Ebola Zaire Virus

Wow, that is sobering.

One thing i wonder (and hope is not the case) is whether viruses like Ebola can be spread via Sahara Dust. I have read that fungal meningitis has been documented to be be spread by Sahara Dust.

"Nature" seems to be upset with man; man should have respected her.
Swan

While the Ebola epidemic rages on throughout Western Africa, far beyond the borders of Guinea, the country in which it first began, a recent analysis of the disease’s emergence has revealed the geographic origin of the epidemic and the pathogen’s likely source. Research suggests that the Guinean strain of the Zaire Ebolavirus originated from a single group of patients living in the heavily forested town of Guéckédougou in the remote prefecture of Gueckedou. The town is a small governmental subdivision which borders both Liberia and Sierra Leone, two countries which also host significant portions of the forest that surrounds Guekedou.

The Guinean strain of the deadly virus is a member of the Ebolavirus genus, a group of pathogens which cause deadly hemorrhagic fevers in the infected. Research has shown that it is not only part of that genus but it is also an extremely close relative of the Zaire Ebolavirus, which was not only the first species of Ebolavirus identified by humans, but was – and still is – the deadliest strain of the virus, killing around 90 percent of those it infects.

The landscape surrounding Guekedou, more commonly known as the Western Guinean Lowland Forests, is threatened on all sides by illegal logging, improper land use, and ill-advised exploitation by all three of the countries which exist in the shade of its many trees. It is ironic that this threatened landscape, which for years has been suffering a slow death at the hands of West Africans (either directly or through the government’s inability to enforce forestry laws), has been identified as the source of the pathogen that threatens all of Western Africa by infecting and killing more people every single day.

This determination is unlikely to ease the suffering of any West Africans afflicted by Ebola or assist health workers as they attempt to control the spread of the virus. The virus quickly swept through Guinea and on through to Liberia and Sierra Leone in a matter of weeks after the reports of the first cases in Gueckedou reached the ears of health officials. Since then, over 500 people have been slain by the microbe, dwarfing the number of people killed during every other outbreak since the disease was identified in the 1970s.

Many people and organizations have wondered what has allowed these numbers to become so high. The World Health Organization, along with other public-health oriented non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as Doctors Without Borders or Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), have cited ignorance of the disease as one of many significant factors contributing to the epidemic. The public health organizations supported this claim by referring to incidents where the infected either fled hospitals, or instances in which hospital workers themselves lacked the necessary training to contain the extremely contagious virus. The main point to be taken is that both the health care system and the people of the region itself were totally unprepared for an Ebola outbreak, leaving many unanswered questions as to how this could have happened.

There is one answer to the question that seems fairly obvious: the people and institutions of Western Africa had never actually experienced an outbreak of the disease within their region. Prior to this year, Ebola outbreaks occurred primarily in Central Africa and had been doing so for over 30 years. Thus the threat of Ebola was not at the forefront of health ministers’ minds while directing the development of their nations’ health infrastructure.

Even MSF was more concerned with fighting HIV/AIDS, cholera outbreaks and malaria than Ebola, which did not become a top priority for the organization until March of 2014. Before that date they were just as blissfully ignorant as the rest of the region about the coming sylvan plague. However, practically speaking, they really could not have seen it coming. The idea of a Guinean strain of Zaire Ebolavirus epidemic born of one of Western Africa’s most threatened woodlands would seem absolutely ridiculous to them.

Just about any other medical professional in that region would likely have responded the same way, citing the simple fact that during the more than 30 years between the identification of Ebola, its many outbreaks throughout the rest of the African continent and the current epidemic, the Western Guinean Lowland Forests was just as real as it is today, and yet not a single strain of the Ebola virus infected any Western Africans. Logically then, if the forests (or rather the animals which live inside of the forests) existed alongside the communities which are now being stripped of their friends and families by one of the forest’s microbial inhabitants for over 30 years without any reported Ebola outbreaks, then something must have changed in the relationship between the people and the land upon which they live and rely.

Melissa Leach, who has studied how the citizens as well as the governments of Africa’s many countries use (and misuse) their land, presents a theory as to why the disease has begun appearing in Western Africa after 38 years of complete absence. Basically, all three countries that are currently struggling to contain the pathogen, even the town where the virus first began its killing spree, had begun to significantly alter the landscape. These alterations transformed the local environment in ways that dramatically increased their likelihood of being exposed to the virus. Similar decisions were made in other parts of the now disease infested region prior to the appearance and dissemination of the disease.

In Guéckédougou, the ecological amendments had occurred slowly as the communities nearer to the forests began to expand, while its neighbor’s woodland woes occurred quickly and on a scale never seen before, and cost them dearly even before the virus crossed into their borders. The decision to allow the exploitation and reclamation of the massive forest which all three nations share appeared to be a prudent one, given recent developments within their respective borders. So it was that the regions’ governments, its environmental criminals whose collars were just as often white as they were blue, and even simple farmers all set out to modify the threatened landscape all for their own profit, blissfully unaware of the deadly cost their rapacious actions would incur upon the future.

The epidemic, which has skipped between communities and states, causing nothing but death and suffering, began in the in the village of Gueckedou, which despite its proximity to an important forest landscape, does not exist in the shade of a forest canopy. The locals have made small consistent changes to the local ecosystem over the years, changes that have dramatically altered the whole area. The once forested sections of the town now resemble a patchwork of farmland mixed together with forest “islands,” unaltered sections of the forest which once dominated the area but had been recently converted into farm land. Over the years more and more forest islands could be seen as the farmers encroached upon the forest reserve in search of better soils.

