tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82972829247091485192024-03-13T11:51:51.297-07:00What´s up with EbolaNews about the Ebola Epidemic of 2014Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8297282924709148519.post-61172531501235868932015-01-09T04:58:00.004-08:002018-04-23T08:48:17.087-07:00Ebola: Mapping the outbreak<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">The Ebola
outbreak in West Africa was first reported in March 2014, and has rapidly
become the deadliest occurrence of the disease since its discovery in 1976. </span>In fact,
the current epidemic sweeping across the region has now killed more than all
other known Ebola outbreaks combined.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-npmvKwI2-Pg/VK_QgptZYMI/AAAAAAAACo8/TfQqKBBcDPI/s1600/Photo%2Bfrom%2BBBC%2Bshowing%2BEbola%2Bcorpse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-npmvKwI2-Pg/VK_QgptZYMI/AAAAAAAACo8/TfQqKBBcDPI/s1600/Photo%2Bfrom%2BBBC%2Bshowing%2BEbola%2Bcorpse.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Up to 8
January, 8,274 people had been reported as having died from the disease in six
countries; Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, the US and Mali.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The total
number of reported cases is almost 21,000.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Read more
at the following BBC site I like<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-28755033" target="_blank">BBC: Mapping the Ebola Outbreak</a></span></div>
Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8297282924709148519.post-85838466633073523282014-11-08T03:47:00.001-08:002014-11-08T03:47:33.990-08:00Ebola cases down to 1000 new cases per weekFrom the BBC´s <span style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"> James Gallagher (</span><span style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">Health editor, BBC News website): </span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">"We may be entering a new phase of
the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">There is growing - but certainly
guarded - talk within the World Health Organization that the overall number of
new cases is levelling off.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Officials have told me they now
expect the figure to stick at around 1,000 fresh cases each week. It is in
sharp contrast to the early phase of the outbreak when the number was doubling
every three to four weeks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g2ea8CoflC0/VF4B1z8-BnI/AAAAAAAACgk/gCTvhlPgka4/s1600/0%2BBBC%2Bmap%2Bof%2BEbola%2Bin%2Bearly%2BNovember%2B2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g2ea8CoflC0/VF4B1z8-BnI/AAAAAAAACgk/gCTvhlPgka4/s1600/0%2BBBC%2Bmap%2Bof%2BEbola%2Bin%2Bearly%2BNovember%2B2014.jpg" height="340" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><i>BBC map of the Ebola epidemic distribution in West</i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Back in September, a major report by
a team at the WHO and Imperial College London was estimating 20,000 cases by
today (November 2). Instead the number of confirmed, probable and suspected
cases stands at 13,567.</span>Those early predictions, <u>based on
mathematical modelling</u>, were hugely important for making the world pay
attention to the severity of the outbreak."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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This hints at an unscientific use of mathematical modeling to enfasize the severity of the outbreak. </div>
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References </div>
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<span style="line-height: 24px;">http://www.bbc.com/news/health-29847058</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 24px;">http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-28755033</span></div>
Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8297282924709148519.post-34138003255584224492014-10-31T07:47:00.001-07:002014-10-31T07:47:21.067-07:00Meet Miss Ebola, Kaci Hickox <div style="text-align: justify;">
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: </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V73IRu53EqQ/VFOfDPdOHqI/AAAAAAAACgU/KO0A28zTv6k/s1600/0%2BMiss%2BEBola%2BKati%2BHickox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V73IRu53EqQ/VFOfDPdOHqI/AAAAAAAACgU/KO0A28zTv6k/s1600/0%2BMiss%2BEBola%2BKati%2BHickox.jpg" height="244" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Miss Ebola riding her bike in defiance of a state ordered quarantine</i></div>
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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. </div>
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This whole mess is now filling with political bullshit, just like global warming, the Middle East, ISIS, and Ukraine. </div>
Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8297282924709148519.post-87009464030652560302014-10-26T12:42:00.000-07:002014-10-26T12:42:13.847-07:00Dr Comatose goes to AfricaTo 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.<br />
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And now, without further comments, Dr Comatose goes to Africa:<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P1I8hmLQIvY/VE1OUYji77I/AAAAAAAACdk/PN0vFmilFkE/s1600/comatose%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P1I8hmLQIvY/VE1OUYji77I/AAAAAAAACdk/PN0vFmilFkE/s1600/comatose%2B1.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br />Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8297282924709148519.post-19444965135252563472014-10-25T14:46:00.000-07:002014-10-25T14:46:23.606-07:00Two U.S. states to quarantine health workers returning from Ebola zonesFrom Reuters we read a couple of governors grew brains. Maybe brain growth will be contagious and infect president Obama's?<br />
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Anyhow, here's the deal:<br />
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"<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">(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.</span><br />
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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"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."</div>
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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.</div>
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NY Post editors sighed with relief as the ny and nj governors grew brains.</div>
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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.</div>
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As concerns over the possible spread of Ebola eased, U.S. stocks closed out their best week since January 2013. [.N] </div>
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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.</div>
<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/24/us-health-ebola-newyork-idUSKCN0IC2CU20141024" target="_blank">http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/24/us-health-ebola-newyork-idUSKCN0IC2CU20141024</a><br />
