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ebola outbreak
Dr. David Nabarro, the UN’s senior system coordinator for Ebola, says he hopes that the outbreak can be brought under control within three months.
People were becoming aware that isolating those infected was the best way to prevent transmission, he added.
So far, there have been more than 8,300 confirmed and suspected cases of Ebola, and at least 4,033 deaths.
Most fatalities – 4,024 – have occurred in the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Cases have also been reported in Nigeria, Senegal, Spain and the US.
In a recent interview, David Nabarro said that the number of new cases was “quite frightening”, as the spread of the disease was currently accelerating.
At the beginning, many West African communities did not understand that the outbreak was an infectious disease, David Nabarro said.
So far, there have been more than 8,300 confirmed and suspected cases of Ebola, and at least 4,033 deaths
“I think we’ve got much better community involvement [now] which leads me to believe that getting it under control within the next three months is a reasonable target,” he told BBC.
“By under control I mean… the numbers of new cases each week diminishes compared with the previous week to the point where there is no new transmission.”
The Ebola virus is spread by direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or animal.
Meanwhile, New York’s JFK airport began screening passengers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea for the Ebola virus on Saturday, in an attempt to stem the outbreak.
Passengers from those countries will have their temperatures taken and have to answer a series of questions.
Checks at O’Hare in Chicago, Newark, Washington’s Dulles and Atlanta’s airport will begin in the coming days.
The screening system is being introduced after Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the US, died in Texas on October 8.
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New York’s JFK airport has started to implement the Ebola screening measures on Saturday, October 11.
The recent outbreak has killed more than 4,000 people.
Passengers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea – the worst-hit countries – will have their temperatures taken and have to answer a series of questions.
Checks at O’Hare in Chicago, Newark, Washington’s Dulles and Atlanta’s airport will begin in the coming days.
This comes after the first person died of Ebola in Texas on Wednesday, October 8.
Thomas Eric Duncan had travelled to the US from Liberia, and was only diagnosed with the disease once he arrived in Dallas.
The latest figures released by the World Health Organization (WHO) show the number of deaths attributed to the haemorrhagic fever has risen to 4,033.
The vast majority of the fatalities – 4,024 – were in the West African nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
The screening measures at JFK are starting on Saturday, with border agents checking for signs of illness such as high temperatures.
New York’s JFK airport has started to implement the Ebola screening measures on Saturday, October 11 (photo Getty Images)
Passengers from the three African nations will also be asked about their travel details before leaving for the US and also if they have been in contact with anyone suffering from Ebola.
If they answer “Yes” to any questions or are running a fever, a representative of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will intervene and provide a public health assessment.
Factsheets will be distributed to travelers with information on symptoms of Ebola and instructions to call a doctor if they become ill within three weeks.
There are currently no scheduled direct flights from the three countries to the US, with most passengers from Africa travelling via Europe.
All passengers travelling from airports in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia are already being screened for symptoms when they depart.
JFK and the four other airports account for 90% of air travelers arriving in the US. As many as 160 people enter the US from the worse-affected countries each day.
“There is no cause for alarm,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said earlier, adding that the city was “particularly well prepared”.
“Physicians, hospitals, emergency medical personnel are trained in how to identify this disease and how to quickly isolate anyone who may be afflicted.”
To test the readiness of New York, people pretending to display Ebola symptoms – the so-called “simulated patients” – have been walking into hospital emergency rooms to see if there were any weaknesses in the new system.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that the number of people killed in the Ebola outbreak has risen above 4,000.
The latest figures show there have been 8,376 cases and 4,024 deaths in the worst-affected West African nations of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The news comes as Liberian lawmakers refused to grant the president additional powers to deal with the Ebola crisis.
Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has already declared a state of emergency that allows her to impose quarantines.
The number of people killed in the Ebola outbreak has risen above 4,000 (photo AFP)
One parliamentarian, Bhofal Chambers, warned that creeping extra powers could turn Liberia into a “police state”.
The total death toll of 4,033 includes the death of a Liberian man in the US, Thomas Eric Duncan, this week and the eight people who died in Nigeria, where health authorities say they have now contained the virus.
The UN says more than 233 health workers working in West Africa have now died in the outbreak, the world’s deadliest to date.
Spanish nurse Teresa Romero is being treated for the virus after becoming infected after an Ebola patient who had been repatriated from Liberia – the country most badly hit by the disease with 2,316 deaths.
WHO Director of Strategy, Dr. Christopher Dye, has said in a recent interview that leading global health experts did not anticipate the scale of the Ebola outbreak.
He said the international response was helping but needed to continue.
Ebola is entrenched in the capitals of the worst-affected countries – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the WHO says.
The Ebola outbreak has killed more than 3,860 people in 2014, mainly in West Africa.
More than 200 health workers are among the victims.
Christopher Dye said that that although no-one was in a position to anticipate the scale of the current outbreak, the important thing was to look forward.
The Ebola outbreak has killed more than 3,860 people in 2014, mainly in West Africa
“We’ve asked for a response of about $1 billion; so far we have around $300 million with more being pledged, so a bit less than half of what we need but it’s climbing quickly all the time,” he told BBC.
In April 2014, the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) warned of the potential spread of the virus, but the WHO played down the claims, saying that Ebola was neither an epidemic, nor was it unprecedented.
On October 10, MSF reported a sharp increase of Ebola cases in the Guinean capital, Conakry, dashing hopes that the disease was being stabilized there.
