Health News of Thursday, 10 July 2014

Ebola scare: Body of American to be flown to USA

Liberia: Health Workers Flee Ebola

Ebola in Africa: Can we dodge a global pandemic?

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By http://www.foxnews.com/archive/chris-kilha-1756326515 - Chris Kilham

Published July 10, 2014

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CDC/ Cynthia Goldsmith

Right now, a fight for survival is taking place in the West African nations of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Ebola, one of the most lethal diseases on the planet, is on a killing rampage.  In Guinea, 303 people have died. In Sierra Leone, 99 have perished, and in Guinea, 65 lives have been claimed.

Within a few days, these figures will be higher. And the disease appears to just be getting warmed up. Spread by contact with bodily fluids, Ebola is flourishing in West Africa, and could be coming soon to a place near you.

When the outbreak began in Guinea in April, the mortality rate was higher than it is now. But the virus is still an extreme hazard, and health workers must work in full bio-hazard suits in order to keep themselves from being infected by the patients they are serving. The protective suits are extremely hot in the sweltering West African climate. They are like little mobile sauna units, slowly cooking the doctors, nurses and aids working inside them.

Named after the Ebola River, the virus was first discovered in 1976 in what was then Zaire and is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. A viral disease, Ebola starts out like a bad flu, exhibiting initial symptoms of fever, weakness, headache and muscle pain – but that’s where the similarities end.

The more severe symptoms commence as early as two days after contact with the virus. Ebola is a hemorrhagic fever, meaning it causes the rupturing of blood vessels throughout the body.  Victims may bleed from the eyes, nose, mouth, ears, anus and genitals, as well as through skin ruptures. The liver, lungs, spleen and lymph nodes can be overcome by Ebola, leading to massive organ failure, and an agonizing death can follow.

There are five strains of Ebola: Zaire, Sudan, Reston, Cote d’Ivoire, and Bundibugyo. Of these, four are known to cause the disease in humans, whereas Reston does not appear to do so.  The disease is transmitted from animals to humans. Fruit bats, monkeys, and wild game may host the virus and spread it to humans, but bats in particular are on the radar of health officials. They are known as reservoir species, carrying the virus without becoming sick from the disease.

Despite urgent, high level attention from the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ebola has no specific treatment, no vaccine, and no effective medicines. Bed rest and remaining hydrated appear to be as effective as any course of treatment, with a disease whose mortality rate can be as high as 90 percent. In clinics, Ebola patients are kept isolated as much as possible, and any utensils used to diagnose them must be fastidiously sterilized. Health workers take a huge risk tending to the Ebola infected, and only bio-hazard suits afford enough protection. Still, even one accidental prick from a dirty needle can lead to infection. It is very risky business.

Now, we don’t have to worry, right? Ebola is, after all, over in Africa, far removed from us. Nothing could be further from the alarming truth.

Imagine this scenario: A health worker tends to Ebola patients in Guinea, and remains healthy due to good sanitation practices. Eventually, that health worker needs to travel to the United States or Europe, and he or she boards a plane. Unknowingly, they are infected but symptom-free so far. On the long flight home, they start to feel some aches and chills, and at one point, they sneeze, sending thousands of viruses into the air through the atomized mucus expelled from the nose. Other passengers breathe that air, taking in a few viruses here and there, and they become infected.

And a global pandemic starts to roll.

This is neither a far-off scenario nor science fiction. It is a real possibility. And this is why health officials are so gravely concerned about the current Ebola outbreak. Unlike previous smaller outbreaks which have occurred in rural locations, this one is happening in hot, humid cities where crowds are dense and sanitation is sketchy; where basic hygiene is often hard to manage and many people eat wild game that might be infected. It is a perfect recipe for a massive, uncontrolled outbreak. Infecting another person is as easy as a sneeze, a kiss, cleaning up after someone, making contact with mucus, urine or feces.

The question, then, is what can you do? Except for staying away from anyone infected, you can’t do much. Right now it’s up to the health workers laboring in excessively hot bio-hazard suits, and to officials who are working hard on containment. This situation in West Africa could in fact be the start of a global disaster, or it may be another near-miss. The threat is real, and the disease is on the move. Will we dodge the Ebola bullet? Right now, all we can do is watch and wait.

Chris Kilham is a medicine hunter who researches natural remedies all over the world, from the Amazon to Siberia. He teaches ethnobotany at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he is Explorer In Residence. Chris advises herbal, cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies and is a regular guest on radio and TV programs worldwide. His field research is largely sponsored by Naturex of Avignon, France. Read more at  http://www.MedicineHunter.com - MedicineHunter.com .

Liberia: 'You Ain't Know Ebola in Town?'

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/whiteafrican/ - Erik Hersman

Downtown Monrovia

Monrovia — The kids chatted happily as they gathered around a community well, carrying buckets and jerry cans to fill with water for their households. They were in a buoyant mood, but it wasn't long before the conversation turned to the deadly virus: "Don't touch me!" the only girl in their midst snorted, pulling back her small frame so that the rubber bucket she held flipped backward over her right shoulder, "You ain't know Ebola in town?"

It was as amusing as it was surprising; and I thought it was money well spent on Ebola sensitization. But her friends hit back: "That thing that scan", a Liberian colloquialism that means "It's only a scheme".

Their reaction epitomizes the mixed views among most Liberians ever since Ebola cases were reported in March after reports that some of their compatriots in northern Lofa county - close to the border with Guinea, the epicenter of the current outbreak - had contracted the disease.

The existing political order at the time is to blame for some of this: rival politicians were in a virtual dogfight ahead to October's senatorial elections (and the next presidential election in 2017 apparently), throwing accusations and counter accusations at those they claim were responsible for the budget deficit the country grapples with.

Some pundits even fueled the degree of apprehension when they started questioning the "actual motive" of the http://allafrica.com/stories/201403280658.html - U.S.$1.2 million that health ministry officials projected that they will need to combat the disease.

"They want steal the money; no Ebola here", callers on radio talk shows would allege. This view permeated so widely that when initial reports of new Ebola infections appeared to abate, comedians adopted it as a new fun theme: "Ebola ran away as soon as it heard about the U.S.$1.2 million", a popular on-air personality quipped. Even musicians were quick to put rap lines together for a song titled "Ebola in Town". The new music warns Liberians of the dangers of the deadly virus: "don't touch your friend….no eating something," it blared out of local pubs as dancers crafted new moves that involve no physical contact.

We were all in near panic mode in March following confirmation that samples taken to a French lab came back positive. The Ebola virus had actually crossed over from Guinea as had been feared. "Why they didn't close the border?", some questioned hysterically. "This thing coming killed all of us". Images of East Africa's Ebola victims began to spread on social media, with frightening posts that the disease was capable of "wiping out entire civilizations".