<br />Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8297282924709148519.post-24959210896671056362014-10-22T05:18:00.002-07:002014-10-22T05:18:55.268-07:00Ebola Vaccine News<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><i>Ebola vaccine development (photo NBC News) </i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b>From NBC News</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">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.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“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.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">More at </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/no-market-scientists-struggle-make-ebola-vaccines-treatments-n167871">http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/no-market-scientists-struggle-make-ebola-vaccines-treatments-n167871</a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b>From the Guardian </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“WHO aims for Ebola serum in weeks
and vaccine tests in Africa by January<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">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.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">More at <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/22/ebola-serum-in-weeks-and-west-africa-vaccine-tests-by-january-says-who">http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/22/ebola-serum-in-weeks-and-west-africa-vaccine-tests-by-january-says-who</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b>From the BBC </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">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".<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">More at <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/health-29680393">http://www.bbc.com/news/health-29680393</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span>From Vox.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">"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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">More at </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.vox.com/2014/7/31/5952665/ebola-virus-vaccine-why-hasnt-it-happened">http://www.vox.com/2014/7/31/5952665/ebola-virus-vaccine-why-hasnt-it-happened</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8297282924709148519.post-89659305422170425682014-10-17T11:18:00.001-07:002014-10-17T11:18:02.619-07:00U.S. lawmakers blast government's Ebola response<div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">
(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.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CIG7fIxVrXY/VEFc31dXlDI/AAAAAAAACag/tgTkgos8wow/s1600/World%2BWar%2BZ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CIG7fIxVrXY/VEFc31dXlDI/AAAAAAAACag/tgTkgos8wow/s1600/World%2BWar%2BZ.jpg" height="238" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;">
<i>It´s like Zombies boarding airplanes </i><i style="font-size: 15px;">(scene from WWZ)</i></div>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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Lawmakers focused questions and pointed criticism at the hearing on CDC chief Dr. Thomas Frieden.</div>
<span class="focusParagraph" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans;"></span><span id="midArticle_1" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans;"></span><span id="midArticle_2" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans;"></span><span id="midArticle_3" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans;"></span><span id="midArticle_4" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans;"></span><span id="midArticle_5" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans;"></span><br />
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"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."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">
More at <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/16/us-health-ebola-usa-idUSKCN0I517E20141016">http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/16/us-health-ebola-usa-idUSKCN0I517E20141016</a></div>
Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8297282924709148519.post-17892273401567896742014-10-16T01:24:00.003-07:002014-10-16T01:24:52.593-07:00Wanted: People with brains to fight Ebola in the USA<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">(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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AKw7eUqZ2BU/VD9_vOTGVLI/AAAAAAAACYw/E47YzSnH07o/s1600/New%2BTexas%2BNurse%2Bflew%2Bwith%2Bsymptoms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AKw7eUqZ2BU/VD9_vOTGVLI/AAAAAAAACYw/E47YzSnH07o/s1600/New%2BTexas%2BNurse%2Bflew%2Bwith%2Bsymptoms.jpg" height="320" width="315" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">More at </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/15/us-health-ebola-usa-idUSKCN0I40UE20141015</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b>Yahoo news has details Reuters doesn´t include: </b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: #444444;"><i>""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.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: #444444;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: #444444;"><i>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.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: #444444;"><i>“Somebody dropped the ball,” CBS
News quoted one health official as saying."""<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: #444444;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bFejgQXbPqc/VD-AiN-QqTI/AAAAAAAACY4/1BIKEGZHxCk/s1600/Amber%2Bon%2Bher%2Bway%2Bto%2BAtlanta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bFejgQXbPqc/VD-AiN-QqTI/AAAAAAAACY4/1BIKEGZHxCk/s1600/Amber%2Bon%2Bher%2Bway%2Bto%2BAtlanta.jpg" height="235" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: #444444;"><i>Amber Vinson on her way to Atlanta´s Emory Hospital </i></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
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. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
Maybe we need to mail them one million "Twelve Monkeys" DVD´s so they get the idea? </div>
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<br /></div>
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Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8297282924709148519.post-65979797345340256432014-10-14T12:04:00.003-07:002014-10-14T12:04:36.921-07:00Trend leads to over half a million deaths in 90 weeksI took the current statistics and fed them into Excel, did a trendline and this is what I got:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RjCLIHi1kR4/VD1zT9TQpXI/AAAAAAAACWk/8ZAoMAeB0lI/s1600/Ebola%2BCases%2Band%2BDeaths.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RjCLIHi1kR4/VD1zT9TQpXI/AAAAAAAACWk/8ZAoMAeB0lI/s1600/Ebola%2BCases%2Band%2BDeaths.jpg" height="288" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Ebola cases projected 90 weeks from now</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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. </div>
Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8297282924709148519.post-62477796385257653092014-10-13T14:46:00.002-07:002014-10-13T14:46:53.004-07:00C.D.C. Reviewing Procedures After New Case of Ebola in DallasThe NY Times has a good article discussing mistakes made in Dallas:<br />
<br />
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="318" data-total-count="318" id="story-continues-1" itemprop="articleBody" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 120px; max-width: 540px; width: 495px;">
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.</div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;"><b>“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.”</b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="173" data-total-count="1819" itemprop="articleBody" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 120px; max-width: 540px; width: 495px;">
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.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="296" data-total-count="2115" itemprop="articleBody" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 120px; max-width: 540px; width: 495px;">
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.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="296" data-total-count="2115" itemprop="articleBody" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 120px; max-width: 540px; width: 495px;">
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/14/us/dallas-nurse-ebola-patient.html?_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/14/us/dallas-nurse-ebola-patient.html?_r=0</a></div>
</div>
Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8297282924709148519.post-7732734628583893792014-10-12T08:44:00.003-07:002014-10-12T08:44:33.932-07:00Read this and go ballistic "<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, ApresTT, Prelude, Verdana, san-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">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."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, ApresTT, Prelude, Verdana, san-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4dxwUmHhRqU/VDqhtvy2M5I/AAAAAAAACUQ/7KmqRGc0myY/s1600/Power-washing-sidewalk-WFAA-Dallas-Screen-Shot-2014-10-05-at-9.04.02-PM%2B(1).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4dxwUmHhRqU/VDqhtvy2M5I/AAAAAAAACUQ/7KmqRGc0myY/s1600/Power-washing-sidewalk-WFAA-Dallas-Screen-Shot-2014-10-05-at-9.04.02-PM%2B(1).png" height="320" width="306" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
This is from the Scientific American blogs post by Judy Stone, MD. is called:<br />
<h1 class="postTitle" id="postTitle2" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: Brunel-for-Titles, georgia, times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></h1>
<h1 class="postTitle" id="postTitle2" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: Brunel-for-Titles, georgia, times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ebola in the U.S.—Politics and Public Health Don’t Mix</h1>
<br />
<a href="http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/molecules-to-medicine/2014/10/06/ebola-in-the-u-s-politics-and-public-health-dont-mix/">http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/molecules-to-medicine/2014/10/06/ebola-in-the-u-s-politics-and-public-health-dont-mix/</a>Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8297282924709148519.post-33870956305371193562014-10-12T05:30:00.000-07:002014-10-12T05:31:54.287-07:00Who is failing to defend the USA? <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">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.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I´m not stating an isolated opinion. For example, here´s a quote from the Chicago Tribune:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><i>Chicago Tribune Quote (shown with cleaning </i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><i>crew at Thoma´s apartment in Dallas, CNN) </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The Tribune continues:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“Checks with health departments in six states and cities that have large West African communities - Philadelphia, Boston, New York City, Minnesota, New Jersey, Maryland and Rhode Island - show that they are scrambling to adapt those generic plans to Ebola.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">If they are not able to stay one step ahead of any cases, then lapses that characterized Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan's treatment in Dallas could recur.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">There is a lot to do: hospital drills, 911 emergency operator guidelines, quarantine rules, even details such as checking that plastic body bags meet the minimal thickness - 150 micrometers - recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">"It takes a certain amount of reverse engineering to get the plan to where it can respond to new, emerging threats," said political scientist Chris Nelson, an expert on public health systems at Rand Corp.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b>Is Ebola “a new emerging threat”? Or should the US government have prepared for the emergency? </b>Are they being irresponsible allowing travelers from West Africa to enter the USA in such a casual fashion? You be the judge:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The first Ebola case was reported in Guinea in March 2014. <u>Five months later the epidemic had spread to at least four other African countries and the eventual number of dead was projected to reach over 20 thousand</u> (by now the number of people killed by the Ebola epidemic is projected to go as high as 1.2 million).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">So let´s start the witch hunt. Is Homeland Security falling flat on its face?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The Bush administration created the Homeland Security Department and lumped under its command just about every agency and department which was supposed to help the country against attacks. </span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UBNnZxHrnss/VDpxNkhQ2JI/AAAAAAAACTw/eg10xlbUNRM/s1600/Jeh%2BJohnson%2BSecretary%2Bof%2BHomeland%2BSecurity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UBNnZxHrnss/VDpxNkhQ2JI/AAAAAAAACTw/eg10xlbUNRM/s1600/Jeh%2BJohnson%2BSecretary%2Bof%2BHomeland%2BSecurity.jpg" height="200" width="159" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><i>Jeh Johnson, the lawyer who </i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><i>heads Homeland Security</i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">So who is the guy in charge of Homeland Security? <u>Jeh Johnson</u>, a lawyer who “as General Counsel of the Defense Department, oversaw the development of the legal aspects of many of our nation’s counterterrorism policies”. Johnson took over the job in December 2013.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">So the country has a rookie secretary of Homeland Defense, a lawyer who makes sure the legal issues are handled properly. On the other hand, the guy seems to be somewhat ineffective when it comes to homeland defense against Ebola.