Fresh Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone raises fears of new infection chain

Fresh Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone raises fears of new infection chain. HT: Crof.

Via The Guardian: Fresh Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone raises fears of new infection chain. Excerpt:

A fresh outbreak of Ebola in a part of Sierra Leone where the virus was thought to have been contained has raised fears of a new, uncontrolled infection chain that could send the death toll soaring. 

A Red Cross ambulance team was sent to the remote district of Koinadugu, which had prided itself on being the only area to have kept Ebola at bay, on Tuesday to urgently collect 30 corpses for medical burial. 

The outbreak is a major setback for the Ebola response force and the district, which two weeks ago remained resolved to control the spread of the virus that has officially infected 5,338 people and claimed 1,510 lives in the country. 

Koinadugu has been operating a self-imposed quarantine for four months, thanks to the intervention of an expat businessman, Momah Konte, who returned from Washington and worked with local officials and tribal chiefs to try to prevent the spread. 

The Red Cross said an emergency burial team was making the five-hour journey from Freetown on Tuesday to collect the bodies in the Nenie chiefdom east of the district’s capital Kabala. 

A spokesman said that there were reports of a further 25 ill with Ebola and another 255 being monitored after coming into contact with the dead and the sick. 

The district, which is home to more than 260,000 people, borders on Guinea, where the current outbreak started. It is populated by many remote villages with the movement of traders and farmers difficult to control. 

The disease is widespread in the nearby districts of Bombali and Port Loko, where the Ebola response has been hampered by lack of resources. There are no treatment centres in either district.

Related:  Reuters: U.S. scientists say uncertainties loom about Ebola's transmission, other key facts.
 

State Dept. Doc Affirms JW’s Report on Obama Plan to Bring Foreign Ebola Patients to U.S.

State Dept. Doc Affirms JW’s Report on Obama Plan to Bring Foreign Ebola Patients to U.S. HT: JudicialWatch.

A shocking government document outlining the Obama administration’s outrageous plan to admit Ebola-infected non-U.S. citizens into the United States for treatment has surfaced, confirming a story that Judicial Watch broke almost two weeks ago.

On October 17 JW reported that the administration was actively formulating a deal to admit foreign nationals infected with Ebola into the country for treatment. Specifically, the goal is to bring the patients into the country within the first days of diagnosis, according to JW’s sources. The plan includes special waivers of laws and regulations that ban the admission of non-citizens with a communicable disease as dangerous as Ebola.

JW received details of the initiative from high-level government sources that also disclosed the administration was keeping the Ebola plan secret from Congress. The sources expressed concern that the proposal is illegal; endangers the public health and welfare; and should require the approval of Congress.

Following the initial report, JW contacted a number of government agencies that may be involved with the backdoor plan for comment but all except one shunned multiple requests to respond. Only the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offered this curt statement through spokeswoman Amesheia Buckner: “We have nothing for you on that.”

JW’s initial story also got Congress to get involved. Days after JW’s piece got published, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee fired off a letter to the secretaries of State and Homeland Security asking for details of the Ebola scheme and whether employees of their agencies had engaged in conversations regarding it.

“Please provide me any and all written memos or other documentation written by employees of your Departments regarding the formulation of a plan to allow non-U.S. citizens infected with Ebola to enter the U.S. to receive medical treatment,” says the letter signed by the committee’s chair, Bob Goodlatte of Virginia.


This week several media outlets have confirmed JW’s story, attributing the information to an unclassified State Department report.

It spells out a plan to rush foreigners into the U.S. for Ebola treatment, according to a British newspaper that links the actual four-page document. It would cost $300,000 to treat each patient and another $200,000 for transportation, the State Department memo shows.

The newspaper cites the White House Press Secretary issuing a “qualified denial” this week, saying that it hasn’t happened so far and that he doesn’t know of any plans to do it. “Despite the existence of a written plan, the State Department denies that it has any intention of bringing Ebola-infected noncitizens to the U.S. for treatment,” the news article points out. Read the full story here.

