Surgeon with Ebola coming to US for care
Surgeon with Ebola arrives in US for care
"Surgeon in Omaha hospital ‘extremely ill’ with Ebola" by Margery Beck | Associated Press November 17, 2014
OMAHA — The US State Department said it helped facilitate the transfer.
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Left out of it all yet staring at me in print is the 20 soldiers deployed from Fort Bragg to Senegeal to help the fight against Ebola by building a communications network for humanitarian groups(???).
Nebraska hospital: Surgeon with Ebola has died
Doctor being treated for Ebola in Omaha dies
For Ebola patients, getting treatment quickly is crucial
The case of Dr. Martin Salia illustrated those points, tragically.
Notice something strange in that photo regarding precautions and proximity?
CDC chief drops worst-case Ebola estimate
Not for that last guy, Aand either the propaganda hoax not working or has already accomplished goals.
"Italian doctor with Ebola returning for treatment" Associated Press November 25, 2014
MILAN — An Italian doctor who has been working in Sierra Leone has tested positive for the Ebola virus and is being transferred to Rome for treatment, the health ministry said Monday. It is Italy’s first confirmed case of Ebola.
The doctor, who was not identified and who works for the nongovernmental organization Emergency, is scheduled to arrive overnight in Italy for treatment at the Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases in Rome.
Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin said the doctor experienced a fever and other symptoms overnight, but he was well enough to eat breakfast and drink beverages.
The ministry said all measures are being taken to ensure the safe transport of the patient following biohazard protocols.
Emergency, a medical aid group that is operating a center for Ebola treatment in Lakka, Sierra Leone, said in statement that the doctor was in good condition, and that its staff in the country is following protocols aimed at avoiding contagion.
‘‘Nonetheless, no health intervention of such a serious epidemic can be considered completely without risks,’’ Emergency said.
It noted that the epidemic in Sierra Leone is continuing to spread, with more than 100 new cases a day for an official total of 5,000 people infected in the country — although the number could be much higher.
In Liberia on Monday, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf urged her countrymen to double their efforts to reach the government’s goal of having zero new Ebola cases by Dec. 25, a target some experts have described as highly ambitious.
‘‘We've set a pretty tough target. But when you set a target it means that you stay focused on that target and on that goal and then you double your efforts,’’ Sirleaf said during a ceremony marking the docking of a Dutch aid ship in the capital, Monrovia.
‘‘When you’re running a race, as you get closer and closer to the finish line you pick up the speed because you want to make sure that that last mile you will give it your best bet,’’ Sirleaf added.
Liberia has recorded nearly 3,000 confirmed, probable, and suspected Ebola deaths since the outbreak began — far more than any other country, according to the latest World Health Organization figures.
The number of new cases in Liberia has declined recently, however, prompting the United States to scale back the size and number of treatment facilities it is building.
Related: China Shines In Ebola Crisis
Still, officials have warned against complacency. Anthony Banbury, who heads the UN fight against Ebola in West Africa, said Friday that while achieving a decline in cases is difficult, reaching the point of zero cases in the region will be ‘‘much, much harder.’’
The arrival of the Dutch naval vessel, the Karel Doorman, in Monrovia marked the end of its tour of the three countries hardest hit by the Ebola epidemic. The ship visited the capitals of Sierra Leone and Guinea in the past two weeks, said Julius Kanubah from the European Union’s political section in Liberia.
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"US flight diverted for ill passengers
ROME — A US Airways flight from Israel to Philadelphia made an unscheduled landing in Rome after some aboard complained of feeling ill. Officials at Leonardo da Vinci airport said two passengers and 11 crew members were examined at the first aid station Saturday after complaining of throat and eye irritation. All were cleared to resume their journeys and left on other flights. The airline is investigating the source of a rubber odor on the Airbus A330 (AP)."
"2 more physicians dead from Ebola
FREETOWN — Two more Sierra Leonean doctors have died from Ebola, further depleting the West African nation’s ability to respond to the outbreak, health officials said Saturday. Dr. Thomas Rogers, who had worked at Connaught Hospital in the capital, and Dr. Dauda Koroma both died Friday. The deaths bring the number of Sierra Leonean doctors killed by Ebola to nine (AP)."
"Tenth Sierra Leone doctor succumbs to Ebola, vexing caregivers" Associated Press December 08, 2014
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — Trying to explain why so many doctors have died, chief medical officer Dr. Brima Kargbo said doctors may initially try to manage their symptoms at home and seek treatment later than other patients.
British army medics are already staffing a clinic dedicated to treating health workers.
In recent days, including Sunday, the World Food Program and the British military dropped food by helicopter to residents of Sherbro Island and surrounding islands who typically live by selling their fishing catch, but are struggling with so many markets shut because of Ebola....
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Related: Eleventh Sierra Leone doctor dies from Ebola
"US designates 35 hospitals to treat Ebola patients" by Lena H. Sun, Washington Post December 03, 2014
WASHINGTON — US officials have designated 35 hospitals around the country to care for Ebola patients, part of the Obama administration’s effort in the past two months to improve domestic preparedness to cope with the deadly virus that has ravaged West Africa.