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The Secretary of Homeland Defense has a huge organization under his command. Here´s the department´s organization chart:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><i>Homeland Defense Organization Chart (from their website)</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I put red borders around the organizations which <u>may</u> have responded poorly to the Ebola threat. Now let´s dig a little deeper, what are two of these two groups supposed to do?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span lang="EN-US">United States Customs and Border Protection</span></u><span lang="EN-US"> (CBP) is one of the Department of Homeland Security’s largest and most complex components, with a priority mission of keeping terrorists and their weapons out of the U.S.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span lang="EN-US">Office of Health Affairs</span></u><span lang="EN-US"> (OHA) coordinates all medical activities of the Department of Homeland Security to ensure appropriate preparation for and response to incidents having medical significance. <u>Kathryn Brinsfield, MD,</u> MPH, FACEP is the Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs <u>(acting)</u>. Her background includes serving as the supervisory medical officer for the International Medical and Surgical Response Team <sup>(1) </sup>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I can´t find any material with information from the Office of Health Affairs with a response plan for something as simple as a <u>single Liberian traveling to Dallas and infecting the population with Ebola.</u><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The Office of Health Affairs doesn´t seem to have a real Homeland “Defense” focus. It seems to be quite happy allowing travelers from epidemic countries to enter the US and run around freely.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The only resource I found on the internet with information for local authorities was at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.bt.cdc.gov/bioterrorism/prep.asp">http://www.bt.cdc.gov/bioterrorism/prep.asp</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">These guys are so focused on terrorism they forgot Border Control lacks regulations or orders to stop the single Liberian with Ebola! Conclusion: After reading the Homeland Defense information I realized they weren´t really into preparing for the threat posed by a single person (never mind a dozen West Africans running loose in New York).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Digging around in those links I found out <u>the National Advisory Health Council and the US Surgeon General </u>can ask the president to issue an executive order to stop a potential epidemic from spreading:</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“Regulations prescribed under this section shall not provide for the apprehension, detention, or conditional release of individuals except for the purpose of preventing the introduction, transmission, or spread of such communicable diseases <u>as may be specified from time to time in Executive orders of the President upon the recommendation of the National Advisory Health Council and the Surgeon General</u>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">You see how it works? They got a Homeland Security Department which can´t really defend the population unless the National Advisory Health Council and the Surgeon General ask the President to issue an Executive Order. But the Surgeon General works in the Department of Health and Human Services…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.bt.cdc.gov/legal/42USC264.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.bt.cdc.gov/legal/42USC264.pdf</a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The US Surgeon General sure seems to be worried about Ebola, as shown in this screen print of the Surgeon´s webpage</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The webpage has a very prominent link to an Ebola page, which happens to be the CDC Director´s blog:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://blogs.cdc.gov/cdcdirector/2014/10/02/why-u-s-can-stop-ebola-in-its-tracks/" target="_blank">http://blogs.cdc.gov/cdcdirector/2014/10/02/why-u-s-can-stop-ebola-in-its-tracks/</a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The CDC Director´s blog has a link called “Can you catch Ebola on a plane?¨. The link leads to a CNN webpage which includes the following quote from Stephen Monroe, deputy director of CDC's National Center for Emerging Zoonotic and Infectious Diseases:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">"It's very unlikely that they would be able to spread the disease to fellow passengers," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/02/travel/ebola-risk-travelers/index.html" target="_blank">http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/02/travel/ebola-risk-travelers/index.html</a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I don´t know about you, but I don´t like to see a government agency send me to a CNN webpage to read a statement by a government official. What´s the matter, they can´t get their business organized to offer the quote on their own webpage? Or are they afraid of giving information because the information may not be reliable?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Rear Admiral (RADM) <u>Boris D. Lushniak, M.D., M.P.H., is the Acting United States Surgeon General who can ask the President for orders to stop the potential introduction of Ebola by travelers who aren´t showing symptoms but are already infected</u>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">So where´s this National Advisory Health Council? I searched all over the place and I can´t find it! It seems the paperwork we get out of the CDC webpage is outdated, or this Council is super-duper secret and lacks its own webpage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">When I hit zero trying to find the National Advisory Health Council I decided to dig a bit in the <u>Department of Health and Human Services, headed by Sylvia M. Burwell.</u> Ms Burwell was the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Before that she was the President of the Walmart Foundation in Bentonville, Arkansas. Prior to that she was President of the Global Development Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, Washington, and held a series of middle management posts in the Washington government.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Burwell sure seems smart and qualified to be a top level bureaucrat, but she has only been on the job since June 2014. Why didn´t she respond better to the Ebola menace? <u>I suspect she was named to the post to fix the Obamacare system´s flaws</u> (flaws which led to to Kathleen Sebelius´ resignation). Poor Burwell wasn´t focused on the Ebola epidemic at all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Who else could have done something by this point? <u>Nicole Lurie, M.D., M.S.P.H</u>., Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR). It seems she runs the Office of Emergency Management. She has held the post since 2009.