EBOLA plague 2014-15-16-17...

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.msn.com/science-technology/scientists-grapple-with-ethics-in-rush-to-release-ebola-vaccines
Scientists grapple with ethics in rush to release Ebola vaccines
9/29/14

LONDON (Reuters) - Normally it takes years to prove a new vaccine is both safe and effective before it can be used in the field. But with hundreds of people dying a day in the worst ever outbreak of Ebola, there is no time to wait.

In an effort to save lives, health authorities are determined to roll out potential vaccines within months, dispensing with some of the usual testing, and raising unprecedented ethical and practical questions.

"Nobody knows yet how we will do it. There are lots of tough real-world deployment issues and nobody has the full answers yet," said Adrian Hill, who is conducting safety trials on healthy volunteers of an experimental Ebola shot developed by GlaxoSmithKline.

Hill, a professor and director at the Jenner Institute at Britain's University of Oxford, says that if his results show no adverse side-effects, GSK's new shot could used in people in West Africa by the end of this year.

Even if a drug is shown to be safe, it takes longer to prove it is effective - time that is simply not available when cases of Ebola infection are doubling every few weeks and projected by the World Health Organization to reach 20,000 by November.

Among questions that scientists are grappling with: should an unproven vaccine be given to everybody, or just a few? Should it be offered to healthcare workers first? The young before the old? Should it be used first in Liberia where Ebola is spreading fastest, or Guinea where it is closer to being under control?

Should people be told to assume it will protect them from Ebola? Or should they take all the protective measures they would if they hadn't been vaccinated? And if so, how will anyone know whether the vaccine works?

GSK is one of several drug firms that have either started or announced plans for human trials of candidate Ebola vaccines. Others include Johnson & Johnson, NewLink, Inovio Pharmaceuticals and Profectus Biosciences.

The WHO says it hopes to see small-scale use of the first experimental Ebola vaccines in the West Africa outbreak by January next year.

It has convened vaccine specialists, epidemiologists, pharmaceutical companies and ethicists, for a meeting on Monday and Tuesday to discuss the moral and practical issues.

"Normally safety is the absolutely paramount thing when you're developing a new vaccine, but this time we're going to have to take more risks," said Brian Greenwood, a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who will take part in the WHO-led meeting.

"Quite how we do that, and what risks we take, hasn't really been thought through yet. That's what people are trying to figure out."

TWO THINGS AT THE SAME TIME

The chaos caused by the epidemic itself makes it even more difficult to deploy and track use of a new vaccine, said Hill.

"You're trying to do two things at the same time: you're trying to evaluate a vaccine and deploy it - when normally you would evaluate the vaccine first, by doing a randomized double blind controlled trial, and then you'd deploy it if it was shown to be safe and effective."

Because Ebola virus is so deadly, those who receive a trial vaccine must be told to take all other precautions and protect themselves fully. This could make it harder for researchers to decipher whether the protective clothing and safety protocols, or the new vaccine, is what kept them safe.

Normally researchers testing a vaccine would give some volunteers a placebo, or dummy, to create a "control" group to compare against those who get the real drug. That seems unthinkable in a situation where disease with a death rate of up to 90 percent is raging through villages.

"Would it be ethical to do a trial where some people don't get the vaccine because they are in the control group? Most people think it wouldn't be - especially if you have reasonable evidence that the vaccine might work," said Hill.

Jeremy Farrar, an infectious diseases expert and director of the Wellcome Trust medical charity, said limited supplies of any candidate vaccine could result in a form of natural control group being formed anyway. Researchers can compare populations where the vaccine is available with those where it isn't.

GSK has said it is aiming to have 10,000 doses of its experimental shot by the end of the year, while Canada has given 800 vials of the NewLink candidate vaccine to the WHO, expected to yield at least 1,500 doses.

Most experts interviewed by Reuters favor the idea of the first doses going to frontline healthcare workers, since their exposure to risk is so high. Researchers could then compare infection rates among health workers who receive the vaccine to those working in regions still waiting for it.

Peter Piot, a co-discoverer of the Ebola virus in 1976 and now director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said that however complicated the ethics, reverting to the traditional years-long process of testing vaccines, and withholding them from West Africa until then, is not an option.

"It may be that without a vaccine, we can't really stop this epidemic," he said.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/texas-hospital-puts-possible-ebola-patient-isolation-035947459.html
Texas hospital puts possible Ebola patient in isolation
9/29/14

(Reuters) - A Texas hospital said on Monday it has admitted a patient into "strict isolation" to be evaluated for possible infection with the Ebola virus, as health officials battle an epidemic in West Africa that has already killed thousands of people.

In a brief statement, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas cited the unnamed patient's symptoms and recent travel history as reasons for the isolation.

The 898-bed acute-care hospital "is following all federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Texas Department of Heath recommendations to ensure the safety of patients, hospital staff, volunteers, physicians and visitors," it said.

The hospital said the CDC anticipated preliminary results of tests on the patient to be ready on Tuesday.

U.S. lawmakers this month called for a government-funded "war" to contain the epidemic before it threatens more nations, building on an American pledge to send 3,000 military engineers and medical personnel to combat the virus.

On Saturday, the U.S. National Institutes of Health said it would admit to one of its special observation wards in Bethesda, Maryland, an American physician exposed to the Ebola virus while volunteering in Sierra Leone.

Emory University Hospital in Atlanta this month admitted an American doctor infected with the virus for treatment in the same isolation unit where U.S. missionaries Nancy Writebol and Dr. Kent Brantly were treated before being discharged in August.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/texas-patient-confirmed-as-first-ebola-case-diagnosed-in-us-205031312.html
Texas patient confirmed as first Ebola case diagnosed in U.S.
9/30/14

DALLAS — A man who recently arrived in Texas from Liberia has been confirmed as having the first case of Ebola to be diagnosed in the U.S.

Authorities with the Centers for Disease Control revealed the finding late on Tuesday, two days after the unidentified patient was admitted to a Dallas hospital with suspicious symptoms.

Officials at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas put the man into “strict isolation” and sent a blood specimen to state and federal labs for testing.

Both came back positive for the deadly disease, which has killed more than 3,000 people in Africa this year. According to the World Health Organization, there have been more than 6,500 Ebola cases confirmed in Africa, with Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone among the hardest hit.

“He is ill, he is under intensive care, he's being seen by highly trained, competent specialists, and the health department is helping us in tracing any family members that might have been exposed," said Dr. Edward Goodman with Texas Health Dallas, at a news conference on Tuesday.

Authorities declined to name the adult patient or even say if he is an American.

“The patient was visiting family members and staying with family members who live in this country,” Dr. Thomas Frieden, CDC director, said at the news conference.

A press release announcing the activation of the City of Dallas' Emergency Operations Center described the patient as having “moved to Dallas from Liberia a week ago.”

Frieden said the man arrived from Liberia on Sept. 20 but didn't start feeling ill until Sept. 24. He sought medical treatment at Texas Health Dallas on Friday, Sept. 26, before being sent home. He was then transported by ambulance back to the hospital on Sunday, Sept. 28.

“The initial symptoms of Ebola are often nonspecific ... they are symptoms that may be associated with many other conditions,” Frieden said. “That's why we have encouraged all emergency department physicians to take a history of travel within the last 21 days.”

The CDC has a team en route to North Texas to help health officials retrace the man's whereabouts since he has been in the states. Officials characterized the patient as having close contact with about a "handful" of family members while in Dallas.

“While it is not impossible that there could be additional cases associated with this patient in coming weeks, I have no doubt that we will contain this,” Frieden said. “... as long the outbreak continues in Africa we need to be on our guard.”

[Related: U.S. hospitals unprepared to handle Ebola waste]

Along with all other passengers, the patient's temperature was taken as a matter of precaution when he left Liberia for the U.S. on Sept. 19. Because he didn't show a fever then, Frieden said, officials have no immediate plans to make the man's flight information public.

“At this point there is zero risk of transmission on the flight," Frieden said.

Ebola is highly contagious and deadly but spread only through contact with bodily fluids. Dallas County Health and Human Services Director Zachary Thompson spent most of his day trying to calm the fears of North Texans.

“It is easier to get the flu than it is to get the Ebola virus,” Thompson told KTVT-TV. "You have to get it through secretion, blood, that type of transmission. So this is not a situation where you go to the grocery store and you get infected with the virus.”

Ebola symptoms include sudden fever, fatigue and headache. Officials said symptoms may appear anywhere from two days to three weeks after exposure.