The post State Dept. Doc Affirms JW’s Report on Obama Plan to Bring Foreign Ebola Patients to U.S. appeared first on Judicial Watch.

Video - Gene Simmons: "Where’s the president? Where’s leadership?"

Study: Ebola Can Survive On Surfaces For 50 Days

Study: Ebola Can Survive On Surfaces For 50 Days. (DailyMail).

The number of confirmed Ebola cases passed the 10,000 mark over the weekend, despite efforts to curb its spread. And while the disease typically dies on surfaces within hours, research has discovered it can survive for more than seven weeks under certain conditions.

During tests, the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) found that the Zaire strain will live on samples stored on glass at low temperatures for as long as 50 days.

The tests were initially carried out by researchers from DSTL before the current outbreak, in 2010, but the strain investigated is one of five that is still infecting people globally.

Ebola was discovered in 1976 and is a member of the Filoviridae family.

HOW LONG DOES EBOLA SURVIVE?

For their 2010 paper, ‘The survival of filoviruses in liquids, on solid substrates and in a dynamic aerosol’, the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) tested two particular filoviruses on a variety of surfaces.

These were the Lake Victoria marburgvirus (Marv), and Zaire ebolavirus (Zebov).

Each was placed into guinea pig tissue samples and tested for their ability to survive in different liquids and on different surfaces at different temperatures, over a 50-day period.

When stored at 4° (39°F), by day 26, viruses from three of the samples were successfully extracted; Zebov on the glass sample, and Marv on both glass and plastic.

By day 50, the only sample from which the virus could be recovered was the Zebov from tissue on glass.

‘This study has demonstrated that filoviruses are able to survive and remain infectious, for extended periods when suspended within liquid and dried onto surfaces,’ explained the researchers.

‘Data from this study extend the knowledge on the survival of filoviruses under different conditions and provide a basis with which to inform risk assessments and manage exposure.’

The researchers do stress that these tests were carried out in a controlled lab environment, and not in the real world, but published their findings to highlight the survival rates.

Last week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its Ebola guidelines following the rise in infections.

Ebola (pictured) was discovered in 1976 and is a member of the Filoviridae family.

This family includes the Zaire ebolavirus (Zebov), which was first identified in 1976 and is the most virulent; Sudan ebolavirus, (Sebov); Tai Forest ebolavirus; Ebola-Reston (Rebov), and Bundibugyo ebolavirus (Bebov)

The centre explained that Ebola is not spread through the air, water, or food and a person infected with Ebola can’t spread the disease until symptoms appear.

The time from exposure to when signs or symptoms of the disease appear, known as the incubation period, is two to 21 days, but the average time is eight to 10 days. Read more: THE DAILY MAIL

Hmmm......You know those baggage handlers in little Belgium refusing to unload African planes......Not so stupid after all !

Ebola outbreak will hit China, outbreak would last another 6-12 months Peter Piot warns.

Ebola outbreak will hit China, outbreak would last another 6-12 months Peter Piot warns. HT: Crof.

Via the South China Morning Post: Ebola outbreak will hit China, virus pioneer Peter Piot warns. Excerpt:

One of the scientists who discovered Ebola has warned that China is under threat from the deadly virus because of the huge number of Chinese workers in Africa. 

Professor Peter Piot also made the grim prediction that Ebola would claim thousands more lives in the months ahead. 

"It will get worse for a while, and then hopefully it will get better when people are isolated," said Piot, who is in Hong Kong for a two-day symposium. "What we see now is every 30 days there is a doubling of new infections." 

He estimated the epidemic would last another six to 12 months.

West Africa is experiencing the worst Ebola outbreak in history. Cases have also been recorded in the United States, Germany, Spain, Norway, France and Britain. So far, 10,141 suspected cases have been reported and the death toll stands at 4,922. 

"In Africa, there are many Chinese working there. So that could be a risk for China in general, and I assume that one day [an outbreak of Ebola in China] will happen," said Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. 

He also said that infection control measures at mainland hospitals were not always "up to standard", which put public health at great risk. 