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.phe.gov/about/oem/Pages/default.aspx" target="_blank">http://www.phe.gov/about/oem/Pages/default.aspx</a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Dr. Lurie is very qualified for the job. But she has to work through the new Secretary of Health (the super smart accounting/management type, Ms. Burwell).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I could keep on tracing the individuals who are one way or the other involved in this mess. But thus far I´m finding very smart people who happen to be on the job, or aren´t qualified to make tough decisions when it comes to an epidemic. The ones who are prepared seem to be too low in the organizations to have an impact.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">In recent weeks we have seen President Obama discussing Ukraine, the Middle East, ISIL, a little bit about global warming, but nothing much about Ebola other than to give us assurances everything is going very well and announcing he´s sending troops to fight Ebola in Africa. Meanwhile, the US has Jeh, Kathryn, Boris, Sylvia and Nicole defending the nation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><i>US Department of Health and Human Services buiding</i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">(1) The International Medical Surgical Response Team (IMSURT) is a National Disaster Medical System team of medical specialists who provide surgical and critical care during a disaster or public health emergency. IMSURT personnel are Federal employees used on an intermittent basis to deploy to the site of a disaster or public health emergency and provide high quality, life saving surgical and critical care.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">References<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/chi-ebola-cases-20141011-story.html#page=1">http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/chi-ebola-cases-20141011-story.html#page=1</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.dhs.gov/secretary-jeh-johnson">http://www.dhs.gov/secretary-jeh-johnson</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.dhs.gov/department-components">http://www.dhs.gov/department-components</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/about/biographies/biosg.html">http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/about/biographies/biosg.html</a></span></div>
Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8297282924709148519.post-68361270132687362712014-10-10T16:07:00.001-07:002014-10-12T01:09:06.312-07:00Brazil Ebola case: FALSE ALARM, traveler from Guinea OK <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; color: #282828; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; width: 578px; word-wrap: break-word;">
Update: This is now considered a false alarm.<br />
<br />
Brazil is treating its first suspected case of the Ebola virus, the country’s <a href="http://portalsaude.saude.gov.br/index.php/cidadao/principal/agencia-saude/15002-ministerio-informa-sobre-caso-suspeito" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(24, 12, 12, 0.247059); box-sizing: border-box; color: #0c97d2; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Health Ministry</a> announced Thursday night.</div>
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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.</div>
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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.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8297282924709148519.post-7561076862792739182014-10-10T14:34:00.001-07:002014-10-10T14:34:28.788-07:00Madrid Ebola status reportThe 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).<br />
<br />
<br />Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8297282924709148519.post-71612743576370655922014-10-09T01:29:00.001-07:002014-10-10T16:11:07.800-07:00Frisco Texas man may (not?) have Ebola<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 150%;">A Texas Deputy from Frisco, Texas, </span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">who was ordered to enter Patient Zero´s
apartment </span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">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.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-scMsdcY1i9c/VDZGsbZfpaI/AAAAAAAACSQ/LgL7LF4mHwM/s1600/Dallas%2BArea%2BMap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-scMsdcY1i9c/VDZGsbZfpaI/AAAAAAAACSQ/LgL7LF4mHwM/s1600/Dallas%2BArea%2BMap.jpg" height="238" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 150%;"><i>Dallas Area map, Frisco is shown in </i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 150%;"><i>red letters to the North of the city. </i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"> </span>From USA today: </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-US">The deputy was ordered to go inside the unit with officials to get a
quarantine order signed</span></b><span lang="EN-US">. No one who went inside the unit that day wore protective gear, and <b>Monning had objected strenuously to that
decision.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Police and fire units surrounded the
facility, initially taping off a gray sport-utility vehicle Monning owns.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">"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."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><b>Ebola patient in Dallas hospital
dies.</b> Patient Zero, Thomas </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">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.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Later: Frisco Ebola suspect taken to
Presbyterian Hospital Dallas on Wednesday afternoon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/08/possible-ebola-patient-texas/16926553/">http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/08/possible-ebola-patient-texas/16926553/</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<a href="http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/health/2014/10/08/patient-frisco-ebola-suspect/16922477/">http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/health/2014/10/08/patient-frisco-ebola-suspect/16922477/</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8297282924709148519.post-76863064223734796082014-10-08T05:48:00.000-07:002014-10-08T05:48:18.268-07:00Excalibur must die<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">MADRID - Madrid's regional government says it's going to kill the pet
dog ("Excalibur") of a Spanish woman who became infected with Ebola. </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">Authorities said in a statement Tuesday that available scientific
knowledge indicates there's a risk the dog could transmit the deadly virus to
humans.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1xNKVPzi1b0/VDUyOJdbK_I/AAAAAAAACSA/3hqwWNIv1Y0/s1600/Excalibur%2Bmust%2Bdie.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1xNKVPzi1b0/VDUyOJdbK_I/AAAAAAAACSA/3hqwWNIv1Y0/s1600/Excalibur%2Bmust%2Bdie.png" height="248" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/spain-nurse-ebola-outside-west-africa-husband-quarantined-medical-workers/">Why Spanish nurse is such a troubling Ebola case...</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">The above was taken from </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/spain-to-kill-dog-of-madrid-woman-who-contracted-ebola/">http://www.cbsnews.com/news/spain-to-kill-dog-of-madrid-woman-who-contracted-ebola/</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8297282924709148519.post-85495623860735906142014-10-06T10:55:00.001-07:002014-10-06T10:55:40.730-07:00Nurse who treated Ebola victim in Madrid tests positive <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Reuters report: Spanish nurse who treated Ebola
