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Bird Flu Spreading Across West Africa, Human Spillover Feared: UN

Tue, 2015-07-21 04:27 — Kathy Gilbeaux

          

A man poses with a chicken at a local market in Gombe state, Nigeria, January 30, 2015. REUTERS/ Afolabi Sotunde

trust.org - Thomson Reuters Foundation - by Chris Arsenault - 20 Jul 2015

A highly contagious strain of avian flu is spreading across West Africa, decimating poultry farms and stoking fears the virus will jump from birds to humans, the U.N.'s food agency warned on Monday.

Markets and farms in Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Niger, Ivory Coast and Ghana have been hit with the deadly H5N1 virus over the past six months, the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.

If the virus continues to spread, it could affect more than 330 million people across West Africa, hurting food security and human health in a region still recovering from the Ebola crisis.

"Urgent action is needed to strengthen veterinary investigation and reporting systems... to tackle the disease at the root, before there is a spillover to humans," Juan Lubroth, head of the FAO's animal health division, said in a statement.

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Ebola outbreak help extends from space

Mon, 2015-07-20 14:35 — mike kraft

Telemedicine and innovative devices could help reduce unnecessary exposures to virus

(Two items, scroll down.)

CANADIAN BROADCASTING CORP.                                                                                 July 19, 2015

Space technology such as satellite images and telemedicine could play a bigger role in helping to control the Ebola outbreak that's killed more than 11,250 people, a Canadian doctor says.

Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield holds the Microflow experiment to test how the instrument counts blood cells in orbit. Such space spinoffs have the potential to be applied to outbreaks of infectious diseases on Earth. (NASA)

This week's issue of the medical journal Lancet Infectious Disease includes a commentary titled "Help from Above — outer space and the fight against Ebola."

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Ebola: 'Fear, Denial and Fatigue Fuelling Outbreak'

Mon, 2015-07-20 02:45 — Kathy Gilbeaux

               

Obi Sesay says they must get the 'last hardcore' to 'take responsibility'

bbc.com - by Tulip Mazumdar - July 14, 2015

Health officials leading the fight against Ebola in Sierra Leone say fear, fatigue and denial are allowing the virus to continue to spread.

Cases had been falling sharply since the start of the year. But the decline has stalled and more than a year since the outbreak was first declared in Sierra Leone, new cases are still emerging every week. . . .

. . . "We have not been successful in convincing a last hard core of the population to change their behaviour," said Obi Sesay, director of the National Ebola Response Centre.

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Ebola crisis update MSF

Mon, 2015-07-20 00:38 — mike kraft

 

MSF                                                  July 17, 2015

Though Ebola has faded from the news headlines, the epidemic in West Africa continues to claim lives today. Around 30 people become infected each week in Sierra Leone and Guinea – a number that would be considered a major disaster under normal circumstances – and the outbreak has recently re-emerged in Liberia.

  • Liberia: After being declared Ebola-free on 9May, six (6) new cases have been confirmed since the re-emergence of the virus at the end of June.
  • Guinea: 13 confirmed cases in the country in the week to 12July in three main hotspots (Forecariah, Boké/Fria, Conakry)
  • Sierra Leone: 14 confirmed cases in the country in the week to 12July in three main hotspots (Freetown, Port Loko, Kambia).  

Read complete report:

http://www.msf.org/article/ebola-crisis-update-17-july-2015

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Liberia Authorities Track Herbalist Who Escaped Ebola Quarantine

Sat, 2015-07-18 02:31 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

The Ebola virus treatment center where four people are currently being treated is seen in Paynesville, Liberia, July 16, 2015. REUTERS/James Giahyue

af.reuters.com - July 17, 2015

MONROVIA (Reuters) - A herbalist who treated the 17-year-old boy who sparked Liberia's third wave of Ebola infections has escaped quarantine and fled to Nimba County in the north of the country near Guinea, officials said on Thursday.

He was one of 120 people placed under quarantine for coming into contact with the deceased.

"The herbalist evaded quarantine and is on the run, this is a reason we are putting everybody on alert," Paul Karnue, a spokesman for the Nimba local government said.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

 

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Liberia says 4 remaining Ebola patients have recovered: surveillance continues

Sat, 2015-07-18 02:05 — mike kraft

ASSOCIATED PRESS by JONATHAN PAYE-LAYLEH   July 17, 2015

MONROVIA, Liberia (— The four remaining patients infected during Liberia's recent string of Ebola cases have recovered, meaning there are currently no confirmed cases in the country though more than 100 people are still under surveillance, a health official said Friday.

"There are no Ebola cases anywhere in Liberia as we speak," Deputy Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah told The Associated Press.

In an interview earlier with state media, he said the four patients had recovered and would be discharged in a ceremony on Monday.

"It is still too early to say is it is over," Nyenswah cautioned in the interview, noting that 123 contacts were being monitored.

http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/07/17/liberia-says-4-remaining-ebola-patients-have-recovered

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Re-emergence of Ebola in Liberia remains a mystery

Fri, 2015-07-17 14:11 — mike kraft

Scroll down for WHO Situation Report

USA TODAY by Gregg Zoroya and Samwar Fallah     July 16, 2015

MONROVIA, Liberia — Six cases of Ebola have surfaced in Liberia in the two months since the nation was declared free of the deadly virus, raising fears the disease lingers in the human body in ways not fully understood.

Liberians read a story about Ebola on a public chalkboard in Monrovia on July 10, 2015. Liberia has had six new cases of Ebola after the World Health Organization declared the country free of Ebola on May 9, 2015.(Photo: Ahmed Jallanzo, EPA)

Three of those cases were in the past week, doubling the number of new infections since the virus re-emerged in late June, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Wednesday....

This new patient was a nurse who died Sunday on arrival at an Ebola treatment clinic in Monrovia, according to the United Nations and the Liberian government. She had been caring for her son, who became infected with the disease in a remote village and fled to the capital.

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Group Six Deliberation Notes

Fri, 2015-07-17 03:12 — GeorgeHurlburt

Upon selection the "Read More" button below, an attachment becomes evident. This attached file contains the notes from the Group Six deliberations on "Sense-making and Situational Awareness" during the Working Meeting on July 8 at One UN Plaza in New York City. These notes were recompiled from rough notes taken at the meeting nearly a week later and may need revision. Please offer observations, comments or potential corrections using the comments capability below.

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Notes from 8 July Working Session in NYC

Fri, 2015-07-17 03:06 — GeorgeHurlburt

Upon selection the "Read More" button below, an attachment becomes evident. This attached file contains the notes from all the public presntations delivered during the Working Meeting on July 8 ay One UN Plaza in New York City. Please offer observations, comments or potential corrections using the comments capability below.

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Liberia confirms new Ebola case as outbreak spreads

Tue, 2015-07-14 17:34 — mike kraft

REUTERS   July 14, 2015

MONROVIA - A Liberian woman has died of Ebola in a hospital in Monrovia shortly after being admitted, becoming the sixth confirmed case of the virus since it resurfaced last month after a seven-week lull, a senior medical official said on Tuesday.

The victim from Montserrado County, which contains Monrovia, is thought to be linked to the other five cases from neighboring Margibi County, where the disease reemerged.

Her detection raised fears that the infection may be spreading in a new area of the country.

Read complete story.

http://news.yahoo.com/liberia-confirms-ebola-case-outbreak-spreads-120753593.html

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