Meanwhile in Mali, an experimental serum is being tested on volunteer health workers.
The trial spans several countries, and the results will be sent to experts to determine whether it is able to protect against Ebola.
Meanwhile in Spain, seven more people are being monitored in hospital for Ebola.
They include two hairdressers who came into contact with Teresa Romero, a Madrid nurse who looked after an Ebola patient who had been repatriated from West Africa.
Teresa Romero is now reported to be gravely ill but stable.
CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden has said that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is unlike anything since the emergence of HIV/AIDS.
A fast global response could ensure that it did not become “the next AIDS,” the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.
The presidents of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea appealed for more aid to help fight the disease.
The Ebola outbreak has killed more than 3,860 people, mainly in West Africa.
More than 200 health workers are among the victims.
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Teresa Romero, the Spanish nurse infected with Ebola, remembers touching her face with her gloves after treating a dying priest, a doctor in Madrid has said.
Maria Teresa Romero Ramos, 40, is the first person known to have contracted the deadly virus outside West Africa.
She had treated two Spanish missionaries who later died from Ebola.
A World Health Organization (WHO) adviser has warned that more Ebola cases can be expected among medical staff, even in developed countries.
Teresa Romero remains in quarantine in the Spanish capital along with her husband and three other people.
A fifth person, said to be a friend and colleague of Teresa Romero, was admitted on Wednesday morning with a slight fever. In all, more than 50 people in Spain are under observation.
Teresa Romero was part of a team of about 30 staff at the Carlos III hospital in Madrid looking after the missionaries when they were repatriated from West Africa.
Maria Teresa Romero Ramos is the first person known to have contracted the deadly virus outside West Africa
Miguel Pajares, 75, died on August 12 after contracting the virus in Liberia, while Manuel Garcia Viejo, 69, died on September 25 after catching the disease in Sierra Leone.
New figures released by the WHO show that more than 8,000 people have now been infected with the disease and 3,879 have died. The vast majority of deaths have been in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Teresa Romero told El Pais that she might have become infected when removing her protective suit after cleaning Manuel Garcia Viejo’s room.
“I think the error was the removal of the suit,” Teresa Romero told El Pais by phone.
“I can see the moment it may have happened, but I’m not sure about it.”
Teresa Romero added that she did not have a fever on October 8 and was “doing better”.
In another development, the woman’s husband, Javier Limon, is reported to be fighting a court order to have their pet dog put down over fears it could be carrying the disease. Animal rights groups have also criticized the move, saying there is no evidence Ebola has been spread by dogs.
Meanwhile, the head of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Sierra Leone says the rest of the world is not doing enough to combat the outbreak of the Ebola virus.
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Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola on the US soil, has died in Dallas, Texas hospital officials have said.
Thomas Eric Duncan, who caught the virus in his native Liberia, was being kept in isolation in a Dallas hospital and receiving experimental drugs.
Earlier the US announced new screening measures at entry points to check travelers for symptoms of the virus.
More than 3,000 people have died and 7,500 infected, mostly in West Africa, in the worst Ebola outbreak yet.
“It is with profound sadness and heartfelt disappointment that we must inform you of the death of Thomas Eric Duncan this morning at 7:51 am,” a spokesman said in a statement.
Thomas Eric Duncan was the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola on the US soil (photo Facebook)
The news came shortly after Secretary of State John Kerry urged all nations to boost their response to combat the virus.
“More countries can and must step up,” he said in a joint press conference with his British counterpart Philip Hammond.
The US has pledged as many as 4,000 troops to the region, while the UK is sending 750 military personnel to Sierra Leone.
Thomas Eric Duncan, who worked as a driver for a courier company, tested positive in Dallas, Texas, on September 30, 10 days after arriving on a flight from Monrovia via Brussels.
He become ill a few days after arriving in the US but after going to hospital and telling them he had been to Liberia he was sent home with antibiotics.
Four days later, Thomas Eric Duncan was placed in isolation but his condition continued to worsen and this week he was given an experimental drug.
Ten people he came into contact with are being monitored for symptoms.
Following Thomas Eric Duncan’s diagnosis, the first case of contagion outside that continent was confirmed in Spain, where nurse Teresa Romero, who treated an Ebola victim in Madrid, contracted the virus herself.
Spanish nurse Teresa Romero, is the first person known to have contracted the deadly virus outside West Africa.
Teresa Romero had treated two Spanish missionaries who later died from Ebola.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that more Ebola cases can be expected among medical staff – even in developed countries with modern health care systems.
The WHO adviser, Prof. Peter Piot, said he was not surprised that a Spanish nurse had contracted the disease.
The nurse, Teresa Romero, is the first person known to have contracted the deadly virus outside West Africa.
She treated two Spanish missionaries who died of Ebola in Madrid.
Teresa Romero, a 40-year-old auxiliary nurse, had been part of a team of about 30 staff at the Carlos III hospital in Madrid looking after Manuel Garcia Viejo and Miguel Pajares when they were repatriated from Sierra Leone and Liberia respectively.
She remains in quarantine in the Spanish capital along with her husband and three other people.
A fifth person was admitted on Wednesday morning with a slight fever. She is said to be a friend of Teresa Romero and, like her, an auxiliary nurse in the Carlos III Ebola care unit.
In all, more than 50 people in Spain are under observation.
Teresa Romero told El Mundo on October 8 that she had followed the correct protocol and had “no idea” how she had become infected. She said she was feeling “a little better” but was very tired.
