Saturday, August 9, 2014

EBOLA Watch ( August 9 , 2014 ) WHO's Public Health Emergency of International Concern designation for ebola would pave the way for an international response that potentially includes the mobilization of NATO troops. .......Nigeria Declares "State Of Emergency" As Study Finds West African Ebola Virus Is Previously Undetected "New Strain"........... Focus on Africa and in particular the outbreak in nigeria ( including news from Nigerian media )

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-08-10/cdcs-worst-nightmare-or-what-nigeria-has-look-forward

The CDC's Worst Nightmare (Or What Nigeria Has To Look Forward To)

Tyler Durden's picture
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/10/2014 14:41 -0400



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With more than 1600 people in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone having contracted Ebola since March, CDC Director Frieden's "deeply concerned about Lagos, Nigeria" worst nightmare looks set to come true as the pace of cases (and deaths) in the nation begins to accelerate. As the following chart shows, Nigeria - now in a state of national emergency - has this to look forward to (though on a scale significantly higher since population density is dramatically higher).
This is already the worst outbreak in history...

Which as CDC Director Frieden fears...
Dr. Tom Frieden        ✔ @DrFriedenCDC
Deeply concerned about Ebola spread in Lagos, Nigeria. Urgent emergency response needed.
11:17 PM - 4 Aug 2014
And it's getting worse...










http://www.intellihub.com/boston-experts-flagged-african-ebola-outbreak-advance-system-now-showing-potentials-u-s-mexico-canada/


HEALTHMAP ADVANCED SOCIAL WARNING SYSTEM DETECTS EBOLA OUTBREAK MIGHT ALREADY BE IN AMERICA

HealthMap Aug 10 3_17am EST (Image source: HealthMap.org)
HealthMap Aug 10, 2014, 3:17am EST (Image source: HealthMap.org)
BOSTON, Mass. (INTELLIHUB) — An electronic information gathering and mapping system similar to the WebBot actually spotted the “hemorrhagic fever” (Ebola) outbreak in West Africa 9-days before it hit the press following the WHO’s announcement.
****

However, shockingly, as of Sunday, theHealthMap system has spotted at least 75 potential triggers in the United States along with potentials in Canada as well as Mexico. At this time it has not been announced that Ebola is spreading in the U.S., but predictive models show that we may be less than 9-days away from some type of official announcement based on current data.
****






http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/nigerian-man-in-hong-kong/1306082.html


HONG KONG: A Nigerian man in Hong Kong has tested negative for  Ebola, said Chinese broadcaster CCTV. He had been placed in quarantine after he was suspected of carrying the virus, said Chinese media on Sunday (Aug 10).
According to CCTV, the 32-year-old had arrived in the southern Chinese city from Nigeria on Thursday. He was sent to hospital after experiencing vomiting and diarrhoea.
South China Morning Post reported that Hong Kong’s Department of Health said it would make a public announcement if any Ebola case is confirmed.
Xinhua said the man had been staying at a guesthouse in Tsim Sha Tsui district. He reportedly told the building's security staff that he was feeling unwell. He was later sent conscious to hospital.

***



http://africanheraldexpress.com/blog8/2014/08/10/why-the-white-americans-got-the-secret-ebola-serum/

( An intelligent article - which folks just looking at the headline will miss the entire point... )





