Ebola Outbreak in Port Harcourt: Why did Dr. Enemuo treat Diplomat in Hotel?

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0SFpG9CAAKHsuoYB4MvMr6S0dPXHxcLj7hhM0xiDbHtakI__GL2qBn-cjqxrS0AmdU89V77vDzBIkFvLWPoJIcxwJNT9LTDpbtj1fld4gu5_ZzLNxQscPSAN_b9OIRisdgSpNQoRkw4Y/s1600/amaechi-ebola.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0SFpG9CAAKHsuoYB4MvMr6S0dPXHxcLj7hhM0xiDbHtakI__GL2qBn-cjqxrS0AmdU89V77vDzBIkFvLWPoJIcxwJNT9LTDpbtj1fld4gu5_ZzLNxQscPSAN_b9OIRisdgSpNQoRkw4Y/s1600/amaechi-ebola.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" /></span></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Governor of Rivers state, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi</span></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> Please no more handshake, keep your hands in your pocket until we contain the disease”.<br /><br />The foregoing were the words of Governor Chibuike Amaechi in Government House, Port Harcourt four days after the first death was recorded from Ebola virus in the state.<br /><br />Though it is not in any law book in the state but it is now like a taboo to shake hands in Government House, Port Harcourt. This new culture that came with the first recorded case of death from Ebola virus is gradually becoming the norm in several parts of the state.<br /><br />The whole of last week, friends, colleagues and business associates who ordinarily would shake hands as part of their greetings and exchange of banters merely waved or cup their right fist in the air, saying “ I greet you in Jesus name” or “ Ebola greetings”.<br /><br />The state government had consistently maintained that there was no Ebola case in the state until last week Thursday when the Commissioner  for Health, Dr Sampson Parker announced with a heavy heart the first<br /><a href="" name="more"></a>casualty of the dreaded virus. According to him, Doctor Iyke Sam Enemuo who died from Ebola virus treated a diplomat, a staff of Economic Community of West Africa, ECOWAS, who escaped from a quarantine centre in Lagos to Port Harcourt.<br /><br />The diplomat was reportedly in the team that received the index case, late Patrick Sawyer when he came to the country. Like others who contracted the virus from Sawyer the diplomat also did.<br /><br /><b>Why treat the Diplomat in a hotel?</b><br /><br />It was not clear who asked the diplomat to check into a hotel in Port Harcourt for his treatment. But the state Commissioner for  Health, Dr Parker confirmed that the diplomat checked into a hotel in the state capital. And the late Dr. Enemuo was going there to treat him.<br /><br />The Diplomat who allegedly fled a quarantine centre in Lagos chose to remain incommunicado, switching off his phones while in Port Harcourt.<br /><br />He reportedly regained his health and headed back to the quarantine centre in Lagos, apparently for a certificate of clean health.<br /><br />But how come the Diplomat received his treatment in a hotel when Dr Enemuo ran a clinic on East West road in Rumuokoro area of Obio Akpor local government area, Rivers state is the question on many lips. The Diplomat and his late doctor could certainly answer the question. Meantime, speculations had it that the late doctor, Enemuo didnot want his patients in his hospital to be affected with the virus and that was why he arranged for the Diplomat to be treated in a hotel.<br /><br />Another angle to the story said the diplomat feared he could be tracked to any hospital so he offered to hide in a hotel and take his treatment. A third dimension to the issue said the diplomat and his deceased doctor feared that if he was admitted into a hospital, staff of the place could tip government off on the presence of an Ebola patient.<br /><br />Meantime, one week after the Diplomat left, Dr Enemuo took ill. His wife who is also a doctor took up the responsibility to manage him. When the situation seemed like it was getting out of hand, they reportedly approached the first hospital that rejected him until the Medical Director, Good Heart Clinic offered to assist. Dr Enemuo vomitted blood and was stooling. The Medical Director of the Good Heart hospital who suspected that the patient could have contracted the virus, alerted the state Ministry of Health. Blood samples were taken but Dr Enemuo died before the result which confirmed he had Ebola came out.<br /><br />Painfully, his wife according to the Commissioner  for  Health, Dr. Parker showed symptoms of the disease and was quarantined. At the time of this report the Commissioner said about 100 persons who had primary and secondary contact with the deceased were on the watch list of the state government.<br /><br />Saturday Vanguard gathered that the late Enemuo and his wife have a three-month old female child.<br /><br /><b>Corpse of late Enemuo caused panic at UPTH</b><br /><br />The remains of the late Dr Enemuo deposited at the morgue of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching hospital caused tension as families hurriedly discharged their relatives from the hospital. Some workers in the morgue lamented that they were not told when the Corpse was brought in, that it was a case of Ebola virus.<br /><br />A top staff of the hospital who spoke off camera said there was no need to panic as all measures had been taken to ensure the corpse did not create problem for staff.<br /><br />Residents who offered comments to the Vanguard said the corpse should have been cremated. “Since a test had confirmed that it was an Ebola case, cremation should have been done on it rather than keep it in the morgue”.”Government should shut down the morgue”, another staff said.<br /><br /><b>Hand sanitizer sells for N1000 and above</b><br /><br />Hand sanitizer that hitherto sold for N300 has suddenly gone up to N1000 and above as most organisations insist as an un written code that the liquid must be applied on the hand before any one steps into their officers. Some organisations even went a step further to acquire easy handle equipment to test body temperature. A security man told the Vanguard that temperature above 36 were politely turned back at the company’s gate.<br /><br /><b>Long sleeve shirts now in vogue</b><br /><br />Fear that the virus is contracted from body fluid like sweat, spittle, and so on have triggered off a new sense of fashion in Port Harcourt.You see more longsleev shirts on streets now.” I wear longsleev shirts now because it protects my body from fluid in other people s body.”<br /><br /><b>Commercial sex workers lament low patronage</b><br /><br />Commercial sex workers who hang around night life areas in the new GRA , Port Harcourt grumbled about poor patronage since the outbreak of the disease. “ I am an Aristo, ( a euphemism for commercial sex workers,) Ebola has spoilt our runs. Its so bad now that the real men dont come around anymore. You see small small boys coming to take advantage of the bad weather to talk sex with us”, a giel said.<br /><br /><b>Ebola is politics</b><br /><br />Surprisingly youths who spoke to the Vanguard at some local restaurants code named Long bench in Port Harcourt said the whole issue of Ebola was riddled with politics. “How do you convince me that a state that said there was no Ebola case a day before suddenly woke up the next day to say they had 100 persons on its watch list. I am confused. It is all politics. I am not saying it is not there but the various governments are playig politics with it. How do you say people are on watchlist yet they walk freely on our streets”, this source queried.<br /><b><br />Youths in Emohua protest location of Quarantine centre</b><br /><br />Before the outbreak of Ebola in the state youths of Emohua local government had protested against the siting of the Ebola quarantine centre in Oduoha community in the local government. They feared that the disease was airborne. It took effort of the state Commissioner of Health, Dr Parker to calm them. Some had also said the local government already housed Disease control hospital so it would be unfair to site Ebola quarantine centre in the area.<br /><br />Meantime, governor Amaechi has assured that the state was capable to contain spread of the virus, adding that it would work with the federal government and other foreign based organisations to manage the situation.<br /><br />“I don’t want anybody infected to feel shy and possibly take it to the rural areas because it could affect your children, family and relations and may result to death. That will be too disastrous. When you have high fever that you can’t account for, please, don’t go to any Primary health centre, come to the corridors of government and our doctors will pick you and give you adequate treatment. It is not a case all doctors can handle. Our doctors will take care of your medical treatment, feed you, so you can survive. You can see that a lot of patients infected by the Ebola virus have been successfully discharged in Lagos State. That is because of the quick response by those who reported and received adequate medical care,””There is no need to panic because the Ebola virus is not air borne.”, he said.<br /><br />The fear of Ebola has suddenly gripped all residents of the state. All you hear in Port Harcourt is” God save us from Ebola”.</span></div> </div>