Officials say earlier she had twice gone into Manuel Garcia Viejo’s hospital room, first to treat him and later to disinfect the room after his death.
Spanish media say neighbors of the infected nurse have been calling emergency services, asking how to protect their children after sharing lifts and public spaces.
Prof. Peter Piot is a world specialist in Ebola brought in by the WHO as a scientific adviser
Promising “total transparency”, Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy appealed for calm while at the same time urging vigilance.
“Let the professionals do their work. Spain’s health system is one of the best in the world,” he told parliament on October 8.
In another development, Teresa Romero’s husband, Javier Limon, is reported to be fighting a court order to have their pet dog put down over fears that it could be carrying the disease. Animal rights groups have also criticized the move, saying there is no evidence that Ebola has been spread by dogs.
Some 3,400 people have died in the current Ebola outbreak with most of the deaths in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
There have been nearly 7,500 confirmed Ebola infections worldwide, with officials saying the figure is likely to be much higher in reality.
WHO experts have insisted that modern hospitals with rigorous disease control measures would prevent infection – but the case of the Madrid nurse proves that is far more difficult than many thought.
Prof. Peter Piot, a world specialist in Ebola brought in by the WHO as a scientific adviser, warned that even the simplest movement, like rubbing your eyes, is a risk.
“The smallest mistake can be fatal,” he said.
“For example, a very dangerous moment is when you come out of the isolation unit you take off your protective gear, you are full of sweat and so on.”
Many of those who have died of Ebola in West Africa have been health care workers.
Meanwhile the US military is stepping up its efforts to respond to the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
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Spanish authorities are investigating a hospital in Madrid after a nurse became the first person known to have contracted the deadly Ebola virus outside West Africa.
The nurse had treated two Spanish missionaries who died of the disease after being flown home from the region.
Three other people, including the nurse’s husband, have been quarantined.
The European Commission has asked Spain to explain how the nurse could have become infected.
Some 3,400 people have died in the outbreak – mostly in West Africa.
The Spanish auxiliary nurse, a 40-year-old woman who has not been named, was one of about 30 staff at the Carlos III hospital in Madrid who had been treating priests Manuel Garcia Viejo and Miguel Pajares, officials say.
Manuel Garcia Viejo, 69, died at the hospital on September 25 after catching Ebola in Sierra Leone. Miguel Pajares, 75, died in August after contracting the virus in Liberia.
The nurse had twice gone into the room where Manuel Garcia Viejo had been treated, to be directly involved in his care and to disinfect the room after his death. Both times she was wearing protective clothing.
Madrid healthcare director Antonia Alemany told reporters that according to the information available: “The nurse went into the room wearing the individual protection gear and there’s no knowledge of an accidental exposure to risk.”
The Spanish nurse was one of about 30 staff at the Carlos III hospital in Madrid who had been treating priests Manuel Garcia Viejo and Miguel Pajares
Shortly afterwards the nurse went on holiday, a hospital spokesman said, but fell ill on September 30 and was admitted to Alcorcon hospital in south-west Madrid on October 5 after being tested positive for Ebola.
Early on Tuesday she was moved under police escort to Carlos III hospital in the capital and is said to be in a stable condition.
The Spanish health authorities say she is being treated with a drip using antibodies from previous Ebola patients.
Her husband and a second nurse who treated the missionary are now in quarantine, officials said, as well as a man who recently arrived on a flight from Nigeria.
Doctors are also monitoring 22 people who the nurse had contact with at Alcorcon hospital, and 30 people working at Carlos III, according to health sources quoted by Spanish newspaper El Pais.
They include an ambulance crew, and doctors and nurses, and have all been contacted by the health authorities.
It was not clear where the nurse had gone on holiday.
It is also unclear how she could have contracted Ebola.
The hospital was reported to have had extreme protective measures in place including two sets of overalls, gloves and goggles.
However, health workers told El Pais newspaper that the clothing did not have level-four biological security, which is fully waterproof and with independent breathing apparatus.
Instead it was level two, the paper says, as photographs provided by staff indicated that the overalls did not allow for ventilation and the gloves were made of latex and bound with adhesive tape.
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A Spanish nurse, who treated a victim of Ebola in Madrid, has tested positive for the disease, the health minister has confirmed.
The nurse is said to be the first person in the current outbreak known to have contracted Ebola outside Africa.
Health Minister Ana Mato said the woman was part of the team that treated Spanish priest Manuel Garcia Viejo, who died of the virus on September 25.
Some 3,400 people have died in the outbreak – mostly in West Africa.
The nurse is in a stable condition, Reuters quoted health officials as saying. She started to feel ill last week when she was on holiday.
She was admitted to hospital in Alcorcon, near Madrid, on Monday morning with a high fever, Ana Mato said.
Doctors isolated the emergency treatment room.
The infection was confirmed by two tests, the minister said.
The Spanish nurse is said to be the first person in the current outbreak known to have contracted Ebola outside Africa
Manuel Garcia Viejo died in the hospital Carlos III de Madrid after catching Ebola in Sierra Leone.
Another Spanish priest, Miguel Pajares, died in August after contracting the virus in Liberia.
Ebola spreads through contact with the bodily fluids of someone who has the virus and the only way to stop an outbreak is to isolate those who are infected.
There have been nearly 7,500 confirmed infections worldwide, with officials saying the figure is likely to be much higher in reality.
Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have been hardest hit.
Celebrations in West Africa for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha are being badly affected by the Ebola outbreak, with many public places deserted this weekend.