Four American aid workers have contracted Ebola in West Africa and been evacuated to the U.S. for treatment since late July. Three of them were released after making full recoveries. A fourth patient arrived in Atlanta on Sept. 9, but spokespersons at Emory University Hospital have said privacy laws prevent the release of an updated condition. On Sunday, a U.S. doctor who had been volunteering in an Ebola clinic in Sierra Leone was brought to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, as a safety precaution after he was exposed to the disease.

In past years, Ebola has killed up to 90 percent of those it has infected, but officials say the death rate in the current outbreak is closer to 60 percent due to early treatment.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.cbs46.com/story/26657838/cdc-issues-ebola-guidelines-for-us-funeral-homes
CDC issues Ebola guidelines for U.S. funeral homes
Posted: Sep 29, 2014 3:36 PM PST

ROSWELL, GA (CBS46) -

CBS46 News has confirmed the Centers for Disease Control has issued guidelines to U.S. funeral homes on how to handle the remains of Ebola patients. If the outbreak of the potentially deadly virus is in West Africa, why are funeral homes in America being given guidelines?

The three-page list of recommendations include instructing funeral workers to wear protective equipment when dealing with the remains since Ebola can be transmitted in postmortem care. It also instructs to avoid autopsies and embalming.

On Tuesday, the CDC confirmed the first case of Ebola diagnosed in the United States, a patient in Texas.

Alysia English is Executive Director of the Georgia Funeral Directors Association, the oldest and largest funeral association in Georgia.

Georgia is comprised of 700 funeral homes and 2,000 funeral directors.

CBS46 asked English if Georgians should be alarmed by these guidelines.

"Absolutely not. In fact, if they weren't hearing about it, they should be a whole lot more concerned," said English.

She said Georgia has one of the country's most thorough public health plans. That includes detailed planning for all hazards such as floods and the flu.

"If you were in the middle of a flood or gas leak, that's not the time to figure out how to turn it off. You want to know all of that in advance. This is no different," said English.

President Barack Obama addressed the Ebola crisis in a speech he delivered during a visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta on Sept. 16.

Three Americans have been treated for Ebola in Atlanta after evacuation from Africa. The most recent patient arrived in Atlanta on Sept. 9.

The two original American patients treated in Atlanta, Nancy Writebol and Dr. Kent Brantly, were eventually discharged.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.dcclothesline.com/2014/10/01/begins-2nd-potential-ebola-patient-monitored-dallas/
10/1/14
And So It Begins… 2nd Potential Ebola Patient Being Monitored in Dallas

Whether or not Ebola is transmissible through the air, which is the subject of much debate and great speculation, we do know that close physical contact with an infected person is a sure fire way to put one’s self at risk of contracting the virus.

After yesterday’s bombshell admission that an Ebola patient is being treated in Dallas, a second potential victim is now being monitored. This person evidently had close physical contact with “patient zero.”

KENS-5 San Antonio is reporting:

    DALLAS — Due to close contact with a patient diagnosed with the Ebola virus, a second person is under the close monitoring of health officials as a possible second patient, said the director of Dallas County’s health department Wednesday morning in an interview with WFAA.

    Zachary Thompson, the director of Dallas County Health and Human Services, says all those who’ve been in close contact with the diagnosed patient are being monitored as a precaution. However, Thompson pointed to one person in particular as a potential second case.

    “Let me be real frank to the Dallas County residents, the fact that we have one confirmed case, there may be another case that is a close associate with this particular patient,” he said in a Wednesday interview with WFAA. “… So this is real. There should be a concern, but it’s contained to the specific family members and close friends at this moment.”

    The director continued to assure residents that the public isn’t at risk as health officials have the virus contained.

I’m sure that some officials have proclaimed that the public is not at risk in certain African nations as well. The truth is that people do need to remain calm but not while swallowing every bit of propaganda they are fed.

You can not trust every word you hear from health officials at this point. It is their collective wisdom which has left the momentous world-wide Ebola pandemic spiraling out of control.

It is time to prepare.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/01/health/ebola-us/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
10/1/14
Ebola patient says he flew on United, airline says

CNN) -- [Breaking news update at 5:48 p.m. ET Wednesday]

The Ebola patient being treated in Texas told authorities he flew part of his trip on United Airlines, a spokesperson for the airline said, citing information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The airline believes the patient flew from Brussels to Washington Dulles and then from Dulles to Dallas-Fort Worth on September 20, the spokesperson said.

"The director of the CDC has stated there is 'zero risk of transmission' on any flight on which the patient flew because he was not symptomatic until several days after his trip and could not have been contagious on the dates he traveled," the spokesperson said.

The Texas hospital treating the Ebola patient says there was no reason to admit him when he first came to the hospital last Thursday night.

"At that time, the patient presented with low-grade fever and abdominal pain. His condition did not warrant admission. He also was not exhibiting symptoms specific to Ebola," Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas said in a statement Wednesday. "The patient returned via ambulance on Sunday, September 28, at which time EMS had already identified potential need for isolation. The hospital followed all suggested CDC protocols at that time. Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas' staff is thoroughly trained in infection control procedures and protocols."

The patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, is a Liberian National who is 42 years old, according to a friend who knows the patient well. This is Duncan's first trip to the United States, where he was visiting family and friends.

more

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/metro/20140930-ebolas-arrival-in-u.s.-was-inevitable-experts-say.ece
Ebola’s arrival in U.S. was inevitable, experts say
9/30/14

The world suddenly seemed a lot smaller when news broke Tuesday that the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S. is being isolated and treated at a Dallas hospital.

While the outbreak in West Africa has sickened more than 6,000 people and killed 3,083, it was only a matter of time before the virus hit closer to home, experts said.

Dr. Edward Goodman, hospital epidemiologist at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, said he was not surprised that the Ebola virus came to his doorstep, given the number of cases in Africa.

There is “plenty of opportunity for people to fly over and come to any part of the United States,” he told reporters Tuesday.

Other experts agree that it was inevitable for the Ebola virus to spread beyond Africa. Given the unprecedented scale of the virus’ outbreak in West Africa, at least a handful of imported cases were expected to arrive in other countries.

But many predicted that the Ebola virus would reach another country before the U.S. Using mathematical models to predict how infectious diseases spread, experts at Northeastern University ranked the top 15 countries where Ebola could emerge next.

The United Kingdom ranked third on that list, second only to the African nations of Ghana and Gambia. The U.S. had a much lower probability of having an imported Ebola case.

Still, Dr. Gerardo Chowell, an associate professor at Arizona State University and an expert in modeling infectious diseases, wasn’t surprised. “It’s just a matter of probabilities,” he said.

Chowell has focused on predicting the spread of the epidemic in Africa, especially Nigeria.

Rate of infection

A key factor in the spread of infectious diseases is the number of people a sick person can infect.

If that number, known as the basic reproduction number, or R0, is less than one, it’s unlikely the disease will spread. If it’s greater than one, there’s potential for a large outbreak.

In the case of Ebola, R0 has been documented to range from 1.3 to 1.8, depending on factors such as population density and how quickly cases are diagnosed and isolated.

The R0 for Ebola is a lot lower than for other illnesses such as measles, whose R0 is 18. But factors such as fear, an inadequate number of health care workers and abject poverty in parts of West Africa are fueling the spread of the virus there.

That situation is different in Dallas. “This is not Africa,” Dallas County Health and Human Services Director Zachary Thompson told reporters. “We have a great public health infrastructure to deal with this type of disease.”

The opportunity for infectious diseases like Ebola to go global has increased with international air travel — and Dallas and Houston are major hubs.

There is a direct daily flight from Lagos, Nigeria, to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. More than 71,000 people have traveled nonstop from Africa to that airport in the past year, according to the Houston Airport System. Many more passengers may have traveled to and from Africa on flights that connected in Europe and the Middle East.

There is no direct flight from a city in Africa to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. But D/FW saw nearly 7 million international passengers last year.

Quarantine facilities at these airports could be used to isolate travelers with symptoms of Ebola. But so far, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not asked airports to adopt special measures as they did with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome earlier this year.

‘We’re prepared’

Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the CDC, and other public health officials maintain that Americans should have faith in the U.S. public health system. He told reporters that spread of the disease in Dallas is not expected because of early isolation of the patient.

President Barack Obama had met with the director at CDC headquarters in Atlanta two weeks ago.

At that time, the president offered assurances that the outbreak could be contained. “In the unlikely event that someone with Ebola does reach our shores,” he said, “we’ve taken new measures so that we’re prepared here at home.

“We’re working to help flight crews identify people who are sick and more labs across our country now have the capacity to quickly test for the virus. We’re working with hospitals to make sure that they are prepared and to ensure that our doctors, our nurses and our medical staff are trained, are ready, and are able to deal with a possible case safely.”

