Meet Miss Ebola, Kaci Hickox

Kaci Hickox, also known as Miss Ebola, is the volunteer nurse who has refused to remain in state ordered quarantine. Here she is seen riding her bike in Fort Kent, Maine, followed by a police patrol car: 

Miss Ebola riding her bike in defiance of a state ordered quarantine

I also read that Medicine Sans Frontieres is now issuing statements to criticize state governors who have initiated their own state run quarantine programs. That pretty much shut down any ideas I had to donate to any of their causes. 

This whole mess is now filling with political bullshit, just like global warming, the Middle East, ISIS, and Ukraine. 

Dr Comatose goes to Africa

To overcome the  lack of training being given to US President Barak Obama, I´ve prepared a simple comic strip to show him why the current policy he´s following is a big mistake. You too can help me by forwarding the link to the media and talking heads who get on TV praising Obama´s policies. They definitely need this simple lesson.

And now, without further comments, Dr Comatose goes to Africa:

Two U.S. states to quarantine health workers returning from Ebola zones

From Reuters we read a couple of governors grew brains. Maybe brain growth will be contagious and infect president Obama's?

Anyhow, here's the deal:

"(Reuters) - New York and New Jersey will automatically quarantine medical workers returning from Ebola-hit West African countries and the U.S. government is considering the same step after a doctor who treated patients in Guinea came back infected, officials said on Friday.

The steps announced by the two states, which go beyond the current restrictions being imposed by President Barack Obama's administration on travelers from Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea, came as medical detectives tried to retrace the steps in New York City of Dr. Craig Spencer, who tested positive for Ebola on Thursday.

The new policy applies to medical workers returning from the region through John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. In the first instance of the new move, a female healthcare worker who had treated patients in West Africa and arrived at the Newark, New Jersey, airport was ordered into quarantine.

"Voluntary quarantine is almost an oxymoron," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said. "We've seen what happens. ... You ride a subway. You ride a bus. You could infect hundreds and hundreds of people."

Cuomo, who appeared at a news conference with the governor of neighboring New Jersey, Chris Christie, had earlier in the day sought to reassure New Yorkers that Ebola's threat was limited the day after Spencer tested positive for the virus.

NY Post editors sighed with relief as the ny and nj governors grew brains.

In Washington, Obama also sought to reassure a worried public with an Oval Office hug of Dallas nurse Nina Pham, who was declared Ebola-free on Friday after catching the virus from a Liberian patient who died.

As concerns over the possible spread of Ebola eased, U.S. stocks closed out their best week since January 2013. [.N] 

But Republican lawmakers, many of whom for weeks have called for a tougher response to Ebola, continued their criticism of the administration at a congressional hearing.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/24/us-health-ebola-newyork-idUSKCN0IC2CU20141024

Ebola Vaccine News

The following is an overview of Ebola vaccines and serums under test and/or development. The speed with which these have been created tells me the Ebola epidemic could have been stopped with a much smaller effort if funds had been used several years ago.

Ebola vaccine development (photo NBC News) 

From NBC News

Even though Ebola is burning out of control in West Africa, it’s not a huge potential market for a large pharmaceutical company to sink its teeth — and its assets — into developing. That leaves the U.S. government and small, niche biopharmaceutical companies.

“I don’t see why anybody except the U.S. government would get involved in developing these kinds of countermeasures,” said Dr. Sina Bavari of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) in Frederick, Maryland. “There is no market in it.”

More at 

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/no-market-scientists-struggle-make-ebola-vaccines-treatments-n167871

From the Guardian

“WHO aims for Ebola serum in weeks and vaccine tests in Africa by January

Dr Marie Paule Kieny, an assistant director general at the WHO, said the first tens of thousands of Ebola vaccines could be distributed in the first months of the new year. Kieny acknowledged there were many “ifs” remaining and “still a possibility that it [a vaccine] will fail”. But she sketched out a much broader experiment than was imagined only six months ago. “These are quite large trials,” she said.”

More at

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/22/ebola-serum-in-weeks-and-west-africa-vaccine-tests-by-january-says-who

From the BBC

Canada is to ship 800 vials of its Ebola vaccine to the World Health Organization. The jab can completely protect animals from a fatal dose of the Ebola virus. However, its safety and effectiveness in humans is unknown. Trials began in the US this week and the WHO will conduct further tests in Europe and Africa. The Public Health Agency of Canada said the vaccine could be an "important tool in curbing the outbreak".

