutting schools and imposing quarantines on victim's homes, amid fears the incurable virus would overrun healthcare systems in one of the world's poorest regions.
In Liberia's ramshackle ocean-front capital Monrovia, still scarred by a 1989-2003 civil war, relatives of Ebola victims were dragging bodies onto the dirt streets rather than face quarantine, officials said.
Information Minister Lewis Brown said some people may be alarmed by regulations imposing the decontamination of victims' homes and the tracking of their friends and relatives. With less than half of those infected surviving the disease, many Africans regard Ebola isolation wards as death traps.
"They are therefore removing the bodies from their homes and are putting them out in the street. They're exposing themselves to the risk of being contaminated," Brown told Reuters. "We're asking people to please leave the bodies in their homes and we'll pick them up."

Brown said authorities had begun cremating bodies on Sunday, after local communities opposed burials in their neighborhoods, and had carried out 12 cremations on Monday. Meanwhile, in the border region of Lofa County, troops were deployed on Monday night to start isolating effected communities there.
"We hope it will not require excessive force, but we have to do whatever we can to restrict the movement of people out of affected areas," Brown said.
Finance minister Amara Konneh said the country's growth forecast for the year was no longer looking realistic as a result of the outbreak.
British Airways said it was suspending flights to and from Liberia and Sierra Leone until the end of the month due to public health concerns.......

A New York hospital is also testing a man with symptoms of the deadly disease, though a senior medical officer there said it was probably not the deadly virus. Saudi Arabia was also testing a man for suspected Ebola infection after he returned recently from a business trip to Sierra Leone.

Concern grew over an outbreak in Lagos, Africa's largest city, after medical authorities there said they had quarantined 14 people who came into contact with Sawyer after he arrived on a regional flight from Liberia. The airline Asky has since been barred from Nigeria.
"Of the 14 who have had serious contact with the victim, eight have serious symptoms," Lagos Health Commissioner Jide Idris told a news conference. "Only one of those quarantined has tested positive ... The doctor who tested positive is now on the mainland under intensive care."
With healthcare systems in the West African nations overrun by the epidemic, the African Development Bank and World Bank said they would immediately disburse $260 million to the three countries worst affected - Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
In Monrovia, however, some health clinics were deserted as workers and patients stayed home, afraid of catching the disease.
"The health workers think that they are not protected, they don't have the requisite material to use to protect themselves against the Ebola disease," said Amos Richards, a physician's assistant.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/05/us-health-ebola-africa-idUSKBN0G51VF20140805?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews 

Ebola Test Results Negative For 46-Year-Old Woman in Ohio

A woman is being tested for Ebola at a local hospital.

The 46-year-old has been showing signs of the Ebola virus since returning from her trip to west Africa.

She is currently being held in the intensive care unit.

The test results should be in tomorrow.

[link to www.abc6onyourside.com]


Ebola Test Results Negative For 46-Year-Old Woman

Posted: Aug 05, 2014 12:23 PM EST Updated: Aug 05, 2014 1:20 PM EST

According to the Columbus Public Health Department, the 46-year-old woman was in isolation Tuesday in a local hospital with a potential case of the Ebola virus.

LINK: Ebola HR - CDC Website

A sample was sent to the CDC for examination, and according to Melanie Amatto with the Ohio Department of Health, the woman's test results were not positive, and she does not have Ebola.

The woman had recently returned from a trip to a foreign country that is affected by the Ebola virus outbreak.

