Japan ready to offer flu drug for Ebola treatment

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div> <div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_633134" style="width: 630px;"> <a href="http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/files/2014/08/anti-influenza-drug.jpg" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: black;"><img alt="anti influenza drug" class=" wp-image-633134 " height="334" pagespeed_high_res_src="http://1-ps.googleusercontent.com/h/newsinfo.inquirer.net/files/2014/08/620x334xanti-influenza-drug.jpg.pagespeed.ic.NMgF0isgY1.jpg" src="http://1-ps.googleusercontent.com/h/newsinfo.inquirer.net/files/2014/08/620x334xanti-influenza-drug.jpg.pagespeed.ic.NMgF0isgY1.jpg" title="anti influenza drug" width="620" /></span></a><br /> <div class="wp-caption-text"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Anti-influenza tablets fabipiravir are shown in this photo. AP</span></div> <div class="wp-caption-text"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> </div> <br /> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">TOKYO—Japan  said Monday it is ready to provide a Japanese-developed anti-influenza drug as a possible treatment for the rapidly expanding  Ebola  outbreak.</span></div> <div> <br /> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters that  Japan  can offer favipiravir, developed by a subsidiary of Fujifilm Holdings Corp., at any time at the request of the World Health Organization.</span></div> <div> <br /> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The drug, with the brand name Avigan, was developed by Fujifilm subsidiary Toyama Chemical Co. to treat new and re-emerging influenza viruses, and has not been proven to be effective against  Ebola.</span></div> <div> <br /> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Favipiravir was approved by  Japan’s  health ministry in March for use against influenza. Fujifilm is in talks with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, through a U.S. partner, Medivector, to prepare for clinical testing of the drug in treating  Ebola, company spokesman Takao Aoki said.</span></div> <div> <br /> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He said  Ebola  and influenza viruses are the same general type, and a similar response can theoretically be expected from  Ebola.</span></div> <div> <br /> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Favipiravir inhibits viral gene replication within infected cells to prevent propagation, while other anti-viral drugs often are designed to inhibit the release of new viral particles to prevent the spread of infection, the company said.</span></div> <div> <br /> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The company has enough stock of favipiravir for more than 20,000 patients, Aoki said.</span></div> <div> <br /> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Suga, the Cabinet spokesman, said  Japan  is watching for a decision by WHO that would provide more details on the use of untested drugs against  Ebola. In case of an emergency,  Japan  may respond to individual requests before any further decision by WHO, he said.</span></div> <div> <br /> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">WHO said earlier this month that it is ethical to use untested drugs on  Ebola  patients given the magnitude of the outbreak.</span></div> <div> <br /> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Several drugs are being developed for the treatment of  Ebola. They are still in the early stages and there is no proven treatment or vaccine for the often fatal disease.</span></div> <div> <br /> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Recently, two American doctors recovered from  Ebola  after being treated with the experimental drug ZMapp, though it was unclear whether they were cured by the drug.</span></div> <div> <br /> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">However, a Liberian doctor who was among three Africans to receive ZMapp recently died, the country’s information minister said Monday.</span></div> <div> <br /> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Only six people in the world are known to have received ZMapp. The small supply is now said to be exhausted, and it is expected to be months before more can be produced by its U.S. maker, Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc.</span></div> <div> <br /> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">ZMapp had never been tested on humans, although an early version worked in some Ebola-infected monkeys. It is aimed at boosting the immune system’s efforts to fight off  Ebola.</span></div> <div> <br /> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Asked about the drug being offered from  Japan, Liberian Information Minister Lewis Brown said, “Although we will continue to emphasize prevention, we remain open to all available curative opportunities.”</span></div> <div> <br /> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ebola  has killed more than 1,400 people in West Africa in the latest outbreak.</span></div> </div>

Japan ready to offer flu drug for Ebola treatment

Anti-influenza tablets fabipiravir are shown in this photo. AP TOKYO—Japan  said Monday it is ready to provide a Japanese-develope...