Ebola Outbreak in Port Harcourt: Why did Dr. Enemuo treat Diplomat in Hotel?

Governor of Rivers state, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi  Please no more handshake, keep your hands in your pocket until we contain the dis...

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Nigeria Confirms New Ebola Cases, Boy Killed In Liberia Quarantine Zone

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margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div class="ad_wrapper" id="ad_sharebox_260x60" style="background-image: url(http://s1.huffpost.com/images/front-page-sprite.png?v5); background-position: 0px -375px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; padding: 12px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div id="adsDiv1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Two alarming new cases of Ebola have emerged in Nigeria, widening the circle of people sickened beyond the immediate group of caregivers who treated a dying airline passenger in one of Africa's largest cities.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The outbreak also continues to spread elsewhere in West Africa, with 142 more cases recorded, bringing the new total to 2,615 with 1,427 deaths, the World Health Organization said Friday.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Most of the new cases are in Liberia, where the government was delivering donated rice to a slum where 50,000 people have been sealed off from the rest of the capital in an attempt to contain the outbreak.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">New treatment centers in Liberia are being overwhelmed by patients that were not previously identified. One center with 20 beds opened its doors to 70 possibly infected people, likely coming from "shadow-zones" where people fearing authorities won't let doctors enter, the U.N health agency said.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"This phenomenon strongly suggests the existence of an invisible caseload of patients who are not being detected by the surveillance system," the agency said. This has "never before been seen in an Ebola outbreak."</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The two new cases in Nigeria were infected by their spouses, both medical workers who had direct contact with Liberian-American Patrick Sawyer, who flew into Nigeria from Liberia and Togo and infected 11 others before he died in July. The male and female caregivers also then died of Ebola, Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said Friday.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Nigerian officials initially claimed the risk of exposure to others was minimal because Sawyer was whisked into isolation after arriving at the airport. Lagos state health commissioner Jide Idris later acknowledged that Sawyer was not immediately quarantined.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The two new cases were quarantined two days ago while being tested, Chukwu said. They had previously been under surveillance, meaning they were contacted daily to see if they developed any symptoms, but their movements were not restricted. Once they showed signs of the disease, they were brought in.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Authorities are now trying to identify and monitor everyone they have been in contact with.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In all, 213 people are now under surveillance in Nigeria, including six people, all "secondary contacts" like the caregivers' spouses, being monitored in the state of Enugu, more than 310 miles (500 kilometers) east of Lagos.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A mobile laboratory capable of diagnosing the disease has been moved there, Chukwu said.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Nigeria's total of confirmed infections is now 16. Five of them have died and five have recovered; the rest are being treated in isolation in Lagos, the commercial capital where Sawyer's flight landed.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The damage has been far greater in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, each dealing with hundreds of cases. Liberia has been hit hardest, recording 1,082 cases and 624 deaths.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In Liberia, a teenage boy died after being shot by security forces in West Point, a slum that was blockaded this week to stop the spread of Ebola, a Liberia government spokesman said Friday. Shakie Kamara was hurt in a clash with police and soldiers who sealed off their peninsula from the rest of Monrovia.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Days earlier in West Point, slum dwellers ransacked a holding center for Ebola patients after realizing that some patients had come from other parts of the city. Looters then made off with bloody sheets and mattresses that could spread the disease.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The government began distributing rice, some of it donated by the World Food Program, to alleviate food shortages a day after cordoning off the slum, said Information Minister Lewis Brown.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Some countries also continue to impose travel restrictions, even though they aren't recommended by the UN health agency.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On Friday, the Central African country of Gabon announced it was barring all flights and ships from Ebola-stricken countries. South Africa already announced a travel ban for non-citizens from these countries "unless the travel is considered absolutely essential." Senegal closed its borders with Guinea, and is barring air or sea travel from Sierra Leone and Liberia. Cameroon barred flights from Nigeria.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">__</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Paye-Layleh reported from Monrovia, Liberia. Associated Press writers Maram Mazan in Lagos, Nigeria; Babacar Dione in Dakar, Senegal; and Yves-Laurent Goma in Libreville, Gabon, contributed reporting.</span></div> </div> <footer style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, FreeSans, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><section class="also-on" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h3 style="border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;"> <br /></h3> </section></footer></div>

Nigeria Confirms New Ebola Cases, Boy Killed In Liberia Quarantine Zone

 | By BASHIR ADIGUN and JONATHAN PAYE-LAYLEH  Share Tweet Email Comment ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) —...