The intentional and sporadic human repurposing of forest ecosystems is not limited to simple farming activities. Reports indicated that as the forest became more accessible, its citizens began conducting more mining and hunting activities in the forested areas. This is where the virus enters the drama. Zaire Ebolavirus is “zoonotic,” meaning that it is carried by animals who act as its source or “reservoirs,” the most likely being bats. However before the locals began to encroach upon the forest in such a destructive manner they had always lived near bats and other creatures found underneath the canopies of the vast woodland landscape.

It was only as the townspeople began moving onto and into land which had traditionally belonged to the forest and its inhabitants that they began to encounter many such “reservoirs,” with much greater frequency than ever before. With each encounter came the probability of an infection and unlike before, such run-ins were more common than ever, meaning that the virus (which had always been inside the forest) finally had enough opportunities to infect nearby humans, that it eventually succeeded.

Unfortunately human encroachment into these forests was not limited to just one small town. Even larger campaigns of deforestation were going on in the town’s neighboring nation-states. According to the official Environmental Policy of the Economic Community of West African States, Western Africa has one of the worst deforestation rates in the world, losing 899,000 hectares of forest every year. The report also points to the “unexpected or irregular transfer” of forested land to “other sectors for other uses.”

In other words, what happened in Gueckedou has been happening in the rest of the region for years. If the deforestation hypothesis is indeed correct and given the immense amount of improper land alterations which contribute to the loss of forest area, then West Africans, whose misadventures in forestry were bringing them ever closer to the origin and cause of the deadly Ebola virus, were lucky that an epidemic did not occur sooner.

Every single country which is now fighting to protects its citizens from a disease once thought to be trapped in the jungles of the Congo has recently failed to properly manage their forest areas, even those sections which constitute portions of the Western Guinean Lowland Forests have not been spared the institutional incompetence and greed of Guinea, Liberia, or Sierra Leone. Unfortunately though, unlike environmental degradation in other parts of the world, which harms mostly future generations, the three nations have damaged their shared environment in such a way that it is the current generation that must suffer and even die in an epidemic created by the mistakes and oversights of their parents and their elders.

For instance, Liberia essentially sold the logging rights (in the form of a poorly designed and regulated Private Use Permit system) of up to over half of its forested areas – 40 percent of which are part of the Guinean Rainforest. Those permits were not intended for logging ventures but for small landholders. However large companies were able to overcome this hurdle by using bribes and other tactics to get those small landholders and even entire villages to sign their forests off for logging.

Once the paper was signed, large enterprises came right in and started tearing the trees right out from the soil. Individuals in search of work also partook in the dubious logging ventures, though they did not profit nearly as much. Other than enriching business entities which were flaunting the laws, the only other effect of the disastrous permitting policies was absolutely massive deforestation throughout the country.

Sierra Leone, meanwhile, was actively trying to manage its forest’s resources but was completely unable to control illegal logging activities with conventional law enforcement and regulatory law. Eventually the government banned timber exports after investigative journalists went public with the gravity of the environmental situation there. However the ban was short-lived and was lifted only a year later. The intense logging continued, as did other activities such as mining. The individuals involved in these ventures care not for the law and regularly dug mines and cut hectares of timber down from within the country’s own national parks

All three of the infected countries had been dealing with severe deforestation prior to the outbreaks, which occurred all over the region in a nonlinear manner. While making a direct, causative argument would be impossible, it is reasonable to assume that the three country’s lax behavior regarding land use and shortsighted decisions relating to the exploitation of their own resources likely aided the spread of the virus by exposing their citizens to the forests and their many inhabitants.

On any other continent, outdoor labor is very unlikely to result in workers contracting highly infectious and very deadly pathogens. However, among those creatures which live in the dark forests of Western Africa, there are many which serve as Ebola reservoirs. These animals had simply lived peacefully in their forest homes, unaware of the deadly pathogens which existed inside them as the humans came closer and closer to their natural habitat. Those microbes were likewise existing harmlessly inside of their reservoirs, but were also ready to jump ship for a host who could provide the proper microbial environment for its reproduction.

After what could have been anywhere from a single encounter to hundreds of near misses, the Guinean strain of Ebola was finally able to enter and subsequently infect a human being, whose internal biochemistry it then used to spread itself far and wide across the region until it became a veritable epidemic that has killed almost 900 people since March. All this because a farming community refused modify its planting methods, opting instead to search for more fertile soil in the wild forests, and also because two governments lacked the institutional strength and regulatory power to stop the reckless plunder of their lands. The origin of this deadly epidemic is therefore not just a scientific pursuit, but also lesson in the dreadful events which can occur when governments fail to control their citizens, whether they be farmers or criminal businessmen. The situation in West Africa is proof positive that institutional failure not only hurts, it can kill.

If these countries do not learn to protect their resources, to value them instead of selling them off en masse, and of course to properly manage them, then West Africa seems likely to end up like the origin of Ebola itself: Central Africa, which has deadly Ebola outbreaks and epidemics far more often than any other part of the continent. West African nations must now look to their forests as protective barriers, or even perhaps cages – the only places inside of which the origins and the cause of Ebola outbreaks can be contained until the development of a viable treatment.

Opinion By Andrew

Read more at http://guardianlv.com/2014/07/ebola-the-origin-of-west-africas-deadly-epidemic/#BmPOHWLLpprwxvFF.99

Islandjoan, Excellent question: Ebola requires a wet environment/ source to be viable. The virus can't sustain itself in the sunlight and on dry surfaces, both of which are usually associated with Sahara Dust.
Swan

thanks Swan, that is good to know!! (I got lazy and didn't do the research)

OK next question: if the virus needs a wet environment, do you think it might be possible that the virus could spread in storms that originate over West Africa?

joan, locally in West Africa I am sure transmission would be possible, but if you are asking if the virus could survive a trans-Atlantic flight I would say a definite no.

thanks Swan, that is good to know!! (I got lazy and didn't do the research)

OK next question: if the virus needs a wet environment, do you think it might be possible that the virus could spread in storms that originate over West Africa?

