http://www.cbsnews.com/news/report-armed-men-attack-liberia-ebola-clinic-freeing-patients/
Report: Armed men attack Liberia Ebola clinic, freeing patients
Liberian police depart after firing shots in the air while trying to protect an Ebola burial team in the West Point slum on August 16, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. A crowd of several hundred local residents, chanting, 'No Ebola in West Point,' drove away the burial team and their police escort. The mob then forced open an Ebola isolation ward and took the patients out, many saying that the Ebola epidemic is a hoax. The isolation center, a closed primary school originally built by USAID, was being used by the Liberian health ministry to temporarily isolate people suspected of carrying the virus. Some 10 patients had 'escaped' the building the night before, according to a nurse, as the center had no medicine to treat them. The Ebola epidemic has killed more than 1,000 people in four West African countries, with Liberia now having the most deaths. JOHN MOORE/GETTY IMAGES
MONROVIA, Liberia - Armed men attacked an Ebola clinic in Monrovia, local witnesses told Agence France Presse.
As many as 29 potentially Ebola-infected patients fled, the news agency reported.
"They broke down the doors and looted the place. The patients all fled," said Rebecca Wesseh, who witnessed the attack and whose report was confirmed by residents and the head of Health Workers Association of Liberian, George Williams.
The attack comes just one day after a report of a crowd of several hundred local residents, chanting, 'No Ebola in West Point,' drove away a burial team and their police escort that had come to collect the bodies of suspected Ebola victims in a slum in the capital, Reuters reports. The mob then forced open an Ebola isolation ward and took several patients out, many saying that the Ebola epidemic is a hoax.
The isolation center, a closed primary school originally built by USAID, was being used by the Liberian health ministry to temporarily isolate people suspected of carrying the virus, Reuters reports. Some 10 patients had "escaped" the building the night before, according to a nurse, as the center had no medicine to treat them.
While the armed attack is likely the most brazen attack on health workers trying to contain the deadly outbreak, it is far from the first in the region worst-hit by it.
****
http://news.sky.com/story/1320190/ebola-sufferers-flee-attack-on-liberia-clinic
At least 29 ebola patients have reportedly fled a quarantine centre in Liberia after it was attacked by armed men.
"They broke down the doors and looted the place. The patients all fled," Rebecca Wesseh, who witnessed the attack, told AFP news agency.
George Williams, head of the Health Workers Association of Liberia, said the unit housed 29 patients receiving preliminary treatment before being taken to hospital.
It was unclear how many are now at large after the overnight raid.
Ms Wesseh said she heard the raiders shouting that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf "is broke", adding: "She wants money. There's no ebola" in Liberia.
Most of the raiders were young men and were armed with clubs. They broke into the isolation unit set up in a high school in a Monrovia suburb, Ms Wesseh said.
Nurses also fled the attack.
The looting of the centre came as Kenya closed its borders to travellers from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone because of fears about the spread of ebola.
National carrier Kenya Airways said it was suspending its flights to Monrovia and Freetown from Wednesday.
At least 1,145 people have died across West Africa this year because of the world's worst-ever outbreak of the virus.
****
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-08-17/india-spain-testing-suspected-ebola-patients-liberian-quarantine-center-raided
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/17/2014 12:09 -0400
India, Spain Testing Suspected Ebola Patients; Liberian Quarantine Center Raided
While the Ebola outbreak in west Africa has long since left the "under control" stage, things are about to go from worse to inconceivable for the poverty stricken African nations, after Liberian officials said they Ebola could soon spread through the capital's largest slum after residents raided a quarantine center for suspected patients and took items including blood-stained sheets and mattresses.
According to AP, the violence in the West Point slum occurred late Saturday and was led by residents angry that patients were brought from other parts of the capital to the holding center. It was not immediately clear how many patients had been at the center. West Point residents went on a "looting spree," stealing items from the clinic that were likely infected, said a senior police official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the press. The residents took mattresses, sheets and blankets that had bloodstains, which could spread the infection.
It goes without saying that if and when Ebola strikes the heart of one of the poorest ghettos in Africa, then there is no model that can predict just how far and wide the disease could spread.