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Ebola:Nigerians descend on Sawyer's wife for defending husband

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <header class="post-header cf" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 21px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="featured" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <a href="http://sunnewsonline.com/new/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/sawyer-mrs.jpg" itemprop="image" rel="prettyPhoto" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Ebola: Nigerians descend on Sawyer’s widow"><span style="color: black;"><img alt="sawyer mrs" class="attachment-main-slider wp-post-image no-display appear" height="336" src="http://sunnewsonline.com/new/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/sawyer-mrs-702x336.jpg" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Ebola: Nigerians descend on Sawyer’s widow" width="702" /></span></a></div> <h1 class="post-title" itemprop="name" style="border: 0px; float: left; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 35px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 18px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ebola: Nigerians descend on Sawyer’s widow</span></span></h1> <a class="comments" href="http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=77340#comments" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px -35px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="fa fa-comments-o" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto; vertical-align: baseline;"></span> </span></span></a></header><div class="post-container cf" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div class="post-content-right" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div class="post-content description" itemprop="articleBody" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px -1.857em; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></strong></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">■ For defending husband</strong></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Decontee Sawyer, widow of the late Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer who imported the deadly Ebola virus into Nigeria has come under scathing criticisms from Nigerians for defending her late hus­band’s mission in Nigeria at a time he was said to have been placed under medical surveillance by authorities in Liberia for showing symptoms of the virus.<b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></b></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Initial reports about the Liberian’s mission in Nigeria had claimed that the late Sawyer flew into Nigeria on July 20, 2014 with intention of participating in an ECOWAS event that held in Calabar. However in a swift defense his widow, was reported by TMZ, a Liberian magazine, to have said her late husband came to Nigeria for proper medical attention as he didn’t have trust in Liberia’s healthcare system.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The magazine credited Sawyer’s widow to have said, “I’ve read other reports in other papers (not the New York Times) about Patrick’s ‘recklessness.’ I get where they’re coming from, and they certainly have the right to feel the way they do. However, as Patrick’s widow, I would like to shed some light on this from another perspective. One that only I, his wife, would know,” she wrote.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I knew Patrick better than anybody else (including him). He had told me many times in the past how much he didn’t trust the Li­berian healthcare system. He would tell me about how a person would get checked in for one thing, and get misdiagnosed and get the wrong treatment as a result. On top of that, Patrick was a clean freak, and told me how filthy a lot of the hospitals were.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“He didn’t tell me this, but I know in my heart of hearts that Patrick was determined to get to Nigeria by all means because he felt that Nigeria would be a place of refuge. He had expressed to me so many times in the past, how passionately he felt about helping to be a part of strengthening Liberia’s healthcare system, because he knew it wasn’t there yet, and he wouldn’t want to take a chance with his life because a lot of people depended on him- Patrick had a passion for life, and he wouldn’t have wanted it to end this way. So, I bet the only thing that he was thinking was, ‘if only I could get to Nigeria, a way more developed country than Liberia, I would be able to get some help.’ How ironic!”</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ostensibly piqued by the ravaging effect of Ebola virus in the country, many Nige­rians have taken to social media to express their anger against the defense put forward by Sawyer’s widow. A<i style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Facebook </i>user, Engineer Ogbodo Joy, called on Sawyer’s widow to go for an Ebola test rather than try to defend her late husband whom he dubbed Ebola terrorist. “The wife of the Ebola terrorist should just have her mouth shut, instead of making a whole lot of noise. Hope she has gone for her own treatment of the disease, or is she waiting to see a country where she would go and spread the virus as her husband did or is she waiting for our na­tion to get over the disease that her husband infested us with, before she comes over to Nigeria and infect us with her own disease, since Nigeria has become their abode where they can always come over to spread the deadly disease. Nigeria has now become the best nation for every medical attention,” he said cynically.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In another reaction, Rabiu Muhammed asked rather rhetorically, “why didn’t your husband travel to America for quality health care service,” adding, “Good health care my foot! Pure terrorist, now he will sure get the good health care he needs by taking along all those he has infected and killed. Don’t know how such a callous soul will find rest. He is absolutely wicked, what stopped him from telling every one that he has Ebola or was he dumb on arrival. Wondering if he was even paid by those evil Boko Haram,”</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Nonso Ekpunobi expressed doubt over Sawyer’s widow’s defence saying: “May the good Lord forgive your husband for delib­erately putting the lives of over 140 million people into such risk. You should immedi­ately apologize to the President you insulted while offering your lame and unintelligent excuses.”</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Amina Dauda had no kind word for the bereaved widow either: “She works as a radio host in New York and she didn’t advise her hubby to seek good medical help in US. She should tell her stupid cooked up story to the dead. The money they paid them for this dastardly act, will cause their downfall,”</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Arrant nonsense, rubbish!” Stella-Maris Obianiberi Imeri thundered in her Facebook post. “Patrick Sawyer was an American citizen, why didn’t he head for America to get the best medical care?</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Toye Olori, had a similar question for Mrs. Sawyer, “If he knew he had such a disease and wanted help, is the U.S, where the wife works and stays not the best place to go seek medical attention? Why head to Nigeria where we also complain of inade­quate health facilities. Did he not know that health workers in Nigeria were on strike and Nigerians were losing their lives daily due to lack of treatment? The woman should just shut up. He was used by the devil to bring problems on an already troubled nation period. God help us,” Olori noted.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">For Abdul Kolawole, the late Sawyer’s visit to Nigeria when he was aware of having contracted the virus, is indefensible, “Your husband’s action is indefensible. He was avoiding contact with fellow Liberians in Monrovia, but he allowed unsuspecting Nigerians to have unrestrained access to him on arrival in Nigeria and didn’t disclose to care-givers at the hospital he was rushed to in Lagos that he had Ebola. He didn’t disclose his Ebola status at the airport to seek help, which you claimed he desperately wanted. Rather he claimed to be suffering from malaria and it was after two tests on him for malaria had returned negative that he was suspected to be a carrier of Ebola. Even after being told about this suspicion, he went into some kind of rage, removed his drip, spilled some blood and got many infected. What can be more wicked and crazy than this behavior? With your defense, Mrs. Sawyer, you are also an accomplice,” Kolawole noted.</span></div> <div> <br /></div> </div> </div> </div> </div>

Ebola:Nigerians descend on Sawyer's wife for defending husband

Ebola: Nigerians descend on Sawyer’s widow   ■ For defending husband Decontee Sawyer, widow of the late Liberian-American, Patr...

