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.