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/traveler-liberia-first-ebola-patient-diagnosed-u-003007621--finance.html
Dallas Ebola patient vomited outside apartment on way to hospital
10/1/14

DALLAS (Reuters) - Two days after he was sent home from a Dallas hospital, the man who is the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the United States was seen vomiting on the ground outside an apartment complex as he was bundled into an ambulance.

"His whole family was screaming. He got outside and he was throwing up all over the place," resident Mesud Osmanovic, 21, said on Wednesday, describing the chaotic scene before the man was admitted to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital on Sunday where he is in serious condition.

The hospital cited the man's privacy as the reason for not identifying him. However, Gee Melish, who said he was a family friend, identified the man in Texas infected with Ebola as Thomas Eric Duncan.

The New York Times said that Duncan, in his mid-40s, helped transport a pregnant woman suffering from Ebola to a hospital in Liberia, where she was turned away for lack of space. Duncan helped bring the woman back to her family's home and carried her into the house, where she later died, the newspaper reported. Four days later Duncan left for the United States, the Times said, citing the woman's parents and neighbors.

Texas health officials said that up to 18 people, including five children, had contact with the Ebola patient after he traveled to the United States from Liberia in late September. The children had gone to school early this week but have since been sent home and are being monitored for symptoms.

The Dallas Ebola case has prompted national concern over the potential for a wider spread of the deadly virus from West Africa, where at least 3,338 people have died in the worst outbreak on record.

more

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/us-ebola-patient-had-contact-kids-governor-173422002.html
US hunts contacts of seriously ill Ebola patient
10/1/14

Dallas (AFP) - US health officials scoured the Dallas area Wednesday for people -- including schoolchildren -- who came in contact with a Liberian man who was diagnosed with Ebola, as it emerged a hospital mix-up saw him initially turned away.

More people may have been exposed to the contagious man after he first sought treatment on September 25 because an apparent miscommunication among staff resulted in his release back into the community for several days, Texas hospital officials admitted.

Ebola is spread through close contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, and can only be transmitted when a patient is showing symptoms like fever, aches, bleeding, vomiting or diarrhea.

The man -- the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola on US soil -- flew from Liberia, the hardest-hit nation in West Africa's deadly Ebola outbreak, and arrived in Texas on September 20 to visit family. He fell ill on September 24.

He went to the hospital the next day but was sent home because the medical team "felt clinically it was a low-grade common viral disease," said Mark Lester, executive vice president of Texas Health Resources.

"He volunteered that he had traveled from Africa in response to the nurse operating the checklist and asking that question," Lester added.

"Regretfully, that information was not fully the communicated throughout full team."

A hospital statement issued later in the day said his initial symptoms on September 25 were "low-grade fever and abdominal pain," and that "his condition did not warrant admission."

The patient is currently in serious but stable condition.

He came in contact with schoolchildren before he returned via ambulance to the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas on September 28, and was placed in strict isolation.

more

[Psalm 51:17]

10/1/14
Dallas parents fearing Ebola remove children from school

 Breaking news

Parents on Wednesday were removing their children from a Dallas school where a student may have had contact with the Ebola patient diagnosed Tuesday.

A letter to parents of children at L.L. Hotchkiss Elementary School, 6929 Town North Drive, says in part:

“This morning, we were made aware that one of our students may have had contact with an individual who was recently diagnosed with the Ebola virus. This student is currently not showing any symptoms and is under close observation by the Dallas County Health and Human Services Department. As a precautionary measure, the student has been advised to stay home from school. Since this student is not presenting any symptoms, there is nothing to suggest that the disease was spread to others, including students and staff.”

At a news conference at noon Wednesday, Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Mike Miles said students attending four different Dallas Independent School District schools possibly have been exposed to the Ebola virus.

He said the district was informed the five students were in contact with the Ebola patient over the weekend. They have been in school since, but are now at home and likely will be kept there for 21 days.

Dallas County is working with the Centers for Disease Control to have "boots on the ground" to monitor those who might have been exposed, officials said.

WFAA’s Sebastian Robertson is reporting that concerned parents are picking up their children from the school where one of the students may have attended.

The Ebola patient was visiting a neighborhood where 33 languages are spoken, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said.

According to The Associated Press, the sister of the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States says he told relatives he notified officials the first time he went to the hospital that he was visiting from Liberia.

Mai Wureh says her brother, Thomas Eric Duncan, went to a Dallas emergency room on Friday and they sent him home with antibiotics. She says he said hospital officials asked for his Social Security number and he said that he didn’t have one because he was visiting from Liberia.

Duncan arrived in the U.S. on Sept. 20 to be with relatives in Dallas. He began to develop symptoms last Wednesday and sought care two days later. He was released and returned to the hospital and was admitted Sunday.

Questions arose over why the patient was released in the first place.

“He was not exhibiting symptoms consistent with keeping him. If the person is not exhibiting the symptoms there would be no reason to keep them,” Texas Health Resources spokesman Wendell Watson said. “That’s a judgment call one of the carriers would have to make. We are following up as well as the CDC and Texas Department of State Health Services.”

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/10/01/6165611/officials-say-only-one-ebola-case.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2776965/Schoolchildren-exposed-US-Ebola-scare-patient-named-Thomas-Eric-Duncan.html
Pictured: First Ebola patient diagnosed on American soil. Texas governor Rick Perry reveals schoolchildren from FOUR different schools have been exposed and 18 Americans could be infected
10/1/14

    Five students attended four different Dallas schools this week after possibly being in close contact with the Ebola patient over the weekend

    The Ebola patient was named today as Thomas Eric Duncan, who had traveled to the U.S. from Liberia on September 20 to visit family

    Mr Duncan, a Liberian national, quarantined at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital since Sunday in a 'serious but stable condition'

    The children who came in contact with Mr Duncan are showing no symptoms and are now being monitored at home

    The schools are on high alert with additional health and custodial staff as an added precaution

    Other children were taken out of one Dallas school by concerned parents

    Mr Duncan arrived in U.S. on September 20 - after flying from Liberia via Brussels in Belgium - but did not develop symptoms until September 24

    He attended Texas Health Presbyterian on September 26 - but was dismissed with antibiotics and 'not asked details about his travel history'

    Mr Duncan may have contracted Ebola while helping carrying his landlord's seriously ill daughter to hospital in Liberia. She died the next day


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2776965/Schoolchildren-exposed-US-Ebola-scare-patient-named-Thomas-Eric-Duncan.html#ixzz3EuMuUbZH
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[Psalm 51:17]

http://cis.org/vaughan/dallas-ebola-patient-was-another-visa-mistake
 Dallas Ebola Patient Was Another Visa Mistake

By Jessica Vaughan, October 1, 2014

Look up "likely visa overstay" in the dictionary, and you should find a picture of Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man who is the first Ebola case diagnosed within the United States, and who is now being treated in a Dallas hospital.

This looks like another good case for the consular officers training manual of a non-immigrant visa that never should have been issued, but which could have serious public health consequences, not to mention monetary costs.

According to his Facebook page and other reports, Duncan is a 40-something, single, unemployed Liberian living in Ghana who applied sometime in the last year for a visa to visit his sister in the United States. It was reportedly his first time visiting this country.

That is six strikes against his application:

    Single
    Unemployed
    Liberian (5th highest overstay rate of any country in the world)
    Living outside country of citizenship
    First time traveler to the United States
    Sister living in the United States.

Together, all these factors should have weighed very heavily against the issuance of a visitor's visa to Duncan. He clearly appears unqualified.

In 2013, more than 3,500 non-immigrant visas were issued to Liberians. This number has grown steadily since 2009, when just over 1,300 were issued. Most are issued to tourists and business travelers. A relatively high percentage do not return, but settle here illegally to join a well-established Liberian community (many of whom have won green cards in the visa lottery).

The federal government has yet to disclose the details of Duncan's immigration history, but it is fair to ask why he was issued a visa in the first place? More importantly, what steps are being taken to prevent others who may be infected from entering the country?

Using 2013 non-immigrant visa issuance statistics and information on visa validity periods, I estimate that there are about 5,000 people from Sierra Leone, 5,000 people from Guinea, and 3,500 people from Liberia who have valid non-immigrant visas to enter the United States.

The president and his immigration agencies have the authority and the responsibility to deny admission to any alien that has (or cannot establish to the government's satisfaction that he or she doesn't have) a communicable disease of public health significance, such as ebola. In the midst of this severe outbreak, the government should be setting up more robust screening protocols. Reportedly, travelers to the United States are simply being questioned about their contact with infected people and are checked for a fever. In contrast, three African countries (Namibia, Kenya, and Zambia) have banned travelers from the countries that are experiencing the outbreak (Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea).