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EBOLA OUTBREAK: A nurse's story, being on the front lines of Ebola outbreak

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-688137362155151242" itemprop="description articleBody" style="position: relative; width: 670px;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ZmtDj3c29sYIgEBtFi590hwMAuBa2jCWJ93HZTcoRLhNr_Ter2OS0gPvQzBx-vlO0_PXtr-kWWMR5fw3A8i9TiS8lAkpjlbQ9lYgeSGF_Ns1-GXf8ji2hHInyR5zUo_cva1GWd0N7KE/s1600/monia-saya-in-guineaimg1290.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ZmtDj3c29sYIgEBtFi590hwMAuBa2jCWJ93HZTcoRLhNr_Ter2OS0gPvQzBx-vlO0_PXtr-kWWMR5fw3A8i9TiS8lAkpjlbQ9lYgeSGF_Ns1-GXf8ji2hHInyR5zUo_cva1GWd0N7KE/s1600/monia-saya-in-guineaimg1290.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="640" /></span></a></div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>Nurse Monia Sayah (R) standing with a recovered patient and the nurse supervisor at the Doctors Without Borders facility in Guinea where she treated Ebola patients.</i><br /><br />When Doctors Without Borders nurse Monia Sayah first arrived in Guinea in March, she couldn't have known she would witness the worst Ebola outbreak in history. Back then, there were 59 confirmed deaths from Ebola, a virus which can be fatal in up to 90 percent of cases. The death toll in West Africa has since soared to 932, the World Health Organization said Wednesday. In Guinea, where the first cases were reported in March, Ebola has killed 363 people.<br /><br />"The fear is palpable," Sayah said, speaking to CBS News in New York after returning from her latest assignment. "People are very afraid because they never know if Ebola's going to hit their family or their village."<br /><br />Because of the fear and stigma associated with the virus, Sayah said many infected people are choosing to hide their illness and often don't check in to treatment centers until it is too late. By that point, there is very little Sayah and her colleagues can do. They try to rehydrate the patients and administer antibiotics. But there is no proven treatment for Ebola, though an experimental drug is currently being tested.<br /><br />Concerns have also been growing for the safety of medical workers in the field. A leading doctor died in Sierra Leone last week. A Nigerian nurse who treated that country's first Ebola victim died from the virus, Nigerian health officials said Wednesday, and two American medical missionaries infected with Ebola in Liberia are still battling the virus at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.<br /><br />But Sayah, who has spent a total of 11 weeks in Guinea, said she is not afraid. She and her colleagues take strict precautions to limit their risk of exposure. Before entering a high-risk zone, they suit up in head-to-toe protective clothing including gloves and goggles. "You do have to follow the rules," she said, "but accidents do happen."<br /><br />She has to limit the amount of time she spends in the infected area. It's hot under the protective clothing, and exhaustion and dehydration are serious concerns. "The risk is you could faint, you could fall. You do not want to fall in a high-risk area," she said. "Maybe your goggles will move up and your eye will be infected."<br /><br />Working so closely with patients at death's door has taken a personal toll. Sayah described the anguish of stepping outside a treatment facility to take a quick break from the intense heat, only to find that her patient had died in those ten minutes she was away. "It was really hard for me to know that they had died alone," she said, "not with someone holding their hands and reassuring them."<br /><br />Sayah recalled the "hectic" challenges of setting up some of the first international treatment facilities for Ebola patients. By the end of May, she said, the medical community thought they had almost contained the virus. But soon after she left Guinea, another cluster of infected patients was found in another village. The virus was spreading like wildfire.<br /><br />Several factors are contributing to the spread. The virus has an incubation period of up to 21 days, according to the WHO, and in West Africa the population is highly mobile, moving easily across porous cross-country borders. Traditional burial ceremonies in which relatives have direct contact with the body can also play a role in the transmission of Ebola.<br /><br />Sayah found that many local communities distrust the healthcare system and foreigners. "Some have said we brought the Ebola to them," she said. "It's very difficult to contain the outbreak when communities are not cooperating." There were instances of infectious patients leaving the facility, she said, and many weren't receptive to the idea of isolation -- a crucial step in containing the virus.<br /><br />During her breaks from the field, Sayah stays in touch with her colleagues on the front lines, hoping for the slightest bit of good news. Just this past week, she heard some. One of the patients who'd been under her care was discharged from hospital, apparently free of the virus.<br /><br />But the situation on the ground remains dire, and Sayah hopes to see a greater response from the international community.<br /><br />Despite the challenges, Sayah said she will return to West Africa to fight the outbreak. "When you're there and you see how much needs to be done," she said, "there is not a question of 'should I go back or not?'"<br /><br />Source: CBSNEWS</span><br /> <br /> <a class="goog-inline-block share-button sb-facebook" href="http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=3731154553234800432&postID=688137362155151242&target=facebook" style="background-image: url(https://www.blogger.com/img/share_buttons_20_3.png) !important; background-position: -60px 0px !important; display: inline-block; height: 20px; margin-left: -1px; overflow: hidden; position: relative; text-decoration: none; width: 20px;" target="_blank" title="Share to Facebook">Share to Faceboo</a><iframe data-gapiattached="true" frameborder="0" hspace="0" id="I0_1408250895878" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="I0_1408250895878" scrolling="no" src="https://apis.google.com/u/0/se/0/_/+1/fastbutton?usegapi=1&source=blogger%3Ablog%3Aplusone&size=medium&width=300&annotation=inline&origin=http%3A%2F%2Fekpoesitonse.blogspot.co.uk&url=http%3A%2F%2Fekpoesitonse.blogspot.com%2F2014%2F08%2Fa-nurses-story-on-front-lines-of-ebola.html&gsrc=3p&ic=1&jsh=m%3B%2F_%2Fscs%2Fapps-static%2F_%2Fjs%2Fk%3Doz.gapi.en.Y7yo-hE6f2w.O%2Fm%3D__features__%2Fam%3DAQ%2Frt%3Dj%2Fd%3D1%2Ft%3Dzcms%2Frs%3DAItRSTOCCewNInyW1jNvLdupkCgdxhOtiQ#_methods=onPlusOne%2C_ready%2C_close%2C_open%2C_resizeMe%2C_renderstart%2Concircled%2Cdrefresh%2Cerefresh&id=I0_1408250895878&parent=http%3A%2F%2Fekpoesitonse.blogspot.co.uk&pfname=&rpctoken=29325104" style="border-style: none; height: 20px; left: 0px; margin: 0px; position: static; top: 0px; visibility: visible; width: 300px;" tabindex="0" title="+1" vspace="0" width="100%"></iframe></div> <div class="post-footer" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(102, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; margin: 20px -2px 0px; padding: 5px 10px;"> <div class="post-footer-line post-footer-line-1"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div> </div> </div>