Some have even chosen to abandon the Liberian-style greetings, which involves a firm handshake followed by the characteristic loud snapping of the thumbs and middle fingers.

The act is so common that it's still considered uncultured not to meet an acquaintance's hand, despite constant reminders of the modes of transmission. This prompted my distribution of little bottles of hand sanitizers amongst members of my small household. Everybody is required to carry one along as they take on their daily chores, stopping every now and then to pour the liquid in their palms.

At home, our toddler must find the act amusing as he constantly extends his small hands, crying for the sanitizer to be poured in them. He then mimics the adults around him, except that he also attempts to rub it on his face. What's clearly not fun though is having him play indoors instead of with his mates in the community. Fear of the disease has also put plans for his commencement of daycare on hold, joining many parents who've chosen to keep their kids from school.

Some grocery stores even ran out of hand sanitizers as people scrupulously observed stricter hygienic practices. It took a http://allafrica.com/stories/201404030636.html - U.S. embassy circular , apparently meant for U.S. citizens in Liberia, to allay heightened anxiety at the time. It cautioned Americans to take certain steps to ensure their safety, while also emphasizing that the disease wasn't airborne.

Amongst other things, the embassy's 'Ebola updates' said that "transmission among humans is almost exclusively among caregiver family members or health care workers tending to the very ill" and that "a person is not contagious until they are acutely ill". Somehow this information found its way to Liberian platforms and people began to share it with family members and friends.

Not much was heard about the disease in late April and May; health officials were beginning to sound upbeat, suggesting that the country could be declared Ebola free within a given period if no new infection was reported.

And then what seemed like a brief respite was broken in mid-June when the country's Chief Medical Officer Dr Brenice Dahn announced that six people were confirmed to have died in Monrovia's heavily-populated district of New Kru Town. The source of the new infections, she said, was a woman who had traveled from Kailahun District in Sierra Leone - whose government had at the same time announced http://allafrica.com/stories/201406100588.html - scores of new infections along its border with Liberia and Guinea.

With this resurgence, confirmed cases of the disease have been reported in a wide geographic region of the country, including areas not so close to borders. But it has also allowed for even more public discourse about whether or not there's Ebola in Liberia in the first place, an altitude some officials of government and ordinary Liberians have publicly scorned: "Let's put the politics aside, this about life and death", they said.

Liberia's heavy monsoon rains, which can aggravate conditions in an already squalid environment in many areas of the country, coupled with a dysfunctional health system and denial of the disease are just the right conditions for the hemorrhage fever-causing virus to thrive. But as Liberians like to say: "This too shall pass."

Ebola deaths mount in Sierra Leone and Liberia

The WHO said Sierra Leone accounted for 32 new cases of Ebola and 15 deaths between 6-8 July

Such figures showed that it was a race against time to control the epidemic in Sierra Leone, medical charity MSF said.

In total there have been 539 deaths in West Africa since the outbreak began in neighbouring Guinea in February.

Regional leaders have now agreed to set up a fund to combat its spread.

At a summit of the regional body Ecowas in Ghana on Thursday, Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan agreed to contribute $3m (£1.8m) to the fund.

Ebola spreads through contact with an infected person's bodily fluids and there is no vaccine or cure.

It kills up to 90% of those infected but if patients receive early treatment, they have a better chance of survival.

http://www.who.int/csr/don/2014_07_10_ebola/en/ - The WHO statement said that Sierra Leone had accounted for 32 new cases and 15 deaths, while Liberia reported 11 new cases and four deaths.

• Guinea - 309 deaths, 409 cases
• Liberia - 88 deaths, 142 cases
• Sierra Leone - 142 deaths, 337 cases

There had been two deaths and one new infection recorded between 6-8 July in Guinea, where it said the community transmission rate was low.

"The epidemic trend in Liberia and Sierra Leone remains precarious with high numbers of new cases and deaths being reported," it said.

The cases in Sierra Leone are centred in Kailahun and Kenema districts, and in Liberia's Lofa and Montserrado counties, the WHO said.

The Ebola death rate in Guinea - where specialised health workers have been working since February - has slowed

Medecins Sans Frontieres said its teams in eastern Sierra Leone were "racing against time to stop the spread of the disease".

"We're under massive time pressure: the longer it takes to find and follow up with people who have come in contact with sick people, the more difficult it will be to control the outbreak," http://www.msf.org/article/sierra-leone-race-against-time-control-ebola-outbreak - MSF emergency co-ordinator Anja Wolz said in a statement .

"We still have no idea how many villages are affected. I'm afraid we've only seen the tip of the iceberg."

The disease creates fear within communities and sick people are often stigmatised so experts believe the key to stopping the spread of the virus is to make sure affected communities understand it better.

"Families can be driven out of their villages, and sick people can be cast out to die on their own," said Ms Wolz.

The WHO gathers data on confirmed, probable and suspected cases and deaths in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

So far in the West African outbreak there have been 888 cases.

• Symptoms include high fever, bleeding and central nervous system damage
• Fatality rate can reach 90%
• Incubation period is two to 21 days
• There is no vaccine or cure
• Supportive care such as rehydrating patients who have diarrhoea and vomiting can help recovery
• Fruit bats are considered to be the natural host of the virus

http://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-28086185 -

it's gettin ' real

12 Liberian health workers die of Ebola, others flee posts, U.S. Airlines suspends flights

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/11/1313149/-12-Liberian-health-workers-die-of-Ebola-others-flee-posts-U-S-Airlines-suspends-flights

Ebola Spreads to Sierra Leone Capital of Freetown as Deaths Rise

1. No experiment should be conducted where there is a prior reason to believe that death or disabling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Injury - injury will occur; except, perhaps, in those experiments where the experimental physicians also serve as subjects.

West Africa Ebola outbreak nears 900 cases

An outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Western Africa that is already history's deadliest has reached 888 cases, with 44 new infections—and 21 newly reported deaths—the World Health Organization (WHO) said in an update yesterday.

The new EVD infections, which include lab-confirmed, probable, and suspected cases, were reported from Jul 6 to 8. About three fourths of them are in Sierra Leone, which reported 32 new cases. Guinea reported only 1 new case.

In addition, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said today that rumors and denial are fueling the outbreak.

'Precarious' situation

Sierra Leone reported 32 new cases and 15 new deaths, the WHO said. Disease activity has been focused in Kailahun and Kenema districts in the southeastern part of the country, both of which border Liberia.

Liberia, meanwhile, had 11 new EVD cases with 4 deaths. Its hot spots are Lofa in the far north, which borders both Sierra Leone and Guinea, and Monserrado on the Atlantic Ocean.