FEATURES

WHY THE WHITE AMERICANS GOT THE ‘SECRET’ EBOLA SERUM


- by Michael Daly -
A Washington Post blog asks: “Why do two white Americans get the Ebola serum while hundreds of Africans die?”
The New Republic demands: “Why did two U.S. missionaries get an Ebola serum while Africans are left to die?”
That was just media yammering, but it was echoed on streets and in subways by otherwise reasonable people.
Never mind that there seem to have been no more than eight doses of the serum in existence.
Never mind that the white people in question—Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol—who received three of those doses before they were flown home to the U.S. got perilously ill in the first place because they risked their lives helping Ebola victims in Liberia who happened to be black.
And never mind that Samaritan’s Purse would not have established the Ebola clinic in Monrovia and asked Brantly serve as medical director had it thought the life of a white American was worth more than the life of a black African.
If nationality and race did influence the organization’s decision to seek an untested serum for Brantly and Writebol, it was likely only because any Western organization that administers an untested serum to the African population runs the risk of being accused of using blacks as guinea pigs in the way of the long-ago Tuskegee syphilis tests and the 1996 meningitis tests in Nigeria.
That was not a worry with the two white Americans.
Of course, Samantha’s Purse may not have been immune from the sense of urgency that can seize even the most altruistic organizations when one of its own is in mortal danger. The same is true with a fire department when a firefighter is critically injured.
Watch what happens at the scene of a blaze when a radio call of “Mayday!” signals that a firefighter who went in to save others suddenly needs saving himself.
This does not mean firefighters care any less about the people they are trying to save any more than it means Samaritan’s Purse was leaving Africans to die when it began asking U.S. scientists and health workers in the hot zone about experimental treatments described in various scientific papers in recent years.
Samaritan’s Purse ended up in contact with Mapp Biopharmaceutical in San Diego, the lead developer of a drug called ZMapp.
The scandal is not that two white people got an untested serum, but that the deaths of so many black people were ignored until two white people got sick.
ZMapp is an enhanced version of MB-003, which was developed in conjunction with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). MB-003 consists of three monoclonal—artificially produced—antibodies that proved capable of both deactivating the Ebola virus and tagging it for attack by the victim’s immune system.
A year ago this month, USAMRIID and Mapp announced the results of a study involving Rhesus monkeys that would have caused a sensation had we not been in a long lull between Ebola outbreaks. MB-003 protected 100 percent of the monkeys when administered an hour after exposure and two-thirds of those given the drug 48 hours after exposure.
“We were able to use MB-003 as a true therapeutic countermeasure,” USAMIID virologist Gene Olinger said when the results were announced.
James Pettitt, the study’s lead author, said he and his colleagues would be working with Canadian researchers who had devised a different antibody cocktail. The immediate aim would be to devise the most effective mixture of MB-003 and the Canadian compound and test it in additional monkeys, along with the best dose.
The combination was called ZMAPP. The ultimate results are said to have been even more promising than with MB-003 alone. But Ebola did not seem an imminent threat, and there was no scramble to produce more of the stuff than would be needed for animal toxicity testing and eventually the first human trials, which USAMIID expected to take between five to 10 years.
The federal Centers for Disease Control estimates that there were no more than eight doses of ZMapp in existence when Samaritan’s Purse sought some. Three doses were flown to Liberia. Two were given to Writebol and one to Brantly, who was repeatedly also given a transfusion of blood from a 14-year-old survivor he had treated.
The two stricken Americans were flown to Atlanta, and Brantly in particular seemed to be on the mend. Governments of the affected countries in West African began inquiring about Zmapp. U.S. scientists cautioned that the drug had not yet proven to be as beneficial to humans as it apparently was to monkeys.
“We don’t know if it is effective,” Dr. Heinz Feldmann of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease told The Daily Beast. “We don’t have enough even if it was effective.”
ZMapp is made by inserting modified genes into the cells of tobacco plants whose cells then become mini-factories of the antibodies. The facility where this happens is owned by R.J. Reynolds, which also makes cigarettes that kill by the hundreds of thousands.
Reynolds is now said to be accelerating its effort to do good as well as evil, but tobacco plants grow only so fast, and extracting and purifying antibodies is considerably more complicated than producing cancer sticks. Any significant quantity of ZMapp appears to be months away even if another company with a larger facility joins in the effort.
The question of the serum came up at the press conference President Obama held at the end of this week’s Africa Summit at the White House. He said it would be premature to rush ZMapp to the hot zone.
“Let the science guide us,” he went on to say. “I don’t think all the information is in on whether this drug is helpful.”
He observed that previous epidemics had been brought under control by effective public health programs.
“We’re focusing on the public health approach right now, but I will continue to seek information about what we’re learning about these drugs going forward,” he said.
Obama did authorize sending kits for a diagnostic Ebola test called the EZ1 Real-Time RT-PCR Assay. His view that the primary focus should be on containment was echoed by the head of the Centers for Disease Control at an emergency congressional hearing held on Thursday even though lawmakers are in recess.
“In terms of the promising drugs, I can assure you that the U.S. government is looking into this very carefully,” Dr. Thomas Frieden said. “But I don’t want there to be false hope out there. Right now, we don’t know if they work.”
The CDC is moving to assist the fight by going to a Level 1 alert and “surging” 50 experts to West Africa. Frieden emphasized that containment will require great care.
“It’s like fighting a forest fire: Leave behind one burning ember, one case undetected, and the epidemic could reignite,” he said.
When it came his turn to testify, Ken Isaacs of Samaritan’s Purse wondered why the forest fire had been allowed to rage for months with little notice beyond those who were being consumed by it. The scandal is not that two white people got an untested serum, but that the deaths of so many black people were ignored until two white people got sick.
“It took two Americans getting the disease in order for the international community and the United States to take serious notice of the largest outbreak of the disease in history,” he said. “The disease is uncontained and out of control in West Africa.”
Isaacs, who is a vice president of the organization, spoke as someone who has been watching the fire rage for months and believes it will be harder to contain than many anticipate. He said that too many people in Western Africa remain suspicious of Western medicine and tied to traditional practices that spread the virus, notably the washing and kissing of the dead. He noted that even now university students in Liberia “continue to mock and deny the existence of Ebola.”
“I think we are going to see the death toll in numbers we cannot imagine,” Ken Isaacs said.
He noted that the disease can travel anywhere “at the speed of an airplane.” He said the ultimate goal should be an effective vaccine.
“In the meantime it is a nasty, bloody disease that we must fight now,” he said.






Connecting dots perhaps.....

Folks wondering how the curious case of Patrick Sawyer....


  2.  1h
    Will it be right for us to say that Patrick Sawyer was sent to Nigeria as a biological weapon? cc
    Details
  3.  1h
    I was thinking this too because the officials knew he had it but he was still allowed to leave!
    Details
  4.  1h
    He escaped quarantine.
    Details
  5.  37m
    how can you escape quarantine? I don't buy that story
    Details
  6.  17m
    but how did he board a plane and make it to Nigeria without an uproar before he spread Ebola
    Details



also why was Liberia wanting him to attend a ECOWAS event? To spread it?











Translation ......

http://actualidad.rt.com/actualidad/view/136298-centro-investigacion-biologica-eeuu-fort-detrick-brote-ebola


RT correspondent Karen Mendez investigating what relationship the American biological research center in Fort Detrick recent outbreak of Ebola in Africa and who have benefited pandemics throughout history.
The alarm generated in the global population various corporate media, especially CNN, about the Ebola outbreak in African, then his insistence on the vaccine was found to cure this disease, uncovered many things.  This Monday August 4, 2014,  CNN launched the "exclusive"  saying that American authorities offered an untested in humans to treat Ebola treatment. They reported that the drug had been administered to the American Dr. Kent Brantly, touched by this disease in Africa, and that the effects on the patient had been "miraculous". Then it was known, by themselves, the drug was developed by the biotechnology company based in San Diego,  USA , called Biopharmaceutica Mapp, whose scientific team works with the American Army in Fort Detrick, and making a year Ebola virus inoculated a group of monkeys. 



What is Fort Detrick?