The recent Ebola outbreak - the largest in history - has killed more than 4,500 people in West Africa. By December, up to 10,000 people a week could be being infected by the virus, the WHO says. There is no cure or proven vaccine, but a number of experimental approaches are being rushed through.

More at

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-29680393

 From Vox.com

Researchers have devoted lots of time to building a vaccine that could stop the disease altogether — and according to Daniel Bausch, a Tulane professor who researches Ebola and other infectious diseases, they're making really significant progress.

Bausch says that the obstacle to developing an Ebola vaccine isn't the science; researchers have actually made really great strides in figuring out how to fight back against Ebola and the Marburg virus, a similar disease.

"We now have a couple of different vaccine platforms that have shown to be protective with non-human primates," says Bausch, who has received awards for his work containing disease outbreaks in Uganda. He is currently stationed in Lima, Peru, as the director of the emerging infections department of Naval Medical Research Unit 6.

The problem, instead, is the economics of drug development. Pharmaceutical companies have little incentive to pour research and development dollars into curing a disease that surfaces sporadically in low-income, African countries. They aren't likely to see a large pay-off at the end — and could stand to lose money.

More at 

http://www.vox.com/2014/7/31/5952665/ebola-virus-vaccine-why-hasnt-it-happened

U.S. lawmakers blast government's Ebola response

(Reuters) - Congressional lawmakers criticized the government's response to Ebola in the United States on Thursday as some called, at a congressional hearing probing efforts to contain the virus, for a ban on travel from epidemic-stricken West Africa.

It´s like Zombies boarding airplanes (scene from WWZ)

Federal Aviation Administration chief Michael Huerta told reporters separately that the United States is assessing whether to issue a travel ban "on a day-to-day basis" but that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had determined that a ban would not address the challenges posed by Ebola.

The congressional hearing comes as concerns about the virus in the United States are accelerating. Several schools in Ohio and Texas were closed after concerns that a nurse with Ebola traveled on a plane with people with ties to the schools.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) said it would take over the care of the first Texas nurse diagnosed with Ebola, Nina Pham, who contracted the virus while treating a man from Liberia who later died.

Lawmakers focused questions and pointed criticism at the hearing on CDC chief Dr. Thomas Frieden.

"The administration did not act fast enough in responding in Texas," Democratic Representative Bruce Braley of Iowa told the hearing. "We need to look at all the options available to keep our families safe and move quickly and responsibly to make any necessary changes at airports."

More at http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/16/us-health-ebola-usa-idUSKCN0I517E20141016

Wanted: People with brains to fight Ebola in the USA

The US government´s shameful and shambolic performance continues. A second Dallas nurse has Ebola and to make matters even worse she flew with 134 other passengers while running a fever.

(Reuters) - A second Texas nurse who contracted Ebola flew on a commercial flight from Ohio to Texas with a slight temperature the day before she was diagnosed, health officials said on Wednesday, raising new concerns about U.S. efforts to control the disease.

Chances that other passengers on the plane were infected were very low, but the nurse should not have been traveling on the flight, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Thomas Frieden told reporters.

The woman, Amber Vinson, 29, was isolated immediately after reporting a fever on Tuesday, Texas Department of State Health Services officials said. She had treated Liberian patient Thomas Eric Duncan, who died of Ebola on Oct. 8 and was the first patient diagnosed with the virus in the United States.

Vinson, a worker at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, had taken a Frontier Airlines flight from Cleveland, Ohio to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Monday, officials said.

In Washington, President Barack Obama said the likelihood of a widespread Ebola outbreak was "very, very low." But he pledged a more aggressive response to U.S. Ebola cases from federal officials and would do everything possible to ensure no more healthcare workers are infected.

Obama met with Cabinet officials to discuss the government's response to the Ebola situation after canceling a planned political trip to New Jersey and Connecticut.

The CDC said earlier that it was asking all of the more than 130 passengers who were also on the Frontier flight to call a CDC hotline.

Government officials said Vinson was being transferred to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, which has successfully treated two people who contracted the disease in West Africa and were flown back to the United States.

More at 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/15/us-health-ebola-usa-idUSKCN0I40UE20141015

Yahoo news has details Reuters doesn´t include: 

""CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden said during a national news conference on Wednesday that Dallas nurse Amber Joy Vinson “was in a group of individuals known to have exposure to Ebola, she should not have traveled on a commercial airline.”

But according to multiple news reports, Vinson phoned the CDC before leaving Ohio to report she had an elevated fever of 99.5 degrees and would be flying back to Dallas. Vinson wasn't “told she couldn't fly,”  an unidentified CDC source told ABC News.