Piot stressed the importance of training people to spot at-risk air passengers before they boarded. And he said voluntary surveillance measures at Chek Lap Kok airport in Hong Kong were not effective enough. "Widespread screening [of arrivals] in airports is not that effective, to be honest … the most cost-effective method is to screen people before they take the plane." 

A patient feared to have Ebola in Hong Kong tested negative in a preliminary test yesterday. The 39-year-old man, who had been in Nigeria from October 13 to 20, went to Prince of Wales Hospital before being transferred to the Infectious Disease Centre at Princess Margaret Hospital. 

Piot said the best way to bring Ebola under control was the use of "safe and cheap" blood tests that took as little as 10 minutes.

VIDEO: Sign Language Interpreter Goes Viral During De Blasio Ebola Press Conference

VIDEO: Sign Language Interpreter Goes Viral During De Blasio Ebola Press Conference. Read the full story here.

Sierra Leone's Health Minister describes Chinese Ebola aid as "phenomenal."

Sierra Leone's Health Minister describes Chinese Ebola aid as "phenomenal." HT: Crof.

Via Xinhua: Feature: Life of Chinese Ebola laboratory members in Sierra Leone. Excerpt:

China sent a 59-member contingent of medical personnel to Sierra Leone in response to calls of the country for international aid to fight the deadly Ebola epidemic. 

The mobile laboratory from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention has so far tested 696 samples, with 375 positive of the virus since their arrival last month. 

The core part of the team is a group of eight people, with an average age of 35. Yang Fan and Su Haoxiang, one of the most shining duos in the team, were widely known as they have been working together as partners for four years in dealing with major epidemic outbreaks back at home. 

However, it's the first time they are confronted with Ebola, a virus requiring biosafety level 4-equivalent containment at laboratories where diagnostic testing is carried out. 

Testing in the Chinese mobile lab was based on Protection-3 platform developed by China. Medical personnel have to first inactivate the virus before the so-called PCR process to determine the nature of the sample.  

Yang, the most senior in the team, is charged with the toxin inactivation process. When Su, the youngest at the testing team, takes the sample for PCR, it is already detoxicated. 

It is therefore quite safe for Su to join Yang in the final process. Yang and Su were somewhat like the traditional master and disciple in their years of working together. 

It is common for them to have a kind of discussion following every testing process, where Su learns and matures. 

"Work in Sierra Leone will definitely be one of the most important experiences in my life," said Su. 

Sierra Leone's Health Minister Abu Bakarr Fofanah has described the Chinese aid as "phenomenal." 

He noted that China had airlifted 1.36 million dollars' worth of anti-Ebola drugs followed by a contingent of medical personnel. 

In addition, the Chinese Embassy also converted the Sierra Leone-Chinese Friendship Hospital, about 30 km east of Freetown, to a hospital capable of handling cases of highly infectious diseases like Ebola, said the minister. 

He said with Chinese aid, the country can now boast of a 100-bed hospital facility in the capital, Freetown, that can be readily "transformed to a management and treatment center."

NJ official: Female health care worker who'd been in Africa isolated with fever, symptoms have worsened.

NJ official: Female health care worker who'd been in Africa isolated with fever, symptoms have worsened. (CNN).

One day after New York officials announced a Doctors Without Borders physician had tested positive for Ebola, another person who treated patients in West Africa developed a fever and was put in isolation at a northern New Jersey hospital.

The second health care worker, a woman who hasn't been identified by name, did not have any Ebola symptoms upon arrival Friday at Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey health department spokesman Donna Leusner said.

Yet things changed in the hours that followed. According to Leusner, "This evening, the health care worker developed a fever and is now in isolation and being evaluated at University Hospital in Newark." That woman is being tested for Ebola, according to a government official who is receiving updates about the situation.

Unlike Dr. Craig Spencer, the 33-year-old now in isolation at Bellevue Hospital in nearby New York City, this second health care worker is not confirmed to have Ebola. Read the full story here.

#BREAKING: Sources tell @abcnews #Newark patient's symptoms have worsened. #Ebola test results likely tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/HONyMNnY6C
— G.Alexander(BRKNEWS) (@MajorNews911) October 25, 2014

Mali , where Ebola vaccine trials are underway, Becomes Sixth West African Nation Hit by Ebola.