The Fort Detrick, located in Maryland (USA), is a center of biological research and development of chemical weapons for over 50 years dedicated to detecting disease through "engineering manipulated infection." During the World War II, the Fort Detrick undertook intensive research on biological warfare was supervised by George Merck, a major ally of Hitler and president of one of the largest pharmaceutical industries in USA and is one of the many things that you copied the American government of Nazism was its biowarfare program that was implemented during the Third Reich. Through Operation Paperclip, the intelligence services and US military, secretly brought to the United States about 700 Nazi scientists to extract from them all their secrets in chemical weapons and medical experimentation. Was and in 1946 the government of Harry Truman recruited leading scientists who worked for Hitler. One of the major Nazi records Troub Eric was responsible for biological weapons section of the Third Reich. This expert in viral diseases came to USA in 1949 and since then began work on the United States Navy, from there he began to investigate 40 more virulent strains of the world as well as providing advice to members of the CIA and called bioguerreros of Fort Detrick. Allegedly, from Fort Detrick inoculated virus like HIV, Ebola, bubonic plague, anthrax and West Nile Virus. During the 70s renamed Fort Detrick. Now called facilities Frederick for Research on Cancer, which is overseen by the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, CIA and the National Cancer Institute. Around town Maryland more than 500 families affected by cancer suspect because of his illness should chemical experiments made ​​Detrick Barracks near their homes. In September 2010, the American chain own FOX, released a report in which they interview people who live near the facilities of Fort Detrick, Maryland. One testimony is farmer Bill Krantz, who has a lifetime living near Fort Detrick. He himself says that as a child he saw that "from the Barracks in the fields sprayed chemicals from helicopters, airplanes and hot air balloons." The same Mr. Krantz tells of talking to the Chief Safety Fort Detrick and this I assure you that fell over his land and his family was harmless. But over the years many families have cancer Krantz. Another resident of the area says that audiovisual report of FOX 'I moved to Frederick in 1992 I married Deborah Cross in 1993 and were married 19 years. My daughter Kristen René Hernández died of brain cancer in 2008 my wife died in 2010 of kidney cancer metastasis to the brain came. " He says they have done tests with hydrochemical around the military base and they are the same dioxides that found in the blood of his wife and daughter, with the same molecular fingerprint of a chemical extracted around the place.


Long record of bioterrorism


In 2011, former President of Guatemala, Álvaro Colom denounced the United States in 696 inoculated venereal diseases Guatemalans during 1946 and 1948 face of such a scandal, all the United States said was  "excuse us" . But Guatemala is not the only country affected by these scientific aberrations USA, is a long list of crimes against humanity that have made ​​this country as biological warfare. In 1931 , Cornelius Rhoads Rockefeler sponsored by the Institute and who formed of the Atomic Energy Commission of USA, infecting hundreds of Puerto Rican citizens with cancer cells while conducting medical experiments. In 1951 , the United States used feathers of birds infected with anthrax to cause fever in North Korea and then inoculate fever yellow there. In 1962 , USA polluted boat sugarcane stopped in Puerto Rico bound for the Soviet Union. In 1966 , the Pentagon did break several vials of Bacillus subtilis on grates in New York Metro exposing more than 1 million people this bacterium. In 1970 , the Fort Detrick developed molecular biology techniques to produce retrovirus, now known as HIV. In the 70s, USA developed Operation Mongoose. The CIA different virus inoculated into Cuba as epiphyte Roya cane cane to affect different parts of the country, African swine fever, which forced the culling of more than 700 pigs and snuff blue mold that destroyed more than 85% of these plantations. In 1981 , in Cuba, introduced the virus of Dengue Hemorrhagic that cost the lives of 158 Cubans, of them 61 children. In 1990 in Los Angeles they applied experimentally measles vaccine in black and Hispanic babies. In 1995 , the Government US He admitted that he offered to war criminals and large Japanese scientists sums of money and immunity in exchange for information on the research conducted on biological warfare. A week after the attack on the Twin Towers, America suffered a strange attack with anthrax. In June 2008, Bruce Ivins, United States Army scientist committed suicide before being charged by these attacks. But Ivins is not the only scientist who dies under mysterious circumstances. Read also:  The worst human experiments conducted by the United States in July 2003, British scientist David Kelly was found dead inside his home, after give a secret to the BBC, in which he confesses that it was totally false that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and that it was simply an excuse to invade and plunder the country interview. This generated many questions, but also exposed the wicked world of biological warfare in the United States and Britain. Though the Conventions on Chemical and Biological Weapons outlawing the production, stockpiling and use of biological weapons, the United States remains the largest stockpiles of these weapons of mass destruction and has been the first country to apply. We can never forget what they did against the Vietnamese and Cambodian people with the sadly remembered "Agent Orange", manufactured between USG and Bayer Pharmaceutical. Since 2001, the United States has spent about $ 50,000 billion in bioweapons . Before leaving, former President George Bush allocated for fiscal year 2009, nearly 9,000 million dollars for spending on bioweapons, ie 39% more than what was allocated for 2008. however, also been reported that these bioweapons have reached irresponsible hands. So it was with the case of Cuba, where agents of the Central Intelligence United States was handed to members of the terrorist group "Omega 7" bacteriological weapons to introduce them in Cuba and end the Revolution. The leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro denounced in his time at the UN, but it took many years for the world could confirm the veracity of these claims. themselves ex But American officials went further. Former World Bank President, former Secretary of State of the United States, who ordered the massive bombing of Vietnam, and who was a member of the Expanded Program on Immunization, Robert McNamara, once said to a French newspaper: "We must take action draconian population reduction against the will of the people. Reducing the birth rate has proved to be impossible or insufficient. We must therefore increase the mortality rate. How? By natural means. Hunger and disease "