“Somebody dropped the ball,” CBS News quoted one health official as saying."""

Amber Vinson on her way to Atlanta´s Emory Hospital 

So they are going to set up a CDC hotline for the 130 passengers on that flight...That´s it? May Jesus, Mohammed and Moses have mercy on Obama, the stooges who are suposedly in charge of controlling the epidemic, and anybody who can actually get on TV and curse them for their incompetence and does nothing about it. 

Maybe we need to mail them one million  "Twelve Monkeys" DVD´s so they get the idea? 

Trend leads to over half a million deaths in 90 weeks

I took the current statistics and fed them into Excel, did a trendline and this is what I got:

Ebola cases projected 90 weeks from now

I plan to take the actuals and plot them against this simple trendline to see if there´s a change due to real government action. 

C.D.C. Reviewing Procedures After New Case of Ebola in Dallas

The NY Times has a good article discussing mistakes made in Dallas:

DALLAS — The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that the agency was rethinking how health officials perform infection control at hospitals as they monitored an expanded group of at least 50 hospital workers who may have had contact with a Liberian man who died last week of Ebola.

“It does change substantially how we approach it,” Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the C.D.C., said. “We have to rethink the way we address Ebola infection control. Even a single infection is unacceptable.”

There could be additional cases, particularly among the health care workers who provided care,” for Mr. Duncan, 42, who arrived in America last month, Dr. Frieden said.

On Monday, public health officials briefed President Obama on the latest in the Ebola situation, aides said. Mr. Obama met with Sylvia Burwell, the secretary of health and human services; Susan Rice, his national security adviser; Lisa Monaco, a top White House security adviser; and Dr. Frieden.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/14/us/dallas-nurse-ebola-patient.html?_r=0

Read this and go ballistic

"While I agree that we have the knowledge, experience, and resources to be able to control Ebola, most of the experts are academicians or practice in relatively well-heeled ivory towers. I have practiced Infectious Diseases and Infection Control for 30+ years, primarily in a number of community hospitals, and offer a different perspective here, based on these experiences."

This is from the Scientific American blogs  post by Judy Stone, MD. is called:

Ebola in the U.S.—Politics and Public Health Don’t Mix

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/molecules-to-medicine/2014/10/06/ebola-in-the-u-s-politics-and-public-health-dont-mix/

Who is failing to defend the USA?

Summary:  Response to the Ebola epidemic has been woefully weak. This is a new type of menace which the government, in spite of all the supposed emphasis on Homeland Defense and Health Care, hasn´t prepared for properly. The lack of preparation is shown by the scrambling we see to fix gaps identified by the Dallas Ebola case (which has already led to a second infection in Dallas).  The weak Government preparation and response was caused by the  “nobody is in charge” and “rookies control the top post” syndromes. 

Neither Homeland Security, nor Health and Human Services seem to be fully in charge, and their heads are new on the job. Homeland Defense´s Jeh Johnson, a lawyer,took over the job in December 2013.  Health and Human Services´ Sylvia Burwell, a management type took over the job in June 2014.  They weren´t chosen because they were top notch at stopping an epidemic.  

The inadequate responses to the Ebola threat by both Federal, State, and local authorities in the USA are evident. The fact that a man landed in the USA after being in contact with an Ebola patient who died a few hours later, got sick with fever, went to a hospital in Dallas, was sent home with an aspirin…

If the reader isn´t aware of the lousy response, the mistakes piled on mistakes and the casual attitude taken by Dallas authorities, or the panic which ensued when the Frisco policeman was thought to have Ebola, the information  is detailed in preceding blog posts.

Brazil Ebola case: FALSE ALARM, traveler from Guinea OK

Update: This is now considered a false alarm.

Brazil is treating its first suspected case of the Ebola virus, the country’s Health Ministry announced Thursday night.

A 47-year-old man arrived in Brazil on Sept. 19 from Guinea and reported he had a fever on Oct. 8, within the 21-day Ebola incubation limit. He has no other symptoms, like bleeding or vomiting, but has been put in isolation and flown to the National Institute for Infectious Diseases in Rio de Janeiro per the country’s security protocol.

Meanwhile Argentina has declared an epidemic alert because the traveler may have been in Argentina. Now, after the fact, they decided to strengthen their border checkpoints.

