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

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

From the Wall Stree Journal:

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

Liberian Shanty (from mirro.unhabita.org)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Family of Dallas Ebola patient quarantined

From USA today:

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.

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.

Thomas Eric Duncan (from Google)

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.

Duncan, who is in serious condition with Ebola at Texas Health Presybyterian Hospital, recently arrived in the United States from Liberia.

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.

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.

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.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/02/ebola-family-quarantined/16579953/

Ebola contained in Nigeria, Senegal - US health officials

The BBC Reports: 

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.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say the outbreak could be declared over in Nigeria next month.

It continues, however, in other parts of West Africa, in particular Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

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.

The new head of the UN's Ebola response team urged rapid progress within the next 60 days to stave off the disease.

Ebola control "possible"

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.

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.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29436851

No need to panic yet

This is from the Dallas paper, reminding everybody in the Dallas area there´s no need to panic over Ebola. I´m afraid if they don´t do something to calm the population everybody is going to head out of town.

“As all the news headlines will tell you, Ebola is terrifying; we can’t make light of that. And the recent CDC forecast showing that, if unchecked, Ebola cases could top 1.4 million by January underscores why this outbreak is such a crisis.

But the risks here are not the same. As Smith, the epidemiologist, put it:

Ebola is a terrible disease. It kills many of the people that it infects. It can spread fairly rapidly when precautions are not carefully adhered to: when cultural practices such as ritual washing of bodies are continued despite warnings, or when needles are reused because of a lack of medical supplies, or when gloves and other protective gear are not available, or when patients are sharing beds because they are brought to hospitals lacking even such basics as enough beds or clean bedding for patients.

But that is not the case in Dallas County. The patient who may have Ebola (test results are due today) is in isolation. Health officials are already investigating everyone he or she has been in contact with. Hospitals are trained in how to respond to such diseases and have the necessary supplies.

“This is not Africa,” Dallas County Health and Human Services director Zachary Thompson told The Morning News. “We have a great public health infrastructure to deal with this type of disease.”

US Army Forces in Liberia

On Thursday, 15 sailors from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133 based in Djibouti prepared to join roughly 100 U.S. military personnel already in the Liberian capital of Monrovia, including mission commander Maj. Gen. Darryl Williams, chief of U.S. Army forces in Africa, to establish a Joint Force Command headquarters and build infrastructure for the effort, called Operation United Assistance.

The Seabees will conduct site surveys and help build a 25-bed hospital to treat infected health care workers, with parts of that facility arriving in Liberia the early next week, Defense Department officials said.

In Liberia, the U.S. military will focus on logistical support for the massive effort to treat victims of the dangerous disease. American troops also will help train civilian medical personnel and build 17 100-bed treatment centers, DoD officials have said.

At least three Air Force C-17s have brought in gear ranging from heavy equipment to supplies, and personnel, including engineers and airfield specialists.

A handful of technical personnel have been in the region since earlier this summer, working in laboratory facilities and providing more than 10,000 Ebola test kits. Military planners also are on the ground as part of a U.S. Agency for International Development Disaster Assistance Response Team.

Marines also have had a contingent in Liberia, working with that country’s armed forces to find sites for the Ebola treatment centers that will arrive as part of Operation Unified Assistance.

http://www.armytimes.com/article/20140925/NEWS08/309250082/Ebola-mission-includes-risk-malaria-troops

Ebola Epidemic Causes Hell in LIberia

From the Washington Post we read more about Liberia´s Ebola crisis: 

Liberia, the West African nation hardest it by Ebola, has begun a frightening descent into economic hell.

That’s the import of three recent reports from international organizations that seem to bear out the worst-case scenarios of months ago: that people would abandon the fields and factories, that food and fuel would become scarce and unaffordable, and that the government’s already meager capacity to help, along with the nation’s prospects for a better future, would be severely compromised.

They are no longer scenarios. They are real. While these trends have been noted anecdotally, the cumulative toll is horrific.

The basic necessities of survival in Liberia — food, transportation, work, money, help from the government — are rapidly being depleted, according to recent reports by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

The FAO says that food is in increasingly short supply. Fields in some regions have been abandoned in part because people perceive Ebola may be coming from them or from the water used to irrigate them.

“People are terrified by how fast the disease is spreading,” Alexis Bonte, FAO Representative in Liberia, said in a statement. “Neighbors, friends and family members are dying within just a few days of exhibiting shocking symptoms, the causes of which are not fully understood by many local communities. This leads them to speculate that water, food or even crops could be responsible. Panic ensues, causing farmers to abandon their fields for weeks.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/09/30/hit-by-ebola-liberia-is-descending-into-economic-hell/

What the heck is Ebola?

Ebola, previously known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a rare and deadly disease caused by infection with one of the Ebola virus strains. Ebola can cause disease in humans and nonhuman primates (monkeys, gorillas, and chimpanzees).

Ebola is caused by infection with a virus of the family Filoviridae, genus Ebolavirus. There are five identified Ebola virus strains, four of which are known to cause disease in humans: Ebola virus (Zaire ebolavirus); Sudan virus (Sudan ebolavirus); Taï Forest virus (Taï Forest ebolavirus, formerly Côte d’Ivoire ebolavirus); and Bundibugyo virus (Bundibugyo ebolavirus). The fifth, Reston virus (Reston ebolavirus), has caused disease in nonhuman primates, but not in humans.

Ebola viruses are found in several African countries. Ebola was first discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since then, outbreaks have appeared sporadically in Africa.

The natural reservoir host of Ebola virus remains unknown. However, on the basis of evidence and the nature of similar viruses, researchers believe that the virus is animal-borne and that bats are the most likely reservoir. Four of the five virus strains occur in an animal host native to Africa.

http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/about.html