And speaking of spreading, what many have feared may have come to pass after Spain announced it was investigating a suspected case of Ebola after a Nigerian man presented symptoms of the virus at a hospital in Alicante several days after flying in from the West African country.
The Telegraph reports:
The man, who has not been named but is said to be in his 30s, was admitted into San Joan hospital in Alicante on Saturday evening where he was being treated in an isolation unit.Hospital sources confirmed he was suffering a fever of 38.3 degrees Celsius (100.9F) as well as "other symptoms associated with Ebola - including physical discomfort, vomiting and bleeding".The patient told doctors that he had arrived in Spain from Nigeria "a few days ago".Hospital authorities said they had "activated protocol" to deal with the infectious disease while they awaited test results.
But even that is nothing compared to what may transpire if what theTimes of India reported moments ago, turns out to be accurate:three persons from Ebola-affected Nigeria, who arrived here Saturday morning, have been admitted to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital for screening and treatment if required. The three Nigerians, aged 79, 37 and 4 years had fever and their tests were being done at the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Delhi, an official release said here.
In addition to this, a 32-year-old Indian from Durg in Chhattisgarh who returned from Nigeria has been admitted to a hospital in Bhilai. His samples are also being tested at NCDC, the release said. WHO has said air travel, even from Ebola-affected countries, is low-risk for transmission of the disease. WHO has reported a total of 2,127 cases and 1,145 deaths due to Ebola from affected countries.
India is the second most populous country in the world with a population of over 1.2 billion.
http://mobile.wnd.com/2014/08/who-pushes-mega-quarantine-to-control-ebola/
WHO PUSHES MEGA-QUARANTINE TO CONTROL EBOLA
Medieval tactic could trap more than 1 million people
By Delia M. Arias De Leon
UNITED NATIONS – Lacking a medical solution to the worst Ebola outbreak in history, governments and organizations in West Africa are resorting to a medieval tactic that would radically affect the lives of more than 1 million people, according to the World Health Organization.
The method popularized in the era of the Black Death plague in the 14th century, the “cordon sanitaire,” draws a line around the geographic area where the infections are taking place, allowing no one to exit. It hasn’t been used since the end of World War I.
Plans to cordon off a triangular area that includes parts of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia were discussed as early as Aug. 1, and troops began closing roads last week in the effort to prevent the deadly virus from spreading further.
The WHO is supporting the move. Dr. Margaret Chan, the WHO’s director-general, remarked in a briefing in Geneva that the decisions “to seal off the hot zone of disease transmission, that is, the area where the borders of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone intersect, are critical for stopping the re-infection of areas via the cross-border movement of people.”
WHO admits, however, sealing off the hot zone is not without consequences, with more than 1 million people affected who “need daily material support, including food.”
“The isolation of this zone has made it even more difficult for agencies, like Doctors Without Borders, to bring in staff and supplies,” WHO said.
There is also the question of how to manage doctors and health workers trying to save patients’ lives. Would they be trapped along with the rest of the population or allowed to leave, potentially carrying with them a life-threatening disease? Or should the affected population be left to its own?
In ancient times, the cordon sanitaire was used as a last-ditch effort to contain a disease, and the citizens of the trapped area were usually left to their own devices. While in this case the WHO has committed to provide food to the million people affected by the quarantine, there is little else it can do.
As WND reported, even though the WHO has approved the use of experimental treatments to cure Ebola, there are no readily available supplies, making the disease untreatable for the foreseeable future, with a mortality rate of well over half the people it infects
Dr. Martin S. Cetron, quarantine expert for the Centers for Disease Control, has expressed hope that the cordon will work. But he admits there is “a lot of potential for it to go poorly if it’s not done with an ethical approach.”
“Just letting the disease burn out and considering that the price of controlling it – we don’t live in that era anymore,” he said.
Early on Thursday, the WHO announced on its website it was “scaling up the international response, marshaling support from individual countries, disease control agencies, agencies within the United Nations system, and others.”
All of this in an effort to provide the “extraordinary measures needed, on a massive scale, to contain the outbreak in settings characterized by extreme poverty, dysfunctional health systems, a severe shortage of doctors, and rampant fear.”