In July, a member of Congress sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson suggesting that we bar entry to any foreign travelers who have visited the three Ebola-stricken countries within 90 days of seeking entry to the United States.

But, as with the threat from terrorism and from foreign criminal cartels, the Obama administration seems reluctant to use immigration controls even to protect the homeland.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2014/10/01/the-centers-for-disease-control-changed-its-ebola-prevention-page-on-september-19-2014-why/
10/1/14
The Centers for Disease Control Changed Its Ebola Prevention Page on September 19, 2014. Why?

The Centers for Disease Control edited its Ebola prevention fact page on September 19. A note at the bottom of the page says as much.


So what was changed?

Here is the top of the page as it reads now, after the edit.





As you can see, the CDC edited out the following text on Sept 19:

    Because we still do not know exactly how people are infected with Ebola, few primary prevention measures have been established and no vaccine exists.

    When cases of the disease do appear, risk of transmission is increased within healthcare settings. Therefore, healthcare workers must be able to recognize a case of Ebola and be ready to use practical viral hemorrhagic fever isolation precautions or barrier nursing techniques. They should also have the capability to request diagnostic tests or prepare samples for shipping and testing elsewhere.

Why did the CDC edit all of that information out? Did the science change, or did the government make the edit for some other reason(s)?

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/25372/Default.aspx
Israel's Role in the Battle Against Ebola
Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Israel over the past month has been playing an increasingly central role in the global battle against the Ebola epidemic in West Africa that the UN Security Council recently deemed a “threat to international peace and security.”

Over 6,000 cases of Ebola have been reported and over 3,000 people have died of the disease in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia since the start of the year. The actual numbers are estimated to be much higher, though most cases are concealed for fear of forced quarantine.

On at least two occasions in recent months Israel has quarantined people suspected of having contracted the virus during visits to Africa. Both cases turned out to be false alarms.

Israel has dispatched medical teams to Sierra Leone and Cameroon to train local doctors on how to better combat the Ebola outbreak. Sierra Leone has also requested medication for treating the symptoms of Ebola, and Israel has reportedly promised to provide.

There is no known cure for Ebola, though American drug company Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc. has produced an experimental treatment known as ZMapp. The only problem is that the relatively limited supply of ZMapp has been exhausted, and the company says it will take months to produce more.

An Israeli biopharmaceutical company, Protalix, says it is ready to step in and fill the gap.

“Today our production capacity exceeds our needs, and we would certainly be happy to have the company producing the Ebola drug have us produce the drug for them. We would know how to do it effectively, in large quantities, and in a relatively short period of time,” a representative of Protalix told Channel 2 News.

Meanwhile, a smartphone app developed atop an Israeli-made platform is already having a major impact on the spread of Ebola.

Called “About Ebola” and available for both iOS and Android, the app’s makers successfully leveraged the Snapp platform to get the crucial software to market in a mere three days.

About Ebola has since been downloaded thousands of times by medical workers in the field and by residents of the affected areas. It has even been rapidly translated into local rural languages thanks to the flexibility of Snapp.

When the UN Security Council two weeks ago gathered in emergency sessions for the first time ever in response to a health crisis, Ambassador Ron Prosor said that “Israel is proud to be playing its part” in the urgent global effort to defeat Ebola.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://khon2.com/2014/10/01/patient-in-isolation-in-honolulu-hospital-officials-say-ebola-a-possibility/
10/1/14
Patient in isolation at Queen’s Medical Center(Hawaii), officials say Ebola a possibility

The Department of Health has confirmed a patient is currently in isolation and undergoing testing in Honolulu.

The Hawaii Nurses Association said the person is being treated at The Queen’s Medical Center.

Officials told KHON2 Ebola is a possibility, however the patient has yet to be specifically tested for the virus.

“We are early in the investigation of a patient — very, very, early, who we’re investigating that might have Ebola,” said Dr. Melissa Viray, deputy state epidemiologist. “It’s very possible that they do and they have Ebola, I think it’s also more likely that they have another condition that presents with similar symptoms.”

Dr. Viray said the patient could have a number of illnesses including Ebola, flu, malaria and typhoid.

Dr. Viray wouldn’t confirm any details about the patient, symptoms, or if the person had recently traveled to West Africa. But she did say red flags for Ebola include fever and recent travel to that area.

“Why is this person being isolated?” KHON2 asked.

“When we’ve asked the hospitals to tell us about is anyone with a travel history, and anyone with a fever, and when those things come together, we’ve asked them to be very careful and in an abundance of caution while you’re working, for whatever else might be going on, also make sure you isolate against Ebola, just in case,” she said.

“So it sounds like this person does have a fever and recently traveled to West Africa,” KHON2 asked.

“Again, I can’t be the one to confirm that,” Dr. Viray said.

The patient is currently being kept in a regular room and anyone who goes in or out must wear protective gear, officials said.

“They’re monitoring who goes in and out of that room and making sure that everybody as safe as possible, while the patient is being evaluated for Ebola and what other conditions that patient might have,” Dr. Viray said.

“Should the public concerned?” KHON2 asked.

“No, absolutely not. Like I said, this is a possible case we’re investigating. We don’t know if this is Ebola or a number of other conditions,” she said.

Health officials say it’s too early to say if the person will be tested.

There are 1,400 nurses assigned to work at The Queen’s Medical Center. The hospital has assured them that procedures are in place to protect them while the patient is being monitored.

A message sent to all employees Wednesday said that the hospital is “evaluating a patient for possible symptoms that may be consistent with Ebola.”

The union that represents the nurses was tipped off about the message Wednesday afternoon.

Joan Craft, president of the Hawaii Nurses Association, immediately contacted the hospital for assurance that safety procedures are in place to protect her members.

“Blood and fluid procedures are safe, but there are a lot of contagious things you can come in contact with,” she told KHON2. “Ebola is very frightening, but procedures are safe and we just want to make sure everyone knows that.”

The HNA also wanted to make sure that if someone is pregnant or otherwise uncomfortable dealing with the patient, that he or she does not have to be involved in the monitoring of the patient.

Experts gave us that reassurance last month and said then that unless you traveled to an area that was experiencing an outbreak, the risk of contracting Ebola is very low.

There is no room designed specifically for Ebola at Queen’s Medical Center, but the hospital says it is equipped to deal with the virus if needed.

“If someone showed up in the ER with suspected Ebola symptoms, they would immediately be placed in an isolation room,” Erlaine Bello, Queen’s Medical Center infectious disease specialist, previously told KHON2. “The door would be closed at all times. There would be a facilities log kept of everyone who entered the room and anyone who entered the room at a minimum would be wearing gloves, eye protection, goggles and a mask and impermeable gown.”

Dr. Bello said major hospitals and the health department have a good relationship with the federal CDC and that the state itself has the resources and the expertise to handle a case of Ebola if it were to appear here in the islands.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/american-cameraman-nbc-news-diagnosed-ebola-liberia-004538346.html
American cameraman for NBC News diagnosed with Ebola in Liberia
10/2/14

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - An American freelance television cameraman working for NBC News in Liberia has tested positive for the Ebola virus and will be flown back to the United States for treatment, the network said on Thursday in its own online report.

The diagnosis of the freelancer, hired earlier this week to work with NBC News chief medical editor and correspondent Dr. Nancy Snyderman, is believed to mark the first time an American journalist has been diagnosed with the deadly disease since the current outbreak in West Africa.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/02/us/texas-woman-quarantine-ebola-thomas-duncan/index.html?hpt=us_c2
10/2/14
Frustrated woman quarantined with sheets, towels soiled by Ebola patient

(CNN) -- The sweat-stained sheets of Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, still on her bed, a woman quarantined in a Dallas apartment said Thursday that she desperately wants her family's nightmare to end.

"We can't wait to be over with everything," the woman, who asked to be identified only by her first name, Louise, told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "We can't wait."

While Duncan is in isolation at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, his partner and three others have been stuck in a Dallas apartment since his diagnosis this week. Louise told CNN that authorities had her sign paperwork stating "if we step outside, they are going to take us ... to court (because) we'll have committed a crime."

So there she has stayed, along with her 13-year-old son and two nephews in their 20s. But it hasn't been easy.

Louise says she is checking her temperature every hour, and based on that and everything else, isn't sick. She expressed frustration being confined nonetheless, since people are only contagious with Ebola if they are symptomatic.

Duncan's girlfriend has been frustrated in other ways as well.

She said no one brought food Thursday to four people who can't leave to get it themselves, at least until later in the day. There was also the matter of their power going out, which was likely related to strong storms that rolled through the area. Then, of course, there's the idea of living in a place that -- just a few days ago -- was home to an Ebola sufferer.

Her 35-year-old daughter brought over Clorox to help clean the house, and she sealed up Duncan's dirty clothes and towels in a bag.

