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Ebola pioneer, stem cell researcher honoured with Canada Gairdner Awards

CANADIAN PRESS                                                                                March 25, 2015
One of the co-discoverers of the Ebola virus and a leading Canadian stem cell researcher are among this year's winners of the prestigious Canada Gairdner Awards.

Dr. Peter Piot is the recipient of the Canada Gairdner Global Health Award, recognizing his work on the discovery of the Ebola virus in 1976 and his leadership in the global response to the HIV-AIDS epidemic.

Dr. Janet Rossant, chief of research at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, is the recipient of the 2015 Canada Gairdner Wightman Award, which honours a Canadian who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in medicine and medical science.

Five international scientists are also being honoured with Canada Gairdner Awards, two each from the United States and Japan and one from Switzerland....

Dr. Peter Piot won the 2015 Canada Gairdner Global Health Award in recognition of his work on the discovery of the Ebola virus in 1976 and his leadership in the global response to the HIV-AIDS epidemic. (David Azia/Associated Press)

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How to stop the next epidemic

THE ECONOMIST                                                                                    May 19, 2015

..when the next epidemic breaks out, how do we prevent it from spreading around the world? It is easier said than done.
 
First: Early detection is critical, and it relies on good surveillance. But only 64 of the 194 member states of the World Health Organisation (WHO) have the surveillance procedures, laboratories and data-management capabilities required by the International Health Regulations. Improvements in things like basic public health infrastructure are needed...

Second: A swift response to an outbreak – which might involve getting skilled people, equipment and money to the right places – can potentially save more lives than drugs and vaccines. ... The World Health Organisation and the global community were slow to recognise that there was an international public health emergency.

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Ebola-proof tablet designed by Google rolled out in Sierra Leone disease centre

THE TELEGRAPH by Aislinn Laing                                                                         March 20, 2015

An Ebola-proof tablet that can survive being doused in chlorine and can be used while wearing gloves has been developed by Google and technology volunteers for use by health workers in Sierra Leone.

 

MSFStaff testing one of the Clinical Management Tablets at the Magburaka treatment centre in Sierra Leone Photo: MSF

The Android device, based in a waterproof Sony Xperia with an extra protective casing, allows medics to safely record and share patient temperatures and symptoms over days and weeks....

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FDA panel to discuss Ebola vaccine development in May

REUTERS                                                    March 18, 2015

WASHINGTON ==The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said an advisory panel will discuss the development of Ebola vaccines, days after an American health worker was flown back after being tested positive for Ebola in Sierra Leone.

The federal health regulator would discuss the development of vaccines on May 12, it announced on its website on Wednesday.

The resurgence of the virus last year prompted drugmakers from across the world to develop new treatments that are in different stages of studies....

The World Health Organization said it will decide on mass vaccination against the virus in August.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/18/us-health-ebola-fda-idUSKBN0ME1D520150318
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See Federal Register notice of meeting.

https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/03/17/2015-06116/vaccines-and-related-biological-products-advisory-committee-notice-of-meeting

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Ebola vaccine trial to combine GSK, Emergent Bio shots

REUTERS                                                                                                          March 16, 2015

LONDON  - Scientists are to test a new two-shot Ebola vaccine using an experimental shot from Britain's GlaxoSmithKline, which is already in clinical trials in Africa, and a new kind of booster from Emergent BioSolutions.

A health worker, left, injects a man in his arm with an Ebola vaccine in Conakry, Guinea, March 7, 2015. The World Health Organization is starting large-scale testing of an experimental Ebola vaccine in Guinea  to see how effective it might be in preventing future outbreaks of the deadly virus.  (AP Photo/ Youssouf Bah)

The Maryland-based biotech company said on Monday its modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) Ebola Zaire vaccine would be used in an initial Phase I clinical study to be conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford.

Although Ebola case numbers have fallen to a low level, drug companies are still pushing ahead with efforts to develop an effective vaccine, which may help fight the next outbreak, even if it does not come in time for the current epidemic.

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'You cannot stop Ebola' US experts warned British troops

THE TELEGRAPH    by Ben Farmer                                                                           March 15, 2015

British commanders were warned last year it was impossible to halt Ebola in Sierra Leone and they were about to lose control of the deadly outbreak in its capital, it has been disclosed.

British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon on the RFA Argus hospital ship in Sierra Leone Photo: Will Wintercross/The Telegraph

United Nations and American experts said there was nothing British troops could do to stop the virus rampaging through the country and they were about to “lose Freetown”.

Loss of the capital would have triggered an international evacuation from the country, the commander of British troops revealed, as he explained for the first time the scale of the outbreak they have been fighting....

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2 Aid Workers In West Africa Are Infected With Ebola

NEW YORK TIMES  by Sheri Fink and Allan Cowell                                                         March 12, 2015

A worker from Partners In Health, the prominent American medical aid organization, and an emergency worker from the British military have been infected with the deadly virus in Sierra Leone, health officials said Thursday.

The Partners In Health worker was the first in that group to be infected since it made an ambitious commitment last fall to help combat Ebola in West Africa, and was the first American health worker in months to get the disease while working in the region. ...

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British Army medic with Ebola evacuated with two other suspected cases

THE TELEGRAPH  by  Victoria Ward and Ben Farmer   March 12, 2015  

A female Army medic who has caught Ebola while working in Sierra Leone is being flown back to Britain by the RAF, along with two workers who have been in close contact with her.

              Beatrice Yordoldo (Seated), an Ebola patient, poses for photographs with medical staff  Photo: AFP

Two further health workers who have been exposed to the unnamed soldier are being tested in Sierra Leone and could be evacuated later...

The woman is the third British health care worker confirmed to have caught the deadly virus...

Justine Greening, the Development Secretary, said the checks on the four other workers were "purely precautionary" after they had close contact with the female patient.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/ebola/11466376/British-Army-medic-with-Ebola-being-flown-back-to-UK.html

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Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey allowed to work

THE SCOTSMAN                                                                                                March 6, 2015

PAULINE Cafferkey, the Scottish nurse who contracted Ebola while working in Sierra Leone, is free to continue working while under investigation, a medical council has ruled.

 Pauline Cafferkey flew back to the UK via Casablanca and London Heathrow before landing at Glasgow Airport late on December 28.

She was admitted to hospital in Glasgow early the next morning after feeling feverish, before being diagnosed with the disease.

Last month, Public Health England said it had passed information to the General Medical Council and Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) on three nurses and two doctors after assessing the screening of healthcare workers returning to the UK.

An NMC spokeswoman said:

“The panel decided not to impose an interim order. Pauline Cafferkey is free to practise without restriction.”  The full case is likely to be held later this year.

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UK Ebola medics under investigation

BBC                                                                      Feb.23, 2015

Five UK Ebola nurses and doctors are under investigation by regulators, Public Health England says.

They are looking into the screening of medics who flew back to England on 28 December after treating patients in Sierra Leone.

                  Pauline Cafferkey was diagnosed with Ebola in December after volunteering work in Sierra Leone

On this flight was Scottish nurse Pauline Cafferkey - who developed Ebola - and some of her colleagues.

Questions have arisen over the health assessments and protocols that were followed.

Media reports have suggested Ms Cafferkey may have had signs of Ebola before leaving Sierra Leone but regulators have not commented on this.

http://m.bbc.com/news/health-31586074

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