The organization also admitted the numbers of reported cases and deaths “vastly underestimate the magnitude of the outbreak.”
The entire U.N. body apparently realizes the epidemic is far more dangerous than initially thought and is now lending its full support to the WHO’s containment strategy.
****
http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/af413280451f32c8ae34bfa5ad025b24/Sierra-Leone-president-urges-more-WHO-action-on-Ebola-20141608
Sierra Leone president urges more WHO action on Ebola
Saturday 16 August 2014 14:51
REUTERS
WHO says the death toll from Ebola has risen to 1 145.(REUTERS)
TAGS:
Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma has called on the World Health Organization (WHO) to do more to fight an Ebola outbreak that has killed 348 people in the West African country.
With the death toll over 1 000 and still climbing, the UN health agency is facing questions over whether it moved quickly enough to declare the months-old outbreak a "public health emergency of international concern", which it did on August 8.
"WHO, I have just urged them to increase their responsiveness because of where we are, and it's not only WHO, I indicated to you that I spoke to the secretary-general of the Unite Nations and we need a more robust response to the nature of the disease and the way it is affecting us. And it is an extraordinary situation and we all agreed that we'd require an extraordinary response, so that is why we wanted a quick response. It's only after our meeting in Conakry that the WHO went out to urge the other partners and then we heard reactions from the World Bank. And all of these are pronouncements, they still had to go through processes to make whatever has been committed available, and time is of the essence," Koroma said at a press conference in Freetown.
Medical charity MSF (Doctors Without Borders), which has been one of the most active groups in fighting the outbreak, said its spread had created a "wartime" situation in the worst-affected states of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. Nigeria is also facing a smaller separate outbreak.
Koroma said his nation's only two treatment centres were "overwhelmed". In neighbouring Liberia, Information Minister Lewis Brown said Ebola-affected rural areas quarantined by troops faced serious food shortages.
"This is a call we are now making to the world because we need treatment centres, and in treatment centres we need clinicians that require specialised training, we don't have that. We need nurses that require specialised training, we don't have that. We need sprayers that require specialised training, we don't have that," said Koroma.
"And if our people are dying, the response should be an extraordinary response because it is an extraordinary situation. We must limit the bureaucracy and come and save our people, as we are doing to ensure peace in our country and to save the lives of other nationals of other countries," he continued to say.
The worst-affected countries are recovering from a decade of civil wars and have some of the weakest health systems in the world. Liberia has one doctor for every 70 000 people, Sierra Leone one for every 45 000, compared to one for every 360 people in Britain and one for every 410 in the United States.
Alarm over the risk of the disease, which can kill up to 90% of those it afflicts and is spread by contact with the bodily fluids of infected persons and animals, has triggered a wave of travel warnings and restrictions, cancellations of events and flight suspensions to the region by some airlines.
The consequences of the Ebola outbreak will be felt in Sierra Leone for a long time to come, said the president.
"It has been difficult but the realisation has now improved and the fear that most people had is now subsided and we are getting to the point where very soon we will be able to contain the situation, and when we contain the situation we go back to normalcy. Of course we will have the post Ebola challenges, on the economy, on the society, we are already experiencing it even within the epicentres of the children that are now affected, who have been orphaned as a result of the Ebola. These are challenges that have been with us and we will have challenges of trying to get the whole economy back to normalcy," said Koroma.
The WHO said on Friday the death toll from this epidemic, first declared in Guinea in March, had risen to 1145, as 76 new deaths were reported in the two days to August 13 in the four nations affected so far.
With the death toll over 1 000 and still climbing, the UN health agency is facing questions over whether it moved quickly enough to declare the months-old outbreak a "public health emergency of international concern", which it did on August 8.
"WHO, I have just urged them to increase their responsiveness because of where we are, and it's not only WHO, I indicated to you that I spoke to the secretary-general of the Unite Nations and we need a more robust response to the nature of the disease and the way it is affecting us. And it is an extraordinary situation and we all agreed that we'd require an extraordinary response, so that is why we wanted a quick response. It's only after our meeting in Conakry that the WHO went out to urge the other partners and then we heard reactions from the World Bank. And all of these are pronouncements, they still had to go through processes to make whatever has been committed available, and time is of the essence," Koroma said at a press conference in Freetown.
