Africa

Ebola surging beyond control, WHO's Margaret Chan warns

Sat, 2014-09-13 16:32 — Maeryn Obley

Ebola surging beyond control, WHO's Margaret Chan warns.

Image: Ebola surging beyond control, WHO's Margaret Chan warns.

cbc.ca - September 12th, 2014

Ebola virus cases in West Africa are rising faster than the ability to contain them, the World Health Organization says, as experts warn that the exponential rise could become a worldwide disaster.

The death toll has risen to more than 2,400 people out of 4,784 cases, WHO director general Margaret Chan told reporters at the UN health agency’s headquarters in in Geneva on Friday, noting the figures could be an underestimate.

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U.S. Scientists See Long Fight Against Ebola

Sat, 2014-09-13 15:13 — Maeryn Obley

A woman in Monrovia, Liberia, passed a man believed to be infected with Ebola. Researchers say it could take 12 to 18 months to bring the epidemic under control. Credit Abbas Dulleh/Associated Press

Image: A woman in Monrovia, Liberia, passed a man believed to be infected with Ebola. Researchers say it could take 12 to 18 months to bring the epidemic under control. Credit Abbas Dulleh/Associated Press

nytimes.com - September 12th, 2014 - Denise Grady

The deadly Ebola outbreak sweeping across three countries in West Africa is likely to last 12 to 18 months more, much longer than anticipated, and could infect hundreds of thousands of people before it is brought under control, say scientists mapping its spread for the federal government.

“We hope we’re wrong,” said Bryan Lewis, an epidemiologist at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech.

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‘It doesn’t make sense’: Concerns over enlisting DoD in Ebola response

Fri, 2014-09-12 18:00 — Norea

Sept. 10, 2014: Health workers load the body of a woman they suspect died from the Ebola virus onto a truck in Monrovia, Liberia. (AP) By Lucas Tomlinson - Sep 14, 2014 - FoxNews.com

The Obama administration’s decision to enlist the Defense Department in responding to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is raising concerns that the task is pulling the already-stretched military away from other missions, including vital counter-terrorism operations.

According to a senior military official, General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said at a recent meeting: "The Department of Defense's number one priority is combating Ebola."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/09/14/it-doesnt-make-sense-concerns-over-tasking-dod-with-ebola-mission-amid/

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President Barack Obama to discuss US response to the Ebola epidemic

Fri, 2014-09-12 18:00 — Norea

Sep 13 2014 - 6:10am by Charles Omedo - thewestsidestory.net

Come next week, the United States president, Barack Obama will get personal briefing on the Ebola virus situation in West Africa from medical experts working on the epidemic, and he will also use the opportunity to lay out his government’s response plan for combating the deadly epidemic.

Four American doctors and nurses have contracted the fatal disease but were lucky to have survived after being flown back to the US for treatments with experimental drugs and blood serums. The disease has however killed over 2,550 victims according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and over 4,300 currently infected with the epidemic in West Africa.

http://thewestsidestory.net/2014/09/13/16496/president-barack-obama-discuss-us-response-ebola-epidemic/

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American Ebola Survivor Gives Blood to Infected Health-Care Colleague

Thu, 2014-09-11 18:00 — Norea

Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter - THURSDAY, Sept. 11, 2014 (HealthDay News)

An American medical missionary who survived infection with Ebola has donated blood to a colleague who's struggling to fight his own infection with the often deadly virus.

Dr. Rick Sacra was given blood transfusions from Dr. Kent Brantly last Friday, shortly after arriving at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. The 51-year-old Sacra has also been given an experimental drug and other treatments, hospital officials said.

http://www.philly.com/philly/health/topics/HealthDay691687_20140911_American_Ebola_Survivor_Gives_Blood_to_Infected_Health-Care_Colleague.html

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As Ebola grows out of control, WHO pleads for more health workers

Thu, 2014-09-11 18:00 — Norea

World Health Organization (WHO) Director general Margaret Chan (L) pauses next to Roberto Morales Ojeda, Minister of Public Health of Cuba, during a news conference on support to Ebola affected countries at the WHO headquarters in Geneva September 12, 2014. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy By Kate Kelland and Tom Miles - LONDON/GENEVA Fri Sep 12, 2014 4:20pm BST - reuters.com

The number of new Ebola cases in West Africa is growing faster than authorities can manage them, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday, renewing a call for health workers from around the world to go to the region to help.

As the death toll rose to more than 2,400 people out of 4,784 cases, WHO director general Margaret Chan told a news conference in Geneva the vast nature of the outbreak -- particularly in the three hardest-hit countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone -- required a massive emergency response.

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Global response to Ebola marked by lack of coordination and leadership, experts say

Thu, 2014-09-11 18:00 — Norea

Sept. 13, 2014 The body of a man is carried by Liberian Ministry of Health workers in the capital of Monrovia. The man died in the morning, but his body was not picked up until after 3 p.m. Locals say he died from Ebola. Michel du Cille/The Washington Post) By Lena H. Sun September 11 - washingtonpost.com

More than six months into the worst Ebola outbreak in history, there is no clear sense of who is leading the international response, how funds are being collected and disbursed, which organizations are providing equipment and personnel, and when any of these efforts will make a significant difference in slowing the epidemic in West Africa.

The confusion and lack of coordination have delayed shipments of desperately needed supplies; some of those being pledged now won’t arrive for months. For example, a 62-bed facility that the British government on Monday promised to deliver will take eight weeks to be operational; the 25-bed field hospital the Pentagon has offered will take at least a month before it is up and running.

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Guinean who brought Ebola to Senegal recovered, to return

Wed, 2014-09-10 16:02 — Elhadj Drame

Wed Sep 10, 2014 7:39pm GMT

* Student fully recovered and resting ahead of return home

* Senegal says no other suspected cases in country

* Senegal warns against other Ebola cases seeking treating care (Recasts with fresh comments from Senegal health minister)

By Diadie Ba

DAKAR, Sept 10 (Reuters) - A Guinean student who brought Ebola to Senegal has recovered from the disease and is resting before he is expected to return home, Senegal's health minister said on Wednesday.

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Official: U.S. military’s response to Ebola hampered by lack of expertise with virus

Wed, 2014-09-10 14:15 — Elhadj Drame

By Lena H. Sun, The Washington Post, September 9 at 8:47 PM

Despite President Obama’s call for increased involvement of the U.S. military in the fight against the rapidly escalating Ebola epidemic in West Africa, the United States is hamstrung by a lack of military medical personnel with expertise dealing with the deadly virus, a top official in charge of coordinating the U.S. response said Tuesday.

“There isn’t an existing cadre of people who have experience in treating this epidemic other than” the aid group Doctors Without Borders, said Nancy Lindborg of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

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