Earlier, US health officials said passengers arriving in the US from Ebola-affected countries in West Africa could be subject to extra screening at airports.
But the White House said on Monday it was not considering a ban on passengers from such countries, according to Reuters news agency.
It comes as the US tries to limit the spread from its first confirmed case, a Liberian national, Thomas Eric Duncan, in Dallas.
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Health officials have announced that passengers arriving in the US from Ebola-affected countries in West Africa could be subject to extra screening at airports.
Extra checks at entry is one of the options under consideration as the US tries to limit the spread of its first confirmed case, a Liberian in Dallas.
President Barack Obama is to be briefed on the Ebola crisis later on Monday, October 6.
The Ebola outbreak is the world’s deadliest, killing more than 3,400 people, mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
Celebrations in West Africa for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha have been badly affected, with public places used for prayers deserted.
One of the US president’s advisers on the issue, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said “discussion is underway right now” regarding all options to contain the virus.
Passengers arriving in the US from Ebola-affected countries in West Africa could be subject to extra screening at airports
On airport checks, Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN the question was whether “the extra level of screening is going to be worth the resources you need to put into it”.
Passengers leaving affected countries already have their temperatures checked, but people do not become infectious until they display symptoms.
The infected Liberian in Dallas, Thomas Eric Duncan, was monitored for symptoms when he left Liberia but they did not develop until four days later, when he was in the US.
Thomas Eric Duncan is now in a critical condition in hospital.
Ten people who came into direct contact with him are being closely monitored but no-one has yet displayed any Ebola symptoms.
When asked about screening, Dr. Thomas Frieden of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said: “We are looking at all options to protect Americans.”
However, he ruled out banning flights to the US because isolating these countries would only increase the outbreak within Africa and would deny them crucial aid, he said.
On the White House meeting later on Monday, Thomas Frieden said: “We’re going to be covering many aspects and figure out what we can do” to protect Americans and stop the outbreaks.”
But he repeated that he did not believe it would spread in the US.
“We can stop it in its tracks here, which we are doing,” he said.
A national survey by the Pew Research Center, suggests most Americans trust the government to prevent a major outbreak – 20% have a “great deal” of confidence, while another 38% said they have a “fair amount” of confidence.
A plane carrying American journalist Ashoka Mukpo, who contracted Ebola while working in Liberia, landed on Monday in Nebraska, where he will undergo treatment for the deadly disease.
Other US aid workers who have been flown home are now recovering after treatment.
A French nurse who contracted the virus in Liberia has recovered after having experimental medication in Paris.
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Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola within the US, has deteriorated from a serious to a critical condition, doctors in the state of Texas say.
Thomas Eric Duncan, who caught the virus in his native Liberia, is being treated at a Dallas hospital in isolation.
Earlier it emerged that the flat where he lived is being cleaned by hazardous materials specialists and its remaining four occupants moved to a private home.
Some 3,431 people have died in West Africa in the worst Ebola outbreak yet.
On October 3, a senior US military figure said the US could deploy as many as 4,000 troops to the region to help contain the outbreak, which has hit hardest in West African four nations.
While Thomas Eric Duncan is the first person to be diagnosed within the US, three American aid workers and a photojournalist contracted the virus in Liberia.
Thomas Eric Duncan is the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola within the US
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital issued a six-word statement about Thomas Eric Duncan on October 4, saying only that: “Mr. Duncan is in critical condition.”
Earlier his condition had been described as serious but stable.
Ebola spreads through contact with the bodily fluids of someone who has the virus and the only way to stop an outbreak is to isolate those who are infected.
There have been nearly 7,500 confirmed infections worldwide, with officials saying the figure is likely to be much higher in reality.
Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have been hardest hit.
Celebrations in West Africa for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha are being badly affected by the Ebola outbreak, with many public places deserted this weekend.
Meanwhile, a French nurse who got the virus in Liberia has recovered after having experimental treatment in Paris, it has emerged.
A Senegalese medical expert who was infected in Sierra Leone has also been discharged from a hospital in the German city of Hamburg.
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Freelance photojournalist Ashoka Mukpo was diagnosed with Ebola on Thursday, October 2, and was being cared for at a treatment centre in the Liberian capital, Monrovia.
His family said he was expected to leave there on Sunday, October 5, and arrive at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha on Monday, October 6.
Ashoka Mukpo, 33, was in high demand, contributing to a range of sites including NBC News, Vice News, Africa Is a Country and Al Jazeera English, among others.
His stories reveal a humanitarian striving to show the world Ebola’s horrors.
Ashoka Mukpo was diagnosed with Ebola in Liberia (photo Facebook)
On September 30, Ashoka Mukpo began a freelance job with NBC News as part of a news crew in Liberia telling the story of Ebola’s latest outbreak for NBC properties.
On October 1, Ashoka Mukpo felt tired, achy and sick. He has had a few fever scares before, but told friends he thought this time it was real. He quickly self-quarantined; then, on October 2, he tested positive for Ebola at a Doctors Without Borders facility.
Ashoka Mukpo, who hails from Providence, Rhode Island, arrived in Liberia on September 4, returning after a brief absence to a region he called home for the past several years. He was scheduled to stay in the country through October 4.
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The occupants of the Dallas flat where Thomas Eric Duncan lay sick for days with Ebola have been moved from their home.
Thomas Eric Duncan, who caught the virus in his native Liberia, is now in a serious condition in hospital. This is the only Ebola case recorded so far in the US.