Quote by noOne:

"...joan, locally in West Africa I am sure transmission would be possible, but if you are asking if the virus could survive a trans-Atlantic flight I would say a definite no...."

Islandjoan, I would be in agreement with noOne regarding no possibility of trans-Atlantic transport of the Ebolavirus via storms originating from Africa. Ebolavirus can, however, be transported on water droplets. Transmission can occur through saliva from a cough. All in all, the virus can live on water droplets.
Swan

thanks noOne + swans! I hope that is the case:-o

Recent Updates:

Jul 27, 12:42 PM EDT

Official: Ebola kills senior doctor in Liberia

By JONATHAN PAYE-LAYLEH
Associated Press

MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) -- One of Liberia's most high-profile doctors has died of Ebola, a government official said Sunday, as an American doctor was treated in the West African country after contracting the disease, highlighting the risks facing health workers trying to combat the spread of the deadly virus.

Dr. Samuel Brisbane is the first Liberian doctor to die in an outbreak the World Health Organization says has killed 129 people in Liberia, and more than 670 in several West African countries. A Ugandan doctor working in the country died earlier this month.

The WHO says the outbreak, the largest ever recorded, has also killed 319 people in Guinea and 224 in Sierra Leone. As of July 23, the total number of cases in the three countries was 1,201, it said.

In Nigeria, officials announced on Friday that a Liberian official died of Ebola after flying from Monrovia to Lagos via Lome, Togo. The case underscored the difficulty of preventing Ebola victims from traveling given weak screening systems and the fact that the initial symptoms of the disease - including fever and sore throat - resemble many other illnesses.

Health workers are at serious risk of contracting the disease, which spreads through contact with bodily fluids.

Dr. Kent Brantly, an American helping respond to the outbreak in Liberia, is receiving intensive medical treatment there after he was infected with the deadly Ebola virus, a spokeswoman for aid organization Samaritan's Purse said. Brantly was in stable condition, talking with his doctors and working on his computer while receiving care, she said.

Earlier this year, Brantly was quoted in a posting about the dangers facing health workers trying to contain the disease.

"In past Ebola outbreaks, many of the casualties have been health care workers who contracted the disease through their work caring for infected individuals," he said.

Sierra Leone's top Ebola doctor also fell ill with the disease last week, though Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brima Kargbo said Sunday that he was "fairly stable and responding well to treatment."

The Liberian doctor, Brisbane, who once served as a medical adviser to former Liberian President Charles Taylor, was working as a consultant with the internal medicine unit at the country's largest hospital, the John F. Kennedy Memorial Medical Center in Monrovia.

After falling ill with Ebola, he was taken to a treatment center on the outskirts of the capital, where he died, said Tolbert Nyenswah, an assistant health minister.

Under the supervision of health workers, family members escorted the doctor's body to a burial location west of the city, Nyenswah said.

He added that another doctor who had been working in Liberia's central Bong County was also being treated for Ebola at the same center where Brisbane died.

The situation "is getting more and more scary," Nyenswah said.

News of Brisbane's death first began circulating on Saturday, a national holiday marking Liberia's independence in 1847.

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf used her Independence Day address to discuss a new taskforce to combat Ebola. Information Minister Lewis Brown said the taskforce would go "from community to community, from village to village, from town to town" in order to increase awareness.

Meanwhile, the fact that a sick Liberian could board a flight to Nigeria raised new fears that other passengers could take the disease beyond Africa.

Nigeria's international airports were screening passengers arriving from foreign countries, and health officials were also working with ports and land borders to raise awareness of the disease. Togo's government also said it was on high alert.

Security analysts were skeptical about the usefulness of these measures, however.

"In Nigeria's case, the security set-up is currently bad, so I doubt it will help or have the minimum effectiveness they are hoping for," said Yan St. Pierre, CEO of the Berlin-based security consulting firm MOSECON.

An outbreak in Lagos, a megacity where many lived in cramped conditions, could be a major public health disaster.

There is no known cure for Ebola. The West Africa outbreak is believed to have begun as far back as January in southeast Guinea, though the first cases weren't confirmed until March.

Since then, officials have tried to contain the disease by isolating victims and educating populations on how to avoid transmission, though porous borders, satellite outbreaks and widespread distrust of health workers have made the outbreak difficult to bring under control.

In Sierra Leone, which has recorded the highest number of new cases in recent days, the first case originating in Freetown, the capital, came when a hairdresser named Saudata Koroma fell ill. She was forcibly removed from a government hospital by her family, sparking a frantic search that ended Friday. Kargbo, the chief medical officer, said Sunday that Koroma died while being transported to a treatment center in the east of the country.

--

Associated Press writers Clarence Roy-Macaulay in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Heather Murdock in Lagos, Nigeria contributed reporting.

© 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AF_WEST_AFRICA_EBOLA?SITE=ILMOL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Recent Updates:

Jul 27, 12:42 PM EDT

Official: Ebola kills senior doctor in Liberia

By JONATHAN PAYE-LAYLEH
Associated Press

MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) -- One of Liberia's most high-profile doctors has died of Ebola, a government official said Sunday, as an American doctor was treated in the West African country after contracting the disease, highlighting the risks facing health workers trying to combat the spread of the deadly virus.