She is reportedly “doing well” in her recovery. http://www.wkrn.com/story/26201803/46-year-old-woman-hospitalized-tested-for-possible-ebola

Ebola Outbreak Could Be Much Worse Than Thought

The worst outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in history could actually be much worse than the official death toll reflects. Already, the World Health Organization says 887 people have died, but a top doctor working at the heart of the outbreak in West Africa says many cases are going unreported.
The senior doctor, who works for a leading medical organization in Liberia, explained to CBS News' Debora Patta that what has helped set this outbreak apart from previous ones is the virus' spread in urban areas.
One of the epicenters of the disease is the Liberian capital of Monrovia, home to about a million people, or almost a quarter of the country's population.
The doctor, who spoke to CBS News on condition of confidentiality, said the disease is spinning out of control in Africa partly because it is extremely difficult to contain it in a sprawling, congested city center.   http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2014/08/05/johannesburg-south-africa--ebola-outbreak-could-be-much-worse-than-thought.html

Nigeria: Eight suspected cases of Ebola


Eight suspected cases of infection with Ebola virus have been reported in Lagos, Nigeria , and involve people who had contact with the first victim died last month, said Tuesday the Health Commissioner. A single case has yet been confirmed.

The authorities established surveillance on everyone who had contact with Patrick Sawyer, an American-Liberian national who succumbed to the disease in Lagos in July after arriving by plane from Liberia. The second confirmed case of contamination concerns the doctor who took care of Patrick Sawyer.

The Commissioner for Health Jide Idris also said six people came in contact with Patrick Sawyer had been quarantined but had no symptoms. https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lefigaro.fr%2Fflash-actu%2F2014%2F08%2F05%2F97001-20140805FILWWW00271-nigeria-huit-cas-presumes-d-ebola.php&edit-text=

Ebola: Welsh national who returned from West Africa a week ago 'in quarantine' at home

Several Britons are quarantined across the UK with suspected Ebola, public health officials admitted last night.
The revelation comes as a Welsh national who fears they may have contracted the deadly Ebola virus while abroad has returned home and placed themselves in voluntary quarantine.
The potential victim is understood to be living in Cardiff, is being “closely monitored,” health officials said.
Doctors from Public Health Wales said the individual had been “voluntarily” confined at home for the past week after returning from an infected country in West Africa. They confirmed there were several similar cases throughout Britain.
Medical experts are in daily telephone contact with the person in case they start to show symptoms of the deadly disease....   http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/11014177/Ebola-Welsh-national-who-returned-from-West-Africa-a-week-ago-in-quarantine-at-home.html

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Ghana Bans Flights From Nigeria Over Ebola Scare

Reports reaching us have it that Ghana has banned flights from its West African neighbours - Nigeria, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia over the Ebola virus scourge.
Speaking on the development, Charles Asare, Managing Director of the Ghana Airport Company, said the measure was part of a set of emergency management plans officials are rolling out to combat the spread of the virus. This is according to Sahara Reporters.
The government has also implemented strict restrictions on the movement and management of Liberian refugees in camps in the country.
Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman-Mensah who was quoted as saying "Preparedness is not an event but a process" urged urged Ghanaians to bear with the government as they work to contain the virus.
There has so far been a record of only one Ebola virus death in Nigeria, Liberian Patrick Sawyer who passed away on July 25th. 2 other people who came in contact with him are reportedly being quarantined.
Meanwhile last Thursday, there was some confusion over  a mysterious corpse from Liberia which was deposited in a morgue in Anambra state even as there have been reports of a Senegalese man who has been admitted in a Lagos hospital over the Ebola virus.

The Ebola virus has so far killed over 700 people across Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leonne. http://michaelnaku.blogspot.com/2014/08/ghana-bans-flights-from-nigeria-over.html

Plane carrying American infected with Ebola stops in Maine

Gulfstream 3 spent about an hour on ground at BIA to resupply, refuel

UPDATED 11:59 AM EDT Aug 02, 2014

A Gulfstream 3 transporting one American infected with Ebola stopped at the Bangor International Airport on Saturday for refueling and supplies. The air ambulance was in transit from Libya to Emory University in Georgia.
BANGOR, Maine —An airplane carrying one American infected with the Ebola virus landed at Bangor International Airport to refuel and resupply Saturday morning.
WABI TV-5 in Bangor and CNN report the Phoenix Air Gulfstream 3 landed in Maine just after 7:30 a.m. Saturday. It was the plane's first stop in the U.S. on its journey to Dobbins Air Force Base in Marietta, Georgia from Liberia, Africa, where two American aid workers were infected with the deadly disease.
The crew stepped off the aircraft to stretch their legs and receive what appeared to be medical supplies. The American on board worked in a Liberian hospital that treated Ebola patients.
The plane spent a little less than an hour on the ground before departing for Georgia.