The flat in Dallas where he lived before being isolated is being cleaned by hazardous materials specialists.
The four people living there have been moved to a private home offered by a volunteer.
Louise Troh, thought to be Thomas Eric Duncan’s girlfriend, her 13-year-old son and two nephews have spent days inside the flat under the orders of health officials.
The family was driven away from the home in a police car, after officials failed to find shelter for them.
Hotels, flats and others had refused to offer them accommodation, before a private residence was offered.
“No one wants this family,” said Sana Syed, a Dallas city spokeswoman.
More than 3,431 people have died in four West African countries in what has become the world’s worst ever Ebola outbreak.
The flat in Dallas where Thomas Eric Duncan lived before being isolated is being cleaned by hazardous materials specialists (photo AP)
Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said the US could deploy as many as 4,000 troops to West Africa to help contain the outbreak.
Although Thomas Eric Duncan is the first person to be diagnosed within the US, four Americans have contracted the virus in Liberia.
Three aid workers have recovered after flying back to the US for treatment but a fourth, photojournalist Ashoka Mukpo, 33, is expected to be flown home over the weekend.
Thomas Eric Duncan’s diagnosis was confirmed on September 30, 10 days after he arrived in the US to visit relatives and friends.
As well as the four who shared his flat, another six people who had contact with Thomas Eric Duncan have been identified by Texas health officials as higher risk.
Thomas Eric Duncan, a courier driver, is believed to have taken a sick patient to a clinic in Liberia.
Authorities there have accused him of lying on an Ebola questionnaire prior to leaving the country and say they plan to prosecute him upon his return.
On October 3, Howard University hospital in Washington DC said a patient had come in with symptoms “associated with Ebola”.
The patient was being kept in isolation while he was tested for the disease. He had recently travelled from Nigeria.
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An American cameraman working in Liberia has tested positive for Ebola.
The 33-year-old freelancer is to be flown home to the US for treatment.
The unnamed cameraman has been working in Liberia for three years for a number of media outlets, most recently NBC News.
More than 3,330 people have died in four West African countries in what has become the world’s worst outbreak.
President Barack Obama has pledged federal support to contain the spread in the US, after the first case there.
A Liberian man diagnosed in Texas on September 30 remains in a serious condition.
The cameraman is the fourth American known to test positive for Ebola, all diagnosed in Liberia.
Three American aid workers were separately flown back to the US for treatment and they are all recovering.
There have been 7,178 confirmed Ebola cases in total, with Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea suffering the most (photo AP)
The cameraman was only hired by NBC News on September 30, the broadcaster said, and he came down with symptoms – including fever and aches – the following day.
After seeking medical advice, he tested positive for the virus.
NBC News President Deborah Turness informed staff of the news in a statement.
“We are doing everything we can to get him the best care possible. He will be flown back to the United States for treatment at a medical center that is equipped to handle Ebola patients.”
The rest of the NBC crew including the network’s chief medical editor, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, are being flown back to the US on a private charter flight and will be placed under quarantine for 21 days, Deborah Turness added.
Meanwhile, as many as 100 people in Texas are being checked for exposure to Ebola, after Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian national, was diagnosed with the virus in Dallas.
Thomas Eric Duncan flew to the US two weeks ago to visit relatives.
A number of them have been ordered to stay home while they are watched for signs of the disease.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings was called by President Barack Obama on October 2 who promised to help with whatever was needed from federal resources to stop it spreading.
Thomas Eric Duncan was the first person diagnosed on US soil and on October 2, Liberian officials said they would prosecute him for lying on an Ebola questionnaire form prior to leaving the country.
The Ebola outbreak has prompted dire warnings of economic collapse in West Africa if infection rates continue.
There have been 7,178 confirmed Ebola cases in total, with Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea suffering the most.
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Leading charity Save the Children has warned that a rate of five new Ebola cases an hour in Sierra Leone means healthcare demands are far outstripping supply.
Save the Children said there were 765 new cases of Ebola reported in Sierra Leone last week, while there are only 327 beds in the country.
Experts and politicians are set to meet in London to debate a global response to the Ebola outbreak crisis.
It is the world’s worst outbreak of the virus, killing 3,338 people so far.
There have been 7,178 confirmed cases, with Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea suffering the most.
Save the Children says Ebola is spreading across Sierra Leone at a “terrifying rate”, with the number of new cases being recorded doubling every few weeks.
It said that even as health authorities got on top of the outbreak in one area, it spread to another.
Ebola is spreading across Sierra Leone at a terrifying rate, with the number of new cases being recorded doubling every few weeks
The scale of the disease is also “massively unreported” according to the charity, because “untold numbers of children are dying anonymously at home or in the streets”.
Earlier this month, Britain said it would build facilities for 700 new beds in Sierra Leone but the first of these will not be ready for weeks, and the rest may take months.
Save the Children said that unless the international community radically stepped up its response, people would continue to die at home and risk infecting their family and the local community.
“We are facing the frightening prospect of an epidemic which is spreading like wildfire across Sierra Leone, with the number of new cases doubling every three weeks,” said Rob MacGillivray, Save the Children’s country director in Sierra Leone.
Safety trials for two experimental vaccines are under way in the UK and US, the WHO said on Wednesday, and will be expanded to 10 sites in Africa, Europe and North America in the coming weeks.
It said it expected to begin small-scale use of the experimental vaccines in West Africa early next year.