The WHO said in today's update, "The epidemic trend in Liberia and Sierra Leone remains precarious with high numbers of new cases and deaths being reported. . . . The respective Ministries of Health are working with WHO and its partners to step up containment measures."

In the WHO's previous update, released Jul 8, Sierra Leone had 34 new cases and Liberia 16.

That situation contrasts with Guinea, which reported just 1 new EVD case, along with 2 newly reported deaths. Guinea had reported no cases in the Jul 8 WHO update.

Outbreak totals for the three countries are: Guinea, 409 cases and 309 deaths; Sierra Leone, 337 cases and 142 deaths; and Liberia, 142 cases and 88 deaths. Of the 888 total cases, 539 so far have been fatal, a 61% case-fatality rate.

"WHO does not recommend any travel or trade restrictions be applied to Guinea, Liberia, or Sierra Leone based on the current information available for this event," the agency reiterated in its update.

Misconceptions as fuel

UNICEF said today that it is focusing on combating rumors, fears, and misconceptions about the EVD outbreak.

"Rumours and denial are fueling the spread of Ebola and putting even more lives at risk," said Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF regional director for West and Central Africa, in a UNICEF news release. "Some people still deny that the disease is real. Others believe that it doesn't have to be treated.

"If we are to break the chain of Ebola transmission, it is crucial to combat the fear surrounding it and earn the trust of communities," Fontaine continued. "We have to knock on every door, visit every market, and spread the word in every church and every mosque. To do so, we urgently need more people, more funds, more partners."

UNICEF is stepping up its efforts in four West African countries in addition to those reporting EVD cases—Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Mali, and Gambia—to prevent further spread of the virus. It is focusing on mobile messaging and other communication initiatives.

ECDC update

In its weekly communicable disease threats report today, the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) reported on a cluster of cases in Guinea with an unexpectedly high survival rate.

"Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) [Doctors Without Borders] reported that 16 of the 21 EVD cases admitted to its treatment centre in Telimele in northern Guinea made a full recovery, compared with only 20-40 per cent of victims in Gueckedou," said the ECDC.

"This outlier event is being investigated. An unusually high false positive rate for the diagnostic test used in Telimele is among the possible explanations.

"Other explanations include a mutation of the virus and genetic resistance to the disease in the local population. Because the sample size is small, the event could also be explained by random variation in disease outcome."

The ECDC also called the risk of infection for international travelers very low "since most human infections result from direct contact with the bodily fluids or secretions of infected patients, particularly in hospitals (nosocomial transmission) and as a result of unsafe procedures, use of contaminated medical devices (including needles and syringes) and unprotected exposure to contaminated bodily fluids."

West Africa Ebola outbreak nears 900 cases

An outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Western Africa that is already history's deadliest has reached 888 cases, with 44 new infections—and 21 newly reported deaths—the World Health Organization (WHO) said in an update yesterday.

The new EVD infections, which include lab-confirmed, probable, and suspected cases, were reported from Jul 6 to 8. About three fourths of them are in Sierra Leone, which reported 32 new cases. Guinea reported only 1 new case.

In addition, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said today that rumors and denial are fueling the outbreak.

'Precarious' situation

Sierra Leone reported 32 new cases and 15 new deaths, the WHO said. Disease activity has been focused in Kailahun and Kenema districts in the southeastern part of the country, both of which border Liberia.

Liberia, meanwhile, had 11 new EVD cases with 4 deaths. Its hot spots are Lofa in the far north, which borders both Sierra Leone and Guinea, and Monserrado on the Atlantic Ocean.

The WHO said in today's update, "The epidemic trend in Liberia and Sierra Leone remains precarious with high numbers of new cases and deaths being reported. . . . The respective Ministries of Health are working with WHO and its partners to step up containment measures."

In the WHO's previous update, released Jul 8, Sierra Leone had 34 new cases and Liberia 16.

That situation contrasts with Guinea, which reported just 1 new EVD case, along with 2 newly reported deaths. Guinea had reported no cases in the Jul 8 WHO update.

Outbreak totals for the three countries are: Guinea, 409 cases and 309 deaths; Sierra Leone, 337 cases and 142 deaths; and Liberia, 142 cases and 88 deaths. Of the 888 total cases, 539 so far have been fatal, a 61% case-fatality rate.

"WHO does not recommend any travel or trade restrictions be applied to Guinea, Liberia, or Sierra Leone based on the current information available for this event," the agency reiterated in its update.

Misconceptions as fuel

UNICEF said today that it is focusing on combating rumors, fears, and misconceptions about the EVD outbreak.

"Rumours and denial are fueling the spread of Ebola and putting even more lives at risk," said Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF regional director for West and Central Africa, in a UNICEF news release. "Some people still deny that the disease is real. Others believe that it doesn't have to be treated.

"If we are to break the chain of Ebola transmission, it is crucial to combat the fear surrounding it and earn the trust of communities," Fontaine continued. "We have to knock on every door, visit every market, and spread the word in every church and every mosque. To do so, we urgently need more people, more funds, more partners."

UNICEF is stepping up its efforts in four West African countries in addition to those reporting EVD cases—Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Mali, and Gambia—to prevent further spread of the virus. It is focusing on mobile messaging and other communication initiatives.

ECDC update

In its weekly communicable disease threats report today, the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) reported on a cluster of cases in Guinea with an unexpectedly high survival rate.

"Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) [Doctors Without Borders] reported that 16 of the 21 EVD cases admitted to its treatment centre in Telimele in northern Guinea made a full recovery, compared with only 20-40 per cent of victims in Gueckedou," said the ECDC.

"This outlier event is being investigated. An unusually high false positive rate for the diagnostic test used in Telimele is among the possible explanations.

"Other explanations include a mutation of the virus and genetic resistance to the disease in the local population. Because the sample size is small, the event could also be explained by random variation in disease outcome."

The ECDC also called the risk of infection for international travelers very low "since most human infections result from direct contact with the bodily fluids or secretions of infected patients, particularly in hospitals (nosocomial transmission) and as a result of unsafe procedures, use of contaminated medical devices (including needles and syringes) and unprotected exposure to contaminated bodily fluids."

http://www.boston.com/health/2014/07/14/ebola-crisis-west-africa-deepens-dead/TNfrNCCWjDyrDgd2PVFezK/s

Ebola Crisis in West Africa Deepens; 500+ Dead

In this photo taken on July 8, 2014, Ebola advocacy group Crusaders for Peace, spokesperson Juli Endee, right, educates people on the deadly virus in Paynesville, east of the city Monrovia, Liberia. Ebola, a hemorrhagic fever that can cause its victims to bleed from the ears and nose, had never before been seen in this part of West Africa where medical clinics are few and far between. The disease has turned up in at least two other countries _ Liberia and Sierra Leone _ and 539 deaths have been attributed to the outbreak that is now the largest on record. (AP Photo/Jonathan Paye-Layleh) Credit: The Associated Press

The key to halting Ebola is isolating the sick, but fear and panic have sent some patients into hiding, complicating efforts to stop its spread. Ebola has reached the capitals of all three countries, and the World Health Organization reported 44 new cases including 21 deaths on Friday.