victim in Madrid tests positive for disease in initial tests, authorities
awaiting final results. </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">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).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PznxhTeUMKg/VDLS-iiN_3I/AAAAAAAACN8/9O8KKY0x9A0/s1600/HOSPITAL%2BCARLOS%2BIII.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PznxhTeUMKg/VDLS-iiN_3I/AAAAAAAACN8/9O8KKY0x9A0/s1600/HOSPITAL%2BCARLOS%2BIII.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Carlos III Hospital, Madrid, where the priest</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i> was being treated and where the nurse contracted </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Ebola sometime on or before September 25, 2014. </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">For your reference, the first report (from the Telegraph, UK) on a priest being flown into Spain from Africa for Ebola treatment: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BOvrnGAFhg0/VDLRHq6sFuI/AAAAAAAACN0/2g3TJJDW4pw/s1600/Miguel%2BPajares%2Bthe%2Bfirst%2BEbola%2Bpatient%2Bin%2BSpain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BOvrnGAFhg0/VDLRHq6sFuI/AAAAAAAACN0/2g3TJJDW4pw/s1600/Miguel%2BPajares%2Bthe%2Bfirst%2BEbola%2Bpatient%2Bin%2BSpain.jpg" height="261" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Miguel Pajares, the <b>first priest,</b> </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>treated</i><i> unsuccessfully <b>in August </b></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><b>August 7, 2014, first priest arrives: </b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><b>August 14, first priest dies: </b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b>September 22, Second Priest Arrives</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
The second case was the one the sick nurse treated, his name was Manuel Garcia Viejo, who arrived in Madrid on September 22. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b>September 25, Second Priest Dies </b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mX8Jv-Y7eCY/VDLT7R96geI/AAAAAAAACOE/YmENjC6IPA8/s1600/manuel-garcia-viejo-sierra-leona--644x362%2B(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mX8Jv-Y7eCY/VDLT7R96geI/AAAAAAAACOE/YmENjC6IPA8/s1600/manuel-garcia-viejo-sierra-leona--644x362%2B(1).jpg" height="179" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><i>Manuel Garcia Viejo in Sierra Leone. Dr. Garcia </i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><i>was the second priest brought to Spain. </i></span><i style="line-height: 150%;"> The nurse </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<i style="line-height: 150%;">who </i><i style="line-height: 150%;">belonged to his treatment team contacted Ebola</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<i style="line-height: 150%;"> sometime </i><i style="line-height: 150%;">around September 25. </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Garcia Viejo had arrived in the
Spanish capital on a medically-equipped military plane on Monday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b>October 10, Nurse reported with Ebola contracted from second priest </b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
This confirms the incubation period is about 15 days. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b>References </b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/spanish-priest-ebola-dies-madrid-25758065">http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/spanish-priest-ebola-dies-madrid-25758065</a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/11018918/First-European-Ebola-patient-admitted-to-Madrid-hospital.html">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/11018918/First-European-Ebola-patient-admitted-to-Madrid-hospital.html</a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/missionary-doctor-infected-with-ebola-dies-in-madrid-1407835487">http://online.wsj.com/articles/missionary-doctor-infected-with-ebola-dies-in-madrid-1407835487</a></span></div>
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Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8297282924709148519.post-84703207759092225212014-10-05T02:37:00.000-07:002014-10-05T02:37:21.851-07:00United Nations warns of 'nightmare scenario' as virus spreads to the US<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-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. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tSiYDgWlve0/VDEQzNIQyZI/AAAAAAAACNE/XkiSiV7wiic/s1600/Corpses%2Bon%2Bthe%2Bside%2Bof%2Bthe%2Broad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tSiYDgWlve0/VDEQzNIQyZI/AAAAAAAACNE/XkiSiV7wiic/s1600/Corpses%2Bon%2Bthe%2Bside%2Bof%2Bthe%2Broad.jpg" height="178" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><i>Real corpses in body bags</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US">The Telegraph reports: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US">“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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US">“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.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US">"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".<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US">Dr Jeremy Farrar, Director of the Wellcome Trust, added that a sense of
proportion should be kept when discussing Ebola.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US">“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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US">"<b>Of more concern is that the
virus could become endemic in Western Africa</b>, 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.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="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">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</a></span></div>
Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8297282924709148519.post-63697692640926931392014-10-05T02:13:00.003-07:002014-10-10T16:10:23.967-07:00Dallas Ebola case:....Update: Guy is dead. <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-b3roLCOnRwY/VDEKTsVBx6I/AAAAAAAACM0/8nhsXfNWYBc/s1600/Ebola%2BAmericans%2BNebra_Hutc%2BAmarillo%2Bdot%2Bcom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-b3roLCOnRwY/VDEKTsVBx6I/AAAAAAAACM0/8nhsXfNWYBc/s1600/Ebola%2BAmericans%2BNebra_Hutc%2BAmarillo%2Bdot%2Bcom.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<i>Medical personnel demonstrating</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<i> Ebola patient transfer and care</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q2GpZX3EdEU/VDEGgAp3s0I/AAAAAAAACMo/qn8j5nIHBvI/s1600/Removal%2BDallas%2Bapt%2BLM%2BOtero%2BAssociated%2BPress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q2GpZX3EdEU/VDEGgAp3s0I/AAAAAAAACMo/qn8j5nIHBvI/s1600/Removal%2BDallas%2Bapt%2BLM%2BOtero%2BAssociated%2BPress.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Hazardous waste disposal crew at the Dallas apartment where</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i> Thomas was sick with Ebola for several days (Otero, AP) </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span lang="EN-US">The CDC article follows: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">"The lone U.S. Ebola patient is in critical condition, the Dallas hospital that has been treating him reported Saturday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">The items removed by a decontamination crew from the Dallas apartment where Duncan was staying have been hauled away for disposal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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 <b>Friday night."</b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">This means the items were removed on October 3rd at night. Thomas Duncan went into isolation on September 29th. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US">Later (Otober 8, 1850 Hours): </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">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.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US">Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan died in an isolation ward of a
Dallas hospital, 11 days after being admitted on Sept. 28.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/chi-dallas-ebola-patient-dead-20141008-story.html#page=1">http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/chi-dallas-ebola-patient-dead-20141008-story.html#page=1</a></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/dallas-ebola-case-thomas-eric-duncan-now-in-critical-condition-1.2787821">http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/dallas-ebola-case-thomas-eric-duncan-now-in-critical-condition-1.2787821</a></span></div>
Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8297282924709148519.post-80193941723216115212014-10-04T02:51:00.000-07:002014-10-04T02:51:15.511-07:00Much More Vigorous Government Response to Ebola Is Needed<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eIn3jRo4KaI/VC_CP-ilUJI/AAAAAAAACLw/PXxZg5cH2AQ/s1600/20140924-Obama-UN-Internationalist1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eIn3jRo4KaI/VC_CP-ilUJI/AAAAAAAACLw/PXxZg5cH2AQ/s1600/20140924-Obama-UN-Internationalist1.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><i>President Obama gives speech at the UN </i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><i>on September 24, </i></span><i style="line-height: 150%;">as Ebola was striking in Dallas</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<i style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">As the virus struck in
Dallas<sup>1</sup> 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? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">NY Times Opinion by Alexander Garza
follows: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">“<b>Alexander Garza</b>, 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,
<b>was assistant secretary and chief medical officer of the Department of Homeland
Security from 2009 to 2013.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-US">But the response to Ebola needs to be more intensive.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">And this is no ordinary communicable
disease<b>. It is the ISIS of biological
agents</b>. The response should mirror antiterrorism efforts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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).
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Reference: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/10/02/how-to-stop-the-spread-of-ebola/much-more-vigorous-government-response-to-ebola-is-needed">http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/10/02/how-to-stop-the-spread-of-ebola/much-more-vigorous-government-response-to-ebola-is-needed</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;">
<sup><span lang="EN-US">1</span></sup><span lang="EN-US"> The NY Times reports the following: “<i>Mr. Duncan started showing symptoms <b>on Sept. 24</b> 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.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/01/us/retracing-the-steps-of-the-dallas-ebola-patient.html?_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/01/us/retracing-the-steps-of-the-dallas-ebola-patient.html?_r=0</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8297282924709148519.post-58442776521602952852014-10-03T14:19:00.006-07:002014-10-03T14:19:22.774-07:00IMF calls for 'real' action to counter Ebola outbreak, warns of 'significant risks' to global economy<b>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. </b><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Speaking after the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-03/us-ebola-patient-may-have-had-contact-with-100-people/5787270" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_self" title="">first Ebola case emerged in Texas</a>, managing director Christine Lagarde called for "real" action to counter the Ebola crisis and said that talk alone was not enough.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"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.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-03/imf-warn-ebola-outbreak-is-a-severe-risk-for-econonmy/5788034">http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-03/imf-warn-ebola-outbreak-is-a-severe-risk-for-econonmy/5788034</a></div>
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From the tikum olam website</div>
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<a href="http://www.richardsilverstein.com/2014/10/03/israeli-defense-minister-refuses-u-s-request-for-african-humanitarian-aid-in-ebola-fight/">http://www.richardsilverstein.com/2014/10/03/israeli-defense-minister-refuses-u-s-request-for-african-humanitarian-aid-in-ebola-fight/</a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Israeli Defense Minister Refuses U.S. Request for Field Hospital to Aid Ebola Fight</span></span></h1>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="post_author_intro" style="font-style: italic; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">by</span> <span class="post_author" itemprop="author" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">RICHARD SILVERSTEIN</span> <span class="post_date_intro" style="font-style: italic; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">on</span> <span class="post_date" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;" title="2014-10-03">OCTOBER 3, 2014</span></span> </div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">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.</span></div>
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Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8297282924709148519.post-1418876882709458922014-10-03T01:50:00.000-07:002014-10-03T01:50:06.206-07:00Key Questions About the Epidemic<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">What Is the Ebola Virus's Survival