The Ebola Donors Conference in London on October 2 is being hosted by the UK and Sierra Leone governments. Its main agenda is to discuss what the global community can do to provide an effective international response to the epidemic.
It will be chaired by UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, who said he hoped it would “raise even greater awareness of the disease and what is needed to contain it, encourage ambitious pledges and show our solidarity with Sierra Leone and the region.”
The first Ebola case diagnosed on US soil has been confirmed in Dallas, Texas.
According to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital officials, the unidentified patient is being kept in isolation.
The man is thought to have contracted the virus in Liberia before travelling to the US nearly two weeks ago.
More than 3,000 people have already died of Ebola in West Africa and a small number of US aid workers have recovered after being flown to the US.
“An individual travelling from Liberia has been diagnosed with Ebola in the United States,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Thomas Frieden told reporters on September 30.
Thomas Frieden said the unnamed patient left Liberia on September 19 and arrived in the United States the next day to visit relatives, without displaying any symptoms of the virus.
Symptoms of the virus became apparent on September 24, and on September 28 he was admitted to a Texas hospital and put in isolation.
The first Ebola case diagnosed on US soil has been confirmed at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital
The disease, which is not contagious until symptoms appear, is spread via close contact with bodily fluids.
Aid workers who caught Ebola in West Africa have come back to the US for treatment but this is the first case of a patient developing the virus on US soil.
A hospital official told reporters on September 30 the facility already had procedures in place to deal with any such potential cases.
Preliminary information indicates that the unnamed patient, who was described as critically ill, was not involved in treating Ebola-infected patients while in Liberia.
Health officials are working to identify all people who came into contact with the unnamed patient while he was infectious.
Those people will then be monitored for 21 days to see if an Ebola-related fever develops.
According to Thomas Frieden, it is possible a family member who came in direct contact with the patient may develop Ebola in the coming weeks.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says more than 3,000 people have died of the virus so far, mostly in Liberia.
Earlier on Tuesday, the CDC said the Ebola virus seemed to be contained in Nigeria and Senegal, with no new cases reported there for almost a month.
It is the world’s most deadly outbreak of the Ebola virus.
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Liberian chief medical officer Bernice Dahn has put herself under quarantine for 21 days, after one of her assistants died from the deadly Ebola virus.
Deputy Health Minister Bernice Dahn said she had no symptoms but wanted to take every precaution.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says more than 3,000 people have died from Ebola in West Africa.
Liberia has been the worst hit by the disease, accounting for 1,830 deaths – 150 in the last two days alone.
Health workers have been particularly vulnerable to the virus, which is spread by the infected bodily fluids of patients.
Liberian chief medical officer Bernice Dahn has put herself under Ebola quarantine for 21 days
Health organizations recommend isolating people for at least 21 days, which is the maximum incubation period for the virus.
Bernice Dahn said she had not come into contact with any other infected people, apart from the office assistant who died this week, but wanted to take every precaution.
She has also instructed her staff to stay at home for the same time period.
The WHO highlighted the risk of infection for health workers trying to stem the outbreak in its latest report released on September 26.
The report said 375 workers are known to have been infected, and that 211 have so far died from the virus in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
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Sierra Leone has widened the Ebola quarantine to include another one million people in an attempt to curb the spread of the disease.
President Ernest Bai Koroma has announced that northern districts of Port Loko and Bombali, and Moyamba in the south will be sealed off immediately.
Nearly 600 people have died of the virus in Sierra Leone where two eastern districts are already blockaded.
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama has said the world needs to act faster to halt the West Africa Ebola outbreak.
“There is still a significant gap between where we are and where we need to be,” Barack Obama told a high-level United Nations meeting on Ebola.
2,917 people have died in the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa, with Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea worst affected, according to new figures released by the World Health Organization (WHO).
President Ernest Bai Koroma’s announcement follows a three-day nationwide lockdown that ended on Sunday night.
Sierra Leone has widened the Ebola quarantine to include another one million people in an attempt to curb the spread of the disease (photo AP)
Two eastern districts have been isolated since the beginning of August and the extension of the indefinite quarantine means more than a third of Sierra Leone’s 6.1 million population now finds itself unable to move freely.
During Sierra Leone’s three-day curfew, more than a million households were surveyed and 130 new cases discovered, the authorities say.
President Ernest Bai Koroma said the move had been a success but had exposed “areas of greater challenges”, which was why other areas were being quarantined.
Only people delivering essential services can enter and circulate within areas under quarantine.
In a televised address, the president acknowledged that the blockade would “pose great difficulties” for people.
“[But] the life of everyone and the survival of our country take precedence over these difficulties,” he said.
According to WHO, the situation nationally in Sierra Leone continues to deteriorate with a sharp increase in the number of newly reported cases in the capital, Freetown, and its neighboring districts of Port Loko, Bombali, and Moyamba, which are now under quarantine.
The WHO said despite efforts to deploy more health workers and open new Ebola treatment centers in the worst-affected countries, there was still a significant lack of beds in Sierra Leone and Liberia, with more than 2,000 needed.
The situation in Guinea had appeared to be stabilizing, but with up to 100 new confirmed cases reported in each of the past five weeks, it was still of grave concern, it said.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that Ebola infections will treble to 20,000 by November if efforts to tackle the outbreak are not stepped up.
A new analysis suggests about 70% of those infected have died, higher than the 50% previously reported.
There have been 2,800 deaths so far and the disease remains “a public health emergency of international concern”, the UN agency said.