Mali, where Ebola vaccine trials are underway, Becomes Sixth West African Nation Hit by Ebola. (Yahoo).

Mali confirmed its first case of Ebola on Thursday, becoming the sixth West African country to be touched by the worst outbreak on record of the hemorrhagic fever, which has killed nearly 4,900 people.

Mali’s Health Minister Ousmane Kone told state television that the patient in the western town of Kayes was a two-year-old girl who had recently arrived from neighboring Guinea, where the outbreak began.

“The condition of the girl, according to our services, is improving thanks to her rapid treatment,” the minister told state television.


A health ministry official, who asked not to be identified, said the girl’s mother died in Guinea a few weeks ago and the baby was brought by relatives to the Malian capital Bamako, where she stayed for 10 days in the Bagadadji neighborhood before heading to Kayes.

Coincidence: Ebola Vaccine Trials Under Way in Mali

Ebola Cover up? Almost all Turkish pilgrims informed about Ebola threat and under the medical supervision.

Ebola Cover up? Almost all Turkish pilgrims informed about Ebola threat and under the medical supervision. (Taz)

Almost all the pilgrims who returned from Saudi Arabia to Turkey were informed about the threat of Ebola and coronavirus (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, MERS), the Turkish news agency Anadolu said Oct. 23.

Reportedly, almost all the pilgrims who returned from the hajj, an annual Islamic pilgrimage to the Saudi city of Mecca, are under the medical supervision of doctors at home.

A Turkish citizen who returned from the hajj has been today admitted to a hospital in Istanbul with an Ebola suspicion.

Thus, the number of those admitted to hospitals in Turkey with an Ebola suspicion reached to six people.

Five of them are the hajj pilgrims, and one is a Turkish student studying in Somalia.

Earlier it was reported that 45 special hospitals were allocated in 36 provinces of Turkey in case of detection of people sick with Ebola. Special hospitals are allocated mainly in the provinces with international airports. In particular, three hospitals were allocated in Ankara, and two special hospitals in Istanbul.

According to the latest Ebola Response Situation Report from WHO, a total of 9936 confirmed, probable, and suspected cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) have been reported in five affected countries (Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Spain, and the United States of America) and two previously affected countries (Nigeria and Senegal).

A total of 4877 deaths have been reported, according to the report.

The outbreaks of EVD in Senegal and Nigeria were declared over on 17 October and 19 October 2014, respectively. EVD transmission remains persistent and widespread in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.  Hmmmm.....Why do i get more and more the feeling Turkey is covering up Ebola cases?

Related:  More people hospitalized in Turkey, suspected having Ebola.

#Ebola I'm suspicious about the sudden surge in #MERS cases #Turkey,MERS in Saudi Arabia there Oct only 7 cases. http://t.co/q3wkuS7C8t
— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) October 21, 2014

More people hospitalized in Turkey, suspected having Ebola.

More people hospitalized in Turkey, suspected having Ebola. (Taz).

Three people suspected Ebola were hospitalized in the Turkish provinces of Izmir, Kahraman Marash and Konya, the Anadolu Turkish news agency said Oct.22.

One of the hospitalized is a Turkish student who studies in Somalia and returned to his homeland, and the rest returned from the Hajj in Saudi Arabia.

Thus, the number of hospitalized suspected Ebola in Turkey reached five people, four of whom are persons returned from the Hajj.

Earlier it was reported that 45 special hospitals were allocated in 36 provinces of Turkey in case of detection of people sick with Ebola.

Special hospitals are allocated mainly in the provinces with international airports. In particular, three hospitals were allocated in Ankara, and two special hospitals in Istanbul.

It is also reported that citizens of countries in which Ebola was revealed are checked at the airports in Turkey.

Ebola virus is rapidly spreading in West Africa, namely in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria, Congo and Senegal. The cases of Ebola infection have been registered in the US, Spain, Norway, Australia and other countries as well.