The casualties, up the shares on the stock


While the casualties Ebola, paranoia is heightened since the corporate media (which has also helped distract international attention to real massacres like running the government of Israel against Palestine), up actions of the pharmaceutical in the bag. A CNN news in Spanish entitled "Ebola pharmaceutical drives in the Exchange," confirms this. In this newspaper report says verbatim: "The actions of a company based in Vancouver working on a drug to slow the disease rose 40% in the last week. (...) Tekmira Pharmaceuticals had a higher than usual increase because investors expect the health agencies of the United States to pass a drug known as TKM-Ebola " against American And last but not least, the scientist himself who supposedly invented the vaccine Ebola in Fort Detrick, Mr. Larry Zeitlin says that "the main obstacle, at least for us, is the financial support. We received USG funding, but it comes in spurts (little by little), which makes it very difficult to quickly develop a drug. " This story does remember what happened years ago with the known bird flu and swine flu, which after expanding by different countries, showed the American pharmaceutical Gilead Science promoting a treatment called Tamiflu. And while thousands of people were frantically searching for Tamiflu Donald Rumsfeld smiled. Why smiled ?. The documentary "Operation Pandemic" Julian Alterini we respond. Alternini accurate in his documentary, Donald Rumsfeld was the President of the Gilead Science until 2001, when former President George Bush appointed him Secretary of Defense, a post from which Rumsfeld approved the 2005 budget of which 1.2 billion dollars were allocated to his former company to produce 20 million doses of Tamiflu, one of two drugs that authorized the World Health Organization to treat both avian and swine. It seems that history repeats itself, and the alarm generated by CNN about Ebola is driven by large pharmaceutical companies that claim to have the cure and only with that announcement have managed to increase their shares on the stock. The reality is that these big pharmaceutical along with Fort Detrick are responsible, as history shows, inoculating and propagating various types of diseases around the world to maximize their profits rib lives of others, mostly Africans, who still use for their experiments. History has already proven that behind every outbreak of these diseases is the drug cartel, one of the most powerful, influential and perverse world industries.  Karen Mendez 




http://www.nigeriannewsinfo.com/ebola-victim-patrick-sawyer-wanted-to-take-the-virus-to-calabar-hospital-speaks-out/







Ebola victim, Patrick Sawyer wanted to take the virus to Calabar – Hospital Speaks Out


  • 2
Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian-American man who imported the Ebola virus disease (EVD) to Nigeria, attempted to forcefully discharge himself from First Consultant Medical Centre, Obalende, and travel to Calabar, Cross River State, to attend an ECOWAS event.
Sawyer, who was a consultant with the Liberian ministry of finance, arrived Lagos on 20 July, when he collapsed and was subsequently taken to the hospital.
The hospital management told TheCable that they faced immense pressure and series of threats from the Liberian embassy in Nigeria, urging them to discharge Sawyer to attend the event in Calabar.
An official of the Liberian embassy repeatedly called the hospital to pressure them to release Sawyer, saying he had an important meeting to attend in Calabar.
“It got to a stage, the official started insulting us. All manner of insult and threatening language.”
The hospital says they initially tested for malaria and HIV, but both were negative, after which they told Sawyer that they would have to carry out further tests on him, who implored the hospital management to let him go.
“Sawyer was clearly not in good condition. He was a bit restless but we told him we needed to run other tests. It was in the process we discovered he had Ebola.”
The Liberian government has since apologised to the Nigerian federal government for failing to stop Sawyer from bringing the deadly Ebola virus into Nigeria.


http://www.pakurumo.com/2014/08/the-beautiful-nurse-who-got-ebola-virus.html


The Beautiful Nurse who got Ebola virus from Patrick Sawyer tells her story (See Her photo)

 


One of the nurses, Obi Justina Ejelonu, that cared for Patrick Sawyer during his stay at First Consultant Hospital Obalende, has recounted her experience with him. She was previously working at Otunba Tunwase National Peadiatric Centre Ijebu Ode in Ogun state before relocating to Lagos to work at First Consultant Hospital Obalande months ago.

Last week she posted the message below on a Facebook group page that organises free medical services:

“I never contacted his fluids .i checked his Vitals, helped him with his food.(he was too weak)…..i basically touched where his hands touched and thats the  only contact. not directly wt his fluids.@a stage, he yanked off his infusion and we had blood everywhere on his bed…..but d ward maids took care of that and changed his linens with great precaution. Every patient is treated as high risk ….if it were airborne, by now wahala for dey. i still thank God.”
“Friends, up to our uniforms n all linens were burnt off. we r on surveillance n off work till 11th.

Our samples v long bn taken by WHO n so far we v been fine.
For me, kudos to my hospital managt cos we work proffessionally wt every patient considered risk cos that’s d training. had it been its a hospital where they manage ordinar gloves lik Govt hospital n some janjaweed private hosp..:lol….wahala for dey o.i must also thank Lagos Govt….infact! Even fed govt sef….all been supportive. im good n so r the others in d hosp…..”
According to the admin of the FB group, Justina went into quarantine after that post and has now tested positive to Ebola.
While Justina is receiving what care is available to sick patients, there is high possibility she might die, and they have now started a campaign to pressure the US Govt and Big Pharma to send the experimental drugs to Nigeria and the rest of West Africa where Ebola is ravaging.



http://www.infowars.com/ebola-can-be-turned-into-bioweapon-russian-uk-experts-warn/

( note questions raised the ebola outbreak could be " suspicious " )


EBOLA CAN BE TURNED INTO BIOWEAPON, RUSSIAN & UK EXPERTS WARN

“Such possibility exists,” says Russian head of Department of Infectious Diseases...
Ebola Can be Turned into Bioweapon, Russian & UK Experts Warn
Image Credits: ganatlguard, Flickr
by RT.COM | AUGUST 8, 2014








Concerns that the deadly Ebola virus, which has claimed nearly a 1,000 lives in West Africa in recent months, can be used by as biological weapon are far from being groundless, Russia’s Federal Medical-Biological Agency (FMBA) said.
“Such possibility exists,” Vladimir Nikiforov, who heads the Department of Infectious Diseases at the FMBA’s Institution of Advanced Training, acknowledged at a press conference in Moscow.
“Actually, this virus can be used in the form of a spray, which can lead to very big trouble,” the disease expert is cited as saying by the RIA-Novosti news agency.
It’s very hard to track down efforts to create bioweapons, despite the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention in place since 1972, he said.
“Biological weapons are nothing like a nuclear bomb… In order to make a nuclear bomb, one would require a uranium mine, a nuclear power plant and so on,” but biological weapons “are made in a small laboratory, which can be easily camouflaged,” Nikiforov said.
“You know that there are rogue states. And here’s the thing, I can’t guarantee that some country isn’t preparing something of the kind,” he added.