Trials of experimental drugs are being fast tracked in West Africa.
Meanwhile, more information on the spread and likely scale of the epidemic has emerged.
Projections published in The New England Journal of Medicine suggest by early November there will have been nearly 20,000 cases.
A new analysis of confirmed cases suggests death rates are higher than previously reported at about 70% of all cases.
The WHO has warned that Ebola infections will treble to 20,000 by November 2014 if efforts to tackle the outbreak are not stepped up
And WHO scientists said numbers were predicted to rise exponentially, raising the possibility that the disease could become endemic [regularly found] in West Africa.
Nearly all of the deaths in the world’s worst Ebola outbreak have been recorded in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Dr. Christopher Dye, Director of Strategy for WHO, said projections suggest “unless control measures – including improvements in contract tracing, adequate case isolation, increased quality of care and capacity for clinical management, greater community engagement, and support from international partners – improve quickly, these three countries will soon be reporting thousands of cases and deaths each week”.
Dr. Christopher Dye, co-author of the study, called for “the most forceful implementation of present control measures and for the rapid development and deployment of new drugs and vaccines”.
It came as The Wellcome Trust charity announced that experimental drugs would be tested in West Africa for the first time.
Several drugs are under development, but they have not been fully tested and most are in very short supply.
They include the drug ZMapp, which has been given to a handful of infected health workers.
Dr. Peter Horby, of the Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health at the University of Oxford, said the first trials could begin in West Africa as early as November.
Dr. Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, said therapeutics alone were not an answer.
Sierra Leone’s three-day curfew aimed at containing the Ebola outbreak has been declared a success by authorities.
They say more than a million households were surveyed and 130 new cases discovered.
Sierra Leone is one of the countries worst affected by the outbreak, with nearly 600 of the almost 2,800 total deaths recorded so far.
Some health groups have criticized the lockdown, saying it would destroy trust between patients and doctors.
Nearly all of the deaths in the world’s worst Ebola outbreak have been recorded in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says the situations in Senegal and Nigeria have now been “pretty much contained”.
Sierra Leone’s three-day curfew aimed at containing the Ebola outbreak has been declared a success by authorities
According to the UN agency, the number of overall deaths from Ebola has risen to 2,793 and the disease remains “a public health emergency of international concern”.
The deadly virus is transmitted through sweat, blood and saliva, and there is no proven cure.
About 100 dead bodies believed to be of Ebola victims, which could otherwise have been secretly buried without homes being quarantined, were retrieved and buried, officials say.
Bodies of Ebola victims are highly contagious and their swift burial is considered key to containing the disease.
Many people have been reluctant to seek treatment for Ebola, on the basis that there is no cure, even though about half of those infected have recovered with the help of rest and rehydration.
Ambulances are in short supply, as are the isolation wards to look after patients, with almost all Ebola treatment centers confined to the east of the country.
There are also too few teams available to bury the dead, partly because of the social stigma attached to the role.
The curfew in Sierra Leone came into force on September 19, with the country’s six million inhabitants confined to their homes.
Around 30,000 medical volunteers travelled to affected neighborhoods to find patients and distribute soap.
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A three-day lockdown has come into effect in Sierra Leone in a bid to stop the spread of the Ebola virus.
The aim of the move is to keep people confined to their homes while health workers isolate new cases and prevent Ebola from spreading further.
Critics say the lockdown will destroy trust between doctors and the public.
Sierra Leona is one of the countries worst hit by West Africa’s Ebola outbreak, which has killed more than 2,600 people.
The UN Security Council on Thursday declared the outbreak a “threat to international peace and security”.
The Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution calling on states to provide more resources to combat it.
A three-day lockdown has come into effect in Sierra Leone in a bid to stop the spread of the Ebola virus (photo Reuters)
The medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has been strongly critical of the lockdown, arguing that ultimately it will help spread the disease.
MSF, whose staff is helping to tackle the outbreak, said in a statement this month that quarantines and lockdowns “end up driving people underground and jeopardizing the trust between people and health providers”.
“This leads to the concealment of potential cases and ends up spreading the disease further.”
But the authorities insist that the measure “will minimize the spread of the virus”, and that thousands of officials would be deployed to make sure residents stayed indoors.
Volunteers will go door-to-door to test people for the virus and take infected people to treatment centers.
The Ebola virus infects humans through close contact with infected animals, including chimpanzees, fruit bats and forest antelope.
It then spreads between humans by direct contact with infected blood, bodily fluids or organs, or indirectly through contact with contaminated environments.
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Guinean authorities searching for a team of health workers and journalists who went missing while trying to raise awareness of Ebola have found several bodies.
A spokesman for Guinea’s government said the bodies included those of three journalists in the team.
They went missing after being attacked on Tuesday, September 16, in a village near the southern city of Nzerekore.
More than 2,600 people have now died from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
It is the world’s worst outbreak of the deadly disease, with officials warning that more than 20,000 people could ultimately be infected.
The three doctors and three journalists disappeared after being pelted with stones by residents when they arrived in the village of Wome – near where the Ebola outbreak was first recorded.
One of the journalists managed to escape and told reporters that she could hear the villagers looking for them while she was hiding.
A government delegation, led by the health minister, had been dispatched to the region but they were unable to reach the village by road because a main bridge had been blocked.
On Thursday night, government spokesman Albert Damantang Camara said eight bodies had been found, including those of three journalists.