The World Heath Organization (WHO) reports 4,033 people have died so far, with 8,399 probable or suspected cases. However in reality, this number could be much higher due to under reporting of the disease.

The US Center for Disease Control claims cases in Liberia are doubling every 15-20 days while those in Sierra Leone are doubling every 30-40 days.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also estimate Liberia and Sierra Leone could see 1.4 million cases of Ebola within three months when under-reported cases are taken into account.

Third #Turk hospitalized for suspected #MERS case. Hmm...MERS OR #EBOLA? http://t.co/tTwB1eEKUu
— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) October 21, 2014

#Ebola I'm suspicious about the sudden surge in #MERS cases #Turkey,MERS in Saudi Arabia there Oct only 7 cases. http://t.co/q3wkuS7C8t
— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) October 21, 2014

The Lancet: Assessment of the potential for international dissemination of Ebola virus via commercial air travel.

The Lancet: Assessment of the potential for international dissemination of Ebola virus via commercial air travel during the 2014 west African outbreak. HT: Crof.

Thanks to Greg Folkers for sending the link to this report in The Lancet: Assessment of the potential for international dissemination of Ebola virus via commercial air travel during the 2014 west African outbreak. The summary:

Background 

The WHO declared the 2014 west African Ebola epidemic a public health emergency of international concern in view of its potential for further international spread. Decision makers worldwide are in need of empirical data to inform and implement emergency response measures. Our aim was to assess the potential for Ebola virus to spread across international borders via commercial air travel and assess the relative efficiency of exit versus entry screening of travellers at commercial airports. 

Methods 

We analysed International Air Transport Association data for worldwide flight schedules between Sept 1, 2014, and Dec 31, 2014, and historic traveller flight itinerary data from 2013 to describe expected global population movements via commercial air travel out of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. 

Coupled with Ebola virus surveillance data, we modelled the expected number of internationally exported Ebola virus infections, the potential effect of air travel restrictions, and the efficiency of airport-based traveller screening at international ports of entry and exit. 

We deemed individuals initiating travel from any domestic or international airport within these three countries to have possible exposure to Ebola virus. We deemed all other travellers to have no significant risk of exposure to Ebola virus. 

Findings 

Based on epidemic conditions and international flight restrictions to and from Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone as of Sept 1, 2014 (reductions in passenger seats by 51% for Liberia, 66% for Guinea, and 85% for Sierra Leone), our model projects 2·8 travellers infected with Ebola virus departing the above three countries via commercial flights, on average, every month. 91 547 (64%) of all air travellers departing Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone had expected destinations in low-income and lower-middle-income countries. Screening international travellers departing three airports would enable health assessments of all travellers at highest risk of exposure to Ebola virus infection. 

Interpretation 

Decision makers must carefully balance the potential harms from travel restrictions imposed on countries that have Ebola virus activity against any potential reductions in risk from Ebola virus importations. 

Exit screening of travellers at airports in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone would be the most efficient frontier at which to assess the health status of travellers at risk of Ebola virus exposure, however, this intervention might require international support to implement effectively.

Only three Ebola-infected travellers per month are likely to fly from West Africa

Only three Ebola-infected travelers per month are likely to fly from West Africa. HT: Crof.

Via The Guardian: Only three Ebola-infected travellers per month are likely to fly from west Africa. Excerpt:

Fewer than three people a month infected with the Ebola virus are likely to try to board planes out of west Africa, according to a study that says exit screening would be the most efficient way to try to prevent travellers spreading disease. 

The UK and US have set up entry screening at airports for passengers arriving from west Africa, but the paper in The Lancet medical journal says this will have little chance of detecting somebody infected with the virus and that it will cost money that could be better spent.

The paper is written by Dr Kamran Khan at St Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Canada, and colleagues. The team analysed worldwide flight schedules from 2014, taking account of the routes that have been suspended because of the crisis, and flight itineraries from 2013 to establish the population’s normal travel patterns. They used World Health Organisation data on Ebola virus infections. 