The hospitals were chosen by state health officials and hospital executives and assessed by infection control teams from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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In trying to establish a network of hospitals, US officials have run into reluctance from facilities worried about steep costs, unwanted attention, and the possibility of scaring away other patients.
The reticence, although perhaps not surprising, complicates government efforts to ensure that the country can effectively treat people with Ebola and contain possible outbreaks.
Until October, only a few facilities in the United States with special biocontainment units, which are ideal for treating Ebola, were able to care for patients. And they could only handle two or three patients at a time. The case of Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man who was initially misdiagnosed at a Dallas hospital and died Oct. 8, shows how easily a community hospital can stumble.
The Obama administration’s $6.2 billion emergency funding request for Ebola, which includes $154 million for hospital preparedness and support, envisions at least one designated facility in every state, and additional ones in New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, and Puerto Rico.
The White House wants Congress to approve the request by Dec. 11, when current government funding runs out.
They got it.
In addition to the 35 hospitals that have already been designated, officials want to establish at least another 20 facilities, the official said. When that can be done will depend on how quickly Congress approves the emergency request.
What if it is all a hoax like everything else we see in the ma$$ media?
‘‘A combination of confidence and a sense of civic duty and medical prestige led these 35 to come forward and put their hands up,’’ the official said. In addition to being prepared to treat Ebola patients, the infection-control measures in place at these hospitals will improve overall resilience and is ‘‘a great investment in their ability to deal with dangerous and infectious diseases.’’
On an average day, there are a total of 50 to 70 travelers arriving from the affected countries at all five airports, officials have said.
More immigrants.
Ten people have been treated for Ebola in the United States, and federal officials say the number of future cases is likely to be extremely small — in large part because airport screening and follow-up monitoring allows health authorities to spot possible cases and refer them to hospitals for treatment.
Last week, NIH researchers announced the completion of an early-stage human trial for an Ebola vaccine, which is being developed in collaboration with European drug maker GlaxoSmithKline.
The results, which show that the vaccine triggered an immune response and did not cause harm in a small group of volunteers, paved the way for large-scale trials that could begin as soon as next month in West Africa.
You $ee what is important, right?
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Apparently the tests are a real BEAR.
Good thing U.S. hospitals are ready!
"Lab technician may have been exposed to Ebola, CDC says" by Denise Grady and Donald G. McNeil Jr., New York Times December 25, 2014
NEW YORK — A laboratory mistake at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may have exposed a technician to the deadly Ebola virus, federal officials said Wednesday. The technician will be monitored for signs of infection for 21 days, the incubation period of the disease.
A small number of other employees, fewer than a dozen, who entered a lab where the mistake occurred will also be assessed for exposure.
The error occurred Monday when a high-security lab at the CDC in Atlanta, working with Ebola virus from the epidemic in West Africa, sent samples that should have been inactivated to another CDC laboratory, which was down the hall. But the lab sent out the wrong samples, ones that had not been inactivated and that may have contained the live virus. The second lab was not equipped to handle the live virus. The technician who worked with the samples wore gloves and a gown, but no mask, and may have been exposed.
The error was discovered Tuesday.
But have complete confidence in them and look to them for leadership!
The accident is especially troubling because dangerous samples of anthrax and flu were mishandled at the CDC in June, eroding confidence in an agency that has long been one of the most respected scientific research centers in the world. The CDC promised last summer to improve its safety procedures.
Related: CDC Slowing Releasing Infectious Agents
So what is next, Ebola can fly?
Maybe you should save them the trouble and just kill yourself.
“I’m working on it until the issue is resolved,” the agency’s director, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, said in an interview in July.
Under harsh questioning from members of Congress that month, Frieden admitted that the errors at CDC labs had not been isolated mishaps but rather part of a broad pattern of unsafe practices. He called one of the episodes a “tipping point” that had forced agency officials to realize they needed to take action.
I think I've reached one.
In the June incident, CDC scientists sent anthrax samples, supposedly killed, to laboratories that were not equipped to handle dangerous pathogens. But the bacteria turned out to be live because a deactivating technique too weak to wipe out anthrax spores had been used. Dozens of employees were offered antibiotics and anthrax vaccine; none became infected.
The head of the laboratory that shipped the bacteria resigned a few weeks after the mistakes came to light. Although CDC officials gave no reason for his resignation and said it was voluntary, they had previously indicated they feared workers in that laboratory had grown careless because of lax supervision.
In another blunder, a CDC lab accidentally contaminated a relatively benign flu sample with a dangerous H5N1 bird flu strain that can be fatal in humans, then shipped it to a laboratory at the Department of Agriculture. Scientists at the agriculture lab detected the error, and no one was harmed.
The mistakes led the CDC to appoint a panel of outside safety experts in July to advise Frieden on how to correct sloppy procedures at government laboratories.