Madrid Ebola status report

The following are the latest news from Madrid:1.  the Ebola patient had a serious crisis but is improving, remains in serious condition; 2. Four floors at the Carlos III hospital have been evacuated and are being prepared to handle Ebola internees (people who came in contact with the sick woman are being rounded up). 3. Excalibur, her dog, was executed, this led to protests by animal rights lovers which left a few wounded.  4. All health care workers who treat Ebola patients will be considered to be at risk and kept under close watch. 5. Additional measures are being taken to remedy what turned out to be a very lax and inadequate protocol (I get the impression the one in Dallas Texas was also lousy as was the border security which allows a visitor from Liberia to drop in and later walk around when he was contagious with Ebola).

Frisco Texas man may (not?) have Ebola

A Texas Deputy from Frisco, Texas,  who was ordered to enter Patient Zero´s apartment   in spite of his objections, was admitted to hospital over Ebola concerns. As of right now he´s being tested, but the case isn´t confirmed.

Dallas Area map, Frisco is shown in 

red letters to the North of the city. 

 From USA today: 

The patient was identified as Sgt. Michael Monning, a deputy who accompanied Dallas County health officials Zachary Thompson and Christopher Perkins into the apartment where Thomas Eric Duncan stayed in Dallas.

The deputy was ordered to go inside the unit with officials to get a quarantine order signed. No one who went inside the unit that day wore protective gear, and Monning had objected strenuously to that decision.

The Frisco CareNow is located on Main Street in this suburb about 20 miles north of Dallas. Patients were being held inside the clinic as crews at the scene examined staff and others inside the building.

Police and fire units surrounded the facility, initially taping off a gray sport-utility vehicle Monning owns.

"We are being very cautious and are in contact with the health department to ensure we follow proper protocol," said Vicki Johns of CareNow. "Our concern is for the safety and well being of everyone in our clinic."

Monnig said he was feeling sick to his stomach before his visit to the clinic, according to Christopher Dyer of the Dallas County Sheriff's Association.

Monnig's son, London Monnig, said his father did not mean to cause a panic Wednesday. London Monnig said his father did not have a fever when he went to the clinic. He said his father was simply not feeling well Wednesday morning.

Ebola patient in Dallas hospital dies. Patient Zero, Thomas Duncan,  died earlier Wednesday at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital where he had been hospitalized with Ebola since Sept. 28. He arrived Sept. 20 in the United States from Monrovia, Liberia.

Later: Frisco Ebola suspect taken to Presbyterian Hospital Dallas on Wednesday afternoon.

Christopher Dyer, president of the Dallas County Sheriff's Association informed the public:   "I'm being told that he's not exhibiting classic signs of the Ebola virus. It's just a matter that he doesn't feel well, and because he had contact with Mr. Duncan's apartment, they're taking every precaution."

That view was echoed by Frisco Fire Department Chief Mark Piland. "This patient was not experiencing all of those [Ebola] symptoms, just a few," he said. "Based upon screening criteria from the CDC, the treatment tends to be a little bit more conservative at first."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/08/possible-ebola-patient-texas/16926553/

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/health/2014/10/08/patient-frisco-ebola-suspect/16922477/

Excalibur must die

MADRID - Madrid's regional government says it's going to kill the pet dog ("Excalibur") of a Spanish woman who became infected with Ebola. Authorities said in a statement Tuesday that available scientific knowledge indicates there's a risk the dog could transmit the deadly virus to humans.

The Spanish nursing assistant became the first case of Ebola being transmitted outside of West Africa after she cared for a Spanish priest in Madrid who died of Ebola last month. She and her husband are now in quarantine.

The government said the dog, named Excalibur, would be euthanized in a way to avoid suffering and using bio-security measures that it did not specify. Its body will later be incinerated.

In other news, three more people were under quarantine Tuesday for possible Ebola at a Madrid hospital after a Spanish nursing assistant became infected there, authorities said. More than 50 others were being monitored as experts pressed to figure out why Spain's anti-infection practices failed.

Health authorities were investigating how the nursing assistant, part of a special team that cared for a Spanish priest who died of Ebola last month, became infected. She was the first case of Ebola being transmitted outside of West Africa, where a months-long outbreak has killed at least 3,500 people and sparked social unrest.

Why Spanish nurse is such a troubling Ebola case...

The above was taken from 

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/spain-to-kill-dog-of-madrid-woman-who-contracted-ebola/

Nurse who treated Ebola victim in Madrid tests positive

Reuters report: Spanish nurse who treated Ebola victim in Madrid tests positive for disease in initial tests, authorities awaiting final results.  As far as I can establish the woman had been treating Manuel Garcia Viejo, the second Spanish priest flown to Madrid for treatment, who died on September 25, 2014. She was at the Carlos III hospital in Madrid (the hospital is about 5 Km North of Retiro, due West of Barajas Airport).