Read more: http://www.wmtw.com/news/plane-carrying-american-infected-with-ebola-stops-in-bangor/27278498#ixzz39FfmcXVD

Ebola: Dead victim’s contacts now 70 –FG, Lagos

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Lagos State Government yesterday said the number of persons suspected to have had contact with the late Liberian, Mr Patrick Sawyer, who died of Ebola Virus Diseases in Lagos, has risen to 70, saying two of the contact had developed fever.
The two contacts are however said to have tested negative to the disease. Briefing journalists at a joint press conference with health officials of the Lagos State government and the federal government, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, said to avert the spread of the diseases, the state government had created an alert management system to receive alerts call and rumour from communities regarding suspect/ alert Ebola cases.
He added that a website had also been created on suspected Ebola cases in the state. He explained that government embarked on contact tracing to ensure that all contacts exposed to an Ebola patient who develop fever receive care immediately and are separated from others to stop the spread of the diseases.
This, according to Idris, is the best way to stop the spread of the deadly virus. He said the contact tracing team is following 70 contacts of the EVD case linking them to clinical support when needed, adding that the two persons who had contact with the Liberian victim and who developed fever had been tested negative to Ebola virus infection.
The commissioner stressed that the state government had stepped up measures to screen incoming passengers to Nigeria to identify any travellers with symptoms through airports, seaports and border crossing.
On his part, Director of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, (NCDC) Professor Abdulsalami Nasidi, said the suspected Ebola victim’s corpse brought to Anambra would be subjected to rigorous screening to ascertain whether the corpse was truly an Ebola infected corpse.
Nasidi said in addition to that, all handlers of the corpse in Nigeria would be tracked to ascertain whether they had been infected so as not to spread the diseases in the country.
He said: “All the handlers of the corpse brought into the country from Liberia will be registered and tracked. And those who accompanied the corpse to Anambra and the mortuary handlers are under quarantine in Anambra State. Our team in Anambra State will tomorrow give us the statistics of those who came in contact with the corpse.
“If the corpse in Anambra State tested positive, we have been given two options by the World Health Organisation, WHO. We can either cremate or bury. For corpses that would be buried, they will be placed in the bag and disinfect the bag.
And the grave must be two meters deep”. On the sick contacts, 70 contacts including the sick ones have been established and they are under monitoring.
“The two people tested negative. But that does not mean that we will stop. We will continue to place them under observation until we are certified that they are free. They were part of the 70 established contacts. First, it was 59, it increased to 69 and yesterday (Thursday), we had another. And this increased the number to 70,” he added.
On the collaboration with other countries who are bringing corpse into the country, he added that the ministry of Foreign Affairs and Aviation would today issue directives on this.
He reiterated that : “There is no specific treatment for Ebola virus unlike other ailment. But there is treatment. We treat the symptoms. If we say that there is no cure, the patients will not come to the hospital.
There is no specific drug for Ebola virus. But we can use other drugs to save an infected person.”http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/ebola-dead-victims-contacts-now-70-fg-lagos/

Ebola: Number of People Who Had Contact With Dead Liberian Rises to 70; 2 of Them Now Have Fever

Ebola: Number of People Who Had Contact With Dead Liberian Rises to 70; 2 of Them Now Have Fever


Lagos State Government yesterday said the number of persons suspected to have had contact with the late Liberian, Mr Patrick Sawyer, who died of Ebola Virus Diseases in Lagos, has risen to 70, saying two of the contact had developed fever.

