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Health

Liberian asylum seeker causes Ebola scare at Gatwick immigration centre


Daily News
Thu, 31 Jul 2014 00:00 UTC
liberia_ebola
© AFP PhotoFact file on the Ebola virus that has killed more than 670 people in an ongoing outbreak in West Africa
An asylum seeker was suspected of obtaining the deadly Ebola virus immediately after creating symptoms within days of arriving in Britain from Libera, it has emerged.

The man, who was awaiting processing at an immigration centre run by security firm G4S in Gatwick, was feared to be carrying the illness, which has killed a lot more than 700 individuals in West Africa.

Immigration employees isolated the man and tested him for Ebola earlier this week, but he did not have the infection.

Nonetheless the incident shows how uncomplicated it would be for the deadly disease to enter Britain via illegal channels.

Border staff at UK airports also claim they have not been educated to deal with suspected circumstances coming into the country.

Comment: The British government is trying to contain the hysteria, by claiming that the infection is not easily transmitted, however that is not necessarily correct.

Ebola - What you're not being told
Finally catching up - Could the Black Death actually have been an Ebola-like virus?

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Ketogenic Diet (high-fat, low-carb) Has Neuroprotective and Disease-modifying Effects
The Ketogenic Diet - An Overview

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Health

Florida health officials warn beachgoers of flesh-eating disease

Katie Moisse
ABC News
Tue, 29 Jul 2014 00:12 UTC
Image
A grouping of Vibrio vulnificus bacteria is pictured in this micrograph.
Florida health officials are warning beachgoers about a seawater bacterium that can invade cuts and scrapes to cause flesh-eating disease.

Vibrio vulnificus - - a cousin of the bacterium that causes Cholera - - thrives in warm saltwater, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If ingested, it can cause stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea. But it can also infect open wounds and lead to "skin breakdown and ulceration," according to the CDC.

"Since it is naturally found in warm marine waters, people with open wounds can be exposed to Vibrio vulnificus through direct contact with seawater," the Florida Department of Health said in a statement.

The infection can also be transmitted through eating or handling contaminated oysters and other shellfish, according to the CDC.
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Attention

Peace Corps pulls workers from West Africa due to Ebola virus, two volunteers moved into isolation


Chicago Tribune
Wed, 30 Jul 2014 17:23 UTC
Ebola virus
© CDCElectron micrograph of Ebola virus
Two Peace Corps volunteers were moved into isolation Wednesday and under observation after being exposed to a person who later died of the deadly Ebola virus, a Peace Corps spokeswoman said.

"Two Peace Corps volunteers have had contact with an individual who later died of the Ebola virus," the spokeswoman said. "These volunteers are not symptomatic and are currently isolated and under observation."

The spokeswoman said the volunteers will return to the United States after they are cleared to travel.

Earlier Wednesday the U.S. Peace Corps said it was pulling 340 volunteers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea because of the spreading Ebola virus that has killed 672 people in the three countries since February.
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Health

Ebola outbreak in West Africa forces Peace Corps to evacuate


RT
Wed, 30 Jul 2014 19:08 UTC
Image
© AFP PhotoA picture taken on June 28, 2014 shows a member of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) putting on protective gear at the isolation ward of the Donka Hospital in Conakry, where people infected with the Ebola virus are being treated
The US Peace Corps announced on Wednesday that it was removing its 340 volunteers from West Africa due to recent Ebola outbreak, while the federal government is being urged to fast-track a new a drug that could possibly stave off a global pandemic.

According to Reuters, 130 volunteers will leave Sierra Leone, while another 108 and 102 will depart Liberia and Guinea, respectively. The Peace Corps blamed the virus' continued spread for the decision.

"The Peace Corps today announced that it is temporarily removing its volunteers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea due to the increasing spread of the Ebola virus," the organization said in a statement to the news service.

Since February, 672 people have been killed in all three countries, making the recent outbreak the most devastating on record, per the World Health Organization.
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Ambulance

Doctors tell of agonizing battle fighting largest Ebola outbreak in history


Mail Online
Tue, 29 Jul 2014 14:41 UTC
ebola doctor
Danger everywhere: A hygienist approaches patients classified as suspects wearing a boiling hot Hazmat suit to protect them from the invisible killer
A doctor who has fought the Ebola virus in Liberia where it infected two American doctors today gave a terrifying insight into how medics put their fears aside and their lives on the line to treat patients in the current outbreak taking a grip in Africa.

Doctor Hannah Spencer revealed how she wills herself to feel safe inside a boiling hot air-sealed Hazmat suit - her only barrier between her and catching an invisible killer that kills 90 per cent of those who are infected.

Dr Spencer, who is British, volunteered for medical charity Doctors Without Borders in Guinea and Liberia - the crucible of the current outbreak which has killed more than 600 and infected around 1,200.

She spoke out before news emerged that two Americans, Dr Kent Brantly, 33, and Nancy Writebol, 60, had contracted Ebola and are fighting for their lives to explain the risks, the courage, the physical toll and fear endured by doctors battling to contain the virus from killing more.

To minimise the risk of infection they have to wear thick rubber boots that come up to their knees, an impermeable body suit, gloves, a face mask, a hood and goggles to ensure no air at all can touch their skin.