EBOLA OUTBREAK: A nurse's story, being on the front lines of Ebola outbreak

Nurse Monia Sayah (R) standing with a recovered patient and the nurse supervisor at the Doctors Without Borders facility in Guinea where...

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Ebola: Nigerians blast US FDA for calling its experimental drug, pesticide

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suffers  huge social media backlash from Nigerians yesterday, over its description of Nano Silver as a pesticide, a drug which was recently announced by the country’s Health Minister, Onyebuchi Chukwu, to be an experimental treatment of patients affected with the deadly Ebola disease.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <a href="http://dvsl3w2q45hb8.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Ebola-Fashola11.jpg" style="-webkit-transition: background-color 0.2s linear, border-top-color; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: background-color 0.2s linear, border-top-color; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><img alt="Ebola-Fashola1" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-459859" height="266" src="http://dvsl3w2q45hb8.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Ebola-Fashola11.jpg" style="-webkit-transition: margin 0.2s linear, box-shadow; border: none; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; transition: margin 0.2s linear, box-shadow;" width="412" /></span></a></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The FDA’s warning was made  on the heels of comments by Chukwu, who reportedly said on Thursday that eight Ebola patients in Lagos will receive an experimental treatment called nano-silver.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The agency said it had received consumer complaints about the Ebola claims. “Individuals promoting these unapproved and fraudulent products must take immediate action to correct or remove these claims or face potential FDA action,” the agency said. <a href="http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/08/ebola-nano-silve-pesticide-says-us-fda/" style="-webkit-transition: background-color 0.2s linear, border-top-color; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: background-color 0.2s linear, border-top-color; vertical-align: baseline;">Click here</a> for more on FDA’s warning on Nigeria’s Nano Silver</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As the US FDA’s warning went viral, Nigerians erupted with outrage on social media as they mostly express the need for their country to protect lives of its citizenry after US declined giving out its’ Zimapp.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">One Joseph Anthony writes, “West made a lot of mistakes on the road to there so called “state of art medicines”. We had no opportunity to scrutinize Zmapp. Let’s take a bold step to try something. Nothing is as strong as a proof.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We may try it with rodents and watch out for cultured results or patterns and if we get the gut feeling to proceed based on the results the why not! Let’s ignore everyone. For once let’s look inward for solutions we are not toilet to receive processed products by others.” He ended</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Another commentator, who identifies self as Zuby expressed that when an African says he can cure AIDS or Ebola they tell him to shut up, say it’s impossible or not possible without testing it. He stressed that the drug should be offered to one person who already has Ebola and if it doesn’t work then we know for sure it’s doesn’t.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Abidemi Adekunle pleaded with America, saying they should be magnanimous enough to release the very drug that is working for them to other nations now that WHO has authorised the use of experimental drug.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“If its pesticide, we need it that’s all. How do we come about Ebola? In fact I guess they cultured the virus and send it to Africa because we rejected gay marriage. If you could remember that such has been done some years back against China through SARS” says one Anigbogu Okechukwu</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">From the FDA’s report, it was also revealed that Silver has been in use for centuries. FDA states that over the years, tiny silver particles known as nano-silver have controversially been incorporated into a variety of consumer products such as socks and bedding to help block odors caused by bacteria and mold over.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This is happening at a time doctors and nurses attending to victims of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, at Mainland Hospital, Lagos isolation centre, downed tools following allegation of negligence by concerned relatives and associates of the female medical doctor and health workers who contracted the EVD from the late Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Meanwhile Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, had pleaded with the health workers on the need to get back to during  a media briefing in Lagos, yesterday.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/08/ebola-nigerians-blasts-us-fda-for-calling-its-experimental-drug-pesticide/#sthash.5RoK2ulc.dpuf</span></div>

Ebola: Nigerians blast US FDA for calling its experimental drug, pesticide

U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suffers  huge social media backlash from Nigerians yesterday, over its description of Nano Silver...