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First WHO-deployed Health Worker Tests Positive for Ebola Virus Disease

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf4Of9rI0PYif6hHLFJoAoeR4y_eFuk3RzMfx9xEDXfzpyEa0iy67t4MpIChWwQ6gv7LesfXwbrrxsVN4bmBPUpkhAptSfX_lh0udBr7Q_rU2h3-V0vF1Rh9Yhp7BX8xDdwlIAfTSiTdw/s1600/ebola-virus-story-top.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf4Of9rI0PYif6hHLFJoAoeR4y_eFuk3RzMfx9xEDXfzpyEa0iy67t4MpIChWwQ6gv7LesfXwbrrxsVN4bmBPUpkhAptSfX_lh0udBr7Q_rU2h3-V0vF1Rh9Yhp7BX8xDdwlIAfTSiTdw/s1600/ebola-virus-story-top.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="400" /></a></span></div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>                   A microscopic view shows the Ebola virus.</i><br /><br />A WHO-deployed health care worker has tested positive for Ebola; first time this has ever happened. The health worker, a man from Senegal, is in Sierra Leone and receiving care, the WHO said. No further details were given immediately. When asked how the worker contracted the virus, a WHO spokesperson said officials don't yet know all the details.<br /><br />Here is the statement WHO just released:<br /><br />    WHO is working to ensure an international health worker who is deployed for the Organization in Sierra Leone and has contracted Ebola receives the best care possible including the option of medical evacuation to another care facility if necessary.<br /><br />    International health workers are an important part of this Ebola response. Even before the Ebola outbreak began, after years of conflict, the area of West Africa most affected by this disease suffered from a weakened and fragile health system with a shortage of health workers. Surge capacity of international health experts is essential to supplement the work of the local frontline workers in this response. <br /><a href="" name="more"></a><br />    Since the beginning of the international response to the outbreak in March, WHO has deployed nearly 400 people from across the Organization and from partners in the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) to help respond to the disease in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. This is the first time someone working under the aegis of WHO has fallen ill with the disease.<br /><br />    The Ebola virus is spread through contact with bodily fluids and people giving care or working around infected patients are known to be a high risk group. In the past six months of the outbreak, more than 225 health workers have fallen ill and nearly 130 have lost their lives to the disease they were working to contain. <br /><br />    WHO recognizes there is a risk for health workers who work around Ebola and takes many precautions before they deploy to help them protect themselves in the field. Once there, the Organization ensures those workers have access to appropriate medical advice and support.<br /></span></div>

First WHO-deployed Health Worker Tests Positive for Ebola Virus Disease

                     A microscopic view shows the Ebola virus. A WHO-deployed health care worker has tested positive for Ebola; first tim...

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Nigerian woman suspected of Ebola dies in UAE

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The national airline of the United Arab Emirates said Monday it has disinfected one of its planes after health authorities there announced that a Nigerian woman who died after flying in to the capital, Abu Dhabi, may have been infected with the Ebola virus.</span></div> <div style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The health authority in Abu Dhabi said in a statement carried by state news agency WAM that the 35-year-old woman was traveling from Nigeria to India for treatment of advanced metastatic cancer.</span></div> <div style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Her health deteriorated while in transit at Abu Dhabi International Airport. As medics were trying to resuscitate her, they found signs that suggested a possible Ebola virus infection. The health authority noted, however, that her preexisting medical condition also could have explained her death.</span></div> <div style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Medical staff treating the woman followed safety and precautionary measures in line with World Health Organization guidelines, the health authority statement added.</span></div> <div style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The woman's husband, who was the only person sitting next to her on the plane, as well as five medics who treated her are being isolated pending test results on the deceased woman. All are in good health and show no symptoms of the illness, according to health officials.</span></div> <div style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Etihad Airways, the UAE's national carrier, said the plane was disinfected in line with guidelines laid out by the airline industry's main trade group. It said it continues to monitor the situation and is working with health authorities "to ensure the implementation of any and all measures necessary to ensure the safety and well-being of its passengers and staff."</span></div> <div style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">An Ebola outbreak has killed more than 1,100 people, mostly in the three West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to WHO figures. Four people have died after contracting the disease in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country.</span></div> <div style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Ebola virus is typically transmitted through direct person-to-person contact or through contact with bodily secretions from an infected person. The WHO considers the risk to passengers traveling on a flight with an infected person to be very low.</span></div> <div style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Abu Dhabi is the capital and largest of seven sheikdoms that make up the United Arab Emirates. The country has grown into a major long-haul aviation hub. It is home to Abu Dhabi-based Etihad and Dubai-based Emirates, the Middle East's largest airline.</span></div> <div style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Emirates earlier this month became the first carrier to halt flights to Guinea because of concerns about the spread of the Ebola virus there.</span></div> </div>

Nigerian woman suspected of Ebola dies in UAE

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The national airline of the United Arab Emirates said Monday it has disinfected one of its planes after...