There has been ‘‘a gross misjudgment across the board in gauging the severity and scale of damage the current Ebola outbreak can unleash,’’ the aid group Plan International warned earlier this month.

‘‘There are no cases from outside Africa to date. The threat of it spreading though is very much there,’’ said Dr. Unni Krishnan, head of disaster preparedness and response for the aid group.

Preachers are calling for divine intervention, and panicked residents in remote areas have on multiple occasions attacked the very health workers sent to help them. In one town in Sierra Leone, residents partially burned down a treatment center over fears that the drugs given to victims were actually causing the disease.

Activists are trying to spread awareness in the countryside where literacy is low, even through a song penned about Ebola.

‘‘It has no cure, but it can be prevented; let us fight it together. Let’s protect ourselves, our families and our nation,’’ sings the chorus.

‘‘Do not touch people with the signs of Ebola,’’ sings musician and activist Juli Endee. ‘‘Don’t eat bush meat. Don’t play with monkey and baboons. Plums that bats have bitten or half-eaten, don’t eat them.’’

Guinea first notified WHO about the emergence of Ebola in March and soon after cases were reported in neighboring Liberia. Two months later there were hopes that the outbreak was waning, but then people began falling ill in Sierra Leone.

Doctors Without Borders says it fears the number of patients now being treated in Sierra Leone could be ‘‘just the tip of the iceberg.’’ Nearly 40 were reported in a single village in the country’s east.

‘‘We’re under massive time pressure: The longer it takes to find and follow up with people who have come in contact with sick people, the more difficult it will be to control the outbreak,’’ said Anja Wolz, emergency coordinator for the group, also referred to by its French name Medecins Sans Frontieres.

This Ebola virus is a new strain and did not spread to West Africa from previous outbreaks in Uganda and Congo, researchers say. Many believe it is linked to the human consumption of bats carrying the virus. Many of those who have fallen ill in the current outbreak are family members of victims and the health workers who treated them.

There is no cure and no vaccine for Ebola, and those who have survived managed to do so only by receiving rehydration and other supportive treatment. Ebola’s high fatality rate means many of those brought to health clinics have been merely kept as comfortable as possible in quarantine as they await death. As a result, some families have been afraid to take sick loved ones to the clinics.

‘‘Let this warning go out: Anyone found or reported to be holding suspected Ebola cases in homes or prayer houses can be prosecuted under the law of Liberia,’’ President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf stated recently.

Her comments came just days after Sierra Leone issued a similar warning, saying some patients had discharged themselves from the hospital and had gone into hiding.

At the airport in Guinea’s capital, departing passengers must undergo temperature screening, and those with a fever are pulled aside for further evaluation. Still, the stigma of Ebola follows Guineans well outside the region.

‘‘The police treated us like we were aliens. They said they didn’t want us in their country because of the disease affecting Guinea,’’ says Tafsir Sow, a businessman who was briefly detained at the airport in Casablanca, Morocco before continuing on to Paris. ‘‘I had tears in my eyes.’’

Still, WHO health officials are hopeful they will be able to get the situation under control in the next several weeks. A recent conference in the capital of Ghana brought together health authorities from across the affected areas, and the countries agreed on a common approach to fight Ebola.

‘‘When you have it spread, of course it’s moving in the wrong direction,’’ said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, WHO’s assistant director-general for health security and environment. ‘‘You want to see the number of infections going down. So we really have to redouble our efforts. But saying that it’s out of control makes it sound like there are no solutions. This is a virus for which there are very clear solutions.’’

Liberia: Suspected Ebola Patient Dies At JFK - Several Nurses, Others Abandon Work

Normal working and medical activities at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center were on Friday, July 11, 2014 halted for several hours as a result of the death of a suspected Ebola patient at the hospital.

Ebola is a deadly disease that has no cure.

Located in Sinkor, Monrovia the JFK is the largest referral hospital in Liberia.

A pregnant woman suspected of contracting the Ebola virus died during the late evening hours of Thursday, July 10, 2014 at the Emergency Ward of the hospital.

Some patients admitted at the hospital alleged that both medical doctors and nurses abandoned them when the news broke out that a patient suspected of contracting the deadly Ebola virus had died.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the patients said most of the nurses that were on duty during the night were seen without safety gears.

They further alleged that the nurses abandoned their duties and responsibilities for fear of coming in contact with the deadly virus.

According to them, the alleged abandonment by boththe medical doctors and nurses made their condition to worsen.

"You are asking me if I am working; just go to the ER, the woman that died from Ebola yesterday is there. You can go and see for yourself because press people like to make sure," a nurse who was walking out of the JFK compound asserted when quizzed by our reporter who had gone to the hospital upon getting the scoop.

At the JFK, our reporter observed that authorities of the hospital, including medical doctors were seen moving from one point to another in a confused state.

According to him, some nurses were being counseled and encouraged by some officials of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to continue their duties and responsibilities.

He said many of the nurses were even refusing to "shake hands or come in body contact" with some of their colleagues or bosses.

Our reporter said the death of the suspected Ebola patient at the hospital also compelled many family members, friends and loved ones of patients admitted to request authorities of the hospital to release their respective patients.

But their request was rejected by the JFK authorities.

He several patients, who were being transferred to the hospital, were taking elsewhere by their family members or friends for fear of contracting the virus at the JFK.

When contacted, the Public Relation Officer of the hospital, Daylue Goah, confirmed the death of the unidentified pregnant woman.

He told reporters that prior to her death, the woman was showing symptoms of the Ebola virus.

He said the woman was later taken to the isolation center of the hospital.

Mr. Goah noted that the fear amongst the nurses cannot be ruled out, saying the nurses are still "doing their work."

He disclosed that specimen of the dead lady would be sent to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare for laboratory assessment to establish whether or not she (pregnant woman) died from Ebola.

Meanwhile, several family members have expressed fear and concern over the wellbeing of their relatives admitted at the hospital.

They termed as "risky" the abandonment of their relatives and friends by medical practitioners at the JFK.

"Only the patients are in the hospital. They send for the MOHSW people to come and take the body from here; up to now they are not here. We are also afraid because, we don't know what is happening to them inside there.