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Woman In Scotland Tested For Ebola Virus

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <header class="story__header" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><div class="story__standfirst" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin-bottom: 40px; max-width: 64%;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Health officials say the woman is being tested as a precautionary measure following the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.</span></div> <div class="last-updated" style="bottom: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 40px; max-width: 40%; position: absolute; right: 0px; text-align: right;"> <div class="last-updated__text" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"> <span class="last-updated__time" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">20:54, UK,</span></span><span class="last-updated__day" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); box-sizing: border-box;"></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span class="last-updated__day" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Friday 15</span> <span class="last-updated__month-year" style="box-sizing: border-box;">August 2014</span></div> </div> </header><div class="story__content-outer-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; padding: 0px 332px 0px 0px; width: 992px;"> <section class="story__media" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="module module--primary" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; width: 660px;"> <div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 25px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--16x9" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 371px; position: relative;"> <img alt="" class="image__item js-responsive" data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="144x81 362x204 762x428 942x530 1600x900" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/8/328183/default/v2/453249452-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/8/328183/default/v2/453249452-1-1600x900.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 371px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 660px;" /></div> </div> </div> </section><div class="story__content-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <div class="share" style="box-sizing: border-box; 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margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A female detainee who became ill at an immigration removal centre is to undergo tests for the Ebola virus.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The woman, understood to have arrived from Sierra Leone, was being held at Dungavel Detention Centre in South Lanarkshire.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A spokesman for NHS Lanarkshire said: "We are currently investigating a possible case of Viral Haemorrhagic Fever (Ebola).</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"This is a precautionary measure and it would appear at this stage to be highly unlikely the patient will test positive for Ebola."</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A Home Office spokesman said: "We do not comment on operational matters."</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The case comes amid growing international concern about the <a href="http://news.sky.com/story/1319044/ebola-epidemic-is-like-war-time-says-msf" style="background-position: 0px 0px; border-bottom-color: rgb(203, 203, 203); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Ebola outbreak in West Africa.</span></a></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">More than 1,000 people have died and almost 2,000 suspected, probable or confirmed Ebola cases have been recorded there.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Health experts say they are struggling to contain the epidemic, which started in Guinea last March.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It has since spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ebola is transmitted by direct contact with the body fluids of a person who is infected.</span></div> <div> <br /></div> </section><section class="partner-links" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 60px; max-width: 540px; overflow: hidden;"><div class="partner-links__external" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </div> </section></div> </div> </div>

Woman In Scotland Tested For Ebola Virus

Health officials say the woman is being tested as a precautionary measure following the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. 20:54, UK, Fri...

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Spanish Priest With Ebola Dies In Hospital

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <section class="story__media" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="module module--primary" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; width: 660px;"> <div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 25px;"> <br /></div> <div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 25px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--16x9" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 371px; position: relative;"> <img alt="" class="image__item js-responsive" data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="144x81 362x204 762x428 942x530 1600x900" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/12/328877/default/v1/miguel-pajares-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/12/328877/default/v1/miguel-pajares-1-1600x900.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 371px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 660px;" /></div> <div class="image__caption" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1.25rem; min-height: 40px; padding: 10px 8px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Fr Miguel Parajes was flown from Liberia for treatment. Pic: Change.org</span></div> <div class="image__caption" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1.25rem; min-height: 40px; padding: 10px 8px;"> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.25rem; line-height: 1.5rem;">The first European victim dies, as a panel of medical experts says it is ethical to offer unproven drugs amid the deadly outbreak.</span></div> <div class="image__caption" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1.25rem; min-height: 40px; padding: 10px 8px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A Spanish priest who contracted ebola while working in Liberia has died in hospital, health authorities in Madrid have confirmed. </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Father Miguel Pajares was the first European infected by a strain of the virus that has killed more than 1,000 people in West Africa. </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He was airlifted from Liberia on August 7 after becoming infected while working for a non-governmental organisation there.</span></div> <div class="image__caption" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1.25rem; min-height: 40px; padding: 10px 8px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The 75-year-old was flown to Spain for treatment with his co-worker Juliana Bohi, a nun who has since tested negative for the disease.</span></div> </div> <div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 25px;"> <section class="story__content" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 80px; max-width: 100%; min-height: 18.75rem; position: relative;"><div class="image image--inline" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative;"> <img alt="" class="image__item js-responsive" data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="91x68 300x225 480x360" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/7/327878/default/v2/453260778-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/7/327878/default/v2/453260778-1-480x360.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> <div class="image__caption" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1.25rem; min-height: 40px; padding: 10px 8px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Fr Parajes had been in quarantine in Madrid's Carlos III Hospital</span></div> </div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Spain's Health Ministry said Fr Pajares was being treated with the experimental drug ZMapp, manufactured by U.S. company Mapp Biopharmaceutical. </span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Two US aid workers infected by the disease have shown some signs of improvements since being given the drug, which had only previously been tested on monkeys.</span></div> <div class="module module--inline video" data-format-high="http://video.news.sky.com/video/h264/vod/700/2014/08/070814EBOLASPAINSEQ1407421765458700.mp4" data-format-low="http://video.news.sky.com/video/h264/vod/374/2014/08/070814EBOLASPAINSEQ1407421765458374.mp4" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;"> <div class="video__placeholder-wrapper js-video" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; height: 0px; padding-bottom: 303px; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--16x9" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 303px; position: relative;"> <img alt="" class="image__item video__teaser-image js-responsive" data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="144x81 362x204 762x428 942x530" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/7/327956/default/v1/cegrab-20140807-151853-211-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/7/327956/default/v1/cegrab-20140807-151853-211-1-942x530.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 303px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <button aria-labelledby="video__caption-1314782" class="video__play--icon" style="background-image: url(http://news.sky.com/images/ffa94923.play-icon.png); background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: contain; border: none; bottom: 8px; cursor: pointer; height: 46px; left: 7px; margin: 0px; position: absolute; width: 46px;"><span class="video__play-a11y" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); display: inline-block; height: 1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute !important; text-align: left; width: 1px;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Play video</span></span></span></button></div> <span class="video__caption" id="video__caption-1314782" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; min-height: 40px; padding: 10px 8px; width: 540px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="video__type" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Video:</span> <span class="video__teaser" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Ebola Patients Flown To Europe</span></span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Fr Pajares was part of a Catholic order at St Joseph's Hospital in Liberia's capital, Monrovia.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A Congolese nun died at the hospital over the weekend, days after its director also passed away.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The hospital has since been closed because of the outbreak.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Medics Zukunis Ireland and Abraham Borbor are expected to be the first Africans to be treated with ZMapp and have given written consent, Liberia's Information Minister Lewis Brown said.</span></div> <div class="module module--inline video" data-format-high="http://video.news.sky.com/video/h264/vod/700/2014/08/120814WORLDEbolaOutbreak0400WEBVT1407814394777700.mp4" data-format-low="http://video.news.sky.com/video/h264/vod/374/2014/08/120814WORLDEbolaOutbreak0400WEBVT1407814394777374.mp4" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;"> <div class="video__placeholder-wrapper js-video" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; height: 0px; padding-bottom: 303px; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--16x9" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 303px; position: relative;"> <img alt="" class="image__item video__teaser-image js-responsive" data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="144x81 362x204 762x428 942x530" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/12/328801/default/v1/rtr421w1-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/12/328801/default/v1/rtr421w1-1-942x530.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 303px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <button aria-labelledby="video__caption-1317125" class="video__play--icon" style="background-image: url(http://news.sky.com/images/ffa94923.play-icon.png); background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: contain; border: none; bottom: 8px; cursor: pointer; height: 46px; left: 7px; margin: 0px; position: absolute; width: 46px;"><span class="video__play-a11y" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); display: inline-block; height: 1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute !important; text-align: left; width: 1px;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Play video</span></span></span></button></div> <span class="video__caption" id="video__caption-1317125" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; min-height: 40px; padding: 10px 8px; width: 540px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="video__type" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Video:</span> <span class="video__teaser" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Ebola Outbreak Death Toll Rises</span></span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Mr Brown told Reuters the Liberian government received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the pair to be treated before the drug could be exported - and that supplies should arrive in the next 48 hours.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Meanwhile, a panel of medical experts has ruled that it is ethical for infected patients to be treated with experimental drugs such as ZMapp, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The UN health agency said in a statement: "In the particular circumstances of this outbreak, and provided certain conditions are met, the panel reached consensus that it is ethical to offer unproven interventions with as yet unknown efficacy and adverse effects, as potential treatment or prevention." </span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Treatment with experimental drugs requires informed consent, freedom of choice, confidentiality, respect for the person, preservation of dignity and involvement of the community, the WHO said.</span></div> <div class="module module--inline video" data-format-high="http://video.news.sky.com/video/h264/vod/700/2014/08/EbolaCookieVanDerVelde08001407755330999700.mp4" data-format-low="http://video.news.sky.com/video/h264/vod/374/2014/08/EbolaCookieVanDerVelde08001407755330999374.mp4" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;"> <div class="video__placeholder-wrapper js-video" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; height: 0px; padding-bottom: 303px; position: relative; width: 540px;"> <div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--16x9" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 303px; position: relative;"> <img alt="" class="image__item video__teaser-image js-responsive" data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="144x81 362x204 762x428 942x530" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/8/328176/default/v2/ebola-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/8/328176/default/v2/ebola-1-942x530.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 303px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> </div> <button aria-labelledby="video__caption-1316770" class="video__play--icon" style="background-image: url(http://news.sky.com/images/ffa94923.play-icon.png); background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: contain; border: none; bottom: 8px; cursor: pointer; height: 46px; left: 7px; margin: 0px; position: absolute; width: 46px;"><span class="video__play-a11y" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); display: inline-block; height: 1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute !important; text-align: left; width: 1px;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Play video</span></span></span></button></div> <span class="video__caption" id="video__caption-1316770" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; min-height: 40px; padding: 10px 8px; width: 540px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="video__type" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Video:</span> <span class="video__teaser" style="box-sizing: border-box;">West Africa Ebola Situation 'Dire'</span></span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The virus has spread to four African countries - Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria - infecting a total 1,848<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />people, according to the WHO, which has branded the outbreak an international health emergency.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The latest outbreak has killed around 55-60% of those infected.</span></div> <div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.625rem;"> <br /></div> </section><section class="partner-links" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 60px; max-width: 540px; overflow: hidden;"><div class="partner-links__external" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </div> </section></div> <div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 25px;"> <div class="story__content-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </div> </div> </div> </section><div class="story__content-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </div> </div>