Guinean authorities searching for a team of health workers and journalists who went missing while trying to raise awareness of Ebola have found several bodies (photo WHO)
He said they had been recovered from the septic tank of a primary school in the village, adding that the victims had been “killed in cold blood by the villagers”.
The reason for the killings is unclear, but correspondents say many people in the region distrust health officials and have refused to co-operate with authorities, fearing that a diagnosis means certain death.
Last month, riots erupted in the area of Guinea where the health team went missing after rumors that medics who were disinfecting a market were contaminating people.
Speaking on September 18, French President Francois Hollande said his country was setting up a military hospital in Guinea as part of his country’s efforts to support the West African nations affected by the outbreak.
Francois Hollande said the hospital was a sign that France’s contribution was not just financial, adding that it would be in “the forests of Guinea, in the heart of the outbreak”.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on September 18 that more than 700 new cases of Ebola have emerged in West Africa in just a week, showing that the outbreak was accelerating.
The WHO said there had been more than 5,300 cases in total and that half of those were recorded in the past three weeks.
The Ebola epidemic has struck Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria and Senegal.
A three-day lockdown is starting in Sierra Leone in a bid to stop the disease spreading.
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President Barack Obama has announced the US measures to combat the Ebola virus as he called the outbreak in West Africa “a threat to global security”.
“The world is looking to the United States,” Barack Obama said, but added the outbreak required a “global response”.
The measures announced included ordering 3,000 US troops to the region and building new healthcare facilities.
Ebola has killed 2,461 people this year, about half of those infected, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.
The announcement comes as UN officials have called the outbreak a health crisis “unparalleled in modern times”.
Among the measures announced by Barack Obama on September 16:
- Building 17 healthcare facilities, each with 100 beds and isolation spaces, in Liberia
- Training as many as 500 health care workers a week
- Developing an air bridge to get supplies into affected countries faster
- Provide home health care kits to hundreds of thousands of households, including 50,000 that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) will deliver to Liberia this week
Ebola only spreads in close contact but there is no cure and no vaccine. The outbreak began in Guinea before spreading to its neighbors Sierra Leone and Liberia.
President Barack Obama has announced the US measures to combat the Ebola virus as he called the outbreak in West Africa a threat to global security
Barack Obama said the outbreak had reached epidemic proportions in West Africa, as the disease “completely overwhelmed” hospitals and clinics and people were “literally dying on the streets”.
He called on other countries to step up their response, as a worsening outbreak would lead to “profound political, economic and security” issues.
There’s a “potential threat to global security if these countries break down”, he said, which would impact on everyone.
“The world knows how to fight this disease. We know if we take the proper steps we can save lives. But we have to work fast,” Barack Obama said.
Earlier, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the 3,000 troops would not provide direct care to Ebola patients. Some soldiers would be stationed at an intermediate base in Senegal, while others will provide logistical, training and engineering support at locations in Liberia.
Also on September 16, a US congressional panel heard testimony from Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the national Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, and Dr. Kent Brently, who recovered from an Ebola infection after receiving an experimental treatment for the disease.
Dr. Anthony Fauci told the committee 10 volunteers in a separate vaccine study had shown no ill effects from an early stage trial.
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UN’s Ebola co-ordinator David Nabarro has said that more than $1 billion is needed to fight the West Africa Ebola outbreak – a tenfold increase in the past month.
David Nabarro made the announcement as the World Health Organization (WHO) described the health crisis as “unparalleled in modern times”.
The Ebola virus has killed 2,461 people this year, half of the 4,985 infected, the global health body said.
There has been criticism of the slow international response to the epidemic.
Later, President Barack Obama is to announce plans to send 3,000 troops to Liberia, one of countries worst-affected by the outbreak, to help fight the virus.
It is understood the US military will oversee building new treatment centers and help train medical staff.
Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) called on other countries to follow the US lead as the response to outbreak continued to fall “dangerously behind”.
The outbreak began in Guinea before spreading to its neighbors Sierra Leone and Liberia.
More than $1 billion is needed to fight the West Africa Ebola outbreak (photo AFP)
Nigeria and Senegal have reported some cases, but seem to have contained the transmission of the virus.
“We requested about $100 million a month ago and now it is $1 billion, so our ask has gone up 10 times in a month,” David Nabarro told a briefing in Geneva.
“Because of the way the outbreak is advancing, the level of surge we need to do is unprecedented, it is massive.”
At the briefing WHO deputy head Bruce Aylward announced the new Ebola case figures.
“Quite frankly, ladies and gentlemen, this health crisis we’re facing is unparalleled in modern times. We don’t know where the numbers are going on this,” he said.
When the WHO had said it needed the capacity to manage 20,000 cases two weeks ago “that seemed like a lot”, Dr. Bruce Aylward said.
“That does not seem like a lot today,” he added.
At the same briefing, MSF president Joanne Liu said there needed to be “co-ordinated response, organized and executed under clear chain of command”.
Sick people in the Liberian capital were banging on the doors of MSF Ebola care centers desperate for a safe place in which to be isolated, Dr. Joanne Liu said.
“Tragically, our teams must turn them away; we simply do not have enough capacity for them,” Dr. Joanne Liu said.
“Highly infectious people are forced to return home, only to infect others and continue the spread of this deadly virus. All for a lack of international response.”
On September 16, the WHO welcomed China’s pledge to send a mobile laboratory team to Sierra Leone, which will include epidemiologists, clinicians and nurses.
“The most urgent immediate need in the Ebola response is for more medical staff,” WHO head Margaret Chan said in the statement.
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