So, we want them to release our patients so we can take them elsewhere because, the doctors and nurses too are running away," averred one Mr. Moses Laftey.

WHO: Ebola outbreak has killed more than 600

WHO launches regional Ebola response centre

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Credits: WHO/S. Saporito

• http://who.int/features/2014/ebola-response-centre/en/index.html - Find out more about the Ebola response centre
• http://www.afro.who.int/en/clusters-a-programmes/dpc/epidemic-a-pandemic-alert-and-response/outbreak-news/4222-ebola-virus-disease-west-africa-14-july-2014.html - Read the latest Disease Outbreak News on Ebola
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Yet, as the Ebola virus continues to spread, so do the rumours. Some say you can contract Ebola from a motorcycle helmet. Others say you can cure the deadly virus by drinking Nescafé mixed with cocoa and sugar – or with two large onions.

It’s Mr Manning’s job to take onions out of the equation. A health communications strategist with the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Mr Manning was sent to Guinea at the first outbreak of the Ebola crisis in March. When one of his colleagues, Pierre Roland, an expert on Ebola, gave a presentation at the US Embassy in Conakry about mitigating risks of transmission, Mr Manning recorded him. He then had the edited 30-second snippets translated into 10 local languages and broadcast on radio and television.

When the virus spread to Sierra Leone, Mr Manning teamed up with BBC Media Action to bring together radio station managers to help spread the word.

Mr Manning said ensuring local populations understand Ebola is essential. For instance, in areas where the virus has spread, relatives wash bodies by hand before funerals, putting families at risk.

“People do not easily accept the idea that teams will take their deceased loved one, put them in a bag and bury them somewhere different,” Manning said.

This balance demands communication, according to the WHO spokesman Daniel Epstein. “There are a set of beliefs and myths that impede our messages about treatment,” he said.

Médecins Sans Frontières has been unable to gain access to some affected areas because of hostility from the people there. Local communities fear outsiders are bringing the virus with them or want to exterminate the infected, since so few who receive treatment return alive.

Source:   http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/ebola-myths-help-spread-deadly-disease-9617518.html - http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/ebola-myths-help-spread-deadly-disease-9617518.html

Technophobe wrote: The deadly Ebola virus that’s killed more than 600 people so far in West Africa may have been smoldering there for years and has almost certainly sickened people who thought they had something else, researchers say.

Thanks, interesting stuff!  

These jungle viral diseases rarely seem to just suddenly happen.  HIV AIDS had been simmering in Africa, likely for decades if not centuries, before it "broke out" and caused infections in the USA and elsewhere.

It seems that the source of a lot of these are the butchering of "bush meat" for human consumption. 

AIDS seems to have originated from chimps, and Ebola is likely carried by a species of fruit bat, both of which are consumed.  My guess is that this outbreak is far from being contained.  

Sierra Leone religious leaders criticise government handling of Ebola

Health workers take blood samples for Ebola virus testing at a screening tent in the local government hospital in Kenema, Sierra Leone, June 30, 2014.

CREDIT: REUTERS/TOMMY TRENCHARD

UPDATE 3-Liberian man in Lagos being tested for Ebola

Ebola 'out of control' in West Africa

The doctor leading the fight against Ebola in Sierra Leone has himself caught the disease. The epidemic has claimed the lives of more than 600 people in West Africa since the beginning of the year.

http://www.dw.de/ebola-out-of-control-in-west-africa/a-17807222#">

Doctor Contracts Ebola After Treating Dozens Infected With The Deadly Virus

FREETOWN (Reuters) - The head doctor fighting an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Sierra Leone has himself caught the disease, one of a growing list of medical workers infected while battling to halt its spread across West Africa.

Ebola has killed 632 people across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since an outbreak began in February, putting strain on a string of weak health systems facing one of the world's deadliest diseases despite waves of international help.

In a sign of the growing frustrations with the failure of region's governments to tackle the outbreak, a Liberian whose brother died from the disease set fire to the Health Ministry in protest on Wednesday.

A statement from the president's office said 39-year-old Sheik Umar Khan, a Sierra Leonean virologist credited with treating more than 100 Ebola victims, had been transferred to a treatment ward run by medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres.

A source at the ward confirmed that the doctor was alive and receiving treatment, but gave no details of his condition.

Khan has been hailed a "national hero" by the Health Ministry for his efforts to lead the fight against an outbreak that has killed 206 people in the West African nation.

There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola, which can kill up to 90 percent of those infected, although the mortality rate of the current outbreak is around 60 percent.

It was not immediately clear how Khan had caught the virus. His colleagues told Reuters that he was always meticulous with protection, wearing overalls, mask, gloves and special footwear. Three days ago, three nurses working in the same Ebola treatment center alongside Khan died from the disease.

Tarik Jasarevic, a spokesman for the World Health Organization, said around 100 health workers had been infected by Ebola in the three countries, with 50 of them dying.

"Personal protection equipment is very hot. But there is a very strict procedure how you wear it, how you take it off, what can be re-used or not," he said.

Earlier this month, Samuel Muhumuza Mutoro, a senior Ugandan doctor working in Liberia died after treated infected patients.

"AFRAID FOR MY LIFE"

The latest WHO figures, released on Saturday, showed that there were 19 new deaths and 67 new cases within the four days since its previous statement.

The Ebola outbreak started in Guinea's remote southeast and has since spread across the region's poorly controlled borders. Symptoms of the highly infectious disease are diarrhea, vomiting and internal and external bleeding.

Part of Liberia's Health Ministry was destroyed on Wednesday when Monrovia resident Edward Deline set fire to the building in protest over the death of his 14-year-old brother from Ebola.

"The health (workers) here are not doing enough to fight this virus. They are taking this to be a money making thing while our people are dying," Deline told journalists after he was arrested by police.

Local and international health workers face a combination of fear, suspicion and local traditions for burying the dead as they try to prevent Ebola spreading further.

During a Reuters visit to the Kenema treatment center in eastern Sierra Leone in late June, Khan said he had installed a mirror in his office, which he called his "policeman", to check for holes in his protective clothing before entering an isolation ward.