Medical charity MSF (Doctors Without Borders), which has been one of the most active groups in fighting the outbreak, said its spread had created a "wartime" situation in the worst-affected states of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. Nigeria is also facing a smaller separate outbreak.
Koroma said his nation's only two treatment centres were "overwhelmed". In neighbouring Liberia, Information Minister Lewis Brown said Ebola-affected rural areas quarantined by troops faced serious food shortages.
"This is a call we are now making to the world because we need treatment centres, and in treatment centres we need clinicians that require specialised training, we don't have that. We need nurses that require specialised training, we don't have that. We need sprayers that require specialised training, we don't have that," said Koroma.
"And if our people are dying, the response should be an extraordinary response because it is an extraordinary situation. We must limit the bureaucracy and come and save our people, as we are doing to ensure peace in our country and to save the lives of other nationals of other countries," he continued to say.
The worst-affected countries are recovering from a decade of civil wars and have some of the weakest health systems in the world. Liberia has one doctor for every 70 000 people, Sierra Leone one for every 45 000, compared to one for every 360 people in Britain and one for every 410 in the United States.
Alarm over the risk of the disease, which can kill up to 90% of those it afflicts and is spread by contact with the bodily fluids of infected persons and animals, has triggered a wave of travel warnings and restrictions, cancellations of events and flight suspensions to the region by some airlines.
The consequences of the Ebola outbreak will be felt in Sierra Leone for a long time to come, said the president.
"It has been difficult but the realisation has now improved and the fear that most people had is now subsided and we are getting to the point where very soon we will be able to contain the situation, and when we contain the situation we go back to normalcy. Of course we will have the post Ebola challenges, on the economy, on the society, we are already experiencing it even within the epicentres of the children that are now affected, who have been orphaned as a result of the Ebola. These are challenges that have been with us and we will have challenges of trying to get the whole economy back to normalcy," said Koroma.
The WHO said on Friday the death toll from this epidemic, first declared in Guinea in March, had risen to 1145, as 76 new deaths were reported in the two days to August 13 in the four nations affected so far.
Liberia opening 2nd Ebola center in capital
MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — Liberian authorities opened a new center to treat Ebola patients in the capital Saturday after the existing one became overwhelmed with patients, while two more airlines announced they will halt flights to the capitals of Liberia and Sierra Leone amid the deepening crisis.
Kenya Airways and regional carrier Gambia Bird join a number of other airlines in temporarily cancelling flights to avoid transmitting the disease beyond the four countries already affected in West Africa.
The Kenya Airways flights will stop as of midnight Tuesday, said Titus Naikuni, the chief executive officer of Kenya Airways. The decision was made with guidance from the country’s health ministry, Naikuni said.
Gambia Bird said it had stopped flying to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria.
“The decision has been taken in the light of international concern about the further spread of the Ebola virus in the West African sub-region, and with the aim of continuing to offer a safe and reliable service to all customers, whilst also protecting the health and well-being of passengers and crew,” the statement said.
Health experts have warned that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa may last another six months. At least 1,145 people have died across Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria, and that may “vastly underestimate the magnitude of the outbreak,” the World Health Organization says.
New figures released on Friday showed that Liberia now has recorded more deaths — 413 — than any of the other affected countries.
The first center in Liberia’s capital was only meant to treat 25 people but had about 80 patients as of Friday, said Assistant Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah. The new center will have 120 beds but may eventually be tripled in size because of the ongoing crisis.
Isolating Ebola patients is critical to slowing the spread of the disease, as sick people can transmit it through their bodily fluids such as blood, sweat or urine. There is no licensed treatment or vaccine for the disease, which has killed at least half of its victims this year.
Health workers treating Ebola patients on the front lines of the crisis have borne the brunt of the fatalities. Sierra Leone’s president, Ernest Bai Koroma, told journalists Friday that his country has lost two top doctors and 32 nurses.