****


Nikiforov words are echoed by his counterpart from Cambridge University, Dr Peter Walsh, who warned the UK public that a terrorist could use the Ebola virus to create a dirty bomb.
The biological anthropologist told the Sun newspaper that he fears “large number of horrific deaths” if “a group manages to harness the virus as a power then explodes it as a bomb in a highly populated public area.”
According to Walsh, there are just a few labs in the world, which possess the Ebola virus, and they are extremely well-protected.
“So the risk is that a terrorist group may seek to obtain the virus out in West Africa,” he said.
At least 961 people have died in the Ebola outbreak, which started in Guinea this March. It quickly spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, infecting in total over 1,700 people.
On Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced an international health emergency over Ebola, calling the current outbreak the most severe since the virus was first identified in humans back in 1976.
“The likelihood is that things [with Ebola] will get worse before they get better,” Keiji Fukuda, WHO’s head of health security, warned.
Meanwhile, the US health authorities have eased safety restrictions on an experimental TKM-Ebola drug, which could clear the way for its use to treat patients infected with the deadly virus.
On Thursday, Russia’s former chief medical officer, Gennady Onischenko, said that he can’t rule out the possibility that the Western African outbreak is suspicious.
“I am concerned about the prevalence and pathogenicity of the situation, which is too much even for Ebola. Too many people are dying. I don’t rule out that there’s something artificial here… What is happening with Ebola there, could there also be something man-made about it?” he said.







http://www.businessinsider.com/world-health-organization-ebola-is-a-global-emergency-2014-8

After two days of meetings, the emergency committee of the World Health Organization unanimously agreed to declare the ebola virus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on Friday. The WHO, which is an agency of the United Nations, also deemed ebola an "extraordinary event" that should be confronted with "a coordinated international response" to stop the spread of the disease.
"The possible consequences of further international spread are particularly serious in view of the virulence of the virus, the intensive community and health facility transmission patterns, and the weak health systems in the currently affected and most at-risk countries," a WHO statement said. 
According to the WHO, the current ebola outbreak began in Guinea last December and has since spread to  Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. As of Aug. 4, the WHO statement said there have been 1,711 reported cases of the disease, over 1,000 of which have been confirmed, and 932 deaths due to the virus. 
In addition to officially designating ebola a global health emergency, the WHO published a list of recommendations for governments in affected countries. Among other things, the organization called for temporary bans on "mass gatherings" and exit screenings at airports to check people leaving countries hit by the virus. Experts have said the WHO's Public Health Emergency of International Concern designation for ebola would pave the way for an international response that potentially includes the mobilization of NATO troops. 

Nigeria Declares "State Of Emergency" As Study Finds West African Ebola Virus Is Previously Undetected "New Strain"

Tyler Durden's picture
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/08/2014 13:23 -0400



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Following the WHO's warnings, (the ironically named) Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a "state of emergency" over the Ebola outbreak that is rapidly escalating in his nation. This comes on the heels of a US medical journal study that finds, as Reuters reports, the Ebola virus that is ravagaing West Africa was not imported from Central Africa but caused by a "new strain" of the disease - raising the specter of further regional epidemics.

Ebola is endemic to Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, South Sudan and Gabon, and scientists initially believed that Central Africa's Zaire strain of the virus was responsible for the outbreak. However, as Reuters reports,
Using analysis of blood samples from infected patients, however, researchers determined that while the Guinean form of the Ebola virus (EBOV) showed a 97 percent similarity to the Zaire strain, the disease was not introduced from Central Africa.

"This study demonstrates the emergence of a new EBOV strain in Guinea," wrote the group of more than 30 doctors and scientists, who published their preliminary findings on the website of the New England Journal of Medicine.

...

"It is possible that EBOV has circulated undetected in this region for some time. The emergence of the virus in Guinea highlights the risk of EBOV outbreaks in the whole West African subregion," the report continued.

"What is clear to us from the study is that the virus wasn't brought in from the outside, that it is indigenous," said Tarik Jasarevic, a spokesman for the WHO, which was not involved in authoring the study.
The awful conclusion:
"It means there were possibly outbreaks in the past that were just not detected," he said.
*  *  *
Nigerian President Jonathan has declared a national state of emergency...
As an example of the concern, banker sin Nigeria are now wearing gloves to serve customers...
*  *  *
CDC Director Frieden explains his fear about Lagos, Nigeria...





*  *  *
But President Obama said it would be ok?



http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-08-09/guinea-closes-borders-liberia-sierra-leone-ebola-death-count-nears-1000




Guinea Closes Borders With Liberia & Sierra Leone As Ebola Death Count Nears 1000

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Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/09/2014 12:51 -0400



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In an effort to stop people entering the country, The BBC reports, Guinea said it was closing its borders. "We have provisionally closed the frontier between Guinea and Sierra Leone [and Liberia] because of all the news that we have received from there recently," Health Minister Remy Lamah told a news conference. Ironically, the latest outbreak is thought to have begun in Guinea, but Liberia and Sierra Leone are currently facing the highest frequency of new cases. It appears things are not going according to plan...


The total number of cases in the current outbreak stands at 1,779, the WHO said on Friday, with 959 deaths.

The most recent figures from 5 and 6 August showed 68 new cases and 29 deaths.

They included 26 new cases in Sierra Leone and 38 in Liberia, but no new cases in Guinea, where the outbreak began.