(Additional reporting by Clair MacDougall, Alphonso Toweh and David Lewis; Writing by David Lewis and Emma Farge; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Alison Williams)

Moon-like suit is supposed to keep Ebola virus out so why do health care workers keep catching it?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/24/1316459/--Moon-suit-is-supposed-to-keep-Ebola-virus-out-so-why-do-health-care-workers-keep-catching-it

Ebola Biological Warfare – A Pandemic Nightmare

http://modernsurvivalblog.com/pandemic/ebola-biological-warfare-a-pandemic-nightmare/#more-36355

this article puts forth a very interesting and frightening theory

suicide bombers are willing to strap explosives to themselves now

would they be willing to deliberately infect themselves with EBOLA ???

can you imagine an outbreak in the United States???

and just a suggestion

if anyone has ANY Ebola news

why not post it in this thread

and keep everything in one place ?

instead of starting dozens of new threads

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/07/25/plane_passenger_ill_with_ebola_spreads_outbreak_to_fourth_country.h

Plane passenger ill with Ebola spreads outbreak to fourth country

West Africa’s deadly Ebola outbreak spread to Nigeria Friday after an ill Liberian man travelled became sick on a plane and later died.

Nigeria 'placed on red alert' over Ebola death

The Ebola virus has already spread from Guinea to Liberia and Sierra Leone

HIV, Kidnapping, armed robbery, child trafficking, assassination, ritual killing, political thuggery, high profile stealing and corruption, BOKO HARAM and now EBOLA VIRUS… Oh God of mercy the provider and the protector of the helpless, please do not ignore the cries and teeth gnashing of your helpless children. Our sins are too much that they may block our ways to solving these problem, even if we can. Do not judge us by any standard, just graciously rescue us – your foolish children
Amen

All You Need To Know About Ebola Virus – Wikipedia

http://www.osundefender.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Ebola-Virus-spread.jpg">

Ebola Virus spread

Ebola virus disease (EVD) or Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) is the human disease caused by ebola viruses. Symptoms start two days to three weeks after contracting the virus with a fever, throat and muscle pains, and headaches. There is then nausea, vomiting and diarrhea along with decreased functioning of the liver and kidneys. At this point some people begin to have problems with bleeding.

The disease is first acquired by a population when a person comes into contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected animal such as a monkey or fruit bat. Fruit bats are believed to carry and spread the disease without being affected by it. Once infection occurs, the disease may be spread from one person to another. Men who survive may be able to transmit the disease sexually for nearly two months. To make the diagnosis, typically other diseases with similar symptoms such as malaria, cholera and other viral hemorrhagic fever are excluded. The blood may then be tested for either antibodies to the virus, the viral RNA, or the virus itself to confirm the diagnosis.

Prevention involves decreasing the spread of the disease from infected monkeys and pigs to humans. This may be done by checking these animals for infection and killing and properly disposing of the bodies if the disease is discovered. Properly cooking meat and wearing protective clothing when handling meat may be helpful, as may wearing protective clothing and washing hands when around someone sick with the disease. Samples from people with the disease should be handled with an extra degree of caution.

There is no specific treatment for the virus with efforts to help people including giving the person either oral rehydration therapy or intravenous fluids. The disease has a high death rate: often between 50% and 90%. It typically occurs in outbreaks in tropical regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. Between 1976, when it was first identified, and 2014, fewer than 1,000 people a year have been infected. The largest outbreak as of 2014 is the ongoing 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak, which is affecting Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. The disease was first identified in the Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Efforts are ongoing to develop a vaccine; however, none exists as of 2014.

Signs and symptoms

Manifestation of Ebola begins abruptly with a sudden onset of an influenza-like stage characterized by general malaise, fever with chills, sore throat, severe headache, weakness, joint pain, muscle pain, and chest pain. Respiratory tract involvement is characterized by pharyngitis with sore throat, cough, dyspnea, and hiccups. The central nervous system is affected as judged by the development of severe headaches, agitation, confusion, fatigue, depression, seizures, and sometimes coma.

Cutaneous presentation may include: maculopapular rash, petechiae, purpura, ecchymoses, and hematomas (especially around needle injection sites). In general, development of hemorrhagic symptoms is indicative of a negative prognosis. However, contrary to popular belief, hemorrhage does not lead to hypovolemia and is not the cause of death (total blood loss is low except during labor). Instead, death occurs due to multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) due to fluid redistribution, hypotension, disseminated intravascular coagulation, and focal tissue necroses.

The average time between contracting the infection and the onset of symptoms is 13 days, but can be as long as 25 days.

Hemorrhage

All people infected show some extent of coagulopathy and impaired circulatory system symptomology. Bleeding from mucous membranes and puncture sites is reported in 40–50% of cases, while maculopapular rashes are evident in approximately 50% of cases. Sources of bleeds include hematemesis, hemoptysis, melena, and aforementioned bleeding from mucous membranes (gastrointestinal tract, nose, vagina and gingiva). However diffuse bleeding (i.e. heavy) is rare; occurrence is usually exclusive to the gastrointestinal tract.
Causes

Main article: Ebolavirus

EVD is caused by four of five viruses classified in the genus Ebolavirus, family Filoviridae, order Mononegavirales: Bundibugyo virus (BDBV), Ebola virus (EBOV), Sudan virus (SUDV),Taï Forest virus (TAFV). The fifth virus, Reston virus (RESTV), is thought to be not disease causing for humans and therefore not discussed here.

Transmission

EVD is believed to occur after an ebola virus is transmitted to a human index case via contact with an infected animal host.[citation needed] Human-to-human transmission occurs via direct contact with blood or bodily fluids from an infected person (including embalming of an infected dead person) or by contact with contaminated medical equipment such as needles. In the past, explosive nosocomial transmission has occurred in under-equipped African hospitals due to the reuse of needles and lack of implementation of universal precautions. Aerosol transmission has not been observed during natural EVD outbreaks. The potential for widespread EVD epidemics is considered low due to the high case-fatality rate, the rapidity of demise of patients, and the often remote areas where infections occur…

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus_disease - Wikipedia

Short URL: http://www.osundefender.org/?p=179107

Ebola outbreak leaves orphans, economy in its wake

http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/07/26/health-ebola-africa-idINL6N0Q109720140726

Protestors march on Ebola centre in Sierra Leone

Death in Nigeria shows Ebola can spread by air travel; West Africa airports take precautions

EBOLA VIRUS

HO,The Canadian Press

A transmission electron micrograph shows the ultrastructural morphology displayed by an Ebola virus virion.

ABUJA, Nigeria - Nigerian health authorities raced to stop the spread of Ebola on Saturday after a man sick with one of the world's deadliest diseases brought it by plane to Lagos, Africa's largest city with 21 million people.

The fact that the traveller from Liberia could board an international flight also raised new fears that other passengers could take the disease beyond Africa due to weak inspection of passengers and the fact Ebola's symptoms are similar to other diseases.

Officials in the country of Togo, where the sick man's flight had a stopover, also went on high alert after learning that Ebola could possibly have spread to a fifth country.

