Cases rise sharply in western Sierra Leone
The National Ebola Response Center (NERC) says 49 confirmed cases emerged in a single day Monday in two Ebola zones in and around the capital, while lawmaker Claude Kamanda, who represents a western area, says more than 20 deaths are being reported daily. The uncontrolled movement of people from the interior to Waterloo, which is the gateway to the capital Freetown, has fueled the increase of cases in the west. There is a strong feeling that people are violating quarantines elsewhere and coming to Freetown through Waterloo. There are 851 total confirmed Ebola cases in the two zones, called Western Area Urban and Western Area Rural.
Lancet study
0 CommentsA study published in Lancet indicates that up to three Ebola-infected people could embark on overseas flights every month from Sierra Leono, Liberia, and Guinea. Kamran Khan, lead author:
[The study shows] that controlling the outbreak at the source is the most important thing that needs to happen
Curfew set
The restriction is imposed in the eastern town of Koidu after a dispute between youth and police over a suspected case of Ebola degenerated into gunfire and rioting. A local civil society leader says he has seen at least two bodies with gunshot wounds, while the head of the local police unit says youth had fired at officers with shotguns but denies anyone has been shot dead. The police unit commander says rioting began when a former youth leader refused health authorities permission to take her 90-year old grandmother for an Ebola test.
CDC revises hazmat gear guidelines
0 CommentsThe CDC releases guidelines recommending full-body protective suits and hoods that protect worker’s necks; setting rigorous rules for removal of equipment and disinfection of hands; and calling for a ‘site manager’ to supervise the putting on and taking off of equipment. Health workers who may be involved in an Ebola patient’s care must repeatedly practice and demonstrate proficiency in donning and doffing gear before being allowed near patients. CDC officials will demonstrate the techniques at New York’s Javits Center Tuesday to several thousand people. American Nurses Association president Pamela Cipriano:
Today’s guidance moves us forward
No new cases in five days
0 CommentsU.S. officials are hopeful that the virus has been contained after no new cases are reported in five days. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings:
We are breathing a little bit easier, but we are still holding our breath
Two vaccines ready to depoly
0 CommentsAs soon as January, two vaccines may be ready to deploy for the heavy hitting Ebola areas of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The vaccines must pass human safety trials where twenty human subjects receive injections in the United States. Researchers hope to know about safety results by late November or early December. WHO especially expresses interest in one of the vaccines from GlaxoSmithKline. Fauci:
I don’t know if that’s going to be the best one, but that’s the one farthest along in terms of development.
A Canadian company ships 800 vials for testing in the hopes that WHO approves. Kieny:
These data are absolutely crucial to allow decision-making on what dose level should go in the efficacy testing in Africa. We expect, we hope, to have a go-ahead by the end of the month.
Smith:
Both of these vaccines are the top choices for availability and production. They’re not ready for prime time if it wasn’t an emergency situation, but they are the ones the World Health Organization is supporting.
Screens visitors from US and Spain
Rwanda requires visitors who have been in the United States or Spain in the previous 22 days to be screened upon arrival in the country. Visitors are examined upon entry and those with temperatures are asked to leave. Visitors without temperatures are required to report their health conditions daily. Dr. Agnes Binagwaho, Rwanda’s health minister:
It is definitely extra work for us. We have to ensure that all citizens or any other travelers arriving from the above mentioned countries including the U.S have to be screened in an extra careful manner and follow up on them during their stay.
U.S. enforces travel restrictions
0 CommentsThe United States restricts travel from West Africa by funneling incoming passengers through five airports consisting of John F. Kennedy in New York, Newark in New Jersey and O’Hare international airports in Atlanta, Chicago and Washington Dulles. The airports essentially account for 94 percent of passengers traveling to the United States from the three hot spot countries in West Africa. Johnson:
We are working closely with the airlines to implement these restrictions with minimal travel disruption. If not already handled by the airlines, the few impacted travelers should contact the airlines for rebooking, as needed. We currently have in place measures to identify and screen anyone at all land, sea and air ports of entry into the United States who we have reason to believe has been present in Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea in the preceding 21 days.
Hospital questions ER entrants
0 CommentsBaylor Medical Center in Frisco, Tx., restricts its ER with a locked sliding glass door and a sign telling people to knock. KLIF-AM radio announcer Dave Williams says he and another person were questioned before being allowed to enter:
Have either of you been in contact with anyone who has had Ebola?’ … ‘Have either of you been to West Africa recently?’
Another sign posted on the door tells those who have traveled internationally recently and who show a variety of symptoms, not to enter patient-care areas. The hospital says the system is designed to protect staff, and that it will not turn people away from the ER.