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Related: Why weren’t we better prepared for Ebola?
I think the answer is immediately above, and I'm $ure that soon solutions will $oon be found.
"Public health officials say they’re continuing to monitor people in Rhode Island who visited areas of West Africa affected by Ebola and are planning more drills at local hospitals. The Health Department said Wednesday that it is monitoring 17 people in Rhode Island. The department has been in contact with a total of 48 travelers since mid-October. It has also conducted drills at hospitals with mock Ebola patients seeking treatment. Follow-up stress tests are planned for early 2015. Dr. Michael Fine, director of the state’s HealthDepartment, said his agency has spent $189,000 from mid-October through November, mostly for personnel costs, as it plans for handling any Ebola cases. He estimated the cost for six months will total about $775,000. No one has become infected with Ebola in Rhode Island (AP)."
And the footage was presented as a live event somewhere else?
Health worker under Ebola observation
MGH patient tests positive for malaria; initial Ebola test negative
Patient is released after being checked for Ebola at MGH
"The man diagnosed with malaria this week at Mass. General had been to Liberia; Africa bears most of the global burden of malaria today. In 2012, about 627,000 people died of the disease, according to the World Health Organization, and 90 percent of those deaths were in Africa. Malaria kills many more people than Ebola, itself a terrible disease that has caused more than 6,000 deaths this year."
Also see: Mass. doctor to return to Liberia after recovering from Ebola
"Did enterovirus D68 cause limb paralysis in children?; Researchers are hunting for clues, cause of illness" by Felice J. Freyer, Globe Staff December 02, 2014
A common virus swept the nation with uncommon force this fall. Wheezing youngsters filled intensive care units. In rare instances, children’s limbs weakened or stopped working.
“It came at us from left field,” said Dr. Scott A. Schroeder, chief of the Division of Pediatric Pulmonology and Allergy at Tufts Medical Center.
Remember all those illegal immigrant kids we were told were not bused to your community, but where and began showing up at schools?
Tufts’s pediatric intensive care unit saw double the usual number of patients during September, as the bug identified as enterovirus D68 triggered severe asthma attacks, mostly in children with underlying lung disease.
And then, just as suddenly as it arrived, enterovirus D68 went away — but not before it left lingering mysteries. Chief among them: the 90 cases of limb weakness or paralysis identified nationwide since August in people age 21 or younger. Was enterovirus the culprit? Will it happen again?
“We don’t know the answers,” said Dr. Thomas Bernard Kinane, chief of the pediatric pulmonary unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. “Why now, why it became endemic — and we really don’t know whether it’s going to come back next year.”
The big problem is this: Academic studies are seeking to get to the bottom of it.....
It's more deadly than Ebola, but mostly ignored.
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Or maybe it is chikungunya. There has been some of that going around, too.
Or could it be something else?
"Avian flu detected in the Netherlands and Britain" by Alan Cowell, New York Times November 18, 2014
LONDON — Health officials moved to combat outbreaks of bird flu at poultry farms in Britain and the Netherlands on Monday, culling thousands of chickens and ducks to avert the spread of infection.
On Sunday, Dutch authorities blocked the transportation of eggs and poultry across the country after a strain of the flu was detected at a farm in Hekendorp, south of Amsterdam. The strain was said to be lethal for poultry and potentially transmissible to humans.
Authorities ordered the slaughter of 150,000 chickens at the farm. News reports identified the strain as H5N8, which has never been detected in humans, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control in Stockholm. The strain has been reported in birds in South Korea, China, Japan and, earlier this month, in Germany.
“This highly pathogenic variant of avian influenza is very dangerous for bird life,” the Dutch government said. “The disease can be transmitted from animals to humans.”
In Britain, the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs said that a case of the virus had been found in ducks at a farm in the Driffield area of East Yorkshire in the north of England but that the risk to public health was “very low.”
While the exact strain was still being investigated, the outbreak was not caused by the lethal H5N1 strain and “there is no risk to the food chain,” the department said.
Authorities are apparently eager to ensure that, just weeks before Christmas, news of the outbreak does not harm the poultry business at one of its busiest periods.
But they are worried about your health, uh-huh!!!!!!!
Health officials ordered the culling of all 6,000 ducks on the British farm and imposed a six-mile restriction zone around it, the department said.
It was not clear if the cases in Britain, the Netherlands, and Germany were linked, but officials said one line of investigation was to determine whether a wild bird had transmitted the disease to the farm in Yorkshire.
“We’ll be looking for other possible sources of the disease, including any links to the disease that we’re seeing in the Netherlands and Germany,” Britain’s chief veterinary officer, Nigel Gibbens, told the BBC, “and that will include looking at the risk from wild birds spread to our national flock.”
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Must have not been too important; it was nothing but a one-day wonder in my propaganda pre$$.
Related:
Health worker diagnosed with Ebola in Scotland
Worker with Ebola sent back to London
EBOLA NURSE 'FALSE FLAG'
Also see: Ebola fighters named Time Person of the Year