The authors say that restricting air travel from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, where the epidemic is raging, is damaging to the countries’ economies and may potentially handicap efforts to end the Ebola outbreak, which is the best way to safeguard the rest of the world. 

They found that most travellers from the three countries – more than 60% – fly to low- and middle-income countries, with Ghana and Senegal as the top destinations. The arrival of somebody infected with Ebola is a greater threat to less affluent countries than to the UK, which was the third most popular destination, with 8.7% of travellers, or to the USA, where 2% would be headed. 

“Given that these countries have limited medical and public health resources, they may have difficulty quickly identifying and effectively responding to imported Ebola cases,” said Khan. 

“The risk of international spread could increase significantly if the outbreak in west Africa persists and grows. Risks to the global community would further increase if Ebola virus were to spread to and within other countries with weak public health systems.” 

Screening passengers either at exit or entry will miss cases, the paper says, because of the long incubation period of the virus – up to 21 days. Because many direct flights to countries like the UK have been stopped, travellers anyway have to change planes or use additional forms of transport and may not be identified as coming from west Africa.

Ebola: No more Canadian health workers to Africa

Ebola: No more Canadian health workers to Africa. HT: Crof.

Via Canoe.ca, a QMI report: No more Canadian health workers to Africa: Feds. Excerpt:

Health Minister Rona Ambrose says no more Canadian health workers will be going to West Africa to help in the fight against Ebola until "medical evacuation is guaranteed." 

She said the countries most affected by Ebola don't have the necessary equipment to deal with an influx of health-care workers who could become infected with the virus. 

Canada has an agreement with a U.S. charter, but other countries have similar arrangements with the same company. 

"It's one thing to have an arrangement, but if there was more than a few people sick, a number of countries would be in a very difficult position," Ambrose said Monday. 

The government's reaction to the international crisis has already sparked criticism from some medical groups. 

The federal government's "paltry" response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa leaves it significantly responsible if a case arrives in Canada, Michael Hurley, president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions/CUPE (OCHU), said earlier in the day. 

He said Canada should be encouraging health-care workers to volunteer their skills, as well as using its budget surplus to provide more than $65 million for the front-line battle. 

The federal government shouldn't wait for the virulent disease to show up on Canadian soil; it should be addressing the problem at its source, he said. "It is inevitable if we do nothing — there's no question about it," Hurley said Monday. "Their financial contribution has been paltry...I've seen no evidence of any mobilization of financial or health human resources behind the fight from Canada in West Africa." 

The number of cases of Ebola could hit 1.4 million by January. 

"The Harper government's theory that Ebola's coming to Canada is inevitable is true only if it remains committed to doing almost nothing to assist West Africa," Hurley said.

WHO: Nigeria is now free of Ebola virus transmission.

WHO: Nigeria is now free of Ebola virus transmission. HT: Crof.

WHO has published a situation assessment that reads more like a paid advertorial for the Goodluck Jonathan government: Nigeria is now free of Ebola virus transmission. Excerpt from the third of a three-page document and then a comment:

For some time now, with dedicated and enthusiastic support from President Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria has been running one of the world’s most innovative polio eradication campaigns, using the very latest satellite-based cutting-edge GPS technologies to ensure that no child misses out on polio vaccination. 

The country, which passed through the high-transmission season with only 1 single case of polio detected by a finely-tuned and sensitive surveillance system, is on track to interrupt wild poliovirus transmission from its borders before the end of this year. 

When the first Ebola case was confirmed in July, health officials immediately repurposed polio technologies and infrastructures to conduct Ebola case-finding and contact-tracing. 

The use of cutting-edge technologies, developed with guidance from the WHO polio programme, put GPS systems to work as support for real-time contact tracing and daily mapping of links between identified chains of transmission. 

This is a good public health story with an unusual twist at the end. As part of preparedness for an imported case, several advanced countries with good health systems are now studying technologies “made in Nigeria”, with WHO support, to improve their own contact tracing capacities. 

The story has another very clear message, as noted by Dr Margaret Chan, the WHO Director-General. “If a country like Nigeria, hampered by serious security problems, can do this – that is, make significant progress towards interrupting polio transmission, eradicate guinea-worm disease and contain Ebola, all at the same time – any country in the world experiencing an imported case can hold onward transmission to just a handful of cases.” 