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All-out war on Ebola disease

<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);">THE dastardly “importation” of the dreaded Ebola Viral Disease (EVD) into Nigeria by the late Patrick Sawyer almost a month ago, has brought out the best in the government and people of Nigeria, surprisingly.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As soon as Sawyer was identified as a possible carrier of the plague, the authorities took proactive steps to establish quarantine facilities.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">They ensured that all those who had made primary and secondary contact with the Liberian were identified and handled professionally.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It has helped to limit the scope of the infection within the populace, though latest reports have it that the number of people infected has skyrocketed to 198 as at press time.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">However, the fact that 177 of these cases were found in Lagos and 21 in Enugu, with all known cases within government quarantine facilities or under strict watch means the situation is still under control. This has got Nigeria commended by the World Health Organisation, WHO.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It is heartwarming that Nigerians met this health emergency eschewing politics, ethnicity and religion, the usual factors that are exploited to cause disharmony among us. Nobody has brought in the issue of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) or All People’s Congress (APC) into the matter.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Lagos State Government has worked harmoniously with the federal. It also took the foresighted step of visiting Prophet TB Joshua of the Synagogue of All Nations Church and successfully reached an accord that nobody carrying the disease should be brought there, either from Nigeria or any part of the world.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The media has played its professional role, devoting a large part of its activities to enlighten the people about the plague and how to take measures to avoid it becoming a pandemic. The federal government has also done exceptionally well with President Goodluck Jonathan taking the lead in ensuring that the disease is controlled.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">However, the situation has not escaped the attention of mischief makers, who have exploited the open social media forums to spread dangerous and false claims, causing widespread panic, particularly in portraying the bathing and topical intake of salt water as a “cure” for Ebola. This has also led to a number of fatalities by those who allowed themselves to be hoodwinked.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">While we commend all Nigerians for standing up together to ward off the Ebola threat, we urge everyone to fully cooperate with the authorities and voluntarily submit themselves and loved ones for medical attention whenever Ebola infection is suspected. The law enforcement agents should also trace and set examples with the mischief makers.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If we tackle our national problems with the same unity of purpose we have applied to the Ebola scourge, our nation will be the better for it.</span></div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/08/war-ebola-disease/#sthash.aHnM5tQD.dpuf</span></div>

All-out war on Ebola disease

THE dastardly “importation” of the dreaded Ebola Viral Disease (EVD) into Nigeria by the late Patrick Sawyer almost a month ago, has broug...

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USA created Ebola virus as biological weapon?

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div style="border: 0px; clear: both; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <br /><img alt="USA created Ebola virus as biological weapon?. 53335.jpeg" height="148" src="http://pravda-team.ru/eng/image/article/3/3/5/53335.jpeg" style="border: 0px; float: left; margin: 10px; padding: 0px 10px 0px 0px;" title="USA created Ebola virus as biological weapon?. 53335.jpeg" width="200" /><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 7px;"> <div class="_ga1_on_ _reachbanner_" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The epidemic of the deadly Ebola virus that was born in the depths of the jungle, has been spreading around the world with an unprecedented speed lately. The number of victims, according to official figures, has already exceeded a thousand people. The number of infected individuals nears almost two thousand. The WHO declared the disease a threat of global significance. Are there ways to combat the fever?</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It turns out that there is a vaccine against Ebola. Pentagon scientists were developing it for 30 years, and all the rights for the drug belong to the government of the United States. Two infected US medics received injections of the vaccine and they started recovering from the disease immediately.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Why has this been made public only now? Why is it the USA that holds all the rights for the use of the vaccine? There can be two most obvious answers found to these questions.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As one can see, Ebola is a perfect biological weapon: it spreads quickly and gives nearly 100 percent mortality. Those having the life-saving vaccine can dictate any conditions to others.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The second answer is a purely commercial interest. It is enough to arrange panic with the help of the media, as it was the case with several epidemics before, such as avian flu. Afterwards, it will be possible to sell the life-saving medicine at any price.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">However, Russian scientists doubt that the Americans created the medicine indeed. Russian scientists also conduct the research to study the nature of the virus to be able to create the vaccine against it. Soviet scientists, for example, Professor Alexander Butenko, was a member of the joint Soviet-Guinean expedition in 1982 and spent nearly a year in the rain forests of Guinea, when the then unknown virus was discovered.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The current distribution of the infection is a continuation of a dangerous outbreak of the disease from 1982, said Professor Butenko. Russian scientists have the most extensive scientific base for the creation of the vaccine, Butenko says. The materials that Alexander Butenko collected a quarter of a century ago should help today's generation of Russian scientists in the development of the vaccine against the fever.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Several Russian researchers are already in Guinea, including the head of the Laboratory for the Ecology of Viruses, Mikhail Shchelkanov. "Currently, the vaccine has passed five tests quite well. The tests of the vaccine go through the final stage, but no one knows when they are going to end," said Mikhail Shchelkanov.</span></div> </div> </div> </div>

USA created Ebola virus as biological weapon?