Screening people as they enter the country may help slow the spread of the disease, but it is no guarantee Ebola won't travel by airplane, according to Dr. Lance Plyler, who heads Ebola medical efforts in Liberia for aid organization Samaritan's Purse.

"Unfortunately the initial signs of Ebola imitate other diseases, like malaria or typhoid," he said.

Ebola already had caused some 672 deaths across a wide swath of West Africa before the Nigeria case was announced. It is the deadliest outbreak on record for Ebola, and now it threatens Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation.

"Lagos is completely different from other cities because we're talking about millions of people," said Plan International's Disaster Response and Preparedness Head, Dr. Unni Krishnan.

Nigerian newspapers describe the effort as a "scramble" to contain the threat after the Liberian arrived in Lagos and then died Friday.

International airports in Nigeria are screening passengers arriving from foreign countries for symptoms of Ebola, according to Yakubu Dati, the spokesman for Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria.

Health officials are also working with ports and land borders, he said. "They are giving out information in terms of enlightenment, what to do, what to look out for."

And Nigerian airports are setting up holding rooms to ready in case another potential Ebola victim lands in Nigeria.

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.

Doctors say health screens could be effective, but Ebola has a variable incubation period of between two and 21 days and cannot be diagnosed on the spot.

Patrick Sawyer, a consultant for the Liberian Ministry of Finance arrived in Nigeria on Tuesday and was immediately detained by health authorities suspecting he might have Ebola, Plyler said.

On his way to Lagos, Sawyer's plane also stopped in Lome, Togo, according to the World Health Organization.

Authorities announced Friday that blood tests from the Lagos University Teaching Hospital confirmed Sawyer died of Ebola earlier that day.

Sawyer reportedly did not show Ebola symptoms when he boarded the plane, Plyler said, but by the time he arrived in Nigeria he was vomiting and had diarrhea. There has not been another recently recorded case of Ebola spreading through air travel, he added.

Nearly 50 other passengers on the flight are being monitored for signs of Ebola but are not being kept in isolation, said an employee at Nigeria's Ministry of Health, who insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

Sawyer's sister also died of Ebola in Liberia, according to Liberian officials, but he claimed to have had no contact with her. Ebola is highly contagious and kills more than 70 percent of people infected.

An outbreak in Lagos, Africa's megacity where many live in cramped conditions, could be an unprecedented disaster in what is already the largest Ebola outbreak on record.

"Lagos is completely different from other cities because we're talking about millions of people," said Plan International's Disaster Response and Preparedness Head, Dr. Unni Krishnan.

Ebola is passed by touching bodily fluids of patients even after they die, he said. Traditional burials that include rubbing the bodies of the dead contribute to the spread of the disease, Krishnan added.

There is no "magic bullet" cure for Ebola, but early detection and treatment of fluids and nutrition can be effective, said Plyler in Liberia. Quickly isolating patients who show symptoms is also crucial in slowing the spread of the disease.

West African hospital systems have weak and "often paralyzed" health care systems, he added, and are not usually equipped to handle Ebola outbreaks. International aid organizations like his and Doctors Without Borders have stepped in, but they also lack enough funding and manpower. "We need more humanitarian workers," he said. "We need resources."

The Associated Press

http://www.usatoday.com/staff/976/larry-copeland"> Larry Copeland, USA TODAY 3:52 p.m. EDT July 27, 2014

An Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 670 people in Africa is now taking a toll on doctors and health care workers battling the deadly disease.

A government official in Liberia said Sunday that one of that country's highest-profile doctors has died in what the World Health Organization (WHO) calls the largest recorded outbreak of the disease.

An American doctor who has been working in Liberia since October 2013 for the North Carolina-based aid organization Samaritan's Purse is receiving intensive medical treatment after he was infected with Ebola, according to a spokeswoman for the organization.

Melissa Strickland said Kent Brantly, 33, was in stable condition, talking with his doctors and working on his computer while being treated. She cautioned that he is "not out of the woods yet." Strickland said patients have a better chance of survival if they receive treatment immediately after being infected, as Brantly did.

Brantly, who is married with two children and is medical director for the Samaritan's Purse Ebola Consolidated Case Management Center in Monrovia, is being treated at a Samaritan's Purse isolation center, according to Strickland.

Samaritan's Purse said later Sunday that a second U.S. citizen, Nancy Writebol, also has tested positive for Ebola. Writebol is employed by mission group SIM in Liberia and was helping a joint SIM/Samaritan's Purse team treating Ebola patients in Monrovia. Writebol is married with two children, the organization said.

The Ebola outbreak in the West African nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea has caused more than 670 deaths and more than 1,000 infections, according to the WHO. Ebola is a severe, often fatal illness with a fatality rate of up to 90% and is one of the world's most virulent diseases, according to the WHO. It is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, body fluids and tissues of infected animals or people.

The first Liberian doctor to die of the disease was identified as Samuel Brisbane. He was working as a consultant with the internal medicine unit at the country's largest hospital, the John F. Kennedy Memorial Medical Center in Monrovia.

Brisbane, who once was a medical adviser to former Liberian President Charles Taylor, was taken to a treatment center on the outskirts of the capital after falling ill with Ebola and died there, said Tolbert Nyenswah, an assistant health minister.

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

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

A Ugandan doctor working in Liberia, where an Ebola outbreak has killed 129 people, died earlier this month. The current outbreak has claimed the lives of 319 in Guinea and 224 in Sierra Leone.

Last week, the medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders announced that the chief doctor leading the fight against the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone, Sheik Umar Khan, had contracted the disease. Three nurses who worked in the same Ebola treatment Center as Khan, 39, are believed to have died from the disease.

"Our international staff are rotated every 4-6 weeks to ensure they are not too tired, which helps reduce risk," Ferir says. "Our staff always work in pairs in a buddy system. They look out for each other to make sure the other is not making any mistakes or is too tired. We try wherever possible to administer oral therapy rather than injections, which reduces the risk of needle stick injuries, and also limit the number of blood tests."

Over the weekend, health officials in Nigeria raced to stop the spread of Ebola after a man sick with the disease arrived on a flight in Lagos, Africa's largest city with 21 million people. The man's ability to board an international flight raised new fears that other passengers could carry the disease beyond Africa because of weak passenger inspection and the fact that Ebola's initial symptoms can resemble those of other illnesses.