Guinea said it was closing its borders in order to stop people from entering the country.

"We have provisionally closed the frontier between Guinea and Sierra Leone because of all the news that we have received from there recently," Health Minister Remy Lamah told a news conference.

He added that Guinea had also closed its border with Liberia.

Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have already declared varying levels of emergency over the spread of the virus.

The most intense outbreak in Guinea was located in the region along the border with Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The WHO had said the worst-affected area, which straddles the borders between the three countries, would be isolated and treated as a "unified zone".
*  *  *
"The possible consequences of further international spread are particularly serious in view of the virulence of the virus," WHO said after a meeting on Friday.









http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0809/636097-ebola/


Nigeria calls for volunteers to fight Ebola virus in Lagos

Saturday 09 August 2014 15.24
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The patient showed symptoms of fever and flu, possible signs of the deadly Ebola virus
The patient showed symptoms of fever and flu, possible signs of the deadly Ebola virus
Authorities in Nigeria's largest city Lagos have appealed for volunteers to help fight an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus after admitting they lacked medical personnel.
"We have a shortage of personnel. I won't lie about that. And that is why we are asking for volunteers," Lagos state health commissioner, Jide Idris, said on a live television programme.
In its fight against the spread of the virus, Mr Idris said that the state government in Lagos was offering incentives to medical volunteers, including life insurance.










Elsewhere, Canadian health officials said a patient who returned from Nigeria has been put in isolation in a hospital in a suburb of Toronto.
The patient showed symptoms of fever and flu, possible signs of the deadly Ebola virus.
961 people have died following the outbreak and nearly 1,800 people have been infected since the beginning of the year.
The unnamed male patient was being treated at the William Osler Health System's Brampton Civic Hospital.
Earlier, Nigeria confirmed two new cases of Ebola, bringing the total number of infections in the country to nine, including two deaths.
"We have an additional two confirmed cases. So the total now, we have nine confirmed cases (including two deaths). The same two we told you about: the index case and the health worker," Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said.
It comes after President Goodluck Jonathan declared a national emergency over the deadly virus.
An American-Liberian, who flew into the country from Monrovia, and a Nigerian nurse are the two people who have died of Ebola virus in Lagos in the last two weeks.
The minister said that the government had approved life insurance policy for all those taking care of Ebola virus patients and involved in contact-tracing.
The president earlier called on the population to avoid large gatherings in order to prevent the spread of the virus.
"Religious and political groups, spiritual healing centres, families, associations and other bodies should ... discourage gatherings and activities that may unwittingly promote close contact with infected persons or place others at risk," said a statement issued by the presidency.
President Jonathan also approved the immediate release of 1.9 billion naira (€8.7) to fund measures against the spread of the virus.
Measures to be taken include the setting up of additional isolation centres, screening at borders and contact-tracing.
In addition, the president warned against any movement of corpses to other parts of the country as well as spreading false information about the virus.
World Health Organisation chief Margaret Chan said in Geneva yesterday that the epidemic in west Africa which has killed nearly 1,000 people in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria was the worst of its kind in four decades.
Zambia has said it will restrict entry of travellers from countries affected by the Ebola virus and would ban Zambians from travelling to those countries, in one of the strictest moves yet by a southern African country against the deadly virus.
           
"All delegates from any of the countries affected by Ebola virus disease are restricted from entering Zambia until further notice," the Health Ministry said in a statement posted on its website on Saturday.
           
The statement also said that any Zambians arriving from those countries would be "thoroughly screened and quarantined", adding that no further travel by Zambians to such countries would be allowed.    



http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/ebola-patrick-sawyer-escaped-quarantine/185713/



Ebola: Patrick Sawyer Escaped Quarantine

08 Aug 2014
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ellen-johnson-sirleaf-0209.jpg - ellen-johnson-sirleaf-0209.jpg
 Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

•  Liberian president apologises to Nigeria, envoy alleges harassment of citizens  • FG donates $3.5m to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone  • Obama says it’s too early to give experimental drug to Africa
  • Health minister terms disease 'viral terrorism’, says handshakes not necessary

Adeola Akinremi, Chiemelie Ezeobi  , Damilola Oyedele and Paul Obi
It has been revealed that the Liberian, Mr. Patrick Sawyer, who travelled to Lagos from Monrovia and became Nigeria’s index case for the Ebola virus was actually under surveillance by the Liberian health authorities, even though he still managed to board a flight to travel.
The Minister of State II for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Nurudeen Mohammed, said this while relaying a conversation between Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Nigeria’s Ambassador to Liberia, Ambassador Chigozie Oby-Nadozie.
According to Mohammed, President Sirleaf, in a telephone conversation with Oby-Nadozie, had expressed regrets at the circumstances under which the virus was brought to Nigeria by Sawyer who was under surveillance.
There have been reports that Sawyer's sister had died of the virus.
Mohammed, at a briefing for members of the diplomatic corps in Abuja yesterday on the Ebola virus, however, noted that this was not a time for trading blame, but for collaboration to combat and stop the spread of the deadly epidemic, which has now killed over 900 persons, according to figures from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Vice-President, Dr. Toga Mcintosh, confirmed that Sawyer escaped from quarantine in Liberia to fly to Nigeria.

Speaking with journalists at the end of the briefing, Mcintosh said: “Because he had contact with somebody who died from Ebola, he was quarantined in his own country but he evaded the quarantine and came to Nigeria.”

Outbound Passengers for Screening

Also speaking at the briefing, the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, said health authorities would commence the screening of all outbound passengers from Nigeria's shores.

Passengers who show symptoms would be prevented from travelling and where they are non-Nigerians, they would only be allowed out if their countries have the capacity for a properly supervised evacuation and treatment as was demonstrated by the US recently, he explained.

According to Chukwu,  “In Nigeria, we have not closed our borders. The Minister of Health will be the person to advise the president to close the borders. If there is any superior argument, then we can shift.

