Africa

Momentum to fund Ebola vacine research is growing in Congress

Thu, 2014-11-13 20:14 — mike kraft

FOREIGN POLICY Nov. 13, 2014

By David Francis

As the Ebola outbreak continues in West Africa, momentum to change FDA restrictions to allow Congress to allocate money toward research on drugs that treat tropical diseases, including Ebola, is growing.

A bill drafted by Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) that would allow the FDA to fund Ebola treatment research will be marked up next week by the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee....

The bill, which has 17 co-sponsors, is part of a flurry of congressional activity on Ebola and the Obama administration's $6.18 billion proposal to confront the disease domestically and abroad. The Senate Appropriations Committee debated Obama's plan on Wednesday, and House and Senate panels are expected to address the White House's spending request next week.

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Cepheid receives grant to develop Ebola diagnostic test

Thu, 2014-11-13 18:02 — mike kraft

REUTERS Nov. 20,2014

Molecular diagnostics company Cepheid said it received a grant of up to $3.3 million, co-financed by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to develop a diagnostic test for the deadly Ebola virus.

The Xpert Ebola test, which is expected to use saliva or a drop of blood to identify the virus, is likely to be offered on an emergency use only basis, Cepheid said on Thursday.

Cepheid and the Gates Foundation are also evaluating deploying the company's RemoteXpert cloud-based monitoring software to help track the spread of the disease.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last month granted emergency authorization to two new Ebola diagnostic tests made by BioFire, a subsidiary of medical diagnostics maker BioMerieux.

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Bats’ Link to Ebola Finally Solved

Thu, 2014-11-13 16:12 — mike kraft

THE DAILY BEAST Nov. 11, 2014
By Carfrie Arnold

A new paper outlines five steps required for a virus to ‘spill over’ from bats to humans. But don’t just blame the bats—deforestation and hunting are to blame, too.

These nocturnal fliers might do some good, but their association with night, rabies, and All Things Creepy means that, at best, we tolerate them. Adding to their negative aura is recent research showing that bats can be the source of infectious diseases like SARS and Ebola, as well as lesser-known pathogens like Hendra and Nipah virus.

It’s all too easy to blame bats for causing these human pandemics, including the most recent (and deadliest) Ebola outbreak. After all, these viruses hang out in bats in between outbreaks—trace any outbreak of these viruses back far enough and you will find a bat.

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Out of Africa — Caring for Patients with Ebola

Thu, 2014-11-13 14:40 — mike kraft

NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE Nov. 12, 2014

Eric J. Rubin, M.D., Ph.D., and Lindsey R. Baden, M.D.

The Journal has now published detailed clinical information about three patients transferred from West Africa to the United States or Germany in the midst of their illness.

See details of the treatment

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe1412744

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Out of Africa — Caring for Patients with Ebola

Thu, 2014-11-13 14:39 — mike kraft

NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE Nov. 12, 2014

Eric J. Rubin, M.D., Ph.D., and Lindsey R. Baden, M.D.

The Journal has now published detailed clinical information about three patients transferred from West Africa to the United States or Germany in the midst of their illness.

See detais of the treatment

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe1412744

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GOP chairman rips ‘deadly incompetence’ of UN Ebola response

Thu, 2014-11-13 13:36 — mike kraft

CONGRESSIONAL HEARING: House Foreign Committee Chairman blasts WHO, while AID urges funding to address Ebola hotspots.
(Two stories, scroll down)

THE HILL Nov. 13, 2014

A top Republican is calling for a new strategy to fight Ebola overseas — one that does not rely on the embattled World Health Organization (WHO).

Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, slammed the organization for what he called “deadly incompetence” in the battle against the disease.

“Unfortunately, we are paying the price for early failures,” Royce said at a hearing, arguing that the WHO “repeatedly downplayed the crisis.”

