In a grim assessment of the Ebola epidemic, researchers say the deadly virus threatens to become endemic to West Africa instead of eventually disappearing from humans. "The current epidemiologic outlook is bleak," wrote a panel of more than 60 World Health Organization experts in a study published Tuesday by the New England Journal of Medicine. "We must therefore face the possibility that Ebola virus disease will become endemic among the human population of West Africa, a prospect that has never previously been contemplated." In the absence of new control measures, the authors estimated that the total case load would exceed 20,000 by Nov 2. "The numbers of cases of and deaths from EVD are expected to continue increasing from hundreds to thousands per week in the coming months," the authors wrote. As of Monday, the United Nations health organization reported that out of a total of 5,864 confirmed and probable cases, 2,811 deaths have resulted.

"The true numbers of cases and deaths are certainly higher," the authors wrote. "There are numerous reports of symptomatic persons evading diagnosis and treatment, of laboratory diagnoses that have not been included in national databases, and of persons with suspected Ebola virus disease who were buried without a diagnosis having been made." When a virus is slow to mutate, as Ebola appears to be, the pathogen steadily wanes as the number of people who have developed immunity increases. With proper controls, experts say the virus would find it increasingly difficult to spread among the population until it eventually disappeared from humans and survived only in its so-called animal reservoir, which is believed to be a fruit bat. In this case however, epidemiologists fear that the virus could continue to linger in small pockets, extending its life in humans and potentially mutating in a way that makes fighting it more difficult. In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, and Dr. Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said the epidemic has helped to degrade an already meager system of healthcare.

Sen. Durbin has long demonstrated a bias against dietary supplements. Here's a taste of his career-long attempt to give FDA the power to sweep thousands of supplements off the shelves.

It's being considered a severe respiratory virus known as EV-D68. It hits hard and fast and has already created an outbreak in Colorado, Missouri, Utah, Kansas, Illinois, Ohio, and four more states in the Midwest. It has also crossed over the Canada with confirmed cases in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario. Although there is no known vaccine for the virus, ironically a common theme has been discovered in those who have been infected...they have all been vaccinated.

The symptoms can mimic those of the influenza virus, but can have a much more dire impact on those that fall ill. Dr. Mary Anne Jackson, the hospital's division director for infectious disease shared her concern withCNN.

"It's worse in terms of scope of critically ill children who require intensive care. I would call it unprecedented. I've practiced for 30 years in pediatrics, and I've never seen anything quite like this."

The Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) has infected more than 150 children in the U.S., and has recently spread to Canada with 18 confirmed cases in three provinces.

So far, no one has died from the virus but dozens of children have had to be treated in intensive care units.

The US Environmental Protection Agency does not need to face claims that it should require the labeling of potentially hazardous inert ingredients in pesticides, a federal judge has ruled. The agency dodged dissenting pro-health groups for eight years.

The agency was petitioned in 2006 to consider mandatory disclosure of hundreds of hazardous and non-hazardous ingredients. The EPA already requires pesticide manufacturers to list active ingredients on a product's label, but inert ingredients can be withheld.

The Center for Environmental Health and Californians for Pesticide Reform petitioned the EPA to devise a plan to require labeling 374 inert chemicals on pesticide products that "have been determined to be hazardous under other environmental laws and regulated as such by the EPA," according to the 2006 complaint.

The challenge to be informed about what we are eating grows ever more complex. Many people trust Trader Joe's as one of the smaller grocery store chains offering higher quality foods without unnecessary additives, and other harmful ingredients that can cause cancer, neurological damage, or developmental delays. But one mom recently found trisodium phosphate, an industrial strength paint thinner in her children's Trader Joe's breakfast cereal, and she is wondering what it is doing there. (The ingredient is found in other popular cereals as well).

Trisodium phosphate, otherwise known as trisodium orthophosphate, sodium phosphate, or TSP, is well known by construction workers, DIYers, and developers, but not to most parents shopping for their morning meal. It is an inorganic phosphate which can be detrimental to our health. It is often used in place of mineral spirits to remove paint!

Just some of the minor problems with eating TSP include:

- The reduction of bone density due to mineral leeching

- Calcification of the kidneys

- Serious irritation of gastric mucosa

- Abdominal burning

- Shock

Pesticideinfo.org says that this substance should be avoided at all cost. Just as Subway removed a harmful additive to their breads recently due to a blogger's pressure and subsequent petition, signed by thousands, this substance needs to be removed from all food, or indigestible items - especially cereals or baby toothpaste that children consume.