“We need specialized clinicians and expertise and that is why we are appealing to the international community for an enhanced response to our fight against the Ebola disease,” he said.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/nigerian-ebola-patients-to-be-given-experimental-drug-1408034006
Ebola victims in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos will receive an experimental drug called Nano Silver, the country's top health official said on Thursday, in a step that introduces a new untested treatment to the fight against an outbreak in several West African countries.
Nigeria's Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, said the experimental drug came from a Nigerian scientist, whose name he wouldn't disclose. He said the drug, which was on its way to Lagos, would aim to treat the eight Nigerians who have tested positive for Ebola.
The World Health Organization opened the door for experimental Ebola drugs this week, after a panel of ethicists it convened condoned such treatments because of the challenges controlling an outbreak that has killed at least 1,069 people. A handful of medications and vaccines have been developed, but not tested on humans.
The U.S. began evacuating families of embassy personnel in Sierra Leone on Thursday, citing concerns that local medical facilities have become overwhelmed by the spread of the virus.
"There is a lack of options for routine health-care services at major medical facilities due to the Ebola outbreak," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said.
The State Department took similar steps last week in Liberia. While the agency said the moves represent "an abundance of caution," they also underscore an escalating public-health crisis in West Africa.
The disease appears contained in Nigeria, but "elsewhere, the outbreak is expected to continue for some time," the WHO said.
Liberia's government has ordered three courses of the experimental drug ZMapp, which was given earlier to two Americans infected with virus. Given the scarce global supply of the experimental drugs, the decision of what treatments to give to which patients has proved controversial.
http://theadvocatengr.com/new/ebola-hope-dashed-as-us-declares-nano-silver-a-pesticide/
EBOLA: HOPE DASHED AS US DECLARES ‘NANO-SILVER’ A PESTICIDE
Ebola: Hope dashed as US declares ‘nano-silver’ a pesticide
HOPES of immediate relief for victims of the Ebola Virus Disease following reports that doses of an experimental drug, nano-silver, had been delivered were dimmed yesterday.
The United States Food and Drug Administration said the drug is a pesticide and warned those claiming that it could prevent or treat Ebola to desist from doing so.
The US agency said it had received consumer complaints about the Ebola claims. “Individuals promoting these unapproved and fraudulent products must take immediate action to correct or remove these claims or face FDA action,” it said.
Silver has been used as antibacterial for centuries. Tiny silver particles known as nano-silver have controversially been incorporated into a variety of consumer products such as socks and bedding to help block odours caused by bacteria and mold.
This came as doctors and nurses attending to victims of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, at Mainland Hospital, Lagos isolation centre, downed tools following allegation of negligence by concerned relatives and associates of the female medical doctor and health workers who contracted the EVD from the late Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer.
The concerned group of persons at a media briefing in Lagos, last Thursday, shared gloomy experiences while sending an SOS to the international community on behalf of the victims who they alleged were not being given adequate attention and care they deserved.
Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, who disclosed the development at a media briefing in Lagos, however, said he had appealed to the health workers on the need to get back to work.
This came amid cheering news that 61 of the over 198 people under surveillance have been released and experts said that the disease might be controlled within 180 days.
Meanwhile, Governor Fashola said yesterday that Lagos State was yet to receive the experimental Ebola drug and a kobo out of the N1.9 billion Federal Government intervention fund.
Speaking on the health workers’ strike that would have worsened the situation but for a prompt intervention, the governor said: “The report reaching me about two hours ago was that some of the health workers at the centre felt unappreciated and decided to stop work because of media reports that they were not working effectively to save the lives of the victims. We do not need that at the moment. While we sympathise with the victims, the health workers are doing their best to care for the victims. We sympathise with the victims who were affected by the virus, we understand the trauma and concern the family members are going through. But when all of that is taking into account, it is not true that that we are not taking care of the patients.”
On the reality on ground, he stated:”We are gaining capacity daily. This is not what we expected and it is not what we planned for and getting people who are sufficiently knowledgeable and skillful to go into the isolation centre is quite challenging. It is a matter of monumental courage for those people who have signed up and we commend them for that.
“There is personnel capacity issue of those who can go into the centre and care for the patients, in a way that they will not be infected by the virus. The Personally Protective Equipment, PPE, they use is very real so that they are protected. The issue we have now is that teams are working flat-out and therefore there will be no opportunity to segregate any patient. There will be no such opportunity.