Spanish Priest With Ebola Dies In Hospital

Fr Miguel Parajes was flown from Liberia for treatment. Pic: Change.org The first European victim dies, as a panel of medical expe...

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Canadian Returning from Nigeria Shows Symptoms of. Ebola Virus

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A Canadian who recently visited Nigeria is being held in isolation at Brampton Civic Hospital in Ontario for showing symptoms of the Ebola Virus Disease.</span><br /> <div class="entry-content" style="overflow: hidden;"> <div id="nrelate_flyout_placeholder"> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">According to a Canadian public health official, the patient was reported to be showing initial symptoms of Ebola which were similar to more common diseases, such as malaria.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Dr. Eileen de Villa of Peel Public Health told <em>The Globe</em> and <em>Mail</em> that “infection prevention and control measures” had been put in place at the hospital because a patient “with a recent travel history to Nigeria” had shown symptoms similar to the Ebola fever and other flu-like symptoms.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img alt="Health inspectors at work" class="attachment-bigstoryimage" height="240" scale="0" src="http://www.punchng.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ebola-globalpostcom-360x240.jpg" style="border: none; float: left; margin-right: 10px; padding: 4px;" width="360" /></span><br /> <div class="featured-image-caption" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 5px; padding: 5px 10px 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><small style="font-weight: normal;"><em>| credits: www.globapost.com</em></small></span></div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Dr. de Villa said she received information from her colleagues at Brampton Civic Hospital and representatives from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">She added that the hospital would be working with public health laboratories to confirm a diagnosis.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Any subsequent actions will of course depend on what the ultimate diagnosis is,” she said.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Public Health Agency of Canada has advised Canadians to avoid all non-essential travel to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone due to the outbreak, but issued a statement, saying the risk of Ebola to Canada is very low.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It said travellers to Nigeria should practise special precautions such as avoiding direct contact with blood and other bodily fluids of people with Ebola virus or unknown illnesses, among other steps.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Similarly, according to a statement issued by Canada’s Minister of International Development, Christian Paradis, the country is offering additional support to help fight the growing EVD outbreak in West Africa.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Paradis said, “Canada is gravely concerned by the rapidly expanding Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the impact it is having on the families in the region as well as the health care workers on the ground assisting them.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Our thoughts remain with all of those affected. Through both funding and personnel, Canada will continue to help get aid to those who need it as quickly as possible.”</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> </div> </div> <div class="story-bottom" style="position: relative; text-align: center; top: -10px;"> <div class="wrap"> <div class="widget wpbr-widget" id="story-bottom"> <div class="widget-wrap"> <div class="wpbrad wpbrad-zone" id="wpbrbannerajax6bc24fc1ab"> <div class="wpbrbanner" id="wpbrbanner139" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 5px; border-top-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 5px; clear: both; height: 90px; margin: 0px auto; width: 728px;"> <div class="wpbrbannerinside" style="text-align: left;"> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7167863529667065" data-ad-slot="7473145091" data-adsbygoogle-status="done" style="display: inline-block; height: 90px; width: 728px;"><ins id="aswift_1_expand" style="border: none; display: inline-table; height: 90px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 728px;"><ins id="aswift_1_anchor" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: none; display: block; height: 90px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 728px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="90" hspace="0" id="aswift_1" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="aswift_1" scrolling="no" style="left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px;" vspace="0" width="728"></iframe><strong><a href="http://www.hmmnaija.com/must-read-nigeria-see-signs-symptoms-ebola-disease-prevent/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Must Read: Three things you have not been told/read about Ebola Virus</a></strong></ins></ins></ins></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="nr_related_placeholder" data-permalink="http://www.punchng.com/news/canadian-returning-from-nigeria-shows-symptoms/" data-title="Canadian returning from Nigeria shows symptoms"> </div> </div> </div>