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said he has “no confidence” in the WHO.
“WHO contributed to the spread of this virus and to a high mortality rate, frankly, because of its cronyism and its incompetence,” Connolly said.The

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Liberia president to end Ebola state of emergency

Thu, 2014-11-13 13:08 — mike kraft

ASSOCIATED PRESS Nov. 13, 2014

By Jonathan Paye-Leyleh and Baba Ahmed

MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — Liberia's president said Thursday she is lifting a state of emergency imposed to control an Ebola outbreak that has ravaged the country, as Mali raced to track down everyone who may have come into contact with three people now believed to have died of Ebola in its capital.

Also Thursday, Doctors Without Borders announced that accelerated clinical trials will be launched in West Africa to speed the search for a treatment for the virus that has killed more than 5,000 people.

In a nationwide address, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said enough progress has been made to lift emergency measures but added that the move does not mean the outbreak is over. There have been fewer Ebola cases in Monrovia, the capital, though fresh hotspots have emerged. One of those is near the border with Sierra Leone, which along with Guinea has also been hit hard by the disease.

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http://news.yahoo.com/medical-aid-group-host-3-ebola-clinical-trials-090631858.html

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Liberia president to end Ebola state of emergency

Thu, 2014-11-13 13:08 — mike kraft

ASSOCIATED PRESS Nov. 13, 2014

By Jonathan Paye-Leyleh and Baba Ahmed

MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — Liberia's president said Thursday she is lifting a state of emergency imposed to control an Ebola outbreak that has ravaged the country, as Mali raced to track down everyone who may have come into contact with three people now believed to have died of Ebola in its capital.

Also Thursday, Doctors Without Borders announced that accelerated clinical trials will be launched in West Africa to speed the search for a treatment for the virus that has killed more than 5,000 people.

In a nationwide address, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said enough progress has been made to lift emergency measures but added that the move does not mean the outbreak is over. There have been fewer Ebola cases in Monrovia, the capital, though fresh hotspots have emerged. One of those is near the border with Sierra Leone, which along with Guinea has also been hit hard by the disease.

Read complete story.

http://news.yahoo.com/medical-aid-group-host-3-ebola-clinical-trials-090631858.html

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The economics of Ebola

Thu, 2014-11-13 11:43 — mike kraft

HOMELAND SECURITY NEWS WIRE Nov. 13, 2014
By Catherine de Fontenay
Economists are being called upon to estimate the costs of the Ebola epidemic to West Africa and elsewhere. Economists, however, should also play a part in estimating the likelihood of the disease spreading. Economics is the study of incentives, and many biological models of the spread of the disease may be underestimating the impact of individual incentives.

Based on cost-benefit analysis, the potential costs of Ebola spreading are extremely high and the risks may be much higher than they are currently portrayed. Voters and donors should support greater efforts to end Ebola in West Africa. As International Monetary Fund director Christine Lagarde says, “real action” is needed to counter the outbreak. Without such action Ebola places the global economy at risk.

...If Ebola spreads throughout West Africa, the cost could rise to US$32.6 billion by the end of 2015.
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http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20141113-the-economics-of-ebola

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Q&A with Rajiv ‘Raj’ Shah, USAID administrator dealing with Ebola in Liberia

Thu, 2014-11-13 11:10 — mike kraft

WASHINGTON POST Nov. 13, 2014
By Joel Achenbach
Excerpt:

"We’re now dealing with an epidemic in a different phase, which is as many as 15 to 20 microepidemics around the country [Liberia] that require a more nimble and more rapid response. So we’re working with our partners to build rapid-response teams that can quickly get to a community, identify where there are clusters of cases, very rapidly stand up a community care center, or almost a mini-ETU [Ebola Treatment Unit], and have the protective equipment and connectivity back to laboratory diagnostics that allows for accelerated disease control of those epidemics."

USAID administrator Rajiv “Raj” Shah, second from right, inspects a newly built Ebola treatment center in Monrovia, Liberia, on Oct. 14. (Abbas Dulleh/AP)