Dr. Samuel Brisbane is the first Liberian doctor to die in an outbreak the World Health Organization says has killed 129 people in Liberia, and more than 670 in several West African countries. A Ugandan doctor working in the country died earlier this month.

The WHO says the outbreak, the largest ever recorded, has also killed 319 people in Guinea and 224 in Sierra Leone. As of July 23, the total number of cases in the three countries was 1,201, it said.

In Nigeria, officials announced on Friday that a Liberian official died of Ebola after flying from Monrovia to Lagos via Lome, Togo. The case underscored the difficulty of preventing Ebola victims from traveling given weak screening systems and the fact that the initial symptoms of the disease - including fever and sore throat - resemble many other illnesses.

Health workers are at serious risk of contracting the disease, which spreads through contact with bodily fluids.

Dr. Kent Brantly, an American helping respond to the outbreak in Liberia, is receiving intensive medical treatment there after he was infected with the deadly Ebola virus, a spokeswoman for aid organization Samaritan's Purse said. Brantly was in stable condition, talking with his doctors and working on his computer while receiving care, she said.

Earlier this year, Brantly was quoted in a posting about the dangers facing health workers trying to contain the disease.

"In past Ebola outbreaks, many of the casualties have been health care workers who contracted the disease through their work caring for infected individuals," he said.

Sierra Leone's top Ebola doctor also fell ill with the disease last week, though Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brima Kargbo said Sunday that he was "fairly stable and responding well to treatment."

The Liberian doctor, Brisbane, who once served as a medical adviser to former Liberian President Charles Taylor, was working as a consultant with the internal medicine unit at the country's largest hospital, the John F. Kennedy Memorial Medical Center in Monrovia.

After falling ill with Ebola, he was taken to a treatment center on the outskirts of the capital, where he died, said Tolbert Nyenswah, an assistant health minister.

Under the supervision of health workers, family members escorted the doctor's body to a burial location west of the city, Nyenswah said.

He added that another doctor who had been working in Liberia's central Bong County was also being treated for Ebola at the same center where Brisbane died.

The situation "is getting more and more scary," Nyenswah said.

News of Brisbane's death first began circulating on Saturday, a national holiday marking Liberia's independence in 1847.

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf used her Independence Day address to discuss a new taskforce to combat Ebola. Information Minister Lewis Brown said the taskforce would go "from community to community, from village to village, from town to town" in order to increase awareness.

Meanwhile, the fact that a sick Liberian could board a flight to Nigeria raised new fears that other passengers could take the disease beyond Africa.

Nigeria's international airports were screening passengers arriving from foreign countries, and health officials were also working with ports and land borders to raise awareness of the disease. Togo's government also said it was on high alert.

Security analysts were skeptical about the usefulness of these measures, however.

"In Nigeria's case, the security set-up is currently bad, so I doubt it will help or have the minimum effectiveness they are hoping for," said Yan St. Pierre, CEO of the Berlin-based security consulting firm MOSECON.

An outbreak in Lagos, a megacity where many lived in cramped conditions, could be a major public health disaster.

There is no known cure for Ebola. The West Africa outbreak is believed to have begun as far back as January in southeast Guinea, though the first cases weren't confirmed until March.

Since then, officials have tried to contain the disease by isolating victims and educating populations on how to avoid transmission, though porous borders, satellite outbreaks and widespread distrust of health workers have made the outbreak difficult to bring under control.

In Sierra Leone, which has recorded the highest number of new cases in recent days, the first case originating in Freetown, the capital, came when a hairdresser named Saudata Koroma fell ill. She was forcibly removed from a government hospital by her family, sparking a frantic search that ended Friday. Kargbo, the chief medical officer, said Sunday that Koroma died while being transported to a treatment center in the east of the country.

--

Associated Press writers Clarence Roy-Macaulay in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Heather Murdock in Lagos, Nigeria contributed reporting.

© 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AF_WEST_AFRICA_EBOLA?SITE=ILMOL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Another American medical staff member has tested positive for Ebola: She is a married mother of two children and works with SIM/ Samaritan's Purse in Liberia.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/american-doctor-in-west-africa-contracts-deadly-ebola-virus/

Liberia shuts border crossings, restricts gatherings to curb Ebola spreading

The Liberian government on Sunday closed most of the West African nation's border crossings and introduced stringent health measures to curb the spread of the deadly Ebola virus that has killed at least 660 people across the region.

The new measures announced by the government on Sunday came as Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone struggle to contain the worst outbreak yet of the virus.

Ebola Kits Employed to National Guard in All 50 States:

Ebola bio kits have been deployed to National Guard units in all 50 states, according to a Committee on Armed Services report. According to the government document was created in April to address mounting concerns that the Ebola hemorrhagic fever virus could spread outside of Africa.

The portable Ebola kits are reportedly designed for “low probability, high consequence” scenarios. Department of Defense Chemical and Biological Defense Executive Officer Carmen J. Spencer said the bio systems are “rapid, reliable, and provide simultaneous identification of specific biological agents and pathogens.” Approximately 340 Joint Biological Agent Identification and Diagnostic System (JBAIDS) units have reportedly been given to emergency response personnel.

BioFire Diagnostics, the manufacturer of JBAIDS, said the Ebola kits are able to detect a host of infectious disease targets including Ricin, the plague, Anthrax, and several forms of influenza. The Ebola bio kits given to National Guard units reportedly also include hemorrhagic fever detection capabilities which give the military the ability to identify possible infection in as little as 30 minutes.

The Ebola report was not available for publication until the document was officially released by the Committee on Armed Services.