World-class epidemiological detective work would eventually link every single one of the country’s 19 confirmed cases back to direct or indirect contact with that 20 July air traveller from Liberia. 

In another strategy, traditional, religious and community leaders were engaged early on and played a critical role in sensitizing the public. Like many others, the strategy drew on successful experiences in the polio programme. 

The awareness campaigns that worked so well to create public acceptance of polio immunization were likewise repurposed to encourage early reporting of symptoms, backed by the message that early detection and supportive care greatly increase an Ebola patient’s prospects of survival. 

All of these efforts were supported by social mobilization experts from UNICEF, CDC and Médecins sans Frontières, while the staff from the WHO Nigeria office, the Regional Office for Africa and headquarters boosted outbreak investigation, risk assessment, contact tracing and clinical care. 

In the end, Nigeria confirmed a total of 19 cases, of whom 7 died and 12 survived, giving the country an enviable case fatality rate of 40% – much lower than the 70% and higher seen elsewhere.

This document may have been generated in WHO's Regional African Office, which is effectively autonomous and run by political appointees. It certainly doesn't sound like the usual sitreps WHO publishes.

The Nigerians can be proud of the way they stopped Ebola, but a puff piece like this only undercuts their achievement.

Israeli prof.: US lagging behind on Ebola precautions, U.S. needs infrared screening at airports.

Israeli prof.: US lagging behind on Ebola precautions, U.S. needs infrared screening at airports. (TOI).HT : IsraelMatzav.

An American-Israeli expert in infectious diseases has attacked the United States' failure to screen airline passengers by taking their temperatures using infrared cameras as a means of preventing passengers with Ebola from boarding planes.

According to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Professor Leslie Lobel, “the world has been asleep for 50 years regarding infectious diseases and Ebola is the wake-up call.”

Lobel is a world-recognized virologist who has studied the virus and others emanating from the African continent.

“Fifty years ago, we were dealing with eradicating polio, smallpox and yellow fever which had similarly high mortality rates. Today, most of the world seems to understand the need to screen passengers in airports using infrared cameras for elevated temperature as a simple precaution — the US is lagging behind,” said Dr. Lobel.

The American-Israeli professor has been researching a cure for hemorrhagic fever viruses, including Ebola, for a decade, the university said in a press release. ...

Earlier Friday, the World Health Organization admitted that it botched attempts to stop the now-spiraling Ebola outbreak in West Africa, blaming factors including incompetent staff and a lack of information.

“Nearly everyone involved in the outbreak response failed to see some fairly plain writing on the wall,” WHO said in a draft internal document obtained by The Associated Press, noting that experts should have realized that traditional containment methods wouldn’t work in a region with porous borders and broken health systems.

Of course, if TSA ever started screening passengers for fevers, you can bet that (a) it would be done randomly rather than targeting people carrying the passports of affected countries and (b) it would cause long lines at the check-in counters.

As to WHO, anyone who depends on any UN agency to do anything reliably (other than hate Israel) is simply detached from reality. Read the full story here.

Ebola in West Africa: MSF's blunt assessment.

Ebola in West Africa: MSF's blunt assessment. HT: Crof.

Via MSF's Ebola page, a nation-by-nation summary of the situation. Scroll down to find it. Excerpt:

Sierra Leone 

Update: October 16, 2014 

Every district in Sierra Leone is now affected by the epidemic. New hotspots for the disease include the capital, Freetown, and the areas of Port Loko, Bombali, and Moyamba. The government has put five of the worst-affected districts under quarantine, setting up checkpoints on roads to prevent people leaving the area—measures that affect between one and two million people. 

The government’s response is hampered by a lack of resources and coordination at both national and district level. There is no strong surveillance system in place, while up to 85 percent of calls to the national telephone helpline get no response. Transit centers are full and management is an issue, creating the risk of cross-contamination. 