Appeal
“My appeal to the people is that more health workers should sign up and from what I was told by experts, even if one is the best physician in the world, the person cannot enter the isolation ward. He or she has to be trained on how to kit up and get out of the centre and the training takes between five and seven days to achieve.
“People must understand the process required. And when it appears to the people that nothing was being done, it was because we are still building up capacity at the facility. We are better off today than 10 days ago. We know that it is a complain that comes out of empathy but it is a complain that does not focus on the reality of what is going on.”
Fashola who described the reports as “disheartening”, also cautioned the media against sensational reports on the Ebola virus disease.
Lagos yet to receive FG intervention fund
On the N1.9 billion intervention fund approved by the Federal Government to fight Ebola in Nigeria, Fashola said, “At the moment, we are yet to receive any money. What we have done is to work with our resources. The isolation centre and other facilities were done by our personnel working with officials of the federal health facilities in Lagos.
“It is not a money issue now. At the moment, it is a personnel, control, knowledge and system issue. It is only when we have put all these into place that we can now beginning to say how much does it cost. It is not money issue. It is not the kind of money that Lagos State government cannot afford. Every help from the Federal Government will be useful. I think what is important is not the money but the fact that even President Goodluck Jonathan has shown some concern to call all the governors and commissioners of all the 36 states to get a full briefing on the risk, process and others.
“I think that is important and that is the kind of leadership that one will expect in this kind of circumstances.”
61 people certified free
Fashola said there is little silver lining since many people who had contacts with victims were not infected. “At the moment, 61 people have been certified negative and they have been freed. This is a virus that will run a maximum of 21 days. What we must do is people show some signs of illness should come in very early so that we can continue to hydrate them, give electrolyte balance so that their nervous system do not go into shock and wherever it is necessary to provide antibiotics for patients; and their body can fight the virus which in the event last no longer than 21 days.
Calls for volunteers
Earlier, at a media briefing at state secretariat, Commissioner for Health Dr. Jide Idris, stressed the need for more volunteers. He said contrary to reports that facility at the infection control centre did not have basic amenities,itt has 40 bed-Complex with male and female wards for confirmed cases; eight bed isolation ward upgraded to suspected cases, backed up by two emergency tents to hold additional 24 suspected cases.
There are also “dedicated borehole; dedicated 60 KVA generator backed–up by a 250 KVA unit for the entire; involvement of Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA); two 5000 litre septic tanks one each for urine and faeces, which are decontaminated prior to evacuation.”
Igando
On the suspected case of Ebola patients at the Igando general Hospital, he said he had called the MD of the hospital and the doctor denied the case.
Nano Silver drug
Asked if Lagos had received the experimental drug, he said: “We had that the drugs in on its way to Lagos but we are yet to take delivery of the drugs. When I go for the evening briefing, I will get a full detail on the drugs. But we have sent our pharmacist to the manufacturers of both drugs to inquire on how best to get the drugs.”
Ebola help line
On the complaint that residents do not get prompt response from the help line, the commissioner said, “The help line is jam-packed. At evening session, those managing the Ebola helpline, the face book page, twitter handle give us statistics and sometimes the number of people accessing this forum are over two million. They show maps to buttress their point.
We established this facebook, twitter handles and helpline; we pay for the helpline. This is the only helpline used nationally. They get calls from other states. We will improve the helpline to ensure that people can have quick access to it.”
MOE trains 800 health workers, volunteers
Meantime, as parts of measures to contain the rampaging deadly Ebola Virus Diseases in the state, the Lagos State Government, through the Ministry of the Environment, MOE, yesterday trained about 800 health workers and volunteers in all the 57 Local Government and Local and Local Council Development Areas on preventive measures.
The state Commissioner for the Environment, Mr Tunji Bello, who made the disclosure at a sensitisation campaign tagged: “Train the trainers’ Educative programme”, also said that government would not hesitate to invoke any relevant section of the laws on anyone who flouts the environmental laws.