Report excerpt:
“The Department of Health and Human Services emphasized responding to attacks and threats to the U.S. population after exposure. Homeland Security Presidential Directive -18 affirmed the unique nature of DoD requirements stating, ‘The Secretary of Defense shall retain exclusive responsibility for research development, acquisition, and deployment of medical countermeasures to prevent or mitigate the health effects of WMD threats and naturally occurring threats to the Armed Forces and shall continue to direct strategic planning for oversight programs to support medical countermeasures development and acquisition for our Armed Forces personnel.”

The government report went on to state that in an effort to fulfill the committee’s “unique requirements” the Chemical and Biological Defense Program was instructed to create Department of Defense Medical Countermeasures Advanced Development and Manufacturing Capability. Part of this project involved a dedicated use state-of-the-art “center of excellence” to focus on modular, disposable, single-use, and flexible manufacturing techniques.
One of the primary purposes of the endeavor was to reportedly increase Department of Defense needed quantities of needed chemical and biological items. The number of disposable single-use and flexible units have been “historically less than the quantities required by the Department of Health and Human Services,” according to the Ebola related report.

Ebola is both infectious and typically fatal. Those stricken with the virus commonly suffer from fever and internal bleeding. Ebola is transferred via contact with infected bodily fluids.

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/1382809/ebola-kits-sent-to-national-guard-units-in-all-50-states/#UySylieQYorjAofG.99

The virus has finally found its way onto being on the stateside news.

For anyone interested:

Infection Mechanism of Genus Ebolavirus

Moar:

Sierra Leone declares emergency as Ebola death toll hits 729 (Reuters)

Sierra Leone has declared a state of emergency and called in troops to quarantine Ebola victims, joining neighbouring Liberia in imposing controls as the death toll from the outbreak of the virus hit 729 in West Africa.

The World Health Organisation said it would launch a $100 million response plan on Friday during a meeting with the affected nations in Guinea. It is in urgent talks with donors and international agencies to send more medical staff and resources to the region, it said.

Sierra Leone declares state of emergency in Ebola crisis (Wash. Post)

Among the steps announced:
• Sealing off towns and homes where the disease is identified until they are cleared by medical teams.
• Restricting public meetings and gatherings.
• “Active surveillance and house-to-house searches” designed to trace Ebola victims and people who might have been exposed.
• New protocols for screening both arriving and departing passengers at the country’s main airport

Atlanta hospital to receive Ebola patient (USA Today - warning, auto-play video)

A medical transport plane departed the United States on Thursday afternoon, headed to Liberia to pick up an American Ebola patient. Two American medical missionaries working with Ebola patients in Liberia have been diagnosed with the virus. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, who worked at a medical center operated by the North Carolina-based Samaritan's Purse, were listed in stable but grave condition, according to a statement from the organization.

Emory University expects Ebola patient; Americans with disease worsen (LA Times)

In a White House press briefing Thursday, spokesman Josh Earnest said the U.S. was working with the CDC to explore Medevac options for humanitarian aid workers in West Africa who have contracted the disease. While U.S. officials would facilitate the effort, Earnest said, private companies would perform the evacuation.

Peace Corps, Aid Groups Evacuate Personnel From Ebola-Hit West Africa (WSJ - beware, stupid paywall)

Meanwhile, international airline and health authorities are considering changes to passenger-screening rules and procedures, as well as possible steps to facilitate air-ambulance services for Ebola victims, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization, the aviation arm of the United Nations.

Airlines for America, the U.S. trade group, said Wednesday that its members remain in contact with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention"on actions the U.S. government is taking regarding potential health concerns."

United Continental Airlines Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc. DAL -1.00% are continuing their flights to and from West Africa.

Be careful of Nigeria pastors claiming to cure Ebola (CAJ News Africa)

Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Aderemi Ibirogba, specifically advised the citizenry to be wary of the activities of alleged fraudsters who were reportedly making spurious claims about their ability to provide cure for the deadly virus.

He called on those who wanted to rip off members of the public to desist from such claims of cure or risk arrest and prosecution.

"Only medical solutions are known to be appropriate for the disease," said Ibirogba.

Nigeria Tracking 30,000 People at Risk of Contracting Ebola (Voice of America)

Professor Sunday Omilabu, from Lagos University Teaching Hospital, told Reuters the health authorities are now tracing everyone who may have had contact with the victim.

"We've been making contacts. We now have information about the manifest. We have information about who and who were around. So, as I'm talking, our teams are in the facility, where they've trained the staff, and then they [are] now asking questions about those that were closely in contact with the patient," said Professor Omilabu.

'We're actually looking at contacting over 30,000 people in this very scenario. Because any and everybody that has contacted this person is going to be treated as a suspect," said Yewande Adeshina, a public health adviser.

Better news:

Ebola Outbreak 'Not in the Cards' for U.S., CDC Director Says (NBC)

“Although it will not be quick and it will not be easy, we do know how to stop Ebola."

You all can blame Swan for encouraging me to post this spam.

Quote from "NoOne:"

"...You all can blame Swan for encouraging me to post this spam...."

Thank you for posting the most critical and important information on the Forum to educate readers about the worse virus on the planet: Ebola Zaire. This virus is the "monster of all monsters" and is out of control - your links to these very, very important articles regarding the worse outbreak in Ebola Virus History are an invaluable means for learning about the virus and what this notorious beast is, how it spreads, it's effects, it's symptoms, it's epidemiology.

NoOne, you are doing everyone a service. Thank you.
Swan

no one, if they know how to stop it, why haven't they

no one, if they know how to stop it, why haven't they

Good morning Speee1dy,
May I add a response regarding your great question?

