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Ebola

Ebola466 posts

Ebola is a disease caused by an ebolavirus. Symptoms start two days to three weeks after contracting the virus, with a fever, sore throat, muscle pain and headaches. Vomiting, diarrhea and rash follow, along with decreased function of the liver and kidneys. Victims bleed both within the body and externally. From 1976 through 2013, the World Health Organization reported a total of 1,716 cases. In 2013 an outbreak started in Guinea, spreading to neighboring African countries and infectied doctors, some of who were transported back to the US for treatment. The virus continues to claim victims as it spreads to more countries.

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6 Dec, 2013

Patient Zero dies

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guinea-chart-bigPatient Zero, a two-year-old boy dies a few days after falling ill in a village in Guéckédou, a village in southeastern Guinea that borders Sierra Leone and Liberia. A week later, the virus kils the boy’s mother, then his three-year-old sister, then his grandmother. All have symptoms of the virus, including fever, vomiting and diarrhea, but at the time, no one knew what had made them ill. Two mourners at the grandmother’s funeral take the virus home to their village. A health worker carries it to another village, where he dies, as does his doctor. They both infect relatives from other towns.  WHO releases the chart of infection in August 2014.

19 Mar, 2014

First reports of outbreak

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Reuters reports that an outbreak of hemorrhagic fever has killed at least 23 people in Guinea’s southeastern forest region since February when the first case was reported. Sakoba Keita, the doctor in charge of the prevention of epidemics in Guinea’s Health Ministry says at least 35 cases have been recorded by local health officials:

Symptoms appear as diarrhea and vomiting, with a very high fever. Some cases showed relatively heavy bleeding. We thought it was Lassa fever or another form of cholera but this disease seems to strike like lightning. We are looking at all possibilities, including Ebola, because bushmeat is consumed in that region and Guinea is in the Ebola belt.

No cases of the highly contagious Ebola fever have ever been recorded in the country. Most of the victims had been in contact with the deceased or had handled the bodies.

22 Mar, 2014

75 cases, 41 deaths

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A total of 75 Ebola cases and 41 deaths are reported. There are 49 cases and 29 deaths in Guinea, eight cases and six deaths in Liberia, 16 cases and five deaths in Sierra Leone, one death in Nigeria and one case in Senegal.

24 Mar, 2014

112 cases, 71 deaths

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A total of 112 suspected Ebola cases and 71 deaths from the virus are reported in West Africa. Guinea’s Health Ministry confirms that the virus has killed 59 people, four of them health workers, and there are 86 cases including three suspected in the capital, Conakry.

4 Apr, 2014

Mob attacks Guinea Ebola treatment center

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An angry crowd attacks an Ebola treatment center in Macenta, around 425 km (265 miles) southeast of Guinea’s  capital Conakry. The crowd accused staff of bringing the disease to the town. Medecins Sans Frontieres spokesman:

We have evacuated all our staff and closed the treatment center. We have the full support of the local leaders and we’re working with the authorities to try and resolve this problem as quickly as possible so we can start treating people again.

17 Apr, 2014

248 cases, 148 deaths

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A total of 248 suspected cases and 148 deaths due to the virus are reported in West Africa. Guinea reports 197 clinical cases, including 122 deaths, with a growing amount in Conakry. Of 24 health workers infected, 13 have died. In Sierra Leone, 15 people are under surveillance but no confirmed cases are found. Tests are negative in several deaths in Mali feared to have been caused by the disease.

18 May, 2014

304 cases, 206 deaths

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The outbreak appears to have stabilised. In Guinea, five of the six prefectures where the outbreak occurred have no reported any more cases for almost a month while in Liberia no new cases have been reported since April 9. No confirmed cases are reported in Sierra Leone.

9 Jun, 2014

Sierra Leone locks down

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Sierra Leone declares a 4-day lockdown from the 18th to the 21st of September 2014. This is in a bid to tackle the Ebola outbreak in the country. The aim of the move is to allow health care workers to isolate new cases and prevent the disease from spreading further. Health workers will be given vaccines in November, after safety checks have been completed.

26 Jun, 2014

WHO: drastic action needed

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WHO calls for “drastic action” to fight the deadliest Ebola breakout on record and is convening an 11-nation meeting to address the crisis.  635 cases of haemorrhagic fever (most confirmed to be Ebola), including 399 deaths, have been reported across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, making this the larges breakout ever reported.  Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said that the deadly outbreak of the virus is “out of control”.