Contributing: Associated Press

Second American aid worker is infected with Ebola in Africa amid fears biggest ever outbreak of incurable virus will spread around the world

• Nancy Writebol was working in Liberia for a charity when she caught the terrifying disease
• American doctor Kent Brantly was already being treated at a hospital in Monrovia, Liberia after he tested positive
• Two high profile Ebola researchers from Sierra Leone and Liberia have also caught the illness - one died Sunday
• The virus has appeared in large West African cities for the first time. An outbreak in heavily populated Lagos, Nigeria could be devastating
• The excruciating and grisly illness causes victims to bleed from the skin and kills 90 percent of those infected

By http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=&authornamef=Joshua+Gardner - Joshua Gardner

Published: 18:38 EST, 27 July 2014 | Updated: 19:19 EST, 27 July 20,2014

A second American citizen has now become infected with the deadly Ebola virus as the worst outbreak ever of the terrifying and grisly disease rages through four West African nations.

Nancy Writebol, an American working for a charity organization in Liberia has tested positive for the virus officials announced Sunday.

While her condition was not released. Writebol is undoubtedly fighting for her life against the virus, which kills 90 percent of those infected.

+7

Contagion: Christian missionary Nancy Writebol (seen here with her husband David) has become the second U.S. citizen infected with deadly Ebola in the midst of the worst outbreak of the virus ever in Africa

+7

Outbreak:: Writebol and her husband are not healthcare personnel, but have spent the last 15 years working in disease and poverty-stricken third world countries

So too is American doctor Kent Brantly, the 33-year-old medical director for charity group Samaritan's Purse whose been working in Liberia since October.

Writebol had been working with Ebola victims in the Liberian capital of Monrovia for the groups Serving In Mission and Samaritan's Purse when she became infected, http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/second-american-diagnosed-ebola-liberia-n166066 - NBC News reports.

Writebol and her husband David are not medical personnel, but rather Christian missionaries with 15 years experience serving disease and poverty-stricken third world nations.

Originally from Charlotte, North Carolina, the couple raised two sons before moving overseas, first to Ecuador and Zambia before moving to Liberia.

Dr. Kent Brantly, meanwhile, was being treated in Monrovia over the weekend for the dreaded disease, said Melissa Strickland, a spokeswoman for Samaritan's Purse.

'We are hopeful, but he is certainly not out of the woods yet,' she said.

Early treatment improves a patient's chances of survival and Strickland said Brantly recognized his own symptoms and began receiving care immediately.

The highly contagious virus is one of the most deadly diseases in the world. The World Health Organization said the outbreak is the largest ever recorded, killing more than 670 people in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone since it began earlier this year.

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

+7

Unprecedented: The outbreak has spread to Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and has now killed a man in far more densely populated Nigeria. The outbreak is the deadliest ever of the terrifying disease as the death toll crept past 700

+7

Deadly errors: Dr. Kent Brantly of Samaritan's Purse relief organization is shown wearing protective clothing as he works with Ebola patients in Liberia. Brantly is also being treated after somehow becoming infected with the virus. While the protective suits keep infectious fluids out, relief workers do often become victims

+7

Another victim: Dr Kent Brantly, pictured with his wife and children who were with him in Africa until recently, but who officials don't believe have the virus

Photos of Brantly working in Liberia show him in white coveralls made of a synthetic material that he wore for hours a day while treating Ebola patients.

There is no known cure for Ebola, which begins with symptoms including fever and sore throat and escalates to vomiting, diarrhea and internal and external bleeding.

The WHO says the disease is not contagious until a person begins to show symptoms. Brantly's wife and children had been living with him in Liberia but flew home to the U.S. about a week ago, before the doctor started showing any signs of illness, Strickland said.

+7

Stable: 33-year-old Brantly, left, was receiving intensive medical care in a Monrovia hospital and was in stable condition, according to a spokeswoman for the aid group, Melissa Strickland

'They have absolutely shown no symptoms,' she said.

A woman who identified herself as Brantly's mother said the family was declining immediate comment when reached by phone in Indiana late Saturday.

Brantly is a graduate of Indiana University School of Medicine and went to Liberia as part of a two-year fellowship with Samaritan's Purse, shortly after he completed his residency in family medicine at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth.

Dr. Samuel Brisbane on Sunday became the first Liberian doctor to die in an outbreak the World Health Organization says. A Ugandan doctor working in the country died earlier this month.

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

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

As the death toll continues to rise in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, a fourth African country was alerted over the weekend to their own case of Ebola: the far more densely populated nation of Nigeria.

+7

Terrifying: A Liberian infected with Ebola terrified the highly-populated Nigerian capital of Lagos when he managed to fly there before becoming seriously ill by the time they landed and dying in the city, becoming the first Ebola death in Nigeria

Nigerian health authorities raced to stop the spread of Ebola on Saturday after a man sick with one of the world's deadliest diseases brought it by plane to Lagos, Africa's largest city with 21 million people.

The fact that the traveler from Liberia could board an international flight also raised new fears that other passengers could take the disease beyond Africa due to weak inspection of passengers and the fact Ebola's symptoms are similar to other diseases.

Nigerian officials say a Liberian man died of Ebola in a Lagos hospital Friday after arriving in the country on Tuesday. It is the first case of Ebola to be confirmed in Nigeria since the current outbreak began in West Africa earlier this year.

Nigerian Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said all ports of entry in the country are now on 'red alert' and health officials are investigating all people who had contact with the deceased.

 

Nigeria confirms Ebola case in megacity of Lagos

Liberia shuts border crossings, restricts gatherings to curb Ebola spreading

Deadly Ebola virus 'could spread globally' after plane brings it to Nigeria

• Health experts fear other passengers could now be carrying the virus
• It lays dormant in victims for up to three weeks - and 90 per cent die of it
• Comes after Dr Kent Brantly, who went to fight the disease, was infected 

By http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=&authornamef=Nick+Fagge - Nick Fagge

Published: 19:04 EST, 27 July 2014 | Updated: 19:04 EST, 27 July 2014

The arrival of an Ebola-infected air passenger in Nigeria has airlines and airports scrambling to respond around the world.

By http://www.wsoctv.com/staff/alexa-ashwell/ - Alexa Ashwell and  http://www.wsoctv.com/staff/blake-hanson/ - Blake Hanson

WSOC-TV – Charlotte, N.C.

BOONE, N.C. —

Ebola: US Doctor's Condition 'Deteriorates'

Sierra Leone's top Ebola doctor dies from virus

Interesting political development regarding possible spread of Ebola to the UK.  For those who do not get the reference "Cobra" relates to the government committee to deal with emergency matters - so this is seen as serious.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-28558783 - http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-28558783

"The Ebola virus, which has killed more than 670 people in West Africa, is a "threat" to the UK, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has told the BBC.

He said he would chair an emergency Cobra meeting on the issue later.

No Britons had been affected so far and there were no cases in the UK, he said, adding that the government was viewing the outbreak very seriously.

It comes after Public Health England issued a national alert to UK doctors amid fears the virus could spread."