The two contacts are however said to have tested negative to the disease
. Briefing journalists at a joint press conference with health officials of the Lagos State government and the federal government, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, said to avert the spread of the diseases, the state government had created an alert management system to receive alerts call and rumour from communities regarding suspect/ alert Ebola cases.

He added that a website had also been created on suspected Ebola cases in the state. He explained that government embarked on contact tracing to ensure that all contacts exposed to an Ebola patient who develop fever receive care immediately and are separated from others to stop the spread of the diseases. http://www.nigerianbulletin.com/threads/ebola-number-of-people-who-had-contact-with-dead-liberian-rises-to-70-2-of-them-now-have-fever.86848/

Ebola Scare In Anambra As Government Detains Corpse From Liberia

Saturday, August 2, 2014

A corpse of an Anambra State indigene brought from Liberia, yesterday, caused scare of the dreaded Ebola disease in the state, with officials of the state ministry of health directing security operatives to cordon off the mortuary where the body was deposited pending investigations by experts from the Federal Ministry of Health. The corpse was brought into the country as a cargo and was taken straight to Apex Hospital and Mortuary at Nkwelle Ezunaka in Oyi Local Government Area of the state, apparently by his relations and waiting for burial.

However, somebody from the community, who knew that the man died in Liberia where there have been deaths caused by Ebola disease, informed the Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano. The Governor immediately directed the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Josephat Akabike to take action.

Addressing reporters in Awka, yesterday, Akabike said though it has not been confirmed that the man died of the Ebola disease, there was need for precautionary measures to be taken. Continue...


He said: “We have already contacted the Federal Ministry of Health and we are expecting them to arrive the state any time from now. We have sealed the mortuary and the hospital and all the corpses and the people working there have been quarantined.

“We are also making efforts to locate the family of the deceased to know their level of contact with the corpse when it arrived the country and everybody who had visited the mortuary will also be quarantined.
“We are surprised how the corpse came into Nigeria and Anambra State. It is shocking to us.
“We have directed the police to cordon off the area. Ebola is a very big threat and that is why we are taking all the measures.”

According to him, “the information was brought by somebody who acted fast, following the announcement we have been making since the disease was made known”, adding that his ministry has assembled its health team and got all the preventive materials ready. culled

*Wow,why did his Family bring the corpse all the way back home from Liberia?Airport officials in all countries should open their eyes...they should not have allowed the corpse leave liberia in the first place...Ebola is too scary,bodies should not be transported from places of high risk.
http://www.updatingnaija.com/2014/08/ebola-scare-in-anambra-as-government.html#more

EA airports, borders on high Ebola alert


A member of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) puts on protective gear at the isolation ward of the Donka Hospital, on July 23, 2014 in Conakry. CELLOU BINANI | AFP 
By CHRISTABEL LIGAMI, Special Correspondent