Orders state to track Ebola travel
Jindal orders Louisiana officials to track travel to countries affected by the virus. Executive order:
[State officials] are authorized and directed to develop policies and reporting mechanisms for public employees and students, faculty, and staff of institutions of higher learning to report travel to the countries identified by the Centers for Disease Control [and Prevention] as having a threat of contracting the Ebola Virus Disease.
It could require some to disclose travel to affected countries.
Monitoring ends for 43 people
The Texas state health department says 43 people who had contact with Duncan are cleared of twice-daily monitoring after 21 days of showing no symptoms. Another 120 are still on watchlists.
Nigeria free of Ebola
The WHO says 42 days have passed since the last case tested negative. Coun try director Rui Gama Vaz:
The outbreak in Nigeria has been contained
Travel restrictions
The Harvard Crimson reports that affiliates of the school need permission from Provost Alan M. Garber and their School dean before traveling to west Africa. In a separate policy, it says any Harvard affiliate returning from Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia must complete medical screening with Harvard University Health Services before arriving on campus. Travelers could also be asked to stay away from campus for 21 days, the length of the incubation period.
Military preps domestic response team
Hagel orders the 30-member team to prepare in line with a Department of Health and Human Services request. Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby:
[The team is] an added, prudent measure to ensure our nation is ready to respond quickly, effectively and safely in the event of additional Ebola cases.
The team’s members will be selected and led by Northern Command Commander Gen. Chuck Jacoby.
Researchers address misconceptions
0 CommentsResearchers say the virus is not as easy to catch as people think, and that people who have come into indirect contact with potential patients have a relatively low risk. They also say the virus may mutate, but that it remains difficult to contract. CDC medical epidemiologist Michael Kinzer, who spent five weeks in Guinea fighting the outbreak:
There’s a reason it’s not everywhere. It’s just not as easy to transmit as people think.
CDC issues strict guidelines
Top U.S. government health officials from the CDC issue an update of strict guidelines informing American health workers to cover both skin and hair when caring for Ebola patients. The guidelines are a reaction to previous incidents where some health workers also became Ebola patients themselves. Fauci:
I don’t want to officially comment on what is being developed, but pretty soon we are going to be seeing new guidelines that, at least I can tell you, they are going to be much more stringent.
The old guidelines derive from the World Health Organization having skin exposure problems. Fauci:
We want to make sure that that’s no longer the case. That you have essentially everything covered.
Maine teacher placed on leave
0 CommentsThe teacher at Strong Elementary is placed on a 21-day paid leave of absence after parents tell the board they are concerned that she might have been exposed to Ebola during a trip to Dallas for an educational conference. School district:
At this time, we have no information to suggest that this staff member has been in contact with anyone who has been exposed to Ebola. However, the district and the staff member understand the parents’ concerns. Therefore, after several discussions with the staff member, out of an abundance of caution, this staff member has been placed on a paid leave of absence for up to 21 days.
Matt Dexter, who first raised the concerns:
What the parents were saying last night is that, you sent (this teacher) to a potentially harmful area for exposure, and then to come back and jump into the classroom on Monday seemed a little bit reckless. I’m really tired of people telling everyone, on the news, starting at the national level, ‘zero risk, low risk.’ The bottom line is that there is risk.
Monitoring of patients inconsistent
Officials say monitoring of the virus’s potential spread has been inconsistent. In one example, Dallas County chief executive Judge Jenkins told Texas Health Presbyterian to change its system so that workers who had treated Duncan were to stop seeing any patients other than Pham. The next day, the CDC allowed Vinson to fly on a commercial airliner. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas, a doctor who did his residency in Dallas:
I don’t think the directions provided to people at first were as clear as they needed to be, and there have been changes in the instructions given to people over time.
Calls for public to avoid hysteria
Obama says in his weekly address that the virus must be kept in perspective, saying that ‘what we are seeing is not an outbreak or an epidemic in America.’ He notes that there have been three cases in a nation of 300 million, and says that he has met with a recovered patient. The U.S. knows how to fight the disease and knows the protocols, and has safely treated the five Americans who contracted the disease, while the CDC is stepping up efforts, and screening measures are in place. The U.S. can’t ‘cut itself off’ from west Africa but must stop the virus at its source. He says avoid panic:
All of us – citizens, leaders, the media – have a responsibility and a role to play. This is a serious disease, but we can’t give in to hysteria or fear-because that only makes it harder to get people the accurate information they need. We have to be guided by the science. We have to remember the basic facts
‘Disaster of our generation’
0 CommentsThe British-based charity, which is working in Liberia and Sierra Leone, is calling for more troops and funding in the worst-hit areas. Chief executive Mark Goldring:
We cannot allow Ebola to immobilise us in fear, but… countries that have failed to commit troops, doctors and enough funding are in danger of costing lives.
Oxfam spokesman at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg:
The Ebola crisis could become the definitive humanitarian disaster of our generation