No medicines are currently available to treat Ebolaviruses. The 'experimental serums' are just entering the Phase I stage toward requirements for FDA governmental approval (the safety phase). The experimental serum has been used on Dr. Brantly and on Ms. Writebol "on a 'compassionate use basis' only." Protocol in the treatment of Ebola involves mainly supportive care: hydration, nutrition, electrolytes, medicines to address secondary infection (s), oxygen therapy, and fever.

Can Ebola be stopped? Maybe, and maybe not depending on several factors.

The glaring reasons that this Ebola Zaire Virus has become uncontrollable are: a "run and hide" situation of the population due to the fear of being quarantined. The people distrust the medical community and feel that they will never come out of quarantine alive; the cultural burial traditions that involve cleansing and touching the bodies of the deceased, which is paramount in assisting the virus to spread; the cultural belief in the medicine-men whom the people believe will cure the sick and they can not; the belief that Ebola Virus 'does not truly exist at all - denial; fear; violence towards those attempting to treat the patients. And we might as well add to these reasons the fact that Doctors Without Borders, Samaritan's Purse, the Red Cross and other organizations have now evacuated many of their volunteers from the countries where the virus has run rampant.

Quarantine of the affected is the only defense against spread of the virus at this time in history. Quarantine. Quarantine and cremation of those who died, to state it so horribly bluntly - I apologize. Quarantine is the only means of how to stop the spread of Ebola; and the "attempt to quarantine" is failing. It is failing miserably.

Swan

Only Enough for One: Experimental Ebola Serum Used on U.S. Patient (NBC)

Some of the drugs are based on antibodies that are produced naturally by the body during infection. In some infections, antibodies from a survivor can help a patient fight infection. But Thomas Geisbert of the University of Texas Medical Branch, who is working to develop both drugs and vaccines for Ebola, said that is not a tried-and-true approach.

[...]

Other drugs are based on monoclonal antibodies, engineered immune system proteins that can home in specifically on a microbe. One collaboration grows them in genetically engineered tobacco plants.

The treatment, called MB-003, provided 100 percent protection to monkeys when given right after exposure to the virus, and helped even after symptoms developed.

UTMB to research cures for Ebola (Houston Chron)

GALVESTON - The National Laboratory in Galveston will research cures for Ebola, the disease that is ravaging West Africa, and the equally deadly Marburg virus with $6 million in federal grants.

The National Laboratory on the campus of the University of Texas Medical Branch received grants from the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Defense to develop experimental drugs, UTMB said in a news release.

The experiments will be done at the Level 4 laboratory, equipped with sophisticated security systems to keep biological agents from escaping. UTMB is the only academic campus in the country with a Level 4 laboratory.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has caused more than 1,000 infections and more than 700 deaths. Two U.S. aid workers, including Dr. Kent Brantly of Texas, are among the infected. The virus can have fatality rates as high as 90 percent, according to UTMB.

The Peace Corps said this week it was removing more than 300 of its volunteers from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea as the Ebola outbreak worsened.

FDA says 'stands ready' to work with companies developing Ebola drugs (Fox)

The worst Ebola outbreak in history is heaping new pressure on U.S. regulators to speed the development of treatments for the deadly virus, which has killed more than 700 people since February.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday said in an emailed statement the agency "stands ready" to work with companies and investigators working with patients "in dire need of treatment."

A senior official within FDA told Reuters the agency would consider proposals for providing treatments under special emergency new drug applications, if the benefits of the treatment outweighed the potential safety risks.

[...]

Earlier this month, the agency put a hold on a Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp clinical trial of TKM-Ebola, one of the few Ebola treatments advanced enough to be tested in people.

The hold prompted a North Carolina physician with family members in West Africa to say enough.

"This should be the last Ebola epidemic without a cure," said Dr. Ahmed Tejan-Sie, an internist from Burlington.

Well, this has since been removed:

WHO Director-General assesses the Ebola outbreak with three West African presidents

West Africa is facing its first outbreak of Ebola virus disease. This is an unprecedented outbreak accompanied by unprecedented challenges. And these challenges are extraordinary.

West Africa’s outbreak is caused by the most lethal strain in the family of Ebola viruses.

The outbreak is by far the largest ever in the nearly four-decade history of this disease. It is the largest in terms of numbers of cases and deaths, with 1,323 cases and 729 deaths reported to date in four countries.

It is the largest in terms of geographical areas already affected and others at immediate risk of further spread.

It is taking place in areas with fluid population movements over porous borders, and it has demonstrated its ability to spread via air travel, contrary to what has been seen in past outbreaks. Cases are occurring in rural areas which are difficult to access, but also in densely populated capital cities.

This meeting must mark a turning point in the outbreak response. The presence here of four heads of state is clear evidence of the high-level of political concern and commitment.

Let me give you some frank assessments of what we face. And by “we”, I mean your countries and your neighbours, WHO and its partners in outbreak response, including civil society organizations, and the international community, including countries on other continents that can give you the support you so clearly need. First, this outbreak is moving faster than our efforts to control it.

If the situation continues to deteriorate, the consequences can be catastrophic in terms of lost lives but also severe socioeconomic disruption and a high risk of spread to other countries. As I said before, this meeting must mark a turning point in the outbreak response.

In addition, the outbreak is affecting a large number of doctors, nurses, and other health care workers, one of the most essential resources for containing an outbreak. To date, more than 60 health care workers have lost their lives in helping others. Some international staff are infected. These tragic infections and deaths significantly erode response capacity.

Second, the situation in West Africa is of international concern and must receive urgent priority for decisive action at national and international levels. Experiences in Africa over nearly four decades tell us clearly that, when well managed, an Ebola outbreak can be stopped.

This is not an airborne virus. Transmission requires close contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, also after death. Apart from this specific situation, the general public is not at high risk of infection by the Ebola virus.