Speaking on the theme of the training, entitled” Creating an Army of Advocacy to Curb the Spread of Ebola Virus through Effective Enlightenment at the Grassroots”, Bello insisted that government would henceforth, sanction anyone who engages in open defecation and urination, saying such practices could further lead to the spread of the diseases.
It may take 6 months to control Ebola –Experts
Meanwhile experts said yesterday that the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa will take at least six months to bring under control.
Speaking in Geneva, medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) President, Joanne Lui called for strengthened international co-ordination led by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The epidemic began in Guinea in February and has since spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. So far, 1,069 people have died.
Ms Lui said that controlling the outbreak in Liberia – which has recorded more than 300 deaths – was vital to containing the epidemic.
“If we don’t stabilise Liberia, we will never stabilise the region. In terms of timeline, we’re not talking in terms of weeks, we’re talking in terms of months.
We need a commitment for months, at least I would say six months, and I’m being, I would say, very optimistic,” she said.
Ms Lui also called for more action from the international community, led by WHO – the UN’s health agency. “All governments must act. It must be done now if we want to contain this epidemic. WHO needs to take leadership and bring some strong elements into the field at all operational levels. It’s already started but it needs to happen at all levels. (Vanguard)
Ebola: FCT residents shun handshakes, hugs
- PUBLISHED ON MONDAY, 28 JULY 2014 10:51
- HITS: 1082
The fear of Ebola is the beginning of avoiding handshakes and hugs in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.
Since the deadly virus claimed its first victim, Mr. Patrick Sawyer, a consultant for the Liberian Ministry of Finance in Lagos last Tuesday, Nigerians are in panic gear and are taking extra precautions to avoid falling victims.
A survey by our correspondent in Abuja showed that many people say they were weary of handshakes and hugs since the virus is said to spread through body contact.
A journalist, Ms. Winifred Ogbebo told The Abuja Inquirer that she has refrained from shaking hands and unnecessary hugs because she does not want to “carry another person’s wahala.”
“Seriously, today (Sunday) in Church, I found it hard to shake hands with worshippers. It is difficult how to explain that you don’t want to shake or hug somebody because of this deadly virus. I hope the government carries out a lot of awareness campaign so people can better appreciate what is at stake,” Winifred said.
Another resident, Amaka Igwe told our correspondent that she has taken steps to buy a dozen hand sanitizers as a precaution since most people would find it offensive and even rude if she does not shake hands.
Igwe observed: “How do you tell somebody you don’t shake hands when they know you do? How do I tell my business partner that ‘sorry, I don’t shake?’ I have had to buy over a dozen hand sanitizers I carry in my bag. Immediately I shake anybody, I just find a way to apply a generous amount. Even at home, I have advised my kids and family members to wash their hands regularly.”
While residents are taking step necessary steps to protect themselves against the rampaging disease with no known cure or vaccine, the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, said there was no cause for alarm as there is no reported case of the virus in the territory.
The public relations officer of the FCT Health Secretariat, Mr. Yakasai Baduri, when contacted by our correspondent on Sunday via phone said they were ‘battle ready’ in the event of any threat but could not explain what plans they have on ground to combat any threat.
Already, the federal government has taken steps to contain any further case entering the country. To this end, all passengers arriving from foreign countries where Ebola cases have been reported are thoroughly screen for any symptoms, according to Mr. Yakubu Datti, the spokesman for Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria.
Datti further disclosed that health officials are also working with ports and land borders, adding, "They are giving out information in terms of enlightenment, what to do, what to look out for."
The Abuja Inquirer learnt that airports in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the three other West African countries affected by the current Ebola outbreak, have implemented some preventive measures, according to officials in those countries. But none of the safeguards are foolproof, say health experts.
Our correspondent reports that an American doctor trying to quell the Ebola outbreak in Liberia is now infected with the virus, the organization for which he works.
Dr. Kent Brantly is now hospitalized and undergoing treatment at an isolation center, the Christian humanitarian group Samaritan's Purse said.
The 33-year-old doctor had been treating Ebola patients and started feeling ill, Samaritan's Purse spokeswoman Melissa Strickland said. Once he started noticing the symptoms last week, Brantly isolated himself.
http://www.theheraldnews.info/kwsg-allays-fear-over-ebola-virus-as-govt-orders-closure-of-hospital
KWSG allays fear over Ebola virus… As govt orders closure of hospital
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-28823247
Kenyan officials say the country is closing its borders to travellers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in response to the deadly Ebola outbreak.