Posted  Saturday, August 2  2014 at  18:06
In Summary
Kenya and Uganda have this week been forced to assure citizens that no cases have been reported especially after one Korean woman who was found with fever symptoms was said to have transited through Nairobi.
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East Africa is on high alert following an outbreak of Ebola, which has killed more than 670 people in West Africa. Scientists believe the Ebola virus could spread to the region through international travel and have asked governments to enhance surveillance and screening for the disease at border points and airports.
All major airports in Tanzania have been equipped with Ebola screening devices for testing passengers arriving from West Africa for the virus.
“We have a special arrangement in all airports where passengers are screened and when they are found infected we put them in quarantine. So far none has been found infected,” Tanzanian Minister for Health Seif Rashid said in a phone interview.
At the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, surveillance is being carried out for all flights from West Africa by the Port Health Unit.
However, Kenya and Uganda have this week been forced to assure citizens that no cases have been reported especially after one Korean woman who was found with fever symptoms was said to have transited through Nairobi.
Rwanda has set up a specialised clinic and quarantine area at the Kigali International Airport, even though no case has been reported in the country.
The virus has a gestation period of up to 21 days, during which a traveller who is a carrier can easily pass through the checks as a perfectly healthy person.
O-Tipo Shikanga, the head of Disease Surveillance and Response, said the government had put in place measures to prevent the spread of the disease. “The alert has been dispatched to port health services countrywide and we are working with the airlines carrying passengers to and from these countries,” said Mr Shikanga.
Uganda has been the worst hit in East Africa with on and off Ebola outbreaks since the year 2000. Julius Lutwama, head of the National Influenza Centre at the Uganda Virus Research Institute, said the risks of the disease spreading would be minimal with restricted travel.
With travel to and from West Africa yet to be regulated, he said, the health systems in East Africa may not immediately be able to detect people arriving with the fever.
“To be able to predict where the next outbreak is going to be, you have to know what carries the virus. Right now, the reservoir animal is not known; it could be an animal, insect or fruit bats. So the whole region is at risk,” says Dr Lutwama.
Dr Radhid said the Tanzanian government would launch an intensive campaign t sensitize the general public on the symptoms of Ebola and how they can prevent infection.
Since 2000 Uganda has trained health workers, opinion leaders and traditional medicine people to identify and report any suspected cases immediately.
“The diagnostic lab is all the time receiving samples for testing,” he said. However, renewed efforts from government and other stakeholders are necessary to sustain and expand progress achieved through implementation of Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) IDSR.”
The Entebbe-based UVRI can now test and analyse the Ebola virus as opposed to previous instances when the sample had to be flown to CDC laboratories in Atlanta, US. This also accounts for the faster diagnosis and detection of the virus compared with countries whose healthcare systems are less robust. http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/EA-airports--borders-on-high-Ebola-alert/-/2558/2406470/-/wv334j/-/index.html

US doctor with Ebola 1st en route to Atlanta

Aug 2, 11:18 AM EDT



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NEW YORK (AP) -- An American doctor infected with the Ebola virus is the first being flown to the U.S. for treatment and expected to arrive Saturday in Atlanta, a missionary group said.
Two seriously ill American aid workers will be treated at Atlanta's Emory University Hospital. Samaritan's Purse missionary group spokesman Todd Shearer tells The Associated Press that a plane carrying Dr. Kent Brantly has left West Africa. Brantly works for the group that is paying for the trip.
The private jet outfitted with a special, portable tent designed for transporting patients with highly infectious diseases was due to arrive at Dobbins Air Force Base in Marietta, Georgia, just outside Atlanta.
From there, the doctor will be whisked into one of the most sophisticated hospital isolation units in the country at the hospital about 15 miles away. The second patient will follow a few days later, the hospital has said.
Outside Emory, a gaggle of about 20 members of the media had gathered to chronicle the arrival. There was no noticeable police presence and all roads were open. It will be the first time anyone infected with the disease is brought into the country. U.S. officials are confident the patients can be treated without putting the public in any danger.
The specialized unit at Emory University Hospital was opened a dozen years ago to care for federal health workers exposed to some of the world's most dangerous germs. Health experts say a specialized isolation unit, though, is not needed for treating an Ebola patient. The virus does not spread through the air, so standard, rigorous infection control measures should work at any hospital.
Now it's being pressed into service for the two seriously ill Americans who worked at a hospital in Liberia, one of the three West Africa countries hit by the largest Ebola outbreak in history.
The Emory hospital unit is located just down a hill from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is one of about four such units around the country for testing and treating people infected with dangerous, infectious germs.
The unit has its own laboratory equipment so samples don't have to be sent to the main hospital lab. Located on the ground floor, it's carefully separated from other patient areas, said Dr. Eileen Farnon, a Temple University doctor who formerly worked at the CDC and led teams investigating past Ebola outbreaks in Africa.
The two Americans - Brantly and Nancy Writebol - worked for U.S. aid groups Samaritan's Purse and SIM at a Liberian hospital that treated Ebola patients. Late last week, the North Carolina-based Samaritan's Purse said Brantly, 33, had been diagnosed with Ebola. Then, Writebol's infection was disclosed.
The government is working to ensure that any Ebola-related evacuations "are carried out safely, thereby protecting the patient and the American public," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement released Friday.
Ebola is considered one of the world's deadliest diseases. The current outbreak in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone has sickened more than 1,300 people and killed more than 700 this year.
The virus is spread through direct contact with blood, urine, saliva and other bodily fluids from an infected person. It is not spread through the air so it is not as infectious as a germ like the flu.
The Americans will travel on a Gulfstream jet fitted with a collapsible, clear tent built to transfer CDC employees exposed to contagious diseases. The CDC said the private jet can only accommodate one patient at a time.
An Emory emergency medical team in Liberia has evaluated the two aid workers, and deemed both stable enough for the trip to Atlanta, said Emory's Dr. Bruce Ribner.
"If there's any modern therapy that can be done," such as better monitoring of fluids, electrolytes and vital signs, workers will be able to do it better in this safe environment, said Dr. Philip Brachman, an Emory University public health specialist who for many years headed the CDC's disease detectives program.
"That's all we can do for such a patient. We can make them feel comfortable" and let the body try to beat back the virus, he said.
There's no specific treatment for Ebola so doctors try to ease the symptoms, which include fever, headache, vomiting and diarrhea. Some cases suffer severe bleeding.
Emory's Ribner, one of the doctors who will be seeing the Ebola patients, stressed that safety precautions will be taken by staff.http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MED_EBOLA_AMERICANS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-08-02-11-09-46
"I have no concerns about even my personal health or the health of the other health care workers who will be working in that area," Ribner said.