At the same time, it would be extremely unwise for national authorities and the international community to allow an Ebola virus to circulate widely and over a long period of time in human populations.

Constant mutation and adaptation are the survival mechanisms of viruses and other microbes. We must not give this virus opportunities to deliver more surprises.

Third, this is not just a medical or public health problem. It is a social problem. Deep-seated beliefs and cultural practices are a significant cause of further spread and a significant barrier to rapid and effective containment. This social dimension must also be addressed as an integral part of the overall response.

Fourth, in some areas, chains of transmission have moved underground. They are invisible. They are not being reported. Because of the high fatality rate, many people in affected areas associate isolation wards with a sure death sentence, and prefer to care for loved ones in homes or seek assistance from traditional healers.

Such hiding of cases defeats strategies for rapid containment. Moreover, public attitudes can create a security threat to response teams when fear and misunderstanding turn to anger, hostility, or violence.

Finally, despite the absence of a vaccine or curative therapy, Ebola outbreaks can most certainly be contained. Bedrocks of outbreak containment include early detection and isolation of cases, contact tracing and monitoring of contacts, and rigorous procedures for infection control.

Moreover, we do have some evidence that early detection of cases and early implementation of supportive therapy increases the chances of survival. This is another message that needs to be communicated to the public.

MOUNT SINAI PATIENT TESTED FOR EBOLA VIRUS

Mount Sinai Hospital is performing tests on a patient who had recently traveled to a West African country where Ebola has been reported, the hospital says. 

A male patient with high fever and gastrointestinal symptoms came to the hospital's emergency room on Monday morning, officials said. 

The hospital says the patient has been placed in strict isolation and is undergoing medical screenings to determine the cause of his symptoms. 

Read rest of story by clicking on the following link.
http://7online.com/health/mount-sinai-patient-tested-for-ebola-virus/239663/

New York City

thank you , and swanns, you can always jump in and answer any question 🙂

Here are the Doctors Who Have Been Claimed by Ebola

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/here-are-the-doctors-who-have-been-claimed-by-ebola.html#ixzz39WQzKqwm

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which has claimed almost 700 lives, and infected over a thousand, has been a devastating blow to the region. However, doctors must face a terrifying choice: to work in Ebola wards and willingly expose themselves to one of the deadliest diseases on the planet.

Ebola, which has no cure, causes headaches, nausea and diarrhea, during the first stages of the disease (which is an imperative time for treatment and survival). However, for an unlucky majority, the symptoms quickly progress into hemorrhagic fever, with blood red eyes, and the annihilation of all major organs (including skin), destroying the patient’s body.

So let’s take a moment to recognize and memorialize these brave doctors, who, at the top of their field, have been struck down while trying to make a difference and save lives.

Kent Brantly

An American doctor, who flew to Liberia under the charity Samaritans Purse, was reported last week to have contracted the deadly virus. He has been taken in for intensive therapy in Monrovia’s ELWA Hospital. Although he started treatment early, as of print, his outlook was “grave.” He is suffering from the initial stages of the disease, and doctors are working around the clock to ensure it doesn’t progress to the later, deadlier stages.

The 33-year-old married father of two had said before he was “terrified” of contracting the disease. However, when Ebola began to spread in Liberia, where he was already working, he was asked to make an incredibly difficult decision: would he work in the Ebola isolation units? He did, and despite full body protective gear and showers to decontaminate, he still grew ill.

From his bed he sent a message out to his church and family: “I’m praying fervently that God will help me survive this disease. Please continue to pray along with me and pray for my friend Nancy who is also very sick, and for the doctors who are taking care of us. Thank you all so much. Peace, Kent.”

Sheik Umar Khan

Described as a ‘national hero’ in Sierra Leone after taking care of more than 100 Ebola patients, Sheik Umar Khan passed away Tuesday, as confirmed by Dr. Brima Kargbo. With a reputation for checking and double checking his protective gear, it is still unclear how Khan contracted the disease. A tiny puncture hole in any protective garment can expose doctors to the illness, so Khan installed mirrors in his office for a full body inspection before he went into quarantine wards.

He told Reuters during an interview that he called the mirrors his “policemen.” He also foreshadowed his sickness, quoted as saying, “I am afraid for my life, I must say, because I cherish my life…Health workers are prone to the disease because we are the first port of call for somebody who is sickened by disease. Even with the full protective clothing you put on, you are at risk.”

The Health Minister of Sierra Leone has vowed to do everything they could to “ensure he survives”, but even the best medical treatment can fail when combating this virus. The 39-year-old virologist was receiving treatment in the east of Sierra Leone, in a medical facility run by Doctors Without Borders.

His infection was preceded by the death of three nurses, who worked alongside Khan, who were infected by Ebola the same week he started to show symptoms.

Samuel Brisbane

A Liberian doctor with a distinguished career as Chief Medical Doctor at Liberia’s John F. Kennedy Hospital sadly succumbed to Ebola last week. After a long career working in some of the top medical centers around the country, including being the medical adviser to the former Liberian President Charles Taylor, he was the first doctor to join the 129 other Liberians who already perished from the disease.

When Ebola arrived in Liberia, Dr. Brisbane was ready and begun treating people to the best of his abilities. After falling ill, he first elected to treat himself at home, as not expose anyone else to the deadly disease. However, he was soon carried into a medical facility on the outskirts of Monrovia, where he passed away.

The day he died, which marked Liberia’s national day of independence, the President gave a speech promising to create new task forces to spread awareness and help bring down the disease. The death of this high-profile doctor, however, has shaken those in Liberia to the core.