Carlos III Hospital, Madrid, where the priest

 was being treated and where the nurse contracted 

Ebola sometime on or before September 25, 2014. 

For your reference, the first report (from the Telegraph, UK) on a priest being flown into Spain from Africa for Ebola treatment: 

Miguel Pajares, the first priest, 

treated unsuccessfully in August 

August 7, 2014, first priest arrives: 

The first European victim of the West African Ebola outbreak arrived in Spain on Thursday morning and was rushed to a Madrid hospital, officials said, as hopes rose that a US experimental vaccine could soon be available for wider treatment.

Miguel Pajares, 75, who was said to be in a stable condition, was helping to treat Ebola patients in the Liberian capital Monrovia when he tested positive for the deadly virus earlier this week.

He was swiftly flown to Spain in a medically equipped Airbus 310 along with a colleague, Juliana Bohi, a nun from Equatorial Guinea with Spanish nationality who is to be retested for the disease after a negative result in Liberia.

August 14, first priest dies: 

A Spanish priest died of the Ebola virus in a Madrid hospital Tuesday morning, just days after he had been evacuated by air from Liberia for treatment with an experimental drug, health officials said.

Rev. Miguel Pajares, a 75-year-old missionary, was being treated in a special isolation unit of Madrid's Carlos III Hospital, where he had arrived Thursday after being flown out of Liberia in a Spanish Air Force medical jet. On Saturday, Spain's Ministry of Health Services announced that it had approved, on an exceptional basis, an import permit for ZMapp, an experimental Ebola drug that has also been given to two infected Americans. The ministry said the drug had been delivered immediately to the hospital where Father Pajares was undergoing treatment.

September 22, Second Priest Arrives

The second case was the one the sick nurse treated, his name was Manuel Garcia Viejo, who arrived in Madrid on September 22. 

September 25, Second Priest Dies 

A Spanish priest who was diagnosed with the Ebola virus while working in Sierra Leone has died at a Madrid hospital, becoming the second Spanish missionary to fall victim to the deadly virus.

Manuel Garcia Viejo in Sierra Leone. Dr. Garcia 

was the second priest brought to Spain.  The nurse 

who  belonged to his treatment team contacted Ebola

 sometime around September 25. 

The Carlos III hospital said in a statement that Manuel Garcia Viejo, a 69-year-old medical director of the San Juan de Dios Hospital in the city of Lunsar in Sierra Leone, died Thursday. It provided no further information.

Garcia Viejo had arrived in the Spanish capital on a medically-equipped military plane on Monday.

October 10, Nurse reported with Ebola contracted from second priest 

This confirms the incubation period is about 15 days. 

References 

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/spanish-priest-ebola-dies-madrid-25758065

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/11018918/First-European-Ebola-patient-admitted-to-Madrid-hospital.html

http://online.wsj.com/articles/missionary-doctor-infected-with-ebola-dies-in-madrid-1407835487

United Nations warns of 'nightmare scenario' as virus spreads to the US

Some have speculated about a nightmare scenario where the Ebola virus mutates and becomes airborne like the flu. However, experts say this is extremely improbable, but warn the more likely nightmare would be for Ebola to become endemic in Africa, with frequent recurring incidents which lead to the spread of contamination into other continents. 

More uncontrolled incidents in  third world countries could lead to millions of deaths. This means the reaction to the ongoing epidemic in West Africa has to be improved. Tougher measures must be taken urgently.  The refusal by some countries to send help should be condemned by all. 

Real corpses in body bags

The Telegraph reports:

“There is a ‘nightmare’ chance that the Ebola virus could become airborne if the epidemic is not brought under control fast enough, the chief of the UN’s Ebola mission has warned.

Anthony Banbury, the Secretary General’s Special Representative, said that aid workers are racing against time to bring the epidemic under control, in case the Ebola virus mutates and becomes even harder to deal with.

“The longer it moves around in human hosts in the virulent melting pot that is West Africa, the more chances increase that it could mutate,” he told the Telegraph. “It is a nightmare scenario [that it could become airborne], and unlikely, but it can’t be ruled out.”

He admitted that the international community had been “a bit late” to respond to the epidemic, but that it was “not too late” and that aid workers needed to “hit [Ebola] hard” to rein in the deadly disease.

The number of people infected with Ebola is doubling every 20 to 30 days, and the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention has forecast that there could be as many as 1.4m cases of Ebola by January, in the worst case scenario.