The number of Ebola cases in West Africa could reach 1.4 million by the end of January if trends continue without an immediate and massive scale-up in response, according to a new estimate by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report released Tuesday is a tool the agency has developed to help with efforts to slow transmission of the epidemic and estimate the potential number of future cases. Researchers say the total number of cases is vastly underreported by a factor of 2.5 in Sierra Leone and Liberia, two of the three hardest-hit countries. Using this correction factor, researchers estimate that approximately 21,000 total cases will have occurred in Liberia and Sierra Leone by Sept. 30. Reported cases in those two countries are doubling approximately every 20 days, researchers said

1. So far, nearly 2,500 suspected cases have been reported in what the WHO says is the worst known outbreak of the disease. However, the WHO's website says the survival rate for people with Ebola in this outbreak has been 47%, which is a substantial improvement over the disease's survival rate, historically.

2. There is a 47% survival rate with this outbreak.

3. Approximately 300 infected patients have survived Ebola treatment in Liberia since the outbreak here from March to September, Assistant Health Minister for Preventive Services, Tolbert Nyenswah, has announced.

The above comment (#1) is from an August 26 media report noting that 47% of Ebola cases in the current outbreak survive, in spite of the fact it is the worst known outbreak of Ebola. The same figure is currently cited on the Canadian Infection Prevention and Control site on Ebola (#2).

This survival number is from the WHO Ebola website, which had listed three bold headings characterizing Ebola in the current outbreak. The first headline, "H2H" reflected the fact that virtually all cases were due to human to human transmission. The second headline "2 to 21 days" reflect the wide range of reported incubation times. The third headline "47% survive" was followed by a claim that the survival rate was higher than most prior outbreaks (this headline was removed last week).

The gravedigger hacked at the cemetery's dense undergrowth, clearing space for the day's Ebola victims. A burial team, in protective suits torn with gaping holes, arrived with fresh bodies.

The backs of the battered secondhand vans carrying the dead were closed with twisted, rusting wire. Bodies were dumped in new graves, and a worker in a short-sleeve shirt carried away the stretcher, wearing only plastic bags over his hands as protection. The outlook for the day at King Tom Cemetery was busy.

"We will need much more space," said James C. O. Hamilton, the chief gravedigger, as a colleague cleared the bush with his machete.

The Ebola epidemic is spreading rapidly in Sierra Leone's densely packed capital - and it may already be far worse than the authorities acknowledge.

Since the beginning of the outbreak more than six months ago, the Sierra Leone Health Ministry reported only 10 confirmed Ebola deaths here in Freetown, the capital of more than one million people, and its suburbs as of Sunday - a hopeful sign that this city, unlike the capital of neighboring Liberia, had been relatively spared the ravages of the outbreak.

But the bodies pouring in to the graveyard tell a different story. In the last eight days alone, 110 Ebola victims have been buried at King Tom Cemetery, according to the supervisor, Abdul Rahman Parker, suggesting an outbreak that is much more deadly than either the government or international health officials have announced.

Swiss authorities say a male nurse who was bitten by an Ebola patient while working in West Africa has been flown to Switzerland as a precaution.

The health ministry says the unidentified man was working for an international organization in Sierra Leone when he was bitten by a child infected with Ebola on Saturday.

The ministry says the nurse was wearing protective gear and is unlikely to have contracted the disease.

It said the man, who was flown to Switzerland by a private transport company Monday, will be kept under observation at Geneva's University Hospital for the incubation period of three weeks.

The ministry said it was the first medical transport to Switzerland from the Ebola-affected region.

The mass medication of Americans has created a nation of immunosuppressed individuals who are unique vulnerable to an Ebola outbreak. That's because medications rob the body of essential vitamins and minerals as documented in the book "Drug Muggers" by pharmacist Suzy Cohen.

All the popular mass medications, it turns out, deplete the body of precisely the same crucial nutrients needed to activate the immune system to fight off viral infections. These includes minerals like zinc; pre-hormones like vitamin D; and common vitamins such as thiamine and niacin.

The full title of the book is Drug Muggers: Which Medications Are Robbing Your Body of Essential Nutrients - and Natural Ways to Restore Them. Authored by a well-informed pharmacist I've known for years, the book reveals exactly which nutrients in your body are depleted by each popular medication being prescribed today.