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What Ebola can teach us about a new bubonic plague outbreak in Africa

Sat, 2014-12-06 15:51 — mike kraft

THE WEEK -- by S.E. Smith Dec. 5, 2014
While West Africa battles Ebola, another outbreak is striking just across the continent. In Madagascar, cases of plague are erupting in the small village of Mandritsara and the disease is spreading to neighboring communities. The two outbreaks are related by more than simple surface similarities, though. In fact, fighting the first has provided an invaluable blueprint for containing the second. West Africa's Ebola outbreak could inform responders to Madagascar's plague cases.

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Number of Ebola deaths could be cut by use of basic measures, say experts

Fri, 2014-12-05 10:34 — mike kraft

THE GUARDIAN by Sarah Boseley in Freetown and Lisa O'Carroll
Dec. 5, 2014

Basic medical interventions such as giving Ebola patients rehydration salts and fluids from bigger bags could cut the death toll in west Africa in the absence of a proven cure, experts in tropical diseases write on Friday in the Lancet.

The doctors say it is “therapeutic nihilism” to assume there is no treatment for Ebola just because there are no drugs. It is likely, they say, that many patients die because of dehydration.

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Cooler box-equipped motorbikes donated to UN will speed up Ebola testing process in West Africa

Fri, 2014-12-05 07:01 — mike kraft

UNITED NATIONS NEWS CENTRE Dec. 4, 2014
Four hundred motorbikes equipped with cooler boxes will help speed up deliveries of blood samples to laboratories from remote areas of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone and reduce the waiting time for Ebola test results, thanks to a donation today from Germany to the United Nations.

Four hundred cooler box-equipped motorbikes for the Ebola Response were officially handed over to the UN Humanitarian Response Depot by German Ambassador to Ghana Ruediger John, and will be used to bring blood samples to labs in the most affected areas of Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea. UNMEER Photo/Martine Perret

At UN Headquarters, meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters that the immediate priorities of the United Nations are to stop the virus and to treat all the people who have Ebola. “We have to ensure that all essential services are provided, and also we have to help them preserve their social and political stability, and keeping a further outbreak from happening.”

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What Ebola Is Teaching Us About Hard Trends

Thu, 2014-12-04 17:21 — mike kraft

WIRED Essay by David Burris Dec. 14, 2014

...Deadly and infectious viruses such as Ebola are an inevitable and unavoidable fact of nature. In other words, they are examples of a Hard Trend. And they demand new innovations in order to combat them.

...the deadly force of Ebola is the kind of imminent threat that inspires human minds to new heights. It teaches us that Hard Trends come at us fast and provide the catalyst to overcome inertia and bring about technological innovations.

NIAID/Flickr

Communication is key to mobilizing populations in countries affected by Ebola. In order to treat the sick and prevent the spread of the disease, healthcare workers need to be able to coordinate with people on the frontline and know where to send supplies. At the moment, telecommunications technologies are not keeping pace with the intense demands that Ebola creates.

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Disaster Risk Reduction

Disease

Health

Technology

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http://www.voanews.com/media/video/sierra-leonean-in-us-sends-medical-supplies-home-to-combat-ebola/2535979.html

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Sierra Leonean in US Sends Medical Supplies Home to Combat Ebola

Wed, 2014-12-03 08:01 — Norea

voanews.com - by Deborah Block - Nov 26, 2014

On Thanksgiving day in the United States, Americans give thanks for their blessings. Among them is Bobby Smith, who emigrated to here 25 years ago from Sierra Leone. To give back, three years ago Smith began a small volunteer organization, Hope for Lives in Sierra Leone, to help the disadvantaged in his homeland -- one of the poorest countries in the world. As VOA’s Deborah Block reports, he now is sending medical supplies to help combat Ebola, which continues to devastate Sierra Leone.

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Finding the Ebola virus’ vulnerable points

Wed, 2014-12-03 07:25 — Norea

Three copies of the Ebola glycoprotein (blue) with antibodies (yellow) latched on to them. Picture by Stanford by Shalini Saxena - Nov 30 2014 - http://arstechnica.com

We know what antibodies stop it in its tracks—we now know where they attach.

The latest Ebola outbreak has dwarfed any that have occurred since the discovery of the virus in 1976; previous outbreaks have had lethality rates of up to 90 percent. Yet no vaccines or therapies are currently approved for human use, which limits our ability to treat patients and contain the outbreak. Mixtures of monoclonal antibodies (see sidebar) are a potential treatment option that has been used experimentally.

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http://www.npr.org/2014/11/30/367544593/in-liberia-ebola-shifts-from-cities-to-villages

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In Liberia, Ebola Shifts From Cities To Villages

Wed, 2014-12-03 07:15 — Norea

Liberia has been a death zone for those exposed to the Ebola virus. NPR's Rachel Martin speaks with correspondent Kelly McEvers about what she saw on the ground, and what she will find hard to forget.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The death toll in the largest Ebola outbreak in history continues to rise in West Africa. Just this past week, the World Health Organization reported 600 new cases in the three hardest hit countries - Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Liberia had been the epicenter of the outbreak. But now the country with the largest number of victims is neighboring Sierra Leone. NPR reporters have been covering the story in both countries. NPR's Kelly McEvers is about to finish nearly two weeks in Liberia. She joins us on the line. Hi, Kelly.

Read the whole interview:

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https://time.com/3611314/u-n-ebola-global-threat-anthony-banbury-bbc/

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U.N. Mission Warns That Ebola Still Poses ‘Huge’ Global Threat

Wed, 2014-12-03 07:11 — Norea

A mother and child stand atop their mattresses in a classroom now used as Ebola isolation ward on Aug. 15, 2014, in Monrovia, Liberia by Elizabeth Barber - Dec. 1, 2014 - time.com

The U.N. mission is urging that the longer the disease is allowed to storm West Africa, the more likely it is that the virus will reappear elsewhere in the world.

The head of the U.N. Ebola mission in West Africa has said there is a “huge risk” of the Ebola outbreak expanding beyond the hard-hit region.

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WHO Says Liberia, Guinea Meeting Ebola Targets

Wed, 2014-12-03 06:57 — Norea

In this file photo taken Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014, a healthcare worker in protective gear is sprayed with disinfectant after working in an Ebola treatment center in the west of Freetown, Sierra Leone

GENEVA — Dec 1, 2014 - by JOHN HEILPRIN Associated Press

Liberia and Guinea have met a Dec. 1 target for isolating 70 percent of people infected with Ebola and safely burying 70 percent of those who die but Sierra Leone has not, the World Health Organization said Monday.

Only last week, the U.N. health agency said only Guinea was on track to meet the targets for getting the Ebola outbreak under control in the three hardest-hit West African countries.

But at a news conference in Geneva, WHO's Dr. Bruce Aylward said the organization had revised its conclusion based on more analysis of its data. Sierra Leone also probably met the targets in the west of the country, he said, and likely will improve to the 70 percent target nationwide "in the coming weeks."

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