"But (authorities) said we shouldn't throw anything away until they can get back with me," Louise said.

That hadn't happened as of Thursday evening. That's when men in trucks from Cleaning Guys, a company that specializes in hazmat and biohazard cleaning services, showed up to head inside the apartment.

Once everything is cleaned up, even if plenty of food arrives, Louise's ordeal is far from over.

First off, there's the fact Duncan -- who flew from Liberia to visit her and family members -- is still in the hospital, fighting a disease that's already killed thousands in West Africa.

And Louise, her son and her nephews must wait 21 days from when Duncan first showed symptoms before they can leave the apartment. That's because Ebola can be in a person for that long before it manifests itself, and someone starts to feel sick.

Reflecting on it all, Louise said Thursday, "I'm just hanging in there, depending on God to save our lives."

County official: Quarantined four should be relocated

If it were up to the Dallas County director of homeland security, the four people quarantined shouldn't be stuck in the apartment at all.

Judge Clay Jenkins, also director of the county's Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said officials are working on that relocation after Duncan's partner told CNN of being forced to live with distressing living conditions.

Jenkins acknowledged "some hygiene issues" in the apartment.

"I would like to see those people moved to better living conditions," Jenkins told CNN's Jake Tapper on Thursday afternoon. "We are working on that. I would like to move them five minutes ago."

Jenkins acknowledged problems with Louise's apartment but defended the overall government response.

"We have some hygiene issues that we are addressing in that apartment," Jenkins said earlier in the day. "Those people in the apartment are part of Dallas County, and they're going to be treated with utmost respect and dignity in this unusual situation.

"We are working to get the response, which has been a good response, strengthened every hour of the day," the judge said.

Partner: Hospital staff were told Duncan from Liberia

Louise, a caregiver, sometimes refers to Duncan as her husband -- even though they're not legally married -- and sometimes as the father of at least one of her children, CNN's Anderson Cooper said.

When Duncan arrived in the United States on September 20, "he didn't tell me that he came in contact with anybody with Ebola," Louise said. Nor was he showing any signs of the virus.

But things changed three days later, when Duncan got a headache and a fever, according to his partner.

On September 25, she took him to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital where, Louise said, hospital staff were told twice that Duncan had come from Liberia. But "they did not ask" him anything about Ebola, including whether he'd had contact with anyone with the disease in Africa, according to Louise.

Duncan was taken by ambulance to the hospital on Sunday, September 28, after Louise's 35-year-old daughter saw him "shaking really hard" and with a fever when she came by to give him tea.

Louise said she went to the hospital herself soon thereafter, seeing Duncan "through the glass."

It was then that health officials first told her that medical officials first told her that her partner may have Ebola.

"I was so (scared)," Louise said.

Your Ebola questions answered

Questions about response

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta said the continuing presence of the sheets, on which Duncan may have transmitted the virus through sweating, are disturbing.

"With the sheets still being on the bed, that obviously is a concern," Gupta said. "We've talked about the fact that this virus can live outside the body, can live on surfaces. It's unlikely for it to be transmitted to someone else that way.

"But why take a chance?" Gupta added.

Wilfred Smallwood, Duncan's half-brother, said his 21-year-old son is among those quarantined in Louise's apartment.

"He lived there with them, too," Smallwood said Thursday of his son. "I just talked to them this morning -- the woman and my son and all of them."

His son told him that "we all be OK," Smallwood said.

Duncan came to the United States for the first time September 20 so that he could "help his son" and visit his family, Smallwood said.

Smallwood said he became disturbed when told of Louise's accounts about the his brother's sweat-stained sheets in the apartment and the lack of food.

"I'm skeptical now" about the CDC response, Smallwood said. "That worries me now, yes."

David Lakey, the Texas health commissioner, also said a crew will be cleaning and sanitizing the apartment.

Nonetheless, Gupta expressed alarm about the belated visit by the CDC waste contractor to Louise's apartment.

"It is hard to believe (the oversight) and there aren't good explanations here," Gupta said.

"As to why it already hadn't happened ... I would be curious," Gupta said. "Is this a dropped ball? We don't know."

One Ebola expert, Dr. Alexander van Tulleken, also said the federal response to the first Ebola case on U.S. soil seemed troubling. "So far we don't seem to reacting as well as we could," he said.

About Louise and her family, van Tulleken added: "It doesn't sound like they're being looked after at the moment."

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Texas/2014/10/2/Dallas-Paramedic-We-Werent-Contacted-After-Working-in-Ebola-Exposed-Ambulance
10/2/14
Dallas Paramedic: We Weren’t Contacted After Working in Ebola Exposed Ambulance

HOUSTON, Texas -- A Dallas paramedic claimed he drove the ambulance that the US Ebola patient was transported in and that he was not contacted by anyone about the potential exposure. He claims he drove the ambulance sometime after the patient was transported. The Dallas Fire Department left the ambulance that transported Ebola patient Thomas Duncan to the hospital in service for at least 48 hours before putting it in quarantine on Wednesday. The ambulance was exposed to the Ebola virus when Duncan was transported on September 28th.

“All the people in the back of the ambulance 48 hours later before they finally took the ambulance out of service,” said Dallas Paramedic Geoffrey Aklinski in a discussion on Facebook, “none of them have been contacted. None of the paramedics that were on that shift and went in the ambulance were contacted. I’ve been off three days now. No one contacted me and I was in and drove that ambulance after it was infected.”

Aklinski said he was going to a doctor on his own initiative to be tested for the Ebola virus. “This is definitely a concern and exposed workers have not been contacted or tested… like me,” he explained. “I had to call into control in Dallas at 8 pm and complain to get evaluated.”

“Three days after the fact,” an exasperated Aklinski stated, “I had to demand exposure testing and they are reporting following up with all the people in the ambulance??? Bull crap!!! They haven’t even followed up with the ten firefighters that were on duty Sunday.”

Aklinski went further in explaining the frustration he and most likely, other firefighters, are feeling. “How do you not test and contact the firefighters at the station on Sunday!!! Only the two medics and the intern on the ambulance? I was freaking in that ambulance hours later driving it!!! No one bothered to contact me about it?!!!”

He went on to say he has contacted other news outlets and they won’t report his side of the story. “They just go with the official reports,” Aklinski stated.

Aklinski said he is going in for testing today and then will go into a 21 day home evaluation period.

Breitbart Texas contacted the Dallas Fire and Rescue Department and the Dallas Firefighters’ Association for comment. No response was immediately available.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/health/2014/10/02/richardson-school-students-removed-class-contact-ebola-patient/16601287/
10/2/14
Richardson students removed from class after contact with Ebola patient

DALLAS -- Three siblings were taken out of class at Richardson's Wallace Elementary School and evaluated after Dallas County Health and Human Services told the school they came into contact with a man who has Ebola.

Richardson ISD said on its website that the students were removed from class and interviewed by health officials. They all appear to be healthy and do not have symptoms of the Ebola virus.

The students will now be monitored away from the school, as requested by DCHHS.

Thomas Eric Duncan is hospitalized in serious condition after he was diagnosed with Ebola while visiting family in Dallas from his home country of Liberia.

On Thursday the Dallas County Medical Society released a list of the top five things parents need to know about Ebola. See the list here.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://globalnews.ca/news/1595700/toronto-hospital-testing-patient-for-ebola-virus/
Toronto hospital testing patient for possible case of Ebola
10/2/14

TORONTO – A patient at a Toronto hospital is being tested for Ebola as well as other possible illnesses.

Toronto’s University Health Network (UHN) confirmed a patient who had recently traveled to West Africa was admitted to one of its four hospitals with a fever, but wouldn’t say which hospital or what West African country.

The watch list for countries experiencing an Ebola outbreak are Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria.

Health network spokesperson Gillian Howard said the person is in isolation and staff are using protective equipment until the test results are in – likely within the next 24 hours.

The network is comprised of Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto General Hospital, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and Toronto Rehabilitation Institute.

UHN spokesperson Alexandra Radkewycz said in an email all the hospitals’ emergency departments have Viral Disease Infection Prevention and Control Measures in place.

“It is very unlikely that the patient has Ebola but a test has been ordered as a precaution,” Howard wrote in an email. “Ebola is one of several diagnoses being considered at this point.”

The announcement comes two days after a patient in Dallas, Tx., was diagnosed with the U.S. first case of Ebola. Health officials there say the patient may have had contact with up to 100 people.

On Wednesday, the World Health Organization’s released its latest figures regarding the Ebola outbreak: At least 7,178 people have been infected with the virus; nearly 3,338 have died.