Kenya's health secretary said Kenyans and medical workers flying in from those states would still be allowed in.
Kenyan Airways says it will stop flights to Liberia and Sierra Leone when the ban comes in on Wednesday.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says Kenya is at "high risk" from Ebola because it is a major transport hub.
The epidemic began in Guinea in February and has since spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.
On Friday, the death toll rose to 1,145 after the WHO said 76 new deaths had been reported in the two days to 13 August. There have been 2,127 cases reported in total.
https://news.vice.com/article/we-do-not-have-enough-teams-to-bury-the-bodies-talking-to-a-virologist-in-sierra-leone-about-the-ebola-crisis?utm_source=vicenewstwitter
( well worth a full read .. )
VICE News: Dr. Fair, we first spoke with you in Liberia several months ago, then both you and our team returned to the United States. Why did you go back to aid in the crisis?Dr. Fair: I have a long history and connection with Sierra Leone, having worked here since 2004. Dr. Khan [the country's top Ebola doctor who contracted and died from the disease in July] and his staff were some of the first people that I ever met in Sierra Leone, and I have worked with them since then in several capacities. They were like my family, as they were to everyone who had the privilege of working with them.
I have worked in several countries in Africa and I truly love the people of Sierra Leone, despite it being largely the most difficult country where I've worked. They have an infectious happiness despite all they've endured, and an almost inhuman ability to forgive. As a personal anecdote, I just recently traced my DNA and found that my genome is comprised of approximately 3 percent Mende origin [one of the two largest ethnic groups in Sierra Leone]. Being from the southern US, that is not a complete surprise or even particularly unexpected, but the connection is deeper than work. I can't help but believe that I have always been called home here to Sierra Leone.
We understand that a number of health workers, including your close friend Dr. Khan, have contracted and died from the disease. Can you explain how both health workers and average citizens in West Africa contract Ebola? Healthcare workers are at a significantly higher risk of contracting the disease because of their direct contact with infected individuals and the "uncontrolled" environments where they work — with patients who are acutely ill and suffering from vomit and diarrhea, thus exposing the workers to high levels of risk. For the public, transmission most often occurs through close contact with ill individuals. Culturally, it is common for women and traditional healers to care for the sick, where they come into close contact with the blood and body fluids of the infected.
An earlier major route of transmission was the local preparation of bodies for burial, which usually involves intense displays of grief that include hugging and kissing the bodies of the deceased. Now that much more of the population is convinced that the disease exists, however, we have the opposite issue, as we do not have enough teams to bury the bodies.
Does Ebola affect a certain demographic or part of the population more than others? Ebola transmission most often occurs in women, as they are typically the caregivers.
When we were last in Liberia, you spoke with us about the socio-economic factors affecting pandemics. What are the socio-economic factors at play in this Ebola crisis?This disease, like many infectious diseases, is highly correlated with socio-economic status. The poor are the most affected due to the sanitary conditions where they live, as well as the level of education in understanding what the disease is and how it is transmitted.
A number of news reports have pointed to a serum called ZMapp, which has been experimentally given to two infected Americas and has had some success. How does ZMapp work and what are the potential positive outcomes and/or challenges that the use of this medical treatment presents?ZMapp is antibody-based therapy that was recently developed by a public-private partnership with the Canadian government and others. The difficulty with ZMapp, as well as other candidate therapies and vaccines, is that it has never undergone human clinical trials, so we don't know the long-term effects of the drug. Given the choice of drug or no-drug, however, I personally would prefer to have the drug option, despite the risks. This outbreak has sparked an ethical debate in the scientific and medical communities, forcing us to weigh up the benefits and the risks of administering a drug that has never undergone a clinical trial.
While the public seems to strongly feel that this drug should be made available for Ebola, in every other circumstance, this would likely be considered criminal. Thus, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the medical community have some tough choices to make and the decisions that result from that will likely result in setting a benchmark.
***
No comments:
Post a Comment