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Assessment of the Risk of Ebola Virus Transmission from Bodily Fluids and Fomites

Sun, 2014-08-24 15:12 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

jid.oxfordjournals.org

  1. J Infect Dis. (2007) 196 (Supplement 2): S142-S147. doi: 10.1086/520545

Abstract

Although Ebola virus (EBOV) is transmitted by unprotected physical contact with infected persons, few data exist on which specific bodily fluids are infected or on the risk of fomite transmission. Therefore, we tested various clinical specimens from 26 laboratory-confirmed cases of Ebola hemorrhagic fever, as well as environmental specimens collected from an isolation ward, for the presence of EBOV. Virus was detected by culture and/or reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction in 16 of 54 clinical specimens (including saliva, stool, semen, breast milk, tears, nasal blood, and a skin swab) and in 2 of 33 environmental specimens.We conclude that EBOV is shed in a wide variety of bodily fluids during the acute period of illness but that the risk of transmission from fomites in an isolation ward and from convalescent patients is low when currently recommended infection control guidelines for the viral hemorrhagic fevers are followed.

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WHO says 70 die from illness in Congo, denies Ebola link

Fri, 2014-08-22 15:30 — Kathy Gilbeaux

reuters.com - (Reporting by Bienvenu Bakumanya and Emma Farge; Editing by Daniel Flynn/Mark Heinrich)
August 21, 2014

(Reuters) - At least 70 people have died in northern Democratic Republic of Congo from an outbreak of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis, the World Health Organization said on Thursday, denying that the illness was Ebola.

A WHO report dated Thursday and seen by Reuters said that 592 people had contracted the disease, of whom 70 died. Five health care workers, including one doctor, are among the dead.

"This is not Ebola," a WHO spokesman said in an email to Reuters on Thursday.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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Ebola - Aligned Organizations

Thu, 2014-08-21 15:18 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The following is a list of aligned organizations for Ebola response . . .

Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) - John Boyd, CEO
http://www.maf.org/

King's Sierra Leone Partnership (KSLP) Ebola Response Volunteers
http://kslp.org.uk/get-involved/lend-your-skills/ebola-volunteers/

Minnesotans offer helping hands, aid at epicenter of Ebola outbreak
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/271472521.html

Global Health Ministries - Ebola Outbreak Response Shipments (photos at the bottom)
http://www.ghm.org/index.php/liberia/57-projects/277-ebola-outbreak-response-shipments

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Ebola trend by country - graphical

Thu, 2014-08-21 10:38 — JSole

Reference link:

http://virologydownunder.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/ebola-virus-disease-evd-2014-west.html

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Clashes Erupt as Liberia Sets an Ebola Quarantine

Thu, 2014-08-21 10:00 — Elhadj Drame

By AUG. 20, 2014

The New York Times

MONROVIA, Liberia — Soldiers and police officers in riot gear blocked the roads. Even the waterfront was cordoned off, with the coast guard stopping residents from setting out in canoes. The entire neighborhood, a sprawling slum with tens of thousands of people, awoke Wednesday morning to find that it was under strict quarantine in the government’s halting fight against Ebola.

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Over 300 Ebola deaths traced back to a healer in Sierra Leone

Wed, 2014-08-20 17:18 — Elhadj Drame

Source: http://www.enca.com/sierra-leones-ebola-deaths-traced-back-one-healer

 

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone - It has laid waste to the tribal chiefdoms of Sierra Leone, leaving hundreds dead, but the Ebola crisis began with just one healer's claims to special powers.

The outbreak need never have spread from Guinea, health officials  told  AFP, except for a herbalist in the remote eastern border village of Sokoma.

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Liberian Security Forces Seal Slum

Wed, 2014-08-20 09:20 — JSole

      

Associated Press

Security forces deployed Wednesday to enforce a quarantine around a slum in the Liberian capital, stepping up the government's fight to stop the spread of Ebola and unnerving residents.

Liberia has the highest death toll of the four West African countries affected by the dreaded disease, and its number of cases is rising the fastest. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf ordered the quarantine and imposed a nighttime curfew that begins Wednesday, saying that authorities have not been able to curtail the spread of Ebola in the face of defiance of their recommendations. 

"These measures are meant to save lives," she said in an address Tuesday night.

During the raid this weekend in West Point slum, bloody items were stolen and potential Ebola patients fled, raising fears the disease would spread out of control in a densely populated area. It was not clear why people would steal items that might spread infection, but there are still many misconceptions about how dangerous the disease is and how it is spread.

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Liberia President Declares Ebola Curfew

Tue, 2014-08-19 22:13 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

In this undated handout photo provided by Medecins Sans Frontieres, local staff and healthcare workers for Doctors Without Borders, exit an isolation ward in Guekedou, Guinea. For doctors and nurses fighting Ebola in West Africa, working in head-to-toe protective gear in muddy health clinics is often the least of their problems, as many also struggle to convince people they are there to stop Ebola, not spread it. (AP Photo/MSF)

ap.org - by JONATHAN PAYE-LAYLEH - August 19, 2014

MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) -- Liberia's president declared a curfew and ordered security forces to quarantine a slum home to at least 50,000 people late Tuesday as the West African country battled to stop the spread of Ebola in the capital. . .

. . . Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf announced late Tuesday that a curfew is going into place from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. Security forces also will be ensuring no one goes in or out of West Point, a slum in the capital where angry residents attacked an Ebola observation center over the weekend.

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Ebola Crisis: 3 Receiving Untested Ebola Drug in Liberia Improving

Tue, 2014-08-19 21:50 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

A girl suspected of being infected with the Ebola virus has her temperature checked at the government hospital in Kenema, Sierra Leone. Although the outbreak began in Guinea, Liberia has now recorded the highest number of deaths and Sierra Leone the most cases. (Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty)

Ebola situation is 'less alarming' in Guinea than it is in Liberia and Sierra Leone, WHO says

cbc.ca - Associated Press - August 19, 2014

Three Liberian health workers receiving an experimental drug for Ebola are showing signs of recovery, officials said Tuesday, though medical experts caution it is not certain if the drug is effective. . .

. . . The three Liberians are being treated with the last known doses of ZMapp, a drug that had earlier been given to two infected Americans and a Spaniard. The Americans are also improving, but the Spaniard died.

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WHO: Ebola-Hit Countries Must Screen All Departing Travellers

Tue, 2014-08-19 20:26 — Kathy Gilbeaux

        

An immigration officer uses an infra-red laser thermometer to examine a policeman on his arrival at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, August 11, 2014.  Credit: Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde

reuters.com - August 18, 2014

GENEVA (Reuters) - Authorities in countries affected by Ebola should check people departing at international airports, seaports and major border crossings and stop any with signs of the virus from travelling, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.

The U.N. health agency reiterated that the risk of getting infected with Ebola on an aircraft was small as infected people are usually too ill to travel, and said that the risk is also very low to travellers in affected countries, namely Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

There was no need for wider travel or trade restrictions, the WHO said in a statement.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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