Canadian Returning from Nigeria Shows Symptoms of. Ebola Virus

A Canadian who recently visited Nigeria is being held in isolation at Brampton Civic Hospital in Ontario for showing symptoms of the Ebola ...

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Key to Controlling this Unprecedented Ebola Outbreak: Better public education programs by health officials

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> The 2014 Ebola outbreak is exacerbating tensions between western medicine and competing ideas about health and healing. Residents in some parts of rural affected areas are trying to prevent the intrusion of local health workers, international teams, and government officials who local fears may be spreading the disease. <br /> <div class="headline group"> <div class="times"> <span class="posted"> Posted: <time datetime="2014-08-06T12:44:20-04:00"> 08/06/2014 12:44 pm EDT </time> </span> <span class="updated"> Updated: <time datetime="2014-08-06T12:59:05-04:00"> 4 hours ago</time></span></div> <div class="times"> <span class="updated"><time datetime="2014-08-06T12:59:05-04:00"> </time> </span> </div> </div> <img alt="EBOLA" class="" data-img-path="http://i1.huffpost.com/gen/1951231/thumbs/n-EBOLA-large570.jpg" src="http://i1.huffpost.com/gen/1951231/thumbs/n-EBOLA-large570.jpg" style="opacity: 1;" />One of the keys to controlling this unprecedented outbreak lies in the hands of health officials in the form of better public education programs.<br /> A history of distrust and reticence against biomedical health care workers -- both those from local and global origins -- can be traced to pre-colonial times. Like their Western counterparts, African medical professionals were not embraced by local populations but faced suspicion. The efforts to expand western biomedical approaches took time and a sustained relationship of trust. <br /> Today, in West Africa (and other parts of the world), those who are sick seek care from different healing systems. In cases of other previous medical outbreaks and other illness, many questioned the efficacy of western medicine in the case of high mortality rates. Ebola has such high rate of death, in this case 60 to 70 percent, this can lead to suspicion <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/28/world/africa/ebola-epidemic-west-africa-guinea.html">especially in rural areas</a>. For this outbreak to subside, we need more cooperation and understanding from all sides. <br /> The current Ebola epidemic in West Africa: Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia have surpassed earlier Ebola epidemics to become the most deadly on record. As of August 4, the World Health Organization has recorded 1663 and 887 deaths. Until two American citizens contracted Ebola, the brunt of the response was on the already constrained resources of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. These efforts need more coordination and human resources to contain this sub-regional pandemic and to stem it from spreading to neighboring West African countries and beyond. <br /> In this day of connectedness and streamlined globalization, countries outside the immediate sub-region and throughout the globe must be able to recognize and react quickly to prevent new epidemic areas. To respond to the growing rates of infection, citizens of the countries affected by Ebola need to be educated and approached in culturally relevant ways. <br /> At the micro-level, pharmacists, community health workers, and the media can be effective methods of intervention: pharmacists in Senegal, Ethiopia, and other parts of Africa have been intermediaries in various public health campaigns such as HIV/AIDS awareness, anti-street pharmaceutical campaigns, and safe sex practices in the past. Also, community health workers who are provided training and protective gear by local and international public health officials to engage in conversations with communities and try to cultivate more receptive access to treat those afflicted with Ebola infections. Finally, pharmacists and community workers could work individually and in tandem with the media. Also, public campaigns must be available in local languages and dialects such as Pular, Mende and Liberia English in addition to national languages of English and French.<br /> At the macro-level, to help stem the spread of the virus, this continued exchange with regional Ministry of Health officials, other public health personnel and international partners is critical. In addition, it is important that current public health efforts continue and are bolstered through support from global health partners. <br /> Increased support in the form of personnel, medical supplies and coordination may help to slow the spread of the virus from reaching new sites in the West Africa and beyond. The President, <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/ellen-johnson-sirleaf-201269">Ellen Johnson Sirleaf</a>, has been committed to reducing the outbreak in Liberia. She cancelled a trip to Obama's U.S.-Africa Summit to oversee local intervention. She has closed schools, non-essential government offices, and begun to disinfect large swaths of infrastructure among other things under the administration's National Action Plan. In addition to appealing to Liberian citizens, she acknowledges the importance of cooperation both within and outside the region. <br /> This continuing epidemic highlights West Africa's significance to global public health. Collaborative public health efforts and increased public health education are imperative in containing this outbreak of Ebola and possibly future epidemics. </div>

Key to Controlling this Unprecedented Ebola Outbreak: Better public education programs by health officials

The 2014 Ebola outbreak is exacerbating tensions between western medicine and competing ideas about health and healing. Residents in some...

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