As a result of overcrowding, delays in lab testing, and too few ambulances, staff in transit centers are obliged to send people untested to CMCs, risking that positive cases infect those who are negative. As there are few CMCs, and these are often far away, people often die on the long journey there. Dead bodies have the highest viral load possible, putting other passengers at risk. 

With so many deaths from Ebola, we are seeing an increasing number of orphaned children in our centers, and a lack of caregivers. 

The international response is beginning to get underway, but it is slow and uncoordinated. Governments (including the UK and China) and various NGOs have sent teams to construct new centers at different locations around the country, including Jiu, Port Loko, and Freetown. Getting these new centers up and running is a matter of urgency.

WHO response to internal Ebola document leaked to media

WHO response to internal Ebola document leaked to media. HT: Crof.

Via email:

WHO response to internal Ebola document leaked to media. 

A WHO internal document recently obtained by some media outlets was the first draft of a small team documenting the chronology of the Ebola outbreak events for future review.  

This document has not yet been fact-checked or reviewed by WHO staff involved in the initial response to Ebola, and is part of an on-going analysis of our response. 

WHO will not do interviews or explain details on this document until it is completed. 

WHO believes in transparency and accountability and will release this review when it is fact-checked. For now, WHO's focus is to obtain the resources needed to successfully fight this Ebola outbreak. 

A full review and analysis of global responses to this, the largest-ever Ebola outbreak in history, will be completed and made public once the outbreak is under control. 

We are a public health organization and our focus right now must be to stop this outbreak and save lives. We cannot divert our limited resources from the urgent response to do a detailed analysis of the past response. That review will come, but only after this outbreak is over.

Pakistan Islamabad’s Benazir Bhutto Airport Rated Worst in the World.

Pakistan Airport Rated Worst in the World.....i wonder why? (RN).

The internet rating site Guide to Sleeping in Airports has released its annual list of the “Worst Airports of 2014”, with Islamabad’s Benazir Bhutto international airport topping the list, the Guardian has reported.

The airport is criticized for its crowds, “pervasive corruption, the aggressive-yet-inconsistent security checks, and the overall lack of cleanliness and technology,” the guide states.

The airport is followed by Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Nepal’s Kathmandu Tribhuvan International Airport, and the Philippines’ Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport; the last of these had previously topped the list for three years running.

New York’s LaGuardia made the list at number 10; the guide noted that US Vice President Joe Biden had once likened it to a “third world country.”

The online guide is an annual survey-based “overall airport experience” rating of the world’s airports.

The rating is based on criteria including comfort, convenience, cleanliness, and customer service, “or lack thereof” for each of the aforementioned categories. The guide judges things like crowding, seating options, temperature, food options, activities to pass the time (including Wi-Fi), cleanliness and the presence or absence of staff to help travelers.

The guide also lists the worst airports by region, again based on user surveys. In Europe, Paris’s Beauvais-Tille International, Frankfurt’s Hahn International, and Bergamo Italy’s Orio al Serio International topped the list. No Russian international airports made the list.

The complete guide can be found here.

Hmmm.........Remember how many times i have mentioned that staff working at airports are the weakest link in the fight against terrorism, well here's ground Zero of the problem.

Obama 'Admin' Plans to Let Ebola-infected Foreigners Into U.S. for Treatment

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Obama 'Admin' Plans to Let Ebola-infected Foreigners Into U.S. for Treatment. (Jwatch).

Washington, DC – Judicial Watch has learned that the Obama administration is actively formulating plans to admit Ebola-infected non-U.S. citizens into the United States for treatment.  Specifically, the goal of the administration is to bring Ebola patients into the United States for treatment within the first days of diagnosis.

It is unclear who would bear the high costs of transporting and treating non-citizen Ebola patients.  The plans include special waivers of laws and regulations that ban the admission of non-citizens with a communicable disease as dangerous as Ebola.

One source tells us that the Obama administration is keeping this plan secret from Congress. The source is concerned that the proposal is illegal; endangers the public health and welfare; and should require the approval of Congress. Hmmm.....Someone explain to me why to send US troops to build hospitals and then bring the patients to the US?


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