Professor David Heymann CBE, chairman of Public Health England and professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said no virus transmitted by bodily fluids - as Ebola is - had ever mutated to airborne transmission.

"There has never been a virus transmitted in this manner that converts to a respiratory virus, and there is no evidence that this has ever occurred in the epidemiology," he said at a discussion programme on the virus in London on Wednesday night. He mentioned HIV and Hepatitis B as example of viruses transmitted by bodily fluids that had "never converted to a respiratory virus".

Dr Jeremy Farrar, Director of the Wellcome Trust, added that a sense of proportion should be kept when discussing Ebola.

“The chances of Ebola becoming airborne are extremely small. I am not aware of any viral infection changing its mode of transmission. It’s important we retain a sense of proportion and not exaggerate the risks for it changing and becoming airborne," he told the Telegraph. "There is already enough fear and panic surrounding this epidemic.

"Of more concern is that the virus could become endemic in Western Africa, so unlike big outbreaks like this we could have smaller numbers of cases but circulating continuously. This is where we need to focus our efforts and attention – on trying to stop this outbreak before it establishes itself in Western African countries.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/ebola/11135883/Ebola-could-become-airborne-United-Nations-warns-of-nightmare-scenario-as-virus-spreads-to-the-US.html

Dallas Ebola case:....Update: Guy is dead.

The CBC reports the Dallas Ebola case is in critical condition. Ebola treatment involves “the following basic interventions, to improve the chances of survival: 1. providing intravenous fluids (IV) and balancing electrolytes (body salts); 2. maintaining oxygen status and blood pressure; and 3. treating other infections if they occur. Other than that there´s little to be done for the patient. 

Medical personnel demonstrating

 Ebola patient transfer and care

Local government authorities have finally reacted to the threat and corrected their woeful performance. Apartment contents were removed by a decontamination crew on October 3rd, and taken for disposal. Armed guards were deployed to make sure those who may have Ebola are kept in strict quarantine. Question: Why the hell did it take them several days to react? Where was that vaunted Homeland Security Department?  

Hazardous waste disposal crew at the Dallas apartment where

 Thomas was sick with Ebola for several days  (Otero, AP) 

The CDC article follows: 

"The lone U.S. Ebola patient is in critical condition, the Dallas hospital that has been treating him reported Saturday.

Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas didn't provide any further details about Thomas Eric Duncan's condition and a hospital spokeswoman, Candace White, didn't immediately respond to emails and phone calls. The hospital previously said Duncan was being kept in isolation and that his condition was serious but stable.

Health officials said Saturday that they are monitoring about 50 people for signs of the deadly disease who may have had contact with Duncan, including nine who are believed to be at a higher risk. Thus far none have shown symptoms. Among those being monitored are people who rode in the ambulance that transported Duncan back to the hospital before his diagnosis, said Dr. Tom Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The items removed by a decontamination crew from the Dallas apartment where Duncan was staying have been hauled away for disposal.

Dallas city spokeswoman Sana Syed said that about 30 barrels were filled Friday with items including bed sheets, towels and three mattresses used by Duncan before he was hospitalized. They were hauled away Friday night."

This means the items were removed on October 3rd at night. Thomas Duncan went into isolation on September 29th. 

Later (Otober 8, 1850 Hours):  The first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States died on Wednesday, underscoring questions about the quality of care he received, and the government ordered five airports to start screening passengers from West Africa for fever.

Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan died in an isolation ward of a Dallas hospital, 11 days after being admitted on Sept. 28.

The case has stirred attention and concern that someone with Ebola had been able to fly into the United States from Liberia, raising the specter more passengers could arrive and spread the disease outside of West Africa, where nearly 4,000 people have died in three impoverished countries.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/chi-dallas-ebola-patient-dead-20141008-story.html#page=1

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/dallas-ebola-case-thomas-eric-duncan-now-in-critical-condition-1.2787821

Much More Vigorous Government Response to Ebola Is Needed

Government preparation for an epidemic has been woefully inadequate. It seems both Bush and Obama have spent enormous resources chasing a few Arabs in the Middle East and left the door wide open for a health menace like this. Obama is more responsible, he knew Ebola was already striking in Africa and did nothing. 

President Obama gives speech at the UN 

on September 24, as Ebola was striking in Dallas

As the virus struck in Dallas¹ he was in NY talking shit about waging wars, the Middle East conflict, Russia versus Ukraine, and a few token comments about global warming. This reminds me of Bush reading “My Pet Goat” in Tampa at the time the planes struck the World Trade Center. Is the US is condemned to elect presidents who are very educated idiots?