23 Jul, 2014

Contracts virus

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Khan contracts Ebola and is admitted to a Medecins Sans Frontieres treatment ward in Kailahun, Sierra Leone. Health Minister Miatta Kargbo:

[I will do] anything and everything in my power to ensure he survives.

24 Jul, 2014

Fears for life

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Khan tells the BBC that he fears for his life as he treats Ebola patients:

Health workers are prone to the disease because we are the first port of call for those with the disease. Even with the full kit we put on we’re at risk. I’m afraid for my life, because I cherish my life. And if you are afraid then you must take the maximum precautions, stay vigilant and stay on your guard.

27 Jul, 2014

American doctor infected

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Brantly diagnoses himself with Ebola virus while working with Ebola patients in Liberia. Brantly has body aches, pains and fever but is in a stable condition, says Ken Isaacs of North Carolina Samaritan’s Purse:

[The doctor] is not out of the woods yet, but we remain optimistic that he will survive.

The disease has killed at least 672 people in four West African countries since the outbreak began earlier this year in Guinea and spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone.

28 Jul, 2014

Liberia closes borders

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Liberian president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, closes most of the country’s borders. Ebola testing centers have been opened in the few points of entry that still remain. Public gatherings and hotels have been also ordered to play a 5-minute video on Ebola safety. Sirleaf:

No doubt the Ebola virus is a national health problem. It attacks our way of life, with serious economic and social consequences. As such we are compelled to bring the totality of our national resolve to fight this scourge.

29 Jul, 2014

Umar Khan dies of Ebola

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Khan dies after contracting Ebola. Chief medical officer Dr Brima Kargbo:

It is a big and irreparable loss to Sierra Leone as he was the only specialist the country had in viral haemorrhagic fevers.

Doctors without Borders:

His work and dedication have been greatly appreciated by the medical community in Sierra Leone for many years. He will be remembered and missed by many, especially by the doctors and nurses that worked with him. MSF’s sincere thoughts and condolences are with Dr. Khan’s family, friends and colleagues.

30 Jul, 2014

‘National tragedy’

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King’s Sierra Leone Partnership program director Dr Oliver Johnson of Connaught Hospital Freetown says Khan’s death is a national tragedy:

Dr Khan was widely known and respected for a long career and in leading the fight against Lassa fever. He’d become a real figurehead for the Ebola response so there’s a sense of deep sadness in what’s a very small community here in Freetown.

Dr Khan was friends with many of the senior doctors and nurses at Connaught Hospital, and was well known as a teacher for the medical students who were very sad yesterday, as well as the general public.

When the news first broke that he was sick, I think it added to fears amongst the many doctors and nurses about treating Ebola patients. People thought, if even Dr Khan can get sick, then any of us can get sick.

31 Jul, 2014

US to test vaccine

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The U.S. government will begin human testing on a Ebola vaccine as early as September, after seeing positive results from tests on primates, according to CNN and USA Today. The National Institutes of Health’s infectious disease unit is working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to put the vaccine into trial as quickly as possible.

1 Aug, 2014

WHO: Moving faster than efforts to control

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At a meeting in Guinea’s capital Conakry,WHO director-general Margaret Chan tells the presidents of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast that the virus could be stopped, but cultural practices such as traditional burials were a significant cause of its spread. She also says that governments may need to restrict population movements and public gatherings, and use the police and civil defence forces to guarantee the security of response teams. She also says more than 60 medical workers have died, hampering efforts to tackle the disease.

This outbreak is moving faster than our efforts to control it. If the situation continues to deteriorate, the consequences can be catastrophic in terms of lost lives, severe socioeconomic disruption and a high risk of spread to other countries.

2 Aug, 2014

Infected doctor and missionary evacuated

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Handout of the Aeromedical Biological Containment System before being fitted into a Gulfstream III aircraftBrantly and Writebol, a missionary, will fly back to US, as the Ebola outbreak is spreading too quickly. They will be flown on a jet which fitted with a tent designed for transporting patients with highly infectious diseases.

Doctor arrives in US

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Brantly, one of the American victims of the Ebola Virus, is now receiving treatment at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. Brantly is the first ever patient to receive treatment for Ebola in the United States. Every precaution being taken in the care of the doctor who remains in isolation. His wife, Amber:

It was a relief to welcome Kent home today. I spoke with him, and he is glad to be back in the U.S. I am thankful to God for his safe transport and for giving him the strength to walk into the hospital.