Dr Spencer, 27, and her colleagues lose up to five litres of sweat during a shift treating victims and have to spend two hours rehydrating afterwards.
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Health

Ebola death toll reaches 660 in West Africa


AFP
Fri, 25 Jul 2014 11:50 UTC
Image
© AFP Photo/Celou BinaniMembers of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) put on protective gear at the isolation ward of the Donka Hospital in Guinea's capital Conakry on July 23, 2014
The death toll in West Africa's Ebola outbreak has risen to 660, with the number of cases surpassing 1,000, the World Health Organization said Friday.

WHO spokesman Paul Garwood said that the extent of what is the deadliest outbreak of Ebola on record was still emerging.

"This is a trend, an overall picture. It's hard to get an exact picture on the scale of the situation at the moment," he told reporters.

The UN health agency said 28 news deaths were recorded between July 18 and July 20. Thirteen were in Sierra Leone, 11 in Liberia and four in Guinea, which had previously borne the brunt.

Forty-five new cases were recorded over the same period, in West Africa's first-ever Ebola outbreak.

That lifted the total number of laboratory-confirmed, probable or suspected cases of Ebola in the region to 1,093.

Comment: There have been 34 outbreaks over the course of the past month. Check out the SOTT Worldview for these stories:


For more information on where this ebola virus may have come from and where it could go, please see:

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Beaker

Two Americans contract Ebola in West Africa


RT
Mon, 28 Jul 2014 13:01 UTC
Image
© ReutersA health worker with disinfectant spray walks down a street outside the government hospital in Kenema
Two US citizens helping to treat Ebola in West Africa - a doctor and an aid worker - are in intensive care, having tested positive for the deadly virus. Governments and airports across the region are struggling to curb the spread of the disease.

Nancy Writebol, a missionary with a Christian charity, who had been working as a hygienist in a medical compound in Liberia, was tested positive for Ebola, the relief organization Samaritan's Purse announced on Sunday. Writebol was responsible for detoxifying protective suits worn by visitors to an Ebola isolation center.

A day earlier, the same charity announced that an American doctor, Kent Brantly, 33, working in the same medical institution, had contracted the disease.

"They're both receiving intensive early treatment, but certainly it's a dangerous situation and a frightening situation," spokeswoman for Samaritan's Purse, Melissa Strickland, told AFP.
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Beaker

Genetic fragments of MERS virus detected in air in camel barn

Robert Preidt
USNews.com
Sun, 27 Jul 2014 17:51 UTC
Image
© Globalbiodefense.com
Genetic fragments of the deadly MERS virus were detected in the air of a barn where an infected camel was kept, a new study says.

The findings show the need for further studies to determine if Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) can be transmitted through the air, the researchers said.

Researchers collected air samples over three consecutive days from a camel barn owned by a 43-year-old male MERS patient who lived south of the town of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The man later died. One of the camels in the barn was later confirmed to have MERS.

The air samples contained genetic fragments of MERS that were identical to those detected in the infected camel and its owner, according to the study in the July 22 issue of the journal mBio.

The findings show the need for "further investigations and measures to prevent possible airborne transmission of this deadly virus," lead author Esam Azhar, said in a news release from the American Society for Microbiology. Azhar is the head of the Special Infectious Agents Unit at King Fahd Medical Research Center and associate professor of medical virology at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, according to the news release.
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Ambulance

Deadly Vibrio infections at 10 year high in US coastal areas

Sarah Fruchtnicht
Opposing Views
Sun, 27 Jul 2014 12:34 UTC
Vibrio infection
© Bibas Reddy, DO, MPH, Hugh Durham, MD, and Sandra A. Kemmerly, MD.This erythematous, violaceous lesion with a central abrasion and serous drainage developed after a man scratched his right forearm while he was removing crabs from a trap. Culture revealed Vibrio vulnificus. The infection completely resolved following appropriate antibiotic therapy
For years the Maryland Department of Environment has issued warnings about the deadly pathogen vibrio vulnificus, but infections are now at a 10-year high.

The bacteria "are found naturally in coastal areas" especially from May to October and "are not a result of pollution." Vibrio can infect the skin through an open wound. Two strains of the disease, vulnificus and parahaemolyticus, can be contracted by eating raw or undercooked seafood.

"I've grown up on the bay my whole life, and I'm 66," Rodney Donald told the Washington Post from his hospital bed at MedStar Washington Hospital Center.

Donald nearly lost his leg to vibrio.

"I'd never even heard about it," he said.

Vibrio infections in Maryland are up to 57 in 2013, compared to 25 in 2002, according to the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Six cases were reported this year. The Calvert County Health Department reported five infections around the Chesapeake Bay this summer.
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Health

First Ebola case reported in Lagos, world's fourth most populous city

Monica Mark
The Guardian
Fri, 25 Jul 2014 12:45 UTC
Death marks new and alarming cross-border development in world's biggest epidemic spreading across three countries.
Ebola workers
© Cellou Binani/AFP/Getty ImagesLagos authorities said they had requested the flight's manifest to contact the other passengers, and began distributing protective clothing to health workers.
A man has died of ebola in Lagos, the first confirmed case of the highly contagious and deadly virus in Africa's most populous metropolis.

Patrick Sawyer, a 40-year-old Liberian civil servant, collapsed on arrival in Nigeria's main airport on Sunday, health officials said. His condition rapidly deteriorated before he died, said Abdulsalami Nasidi, project director at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, who attributed his death to ebola.

Officials at the World Health Organisation confirmed a sample from Nigeria was being tested for ebola, but did not confirm the results.
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