NY Times Opinion by Alexander Garza follows:

“Alexander Garza, associate dean of public health practice and associate professor of epidemiology and emergency medicine at St. Louis University College of Public Health and Social Justice, was assistant secretary and chief medical officer of the Department of Homeland Security from 2009 to 2013.

Systems to reduce the risk of infectious disease being imported into the United States are already in place. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has trained workers in the countries where Ebola is endemic to screen for the virus and take temperatures of passengers before they can get on an airplane. Customs and Border Patrol agents have been instructed on the signs and symptoms so they can report any arriving passengers who may be infected to the C.D.C. quarantine officer.

But the response to Ebola needs to be more intensive.

Because of disease’s incubation period, an infected person may not be symptomatic until they get on a plane or even after they get off the plane, so more diligence is needed.

And this is no ordinary communicable disease. It is the ISIS of biological agents. The response should mirror antiterrorism efforts.

More screening workers need to be put in airports outside of West Africa. At U.S. airports, people who have come from West Africa should be more actively screened for symptoms and questioned more closely about their possible contact with Ebola. (My opinion: People traveling  from countries with the Ebola epidemic (Liberia, Senegal, etc) shouldn´t even be allowed to get on the plane).

Flight manifests should be scrubbed for travelers coming from infected areas. This would allow a concentrated secondary screening by trained quarantine officers regardless of whether a passenger exhibited signs and symptoms of Ebola. Questions should include questions about any close contact with a person infected with Ebola and what area of the country they lived in or came from, since the disease is much more prevalent in some areas than others.

Assuming that the patient in Dallas would have answered this question truthfully, he would have been quarantined. Persons denying contact would then be again evaluated for any signs of infection such as a fever and finally customs and border officers could collect contact information for their stay in the United States, including where they were eventually going to stay. This could help local public health officials know where these travelers are in the community and give a heightened sense of awareness.

This could likely require a doubling of the Global Migration and Quarantine office’s budget until this disease is under control. And help from other agencies would also be needed.

The military can easily convert artillerymen into infantry if they’re needed to fit the fight. It’s more challenging for an agency like the C.D.C. to rally a surge of health combatants. But it needs to be done to combat the disease as a whole government effort.”

Reference: http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/10/02/how-to-stop-the-spread-of-ebola/much-more-vigorous-government-response-to-ebola-is-needed

¹ The NY Times reports the following: “Mr. Duncan started showing symptoms on Sept. 24 and sought medical care at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital on Sept. 25 but was sent home. His condition worsened, and he was taken back to the hospital by ambulance on Sept. 28. Officials confirmed on Sept. 30 that his blood tested positive for Ebola. On Oct. 3, health officials in Texas said they had identified 10 people who are most at risk of contracting Ebola after coming into contact with Mr. Duncan, including the four people who were living in the apartment he was staying in and three medical workers who rode to the hospital with him.”

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/01/us/retracing-the-steps-of-the-dallas-ebola-patient.html?_r=0

IMF calls for 'real' action to counter Ebola outbreak, warns of 'significant risks' to global economy

From ABC.net.au we hear the IMF is afraid the Ebola epidemic may ruin the world economy. Meanwhile in a different item I read the Israeli defense minister refused to send help to Africa.  

Speaking after the first Ebola case emerged in Texas, managing director Christine Lagarde called for "real" action to counter the Ebola crisis and said that talk alone was not enough.

"If it is not contained, if all the players that talk about it don't actually do something about it to try to stop it, contain it and help those three countries deal with it, it might develop into something that would be a very serious concern and could cause significant risks," Ms Lagarde told students at Georgetown University in Washington.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-03/imf-warn-ebola-outbreak-is-a-severe-risk-for-econonmy/5788034

From the tikum olam website

http://www.richardsilverstein.com/2014/10/03/israeli-defense-minister-refuses-u-s-request-for-african-humanitarian-aid-in-ebola-fight/

Israeli Defense Minister Refuses U.S. Request for Field Hospital to Aid Ebola Fight

by RICHARD SILVERSTEIN on OCTOBER 3, 2014 

Yaalon said it would risk infecting Israeli medical teams and the army troops that would secure them, according to Ynet. Israel’s assistance was sought in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Key Questions About the Epidemic

Given the US government federal, state, and local authorities utter incompetence in  dealing with the Dallas case, we have to prepare to deal with the Ebola epidemic using our own wits. So here´s an article which explains the basics: 

What Is the Ebola Virus's Survival Rate?

And Other Key Questions About the EpidemicThe first case of Ebola has been diagnosed in the United States.