[Psalm 51:17]

https://gma.yahoo.com/texas-ebola-patients-possible-contacts-now-reach-100-130100841--abc-news-topstories.html
Texas Ebola Patient's Possible Contacts Now Reach 100

10/2/14

The circle of people who have come into contact with Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan is rapidly expanding, jumping from 18 to 80 early today and then leaping to 100, according to Texas health officials.

"Out of an abundance of caution, we're starting with this very wide net, including people who have had even brief encounters with the patient or the patient's home," Texas Department of State Health Services spokesperson Carrie Wilson said in a statement. "The number will drop as we focus in on those whose contact may represent a potential risk of infection."

A team of 10 experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have arrived in Dallas and will be helping the local health officials "find, assess, and assist everyone who came into contact" with Duncan, according to a CDC news release.

Disease detectives, a public health adviser and senior scientists are included in the team.

"We are stopping Ebola in its tracks in this country," CDC Director Tom Frieden said in the release. "We can do that because of two things: strong infection control that stops the spread of Ebola in health care; and strong core public health functions to trace contacts, track contacts, isolate them if they have any symptoms and stop the chain of transmission. I am certain we will control this."

Duncan, a Liberian man who is the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, is being treated in an isolation unit at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas after being brought to the hospital by ambulance earlier this week.

Medical authorities initially said that they were interviewing and monitoring 12 to 18 people, including five children, who had been in contact with Duncan since he arrived Sept. 19. But today that number jumped dramatically, though officials expect tracing protocols to eliminate many.

[Psalm 51:17]

https://gma.yahoo.com/man-thought-died-ebola-awakes-burial-team-wraps-151100663--abc-news-health.html
Man Thought to Have Died From Ebola Awakens After Burial Team Wraps Him Up
10/2/14

MONROVIA, Liberia -- Amid the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history, it's easier to get help if you are dead than if you are alive.

My producer and I were driving back from an assignment in Monrovia, where we filmed this morning's "Good Morning America" segment, when we saw a burial team working along the roadway surrounded by crowds of angry locals.

A community leader said they had been trying to get help for the dead man for days, but no ambulance ever came. When the man died, a burial team came in an hour.

We watched as the burial team suited up and approached the body lying against a wall. They sprayed it down with bleach and moved it to a black, plastic sheet and began to wrap it up.

"We couldn't get him help when he was alive," a community leader told me. "They only come when you die."

Just then, the dead man moved his arm -- just a little, but clearly a sign of life.

"He's alive," someone yelled.

The burial team unwrapped him and put him back on the ground. The man was alive but looked like he would only last a few more hours.

About ten minutes later, an ambulance pulled up and a separate team of health workers loaded him into the back.

The crowd went wild cheering.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/liberia-prosecute-man-brought-ebola-us-170917507.html
Liberia to prosecute man who brought Ebola to US
10/2/14

MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — The Liberian man infected with Ebola who brought the disease to the United States will be prosecuted when he returns home for lying on his airport screening questionnaire, Liberian authorities said Thursday.

With an Ebola epidemic raging in West Africa, passengers leaving Liberia are being screened for fever and are asked if they have had contact with anyone infected.

On the form obtained by The Associated Press and confirmed by a government official, Thomas Eric Duncan answered "no" to questions about whether he had cared for an Ebola patient or touched the body of someone who had died in an area affected by Ebola.

Duncan left for the U.S. on Sept. 19 to visit family and became sick a few days after he arrived.

He is currently in isolation at a hospital in Dallas, Texas, and is listed as being in serious but stable condition.

Days before he left Liberia, Duncan had helped carry to a taxi a pregnant woman who later died of Ebola, according to neighbors. Her illness at the time was believed to be pregnancy-related.

At the time Duncan left for the U.S., it's not clear if he knew of the woman's diagnosis.

Officials have said Duncan was showing no symptoms when he boarded the plane and he was therefore not contagious.

Ebola can only be spread through the bodily fluids of people showing signs of the disease.

"He will be prosecuted" when he returns to Liberia, Binyah Kesselly, chairman of the board of directors of the Liberia Airport Authority, told reporters.

He said that people like Duncan and Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian-American with Ebola who traveled to Nigeria and infected people there, have brought a "stigma" upon Liberians living abroad.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/texas-ebola-patients-neighborhood-scores-sick-140016735.html
Many sick in US Ebola patient's Liberia hometown
10/2/14

MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — Thomas Eric Duncan rushed to help his 19-year-old neighbor when she began convulsing days after complaining of stomach pain. Everyone assumed her illness was related to her being seven months pregnant.

When no ambulance came, Duncan, Marthalene Williams' parents and several others lifted her into a taxi, and Duncan rode in the front seat as the cab took Williams to the hospital. She later died.

Within weeks, everyone who helped Williams that day was either sick or dead, too — victims of Ebola, the virus that is ravaging Liberia's capital and other parts of West Africa, with more than 3,300 deaths reported.

The disease is spread through direct contact with saliva, sweat, blood and other bodily fluids, and all those who fell ill after helping Williams had touched her. She turned out to have Ebola.

Duncan is now hospitalized in an isolation ward in Texas after falling sick with Ebola following his arrival last month on a family visit. He has become a symbol of how the lethal disease could spread within the U.S.

Here in Liberia, however, he is just another neighbor infected by a virus that is devastating the cluster of tin-roof homes along 72nd SKD Boulevard where Williams lived.

"My pa and four other people took her to the car. Duncan was in the front seat with the driver, and the others were in the back seat with her," recounted her 15-year-old cousin Angela Garway, standing in the courtyard between the homes where they all lived. "He was a good person."

Meanwhile, Liberian authorities Thursday announced plans to prosecute Duncan, saying the delivery driver lied about his Ebola status upon leaving the country.

On an airport screening questionnaire obtained by The Associated Press, Duncan said that he hadn't come into contact with an Ebola patient. However, it is not clear whether he had learned of Williams' diagnosis before traveling.

In an interview with Canada's CBC News, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said she was "very saddened" and "very angry" with Duncan for putting Americans at risk, adding: "I just hope that nobody else gets infected."

In the neighborhood where Williams lived, some people were no longer willing to take any risks Thursday, not after seeing what happened to those who showed compassion for the pregnant woman.

As 9-year-old Mercy Kennedy sobbed along with neighbors mourning news of her mother's death, not a person would touch the little girl to comfort her.

Mercy's mother had helped to wash the pregnant woman's clothes, and had touched her body after she died at home when no hospital could find space for her, neighbors said.

On Thursday, little Mercy walked around in a daze in a torn nightgown and flip-flops, pulling up the fabric to wipe her tears as a group of workers from the neighborhood task force followed the sound of wailing through the thick grove of banana trees and corn plants.

"We love you so dearly, yeah," one man wearing rubber gloves told her from a safe distance. "We want to take care of you. Have you been playing with your friends here?"

With Mercy's mother dead, neighbors fear it is only a matter of time before she, too, shows signs of the virus, and they want to know which other children may have come into contact with her while she was fetching water.

Pewu Wolobah, a member of the neighborhood anti-Ebola task force, lamented that even as Americans try to trace all of Duncan's contacts there, the virus is spreading through Duncan's old neighborhood faster than anyone can keep track.

The aunt of the pregnant victim died on Wednesday after collapsing in her house next door to the Williams home. Her 15-year-old daughter Angela is left behind, along with the pregnant woman's three younger siblings — Ezo Williams, 16, Tete Williams, 12, and Stanley Williams, 3 — and the family dog.

Their parents left Thursday morning for an Ebola treatment center. As word spread that they, too, took a taxi, the health workers expressed alarm.

"Does anybody know the taxi number or the license plate?" one man called into the crowd. "We need to find this vehicle!"

All the cases, including Duncan's, appear to have started with Williams, though some wondered how a pregnant woman who stayed at home could have contracted Ebola. Maybe it was her boyfriend, who hasn't been seen in weeks, they said. Or could it have been her close friend known as Baby D, who has since died herself?

The tragedy of Williams' death could grow larger still: Neighbors and relatives said more than 100 people came to a wake for her. No one could say for sure how many people may have touched the body.

"We had a lot of people come from a great distance to sympathize with her family," said Joseph Dolo from the anti-Ebola task force. "She had a lot of friends."

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/ebola-worries-could-keep-dallas-students-home-051137929.html
Ebola worries keep some Dallas students home
10/2/14

DALLAS (AP) — Worries over Ebola kept some Dallas schoolchildren home Thursday after school officials identified five students who may have come into contact with the first person in the U.S. to be diagnosed with the virus.

Attendance is down about 10 percent at five schools where the affected students were either in class or nearby this week, Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Mike Miles said. Officials have said those students have shown no symptoms and are being monitored at home, where they are expected to remain for three weeks.