Lofa: Ebola Patient Flees, Tellewoyan Hospital Shut Down

Monrovia - The streets of Voinjama city, the provincial capital of Lofa County, on Tuesday witness a scene of panic with residents running heater scatter when dozens of suspected Ebola patients ran from their holding room in the main hospital’s compound and started loitering around other wards that hosted several patients with different medical problems.

Tokpa Tarnue, a local journalist on the scene told FrontPageAfrica Wednesday that the majority of the suspected patients were in a holding room at the Tellewoyan Memorial Hospital while awaiting their departure for a treatment and isolation center in Foya when they abruptly left their room and moved into other wards that later resulted to all health workers escaping the hospital compound in deep fear.


According to the journalist, the suspected patients managed to leave the hospital premises and ran into various homes and streets, a situation that caused severe panic among citizens and residents of Voinjama who were likewise escaping from the patients fearing not to contract the deadly Ebola virus. He told FrontPageAfrica that for several hours Voinjama was like a ghost town as many residents escaped the city while others locked themselves in their homes.

Said the local journalist: “Everybody left. They had suspected Ebola patients in a holding room that is not well equipped. They are normally kept there before they are taken to Foya. In the process of doing that, those suspected patients left their wards and stating entering the children's ward and other places while they were vomiting and releasing feces at the same time. Based on that the entire hospital staff all left including the doctors and nurses. Up to now they have not gone back to work.”

According to the journalist, the entire Tellewoyan Hospital facility, including the Outpatient Department (OPD) has been temporarily shut down and has been sprayed while heath workers are demanding police protection before they resume work. He said Barkedu town in Quardu Gboni district is now reporting the highest numbers of Ebola cases in the county as compare to Foya which was topping the number of cases.

The Tellewoyan Memorial Hospital is the largest referral hospital in Lofa County, which caters to several critical medical cases in the county. Some health workers in the county have reportedly refused to return to work fearing the deadly Ebola virus that has already killed 672 persons in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

http://frontpageafricaonline.com/index.php/health-sci/2512-lofa-ebola-patient-flees-tellewoyan-hospital-shut-down