BY SOPHIE NOVACK, SAM BAKER AND DUSTIN VOLZ

1. What is the Ebola virus's survival rate?

The average Ebola survival rate is about 50 percent, according to the World Health Organization, but it varies greatly, in part because of the different medical resources available to treat different patients.

In past outbreaks, all of which have been in Africa, survival rates ranged from 25 percent to 90 percent.

The actual survival rate in the current outbreak in West Africa could be far lower, as many cases have gone unreported. American Ebola survivor Kent Brantly said his clinic in Liberia had only one survivor in a month and a half of treating patients.

Among patients treated in the U.S., the survival rate is 100 percent so far. Previously, four patients already diagnosed with Ebola had been taken to the U.S. for emergency care. Two were treated and released from Emory University Hospital, one was treated and released from Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, and a fourth is currently in treatment at Emory. A fifth American who was exposed to the disease in Sierra Leone was brought to the National Institutes of Health this week for monitoring and participation in a research study.

2. Is there a cure for Ebola?

No. The first people treated for Ebola inside the U.S. lived, but no one knows exactly why. A few drugs are being developed and have been used, but we don't know whether they worked or simpler interventions did the job on their own. There's also no vaccine, though one is being tested by the National Institutes of Health. Officials didn't say whether the U.S. patient would receive an experimental medicine.

3. What is the incubation period for Ebola?

The incubation period for Ebola can span anywhere from two to 21 days. Symptoms most often begin to appear eight to 10 days after exposure.

4. How does Ebola spread?

Ebola is not airborne. It is spread through bodily fluids, and patients are contagious only while they're displaying symptoms.

5. What are the disease's symptoms?

The early signs of Ebola can be similar to flu-like symptoms, including: fever, severe headaches, general weakness, vomiting, diarrhea, and unexplained bruising or bleeding. In its later stages, according to the NIH, the disease causes a severe rash; bleeding from the eyes, nose, mouth, and rectum; and death.

Read more at the National Journal:

http://www.nationaljournal.com/health-care/what-is-the-ebola-virus-survival-rate-and-other-key-questions-about-the-epidemic-20140930

Thomas Duncan (the guy with Ebola) Had Contact with Victim in Liberia

The press reports Thomas Duncan had contact with an Ebola patient in Liberia before he flew to Dallas. He knew the person was sick, lied to airport authorities to get on the plane.

From the Wall Stree Journal:

MONROVIA, Liberia—Before the first man diagnosed in the U.S. with Ebola landed in Texas, he escorted a woman to a treatment ward in Liberia's capital where she was turned away and died of the virus within hours, even as their neighbors blocked local health workers from surveying for the disease.

Liberian Shanty (from mirro.unhabita.org)

The journey of Thomas Eric Duncan from a neighborhood of tin-roof houses in a West African capital to an isolation ward of a Dallas hospital is a story of how misunderstanding, fear and suspicion helped spread the disease across five African countries and now, to the shores of the U.S.

On Sept. 16, several health workers arrived in Mr. Duncan's neighborhood in Monrovia to investigate a report that a pregnant 18-year-old woman, recently sent home from a nearby clinic, had shown Ebola symptoms that included a fever, vomiting, diarrhea and bleeding, said Prince Toe and other members of the Ebola Response Team in the capital's 72nd community.

But when the team arrived in the neighborhood, residents insisted the pregnant teenager had been in a car accident, said Mr. Toe, the unit's supervisor. When the neighbors grew rowdy at being pressed for information, the team turned back, he said.

Soon after returning later that day to the one-room home he rented from the teenager's mother, Mr. Duncan accompanied the girl, known as Ms. Williams, in a taxi to an Ebola ward. When they were told the ward was full, the two went home, said Irene Seyou, Mr. Duncan's next-door neighbor.

When they came back to the neighborhood, Mr. Duncan lifted Ms. Williams by her legs from the taxi, Ms. Seyou said. Hours later, Ms. Williams died. Blood trickled from both sides of her mouth as one of her neighbors, Mark Kputo, 23, carried away her body, protected only by a pair of gloves. "I and her were best of friends," he said.

The next day, the health workers, known as contact tracers, returned to the 72nd community, now certain they were dealing with another Ebola case. But again, they were greeted with suspicion and hostility—this time from neighbors as they gathered to pay their respects to Ms. Williams's family. The crowd insisted she had died of low blood pressure, Mr. Toe said.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/man-in-dallas-diagnosed-with-ebola-had-contact-with-victim-in-liberia-1412266878