But there are already signs of parents taking no chances.

Yah Zuo left L.L. Hotchkiss Elementary on Thursday morning with her two children, including a 6-year-old daughter. Zuo hoped to enroll her elsewhere.

Zuo is of Liberian origin and said she knows the family with whom Thomas Eric Duncan, the Ebola patient who traveled from Liberia to Dallas last week, was staying. She said she has not met Duncan since he arrived, but she has known some of the children now in isolation.

"In situations like this, you cannot stay friends," Zuo said. "You have to protect the ones you love."

She added, "This virus is not something you play with."

Yasmeen Scott, a bus driver for the district, walked her 8-year-old daughter, Akeelah, and 5-year-old son, Bishop, to the door of the school Thursday. She cautioned her children to wash their hands as often as possible, but she said she was satisfied so far with what the district has told her about Ebola.

"I've got to work," Scott said, explaining her decision. "They have to go to school."

Ebola isn't contagious until symptoms appear, and then it can spread only by close contact with a patient's bodily fluids. State health officials said Thursday that more than 80 people are now being monitored for symptoms of Ebola in Texas.

Miles has said the district is acting out of an "abundance of caution" and would add more health workers to keep watch for symptoms among students. The district also deployed more custodial workers to the campuses, which include another elementary school, two middle schools and a high school.

"The students didn't have any symptoms, so the odds of them passing on any sort of virus is very low," Miles said.

The school district in Richardson, a suburb about 5 miles northeast of the hospital treating Duncan, also sent three elementary school students home after health officials determined they may have been in contact with Duncan.

Ebola is believed to have sickened more than 7,100 people in West Africa, and more than 3,300 deaths have been linked to the disease, according to the World Health Organization. Symptoms can include fever, muscle pain, vomiting and bleeding, and can appear as long as 21 days after exposure to the virus.

Officials have not revealed the ages of the children who had contact with the man.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-20341423
Growing concerns over 'in the air' transmission of Ebola

11/15/2012

Canadian scientists have shown that the deadliest form of the ebola virus could be transmitted by air between species.

In experiments, they demonstrated that the virus was transmitted from pigs to monkeys without any direct contact between them.

The researchers say they believe that limited airborne transmission might be contributing to the spread of the disease in some parts of Africa.

They are concerned that pigs might be a natural host for the lethal infection.

Ebola viruses cause fatal haemorrhagic fevers in humans and many other species of non human primates.

Details of the research were published in the journal Scientific Reports.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the infection gets into humans through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs and other bodily fluids from a number of species including chimpanzees, gorillas and forest antelope.

The fruit bat has long been considered the natural reservoir of the infection. But a growing body of experimental evidence suggests that pigs, both wild and domestic, could be a hidden source of Ebola Zaire - the most deadly form of the virus.

Now, researchers from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the country's Public Health Agency have shown that pigs infected with this form of Ebola can pass the disease on to macaques without any direct contact between the species.

In their experiments, the pigs carrying the virus were housed in pens with the monkeys in close proximity but separated by a wire barrier. After eight days, some of the macaques were showing clinical signs typical of ebola and were euthanised.

One possibility is that the monkeys became infected by inhaling large aerosol droplets produced from the respiratory tracts of the pigs.

One of the scientists involved is Dr Gary Kobinger from the National Microbiology Laboratory at the Public Health Agency of Canada. He told BBC News this was the most likely route of the infection.

"What we suspect is happening is large droplets - they can stay in the air, but not long, they don't go far," he explained.

"But they can be absorbed in the airway and this is how the infection starts, and this is what we think, because we saw a lot of evidence in the lungs of the non-human primates that the virus got in that way."

The scientists say that their findings could explain why some pig farmers in the Philippines had antibodies in their system for the presence of a different version of the infection called Ebola Reston. The farmers had not been involved in slaughtering the pigs and had no known contact with contaminated tissues.

Dr Kobinger stresses that the transmission in the air is not similar to influenza or other infections. He points to the experience of most human outbreaks in Africa.

"The reality is that they are contained and they remain local, if it was really an airborne virus like influenza is it would spread all over the place, and that's not happening."

Hidden host

The authors believe that more work needs to be done to clarify the role of wild and domestic pigs in spreading the virus. There have been anecdotal accounts of pigs dying at the start of human outbreaks. Dr Kobinger believes that if pigs do play a part, it could help contain the virus.

"If they do play a role in human outbreaks it would be a very easy point to intervene" he said. "It would be easier to vaccinate pigs against Ebola than humans."

Other experts in the field were concerned about the idea that Ebola was susceptible to being transmitted by air even if the distance the virus could travel was limited. Dr Larry Zeitlin is the president of Mapp Biopharmaceuticals.

"It's an impressive study that not only raises questions about the reservoir of Ebola in the wild, but more importantly elevates concerns about ebola as a public health threat," he told BBC News. "The thought of airborne transmission is pretty frightening."

At present, an outbreak of ebola in Uganda has killed at least two people near the capital Kampala. Last month, Uganda declared itself Ebola-free after an earlier outbreak of the disease killed at least sixteen people in the west of the country.

[Mark]

   Ebola In America: The Confirmed Case In Dallas, Texas Could Change Everything

United States Map On A Globe - Public DomainThe day that many of us hoped would never arrive is here.  Ebola has come to America.  Air travel between the United States and the countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone should have been totally shut down except for absolutely essential personnel but it wasn't.  And now our nation may end up paying a great price as a result.  On Tuesday, the CDC announced that there is a confirmed case of Ebola in Dallas, Texas.  We know that this individual is a male and that he traveled by air from Liberia to Texas on September 19th.  At that time, he was not exhibiting any symptoms.  It is being reported that he started developing symptoms on September 24th and that he sought out treatment two days later.  Incredibly, he was turned away and sent home.  Then on September 28th he went to a hospital again and this time he was admitted for treatment.  That means that he could have potentially been spreading Ebola to others for at least four full days before finally getting treated at a hospital.  Now he is in intensive care at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.  The CDC says that "there is no doubt that we will stop it here" and is promising that "it will not spread widely in this country".  The CDC better be right on both counts. (Read More....)
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/ebola-in-america-the-confirmed-case-in-dallas-texas-could-change-everything


   The Economic Implications Of A Potential Ebola Pandemic In The United States

Fear Of Ebola - Public DomainFor the moment, our top public health officials are quite adamant that there absolutely will not be a major Ebola outbreak in the United States.  But what if they are wrong?  Or what would happen if terrorists released a form of weaponized Ebola or weaponized smallpox in one of our major cities?  What would such an event do to our economy?  I think that we can get some clues by looking at the economic collapses that are taking place in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone right now.  When an extremely deadly virus like Ebola starts spreading like wildfire, the fear that it creates can be even worse for a society than the disease.  All of a sudden people don't want to go to work, people don't want to go to school and people definitely don't want to go shopping.  There are very few things that can shut down the economy of a nation faster.  Considering the fact that our big banks are being more reckless than ever, we better hope that we don't see a "black swan event" such as a major Ebola outbreak come along and upset the apple cart.  Because if that does happen, our Ponzi scheme of an economy could implode really quick. (Read More....)
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/the-economic-implications-of-a-potential-ebola-pandemic-in-the-united-states


   During An Ebola Pandemic All Of Your Rights Would Essentially Be Meaningless

Prison Fence - Public DomainIf there is a major Ebola pandemic in America, all of the liberties and the freedoms that you currently enjoy would be gone.  If government officials believe that you have the virus, federal law allows them to round you up and detain you "for such time and in such manner as may be reasonably necessary."  In addition, the CDC already has the authority to quarantine healthy Americans if they reasonably believe that they may become sick.  During an outbreak, the government can force you to remain isolated in your own home, or the government may forcibly take you to a treatment facility, a tent city, a sports stadium, an old military base or a camp.  You would not have any choice in the matter.  And you would be forced to endure any medical procedure mandated by the government.  That includes shots, vaccines and the drawing of blood.  During such a scenario, you can scream about your "rights" all that you want, but it won't do any good. (Read More....)
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/during-an-ebola-pandemic-all-of-your-rights-would-essentially-be-meaningless

[Mark]

Don’t Worry? 10 Quotes From Health Experts Promising That Ebola Will Not Be A Problem In America

Health experts all over the United States are promising us that we do not need to be worried about Ebola whatsoever.  Even though one case has already been confirmed in Dallas, Texas and another potential case is being monitored, health authorities assure us that we have the greatest health system in the history of the planet and that we will be able to handle any isolated cases very easily.  And all over the mainstream media on Wednesday, there were headlines declaring that the arrival of Ebola in America is a non-event.  One example is this headline from Bloomberg: “Ebola in America? Don’t Worry About It”.  So are they right?  Should the rest of us just kick back and relax because a bunch of really smart guys are assuring us that our health system can easily deal with anything that Ebola can throw at us?  The following are 10 quotes from prominent experts promising us that Ebola will not be a problem in this country…

#1 Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases: “We feel confident that there won’t be an outbreak.”