“For now, we are taking the advice of the US government that it may be useful if we begin screening outbound passengers, and we have adopted it. We are screening now. We are going to get more personnel.”

He also called on the diplomats present to ask their countries to assist Nigeria as it fights to curtail the spread of the virus, saying: “Wherever your countries can assist us, if useful, particularly your airlines flying to Nigeria. We want to screen citizens and non-citizens, if they have it please let them stay in Nigeria; we will treat you here. Even if you are our ambassadors, we want to treat you here.

“We have begun to screen all outbound passengers. We don't want them to go to other countries and cause trouble there. Except your country has what it takes, we want to keep you and treat you here, so that we contain this disease. We must insist that before passengers leave, they must be screened.”

He added that the spread of the virus was not yet critical in Nigeria, saying that the spread was “exponential”.
Chukwu also explained that more medical personnel were being recruited and would be entitled to life insurance, stressing that all those recruited whether from the federal civil service, state or private health institutions would be entitled to life insurance.
This, he added, is to ensure that the families of the caregivers are adequately taken care of in the event of death.

Handshaking Should be Limited

As a precautionary measure, the minister said people should shake hands only when necessary.
“We are not saying people should not shake hands, but we are saying that if it is not necessary, don't do so," Chukwu said.

On pilgrimage, the minister urged hajj teams to have a medical team. He said the government was already working with the Saudi authorities to ensure that all pilgrims are screened and in turn, all Saudi nationals visiting Nigeria would be screened without any obstruction to religious obligations.

He cautioned that the new trend where some persons choose to wear gloves was “counterproductive” as they would accumulate the virus and may even take it to their homes.

“The practice of wearing gloves by members of the public would only be effective if all 170 million Nigerians do so,” he said.
He however harped on the necessity of all health workers and airport officials to put on masks and disposable gloves before touching patients and passengers.

The minister gave a breakdown of the spread of the virus, stating that the number of confirmed cases still stood at seven, describing the disease as “viral terrorism”.

ECOWAS Staff under Surveillance

During the briefing, the ECOWAS commission also disclosed that some of its staff, who had direct contact with Sawyer on his arrival in Nigeria were also under surveillance.

Mcintosh, who spoke on behalf of the commission, said the persons included the ECOWAS driver and protocol officers who met him at the airport and took him to the hospital after he collapsed.
He also disclosed that the commission’s office in Lagos had been temporarily shut down to allow for extensive fumigation by the Lagos State Government.

This, Mcintosh explained, became necessary, as the vehicle in which Sawyer was conveyed to the hospital was parked in the office premises for several days, while the members of staff who had contact with him continued to interact with others for several days before it was discovered he was suffering from the Ebola virus.

Mcintosh, however, clarified that Sawyer did not at any time go to Calabar, venue of the ECOWAS retreat which brought him to Nigeria.
“It is a destructive element to development. It is no longer a Liberian or Nigerian problem, but all abilities should be channelled in the same direction. The time has come for us to do all we can to stabilise the situation,” he said.

FG Donates $3.5m to Guinea, Liberia, S’Leone
He also expressed appreciation to the Nigerian government for its donation of $3.5 million to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to help tackle the virus.

The commission has also suspended all meetings that would bring in representatives for its member states, except where such meetings are extremely crucial.

The Liberian Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Al-Hassan Conteh, however, alleged that Liberian citizens living in Nigeria were being subjected to harassment by stereotyping and the seeming collective guilt since news of the citizenship of the index case broke.
He revealed that most of the reported cases of harassment were in Lagos State.

“It is important that as we frame our responses in the public campaign that association is causation, there should be caution. Even if the index case was Liberian, it does not mean all Liberians have Ebola,” Conteh said.

The envoy also voiced his concerns at a cartoon recently published by a local newspaper portraying people running away from an airplane because one of the passengers had said that another passenger looked like a Liberian.

Video Shows Sawyer was Very Ill

It has also emerged that Sawyer looked “terribly ill” and might have known he was infected with the virus before travelling to Nigeria, the Liberian media has reported.

According to a review of Close Circuit Television (CCTV) images at the James Spriggs Payne’s Airport, Monrovia, by Liberian newspaper, The New Dawn, Sawyer, also a naturalised American, looked terribly ill and deliberately avoided contact with people just before boarding the Asky Airline flight that brought him to Lagos.

Describing his behaviour as “strange”, the The New Dawn said Sawyer bore a “sad countenance” like he was troubled and sat alone avoiding bodily contact with other passengers who came close to him at the boarding gate of the James Sprigg Payne’s Airport as he awaited his flight to Lagos.

“His strange behaviour and frequent movement up and down as he eagerly awaited his Asky flight had prompted the security camera operator to focus on him. In the video, Patrick could be seen avoiding physical contact with airport employees and other passengers during the check-in process,” the newspaper wrote.

Airport video footage, according to the report, also showed Sawyer lying flat on his stomach on the floor in the corridor of the airport and seemed to be in “excruciating pain.”

The footage showed Sawyer preventing people from touching him. According to the The New Dawn reporter who reviewed the video, he even snubbed an immigration officer who initiated a friendly gesture of a handshake moments before he boarded the airplane.
FrontPage Africa, another Liberian newspaper, also reported that Sawyer, who was believed to have been infected by his sister, told its reporter shortly before he travelled to Nigeria that he had gone in search of his sister’s husband who ran away after she tested positive to Ebola.

The paper said Sawyer vomited a few times among his friends in Liberia just before heading to the airport and also on the plane. FrontPage Africa’s publisher, Rodney Sieh, later told online news medium, Premium Times by telephone that his paper’s extensive reporting on the matter showed clearly that Sawyer knew he had contracted the Ebola virus before travelling to Nigeria.

“He definitely knew he was sick and it was curious that he still decided to travel,” Sieh said. “His sister had died from the virus and he most likely had contact with her.”