Dr. Samuel Muhumuza Mutoro

A Ugandan national who went to Liberia under a prestigious job for the WHO (World Health Organization), Dr. Muhumuza succumbed to the disease in early July. He was known for lending a hand in desperate situations, having spent his time in Uganda working in refugee settlements.

He flew to Liberia three years prior to work as a surgical specialist and when Ebola broke out, he stepped up to help those in need. However, after months of working to ensure medical attention to all, he contracted the disease and succumbed quickly to the infection.

After his death in Liberia, he was recognized by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for his selfless work and awarded Liberia’s Order of African Redemption posthumously. The statement from the President read: “It is in recognition of his collaborative and selfless service to the Liberian people that the government deeply shares a sense of sorrow with the government and people of Uganda and his family to whom the Liberian nation is morally indebted.”

The death has been especially difficult on his family members, who cannot, for health reasons, claim his body for the next month, as it will still contain the Ebola virus within it. They were also advised against visiting his grave site in Liberia due to the health concerns there. His widow relates that he contracted the virus while attending to a neglected patient.

WHO Director-General, west African presidents to launch intensified Ebola outbreak response plan

31 JULY 2014 ¦ GENEVA/CONAKRY - The Director-General of WHO and presidents of west African nations impacted by the Ebola virus disease outbreak will meet Friday in Guinea to launch a new joint US$ 100 million response plan as part of an intensified international, regional and national campaign to bring the outbreak under control.

“The scale of the Ebola outbreak, and the persistent threat it poses, requires WHO and Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to take the response to a new level, and this will require increased resources, in-country medical expertise, regional preparedness and coordination,” says Dr Chan. “The countries have identified what they need, and WHO is reaching out to the international community to drive the response plan forward.”

The Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak Response Plan in West Africa identifies the need for several hundred more personnel to be deployed in affected countries to supplement overstretched treatment facilities. Hundreds of international aid workers, as well as 120-plus WHO staff, are already supporting national and regional response efforts. But more are urgently required. Of greatest need are clinical doctors and nurses, epidemiologists, social mobilization experts, logisticians and data managers. The plan also outlines the need to increase preparedness systems in neighbouring nations and strengthen global capacities.

Better news:

Experimental drug likely saved Ebola patients (CNN - warning autoplay video)

Brantly is back on his feet -- literally -- after receiving a last-ditch, highly experimental drug. Another American missionary with Ebola got the same.
Brantly's and Nancy Writebol's conditions significantly improved after receiving the medication, sources say. Brantly was able to walk into Emory University Hospital in Atlanta after being evacuated to the United States last week, and Writebol is expected to arrive in Atlanta on Tuesday.

[...]

The experimental drug, known as ZMapp, was developed by the biotech firm Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc., which is based in San Diego. The patients were told that the treatment had never been tried before in a human being but had shown promise in small experiments with monkeys.

[...]

Brantly and Writebol were aware of the risk of taking a new, little-understood treatment and gave informed consent, according to two sources familiar with the care of the missionary workers. In the monkeys, the experimental serum had been given within 48 hours of infection. Brantly didn't receive it until he'd been sick for nine days.

[...]

Knowing his dose was still frozen, Brantly asked if he could have Writebol's now-thawed medication. It was brought to his room and administered through an IV. Within an hour of receiving the medication, Brantly's condition dramatically improved. He began breathing easier; the rash over his trunk faded away. One of his doctors described the events as "miraculous."

About the experimental drug ZMapp:

9 questions about this new Ebola drug (CNN - warning autoplay video)

1. Who makes the drug?

The drug was developed by the biotech firm Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc., which is based in San Diego. The company was founded in 2003 "to develop novel pharmaceuticals for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, focusing on unmet needs in global health and biodefense," according to its website.

[...]

3. How does ZMapp work?

Antibodies are proteins used by the immune system to mark and destroy foreign, or harmful, cells. A monoclonal antibody is similar, except it's engineered in a lab so it will attach to specific parts of a dangerous cell, according to the Mayo Clinic, mimicking your immune system's natural response. Monoclonal antibodies are used to treat many different types of conditions.

Sources told CNN the medicine given to Brantly and Writebol abroad was a three-mouse monoclonal antibody, meaning that mice were exposed to fragments of the Ebola virus and then the antibodies generated within the mice's blood were harvested to create the medicine.

However, the drug can also be produced with proteins made from tobacco plants. ZMapp manufacturer Kentucky BioProcessing in Owensboro has been working with Samaritan's Purse and Emory University Hospital to provide limited quantities of the drug to Emory, according to company spokesman David Howard.

[...]

9. Would this drug stop the Ebola epidemic?

If it were widely available, it certainly couldn't hurt. An effective Ebola drug could help doctors treat the deadly virus, which is killing about 60% of the people infected in West Africa. But a vaccine would be a much more effective tool in stopping this, and future, epidemics.

Vaccines are given to healthy people to prevent them from ever becoming infected. One challenge with Ebola, experts say, is that companies don't believe they could make much money from developing a vaccine, so few companies show interest.

A worried world watches as Ebola death toll rises; Spain to treat priest (CNN - warning autoplay video)

(CNN) -- A nurse in Nigeria. A businessman in Saudi Arabia. A Spanish priest in Liberia.

With the World Health Organization announcing Wednesday that 932 deaths had been reported or confirmed as a result of Ebola hemorrhagic fever, Saudi Arabia joined the list of countries with suspected cases.

"This is the biggest and most complex Ebola outbreak in history," Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said.

Nearly all of those deaths have been in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, where more than 1,700 cases have been reported, according to WHO. The agency said 108 new cases were reported between Saturday and Monday in those countries and Nigeria.