Rate?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And Other Key Questions About the EpidemicThe first case of Ebola has
been diagnosed in the United States.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">BY SOPHIE NOVACK, SAM BAKER AND
DUSTIN VOLZ</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">1. What is the Ebola virus's
survival rate?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">In past outbreaks, all of which have
been in Africa, survival rates ranged from 25 percent to 90 percent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">2. Is there a cure for Ebola?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">3. What is the incubation period for
Ebola?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">4. How does Ebola spread?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Ebola is not airborne. It is spread
through bodily fluids, and patients are contagious only while they're
displaying symptoms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">5. What are the disease's symptoms?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><b>Read more at the National Journal:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/health-care/what-is-the-ebola-virus-survival-rate-and-other-key-questions-about-the-epidemic-20140930">http://www.nationaljournal.com/health-care/what-is-the-ebola-virus-survival-rate-and-other-key-questions-about-the-epidemic-20140930</a></div>
Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8297282924709148519.post-15648866897782477022014-10-02T12:08:00.000-07:002014-10-02T12:08:15.941-07:00Thomas Duncan (the guy with Ebola) Had Contact with Victim in LiberiaThe 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.<br />
<br />
From the Wall Stree Journal:<br />
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qKNm3KrJJFQ/VC2iQUw9tOI/AAAAAAAACLg/dclX5u6zFpM/s1600/Liberian%2BShanty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qKNm3KrJJFQ/VC2iQUw9tOI/AAAAAAAACLg/dclX5u6zFpM/s1600/Liberian%2BShanty.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<i>Liberian Shanty (from mirro.unhabita.org)</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 150%;">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.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/man-in-dallas-diagnosed-with-ebola-had-contact-with-victim-in-liberia-1412266878">http://online.wsj.com/articles/man-in-dallas-diagnosed-with-ebola-had-contact-with-victim-in-liberia-1412266878</a></span></div>
Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8297282924709148519.post-35850543778033817802014-10-02T11:57:00.000-07:002014-10-02T11:57:07.211-07:00Family of Dallas Ebola patient quarantinedFrom USA today:<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Texas health officials have placed
the Dallas family of a Liberian national infected with Ebola under quarantine
and ordered them not to leave their home or have any contact with outsiders for
21 days without approval of the local or state health department.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">The "control order" also
requires the family of Thomas Eric Duncan to be available to provide blood
samples and agree to any testing required by public health officials.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8I0SrZTXZMw/VC2fyoWs_DI/AAAAAAAACLU/VdH7WoAM570/s1600/THomas%2BEric%2BDUncan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8I0SrZTXZMw/VC2fyoWs_DI/AAAAAAAACLU/VdH7WoAM570/s1600/THomas%2BEric%2BDUncan.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><i>Thomas Eric Duncan (from Google)</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Officials said Thursday that the
four or five family members could face criminal charges for violating the
order, which was delivered to them in writing Wednesday evening.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Duncan, who is in serious condition
with Ebola at Texas Health Presybyterian Hospital, recently arrived in the
United States from Liberia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Ebola has infected 7,178 people and
has killed 3,338 in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Senegal and Nigeria, the
World Health Organization says. The outbreaks in Nigeria and Senegal — which
took swift, decisive action to control the virus — are likely over.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">In other countries, however, the
number of cases has been doubling every three weeks, and the CDC estimates that
the disease could affect up to 1.4 million people by January if it's not
quickly controlled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Liberian authorities, meanwhile,
said on Thursday that they will prosecute Duncan when he returns home for
allegedly lying on his airport departure screening questionnaire about having
had contact with an infected person.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/02/ebola-family-quarantined/16579953/">http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/02/ebola-family-quarantined/16579953/</a></div>
Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8297282924709148519.post-34837358324083916602014-10-01T12:46:00.000-07:002014-10-01T12:46:08.186-07:00Ebola contained in Nigeria, Senegal - US health officials<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;">
The BBC Reports: </div>
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;">
The Ebola virus may have been contained in Nigeria and Senegal, US health authorities say, after no new cases were reported there for almost a month.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;">
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say the outbreak <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/p0930-nigeria-ebola.html" style="color: #4a7194; line-height: 16px; text-decoration: none;">could be declared over</a> in Nigeria next month.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;">
It continues, however, in other parts of West Africa, in particular Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The World Health Organization (WHO) says more than 3,000 people have died of the virus so far, mostly in Liberia. The current outbreak is the most deadly Ebola outbreak in history.</div>
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The new head of the UN's Ebola response team urged rapid progress within the next 60 days to stave off the disease.</div>
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The outbreaks in Nigeria and Senegal have been far smaller than in other West African countries, with 20 confirmed cases in total between the two countries.</div>
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In Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, there have been 19 confirmed cases of the virus and eight deaths since the first confirmed case there in July. The last reported case in Nigeria was discovered on 5 September, the CDC said.</div>
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<a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29436851">http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29436851</a></div>
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Fernando Leanmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.com0