According to FrontPage Africa, after Sawyer became ill on the airplane, he denied to First Consultants’ personnel that he had contact with anyone infected with Ebola despite repeated inquiries after initial tests for Malaria and HIV were negative.
The newspaper said Sawyer however flew into a rage and behaved in a disruptive manner at First Consultants after he was told he had tested positive for Ebola. 
FG Awaits US Response on Request for Drug

Meanwhile, the health minister said yesterday that the federal government was awaiting the response of the US Centre for Disease Control (US CDC) in Atlanta for its request for the experimental drug ZMapp, which was administered to two American aid workers who have shown remarkable signs of recovery after contracting the Ebola virus in Liberia.

Chukwu told reporters on the sidelines of the inauguration of the Defence Identification Centre (DIA) at the Magadishu Cantonment in Abuja, that the US was yet to respond to Nigeria’s request for the supply of the experimental drug, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported.

“We have not received any response from them (America), we have made the request; we believe they will respond to us.
“But we know that this is still an experimental drug, some of the data required are now being collected, but they are now using it on people,” he said.

The minister acknowledged that Nigerian health authorities were not completely sure of the drug’s efficacy, saying: “We are not yet completely sure if there are side effects that will outweigh its benefits”.

He further pointed out that if it was an experimental drug, it was not being produced in commercial quantities.
“So obviously given the demand all over the world, may be there will be challenges about supply, but we are awaiting their formal response,” he said.

Obama Dashes Nigeria’s Hopes

Despite Chukwu’s seeming optimism, Nigeria's hope was dashed by US President Barack Obama who said yesterday that it was too early to distribute the vaccine.

According to a tweet from Agence France-Presse (AFP), Obama had dashed countless hopes across the continent by disabusing previous notions that the drug got from specially modified tobacco leaves, would be flown out in large quantities to Africa for affected patients.
AFP quoted Obama to have said: “Affected countries should instead focus on building a strong public infrastructure.
“I think we have to let the science guide us. And I don't think all the information is on whether this drug is helpful.
“It is not an airborne disease. This is one that can be controlled and contained very effectively if we use the right protocols.
“The countries affected are the first to admit that what’s happened here is the public health systems have been overwhelmed. They weren’t able to identify and then isolate cases quickly enough.

“As a consequence, it spread more rapidly than has been typical with the periodic Ebola outbreaks that occurred previously.”
Obama however said the US was working closely with its European partners and WHO to provide resources to help contain the epidemic.
He said: “We're focusing on the public health approach right now, because we know how to do that, but I will continue to seek information about what we’re learning with respect to these drugs going forward.”

http://allafrica.com/stories/201408071299.html


Nigeria: Video Shows Liberian, Patrick Sawyer, Was "Terribly Ill", Possibly Knew He Had Ebola Before Traveling to Nigeria







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The deadliest Ebola outbreak recorded in history is happening right now. The deadly virus has killed more than 600 people in West Africa so far. The ... ( Resource: Widow of Ebola Victim Speaks Out
Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian man who brought the Ebola virus into Nigerian, looked "terribly ill" and might have known he was infected with the virus before traveling to Nigeria, the Liberian media is reporting.
According to a review of Close Circuit Television (CCTV) images at the James Spriggs Payne's Airport, Monrovia, by Liberian newspaper, The New Dawn, Mr. Sawyer, also a naturalised American, looked terribly ill and deliberately avoided contacts with people just before boarding the Asky Airline flight that brought him to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
Describing his behaviour as "strange", the The New Dawn said Mr. Sawyer bore a "sad countenance" like he was troubled and sat alone avoiding bodily contact with other passengers who came close to him at the boarding gate of the James Sprigg Payne's Airport as he awaits his flight to Lagos.
According to Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Jide Idris, Mr Sawyer who was a consultant for the Liberian Ministry of Finance, arrived Lagos on July 23 to attend an ECOWAS convention in Calabar. He became terribly ill on the airplane just before it touched down in Lagos.
Some ECOWAS officials and airport staff helped him out of the airplane and rushed him to First Consultant Medical Centre, Obalende, where he died two days later.
"His strange behaviour and frequent movement up and down as he eagerly awaits his Asky flight had prompted the security camera operator to focus on him. In the video, Patrick could be seen avoiding physical contacts with airport employees and other passengers during the check in process," the newspaper wrote.
Airport video footage, according to the report, also showed Mr. Sawyer lying flat on his stomach on the floor in the corridor of the airport and seemed to be in "excruciating pain."
The footage showed Mr. Sawyer preventing people from touching him.
According to the The New Dawn reporter who reviewed the video, he even snubbed an Immigration officer who initiated a friendly gesture of a handshake moments before he boarded the airplane.
FrontPage Africa, another Liberian newspaper, is also reporting that Mr. Sawyer, who is believed to have been infected by his sister who died of Ebola told its reporter soon before he travelled to Nigeria that he had gone in search of his sister's husband who ran away after she tested positive for Ebola.
The paper said Mr. Sawyer vomited a few times among his friends in Liberian just before heading to the airport and also on the plane.
FrontPage Africa's publisher, Rodney Sieh, later told PREMIUM TIMES by telephone from the Liberian capital, Monrovia, that his paper's extensive reporting on the matter showed clearly Mr. Sawyer knew he had contacted the Ebola virus before travelling to Nigeria.
"He definitely knew he was sick and it was curious that he still decided to travel," Mr. Sieh said. "His sister had died from the virus and he most likely had contact with her."
Rage and disruptive behaviour According to FrontPage Africa, after Mr. Sawyer became ill on the airplane; he denied to First Consultant's personnel that he had contact with anyone infected with Ebola despite repeated inquiries after initial tests for Malaria and HIV were negative.
The newspaper said Mr. Sawyer however went into a rage and behaved in a disruptive manner at First Consultant Medical Centre after he was told he tested positive to Ebola.
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