#2 University of Chicago professor Michael Z. David: “While this all sounds very frightening, there’s no need to worry at this point about Ebola spreading widely here.”

#3 Gerardo Chowell-Puente, an associate professor of mathematical epidemiology at the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University: “Math and history show us that decisive efforts to isolate those who are infected with Ebola and to follow up quickly with the potential contacts of the infected can help to get an outbreak under control. We’re lucky that we have such capacities in the United States; even with the Ebola case in Dallas, the epidemic should not get much of a foothold here.”

#4 Texas Health Director David Lakey: “This is a very sophisticated city, a very sophisticated hospital, … and the chances of it being spread are very, very scarce.”

#5 Zachary Thompson, director of Dallas County Health & Human Services: “This is not Africa. We have a great infrastructure to deal with an outbreak.”

#6 Dr. William Shaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center: “We’re very prepared: Infection-control people in hospitals over the past two months have been reviewing all their infection- control procedures because we anticipated just this sort of thing happening—a person coming from West Africa, they were healthy at the time they traveled, but got sick here.”

#7 Thomas Frieden, the director of the CDC: “It is certainly possible that someone who has had contact with this patient could develop Ebola, but there is no doubt in my mind that we will stop it here.”

#8 Dr. William Shaffner: “Even Doctors Without Borders in West Africa are moving the fatality rate from 50 percent down to 30 percent—I bet we can do substantially better than that here.”

#9 Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston: “The Ebola virus is not easily transmitted from person to person, and we have an outstanding infrastructure in place both to contain the virus and trace contacts. There will not be an Ebola epidemic in the United States.”

#10 Thomas Frieden: “The bottom line here is that I have no doubt that we will control this importation or this case of Ebola so that it does not spread widely throughout this country.”

So are they right?

I don’t know.

I hope that they are.

But considering how out of control the Ebola pandemic in West Africa is, I wouldn’t be as dogmatic as those experts are being.

Meanwhile, Barack Obama continues to act as if nothing has changed either.  Even though a number of other nations have shut down all air traffic to Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, Obama still refuses to restrict air travel to and from those countries…

    After U.S. officials disclosed another potential case of Ebola in Dallas, Texas, this morning, the question remains whether the Obama administration will finally stop flights from Ebola-stricken countries as multiple nations did over a month ago.

    In mid-August, Korean Air and Kenya Airways announced they were halting flights to the West African countries ravaged by Ebola, and British Airways and Air France also decided to suspend service to the Ebola hot zone a few weeks later.

    “France is recommending that its citizens leave Sierra Leone and Liberia, two of the countries hardest hit by the worst ever outbreak of the disease,” Jessica Plautz reported for Mashable. “The government said the increasing spread of the disease prompted its request that the airline to suspend flights.”

    Yet the Obama administration made no such request to U.S. airlines and government flights, despite the Center of Disease Control advising Americans to avoid “non-essential travel” to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea several weeks ago.

Obama says that he has a tremendous amount of confidence in the “extensive screening” at our airports.

Would that be the same “extensive screening” that some CNN employees recently experienced?…

    CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen said when she and two colleagues recently returned from reporting in Liberia, they got a mixed bag of responses from Customs and Border Protection officers.

    “We all said we were journalists who had just been in Liberia covering Ebola,” Cohen said. “One of my colleagues was told, ‘Oh, OK, welcome back home, sir’ — and (was) just let in — that was it.”

    Cohen herself got a different response.

    “I was told, ‘Wait a minute, I think I got an email about this,’ and the border patrol officer went and consulted with his colleagues,” Cohen said.

    That officer later told her she should check her system for 21 days.

    “I said, ‘What should I be checking?’ And he wasn’t sure,” Cohen said.

And even though it has already been demonstrated that someone from West Africa can bring Ebola over to the U.S. on an airplane, authorities all over the country seem content to proceed with business as usual.

For example, according to Fox News, college students from West Africa “may be subject to extra health checks“.

Or they might not.

No big deal, right?

After all, if a case or two of Ebola does pop up, our health authorities can easily take care of the situation like the experts are saying.

Right?

The truth is that we aren’t talking about measles or the flu here.  We are talking about one of the deadliest diseases ever known to mankind.

I think that John Little summarized what we are potentially facing very well…

    When you look closely at this virus, it’s hard to see any reason for optimism. It really is one of the most horrifying viruses known to man. It is massively contagious. It has an extremely low survival rate. Those that survive will often die later on – from organ failure, because of the massive internal damage this virus causes to even those who survive.

So those experts better be right.

They better be able to stop this virus just like they are saying.

Because if not, they are going to have to deal with millions of Americans that are extremely angry that they got lied to.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/dont-worry-10-quotes-from-health-experts-promising-that-ebola-will-not-be-a-problem-in-america

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/patient-ebola-symptoms-enters-washington-hospital-170221779.html
Patient with Ebola symptoms enters Washington hospital
10/3/14

Washington (AFP) - A patient with symptoms that could be associated with the deadly Ebola virus and a recent travel history to Nigeria was admitted Friday to a Washington-area hospital, a spokeswoman told AFP.

"We can confirm that a patient ​has been admitted to Howard University Hospital in stable condition, following travel to Nigeria and presenting with symptoms that could be associated with Ebola," said Howard University spokeswoman Kerry-Ann Hamilton.

"In an abundance of caution, we have activated the appropriate infection control protocols, including isolating the patient."

No further details were released about the patient.

Symptoms of Ebola can include fever, aches and pains, vomiting and diarrhea.

The virus is spread through close contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person.

The first diagnosed case of Ebola in the United States was announced on Tuesday, after a man from Liberia who had traveled to Texas fell ill days after he arrived.

Nigeria is one of five West African nations that have battled Ebola this year, but has had fewer than two dozen cases and as many as eight deaths linked to the arrival of a sick airline passenger from Liberia, far less than the thousands of infections in neighboring countries.

Nigeria's president declared the nation Ebola-free at a UN meeting late last month.

US and global health authorities have said Nigeria was near to being able to announce an end to the outbreak there, which can only be established once 42 days have passed since the last infection.

More than 3,300 people have died across Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Nigeria and Senegal already this year, in the world's largest outbreak of Ebola in history.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/us-readies-4-000-troops-ebola-mission-192237771.html
US readies 4,000 troops for Ebola mission
10/3/14

Washington (AFP) - The US military expects to increase the number of troops deployed to Liberia to fight the Ebola outbreak to nearly 4,000, up from a planned 3,000-strong force, the Pentagon said Friday.

About 200 soldiers are already in Liberia setting up a headquarters for the US mission, which is aimed at training health care workers and setting up medical facilities for international aid teams.

President Barack Obama earlier this month announced that about 3,000 troops would eventually head to West Africa to help with efforts against the deadly virus.

But the Pentagon said officials were looking at ramping up the size of the force if necessary.

"We project that there could be nearly 4,000 troops deployed in support of this mission, but we're obviously assessing the requirements on a daily basis. It may not go that high," spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters.

He said an additional 1,800 US Army troops, including engineers, medical and aviation specialists, received orders to deploy to Africa in coming weeks.

This was in addition to 1,400 already headed to Monrovia this month, including the troops already on the ground.

The deployment will bring the total number of American forces in Liberia and neighboring states to 3,200, officials said.

There was also a small team of 26 troops in Senegal already in place, in case air evacuations are required out of Liberia, Kirby said.

Two Ebola testing labs in Monrovia managed by US naval medical staff are now up and running, Kirby said, and have already begun processing samples.

And a field hospital for infected medical workers is due to be open by October 18, he said.

Pentagon officials said the clinics, labs and other facilities being constructed and equipped by US troops will enable more doctors and workers from international medical charities to operate out of Liberia to help counter the Ebola outbreak.

The latest troop plans for "Operation Unite Assistance" were unveiled as a fourth American contracted Ebola in Liberia.

By far the most deadly epidemic of Ebola on record has spread into five west African countries since the start of the year, infecting more than 7,000 people and killing about half of them.

None of the soldiers stationed in the region would be in affected areas or treating patients, but the military was leaving nothing to chance, providing them with protective gear and training, Kirby said.

"Before they go, they're going to get trained, especially going to get trained on Ebola and what the disease is like, what it means, what it does," he said.

"While they're there, they're going to be constantly monitored on a regular, frequent basis."