  The epidemic of the deadly Ebola virus that was born in the depths of the jungle, has been spreading around the world with an unpr...

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Nigeria Health WHO Lauds Nigerian Govt Response to Ebola Outbreak

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday commended the Federal Government’s response to the outbreak of the Ebola virus in the country so far.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br />The Country Representative of WHO in Nigeria, Dr Rui Vaz, who made the commendation at a press briefing in Abuja, said the government’s response was a model for other affected countries to copy. The briefing was on the outcome of the meeting between President Goodluck Jonathan, the 36 state governors and their commissioners of health.<br /><br />Vaz was flanked by the Ministers of Health and Information, Prof. Onyeabuchi Chukwu and Labaran Maku, the governors of Lagos and Enugu, Babatunde Fashola and Sullivan Chime, at the briefing. The Director of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Mr Abdusalami Nasidi, also participated in the briefing.<br /><br />Vaz noted that President Goodluck Jonathan took the first critical step by declaring the disease a national emergency.<br /><br />"The president has also been pushing in order to ensure that we have the emergency operation centres in each state with a very clear plan and accountability framework. This is to ensure that everybody works together under this plan and to provide together the necessary support.<br /><br />"What I would want to emphasise is the leadership from the Federal Government of Nigeria to tackle this epidemic. The presence and leadership from Mr President calling on all governors and commissioners of health in order to understand the current level is commendable.<br /><br />"This is in terms of preparation and anything up to response, and to identify what are the gaps that we together can put our efforts to overcome those challenges. I think this is an important measure for all countries to understand that we need to have a very strong coordination mechanism.<br /><br />The WHO official noted that the disease was controllable with adequate awareness, especially at the grassroots level and effective collaboration of all stakeholders under the plan.<br /><br />Vaz cautioned against any myth about the disease, noting that public misconception contributed significantly to the spread of the virus in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.<br /><br />"We need to avoid stigmatisation, discrimination problems in terms of barriers and people who are keeping their own bodies afraid of what is going to be done. All of those myths we need to work very closely to correct.’’<br /><br />According to him, the issue of transparency in the management of the disease also came up for discussion at the meeting. He stressed the need for every case to be reported for quick identification and action.<br /><br />He said that communities and local leaders had a major role to play in this regard by assisting government to identify suspected cases for urgent action.<br /><br />Vaz added that the sooner any suspected case was identified, the easier it would be for all contacts to be traced and placed under surveillance.</span></div>

Nigeria Health WHO Lauds Nigerian Govt Response to Ebola Outbreak

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday commended the Federal Government’s response to the outbreak of the Ebola virus in the coun...

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Ebola: Canada offers 1000 dose of experimental vaccine to Africa

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; position: relative;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ZlM2FVhyxodlmy013b9C7l1MLi3NiqKWmeRsbSnT-1O0EWwY8a7XRLkvEdpHcyh8DLj5okaHZUG4l4GOGi02WP-mSn3X6Hn5WS3bJtGCFGzUSK9TV9vPSoTwVVF9WevfHyPtgvuzkkU/s1600/1.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 0, 0); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px;" /></h3> <div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-8047433113246080182" itemprop="description articleBody" style="position: relative; width: 616px;"> <div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Canadian Public Health Agency has offered to release 1000 dose of a made-in-Canada experimental Ebola virus vaccine known as VSV-EBOV which has never been tested on humans but has shown to be effective in the treatment of the disease in animals.</span></div> <div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In a statement released yesterday August 12th, the Canadian Health Minister Rona Ambrose said the World Health Organization's Director general, Margaret Chan, has approved of the donation. </span></div> <div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Minister also revealed that Canada will be donating $185,000 to the World Health Organization for the prevention and control of the deadly virus in Africa. Canada has only 1500 of the experimental vaccine and would be sending 1000 of it to Africa. Continue...</span></div> <div> </div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="" name="more"></a><br /></span><div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"I was pleased to offer the experimental vaccine developed by Canadian researchers as a global resource to help fight this outbreak," she said, adding that between 800 and 1,000 doses would be donated to the WHO.<br /><br />The Minister in the statement added that "Canada feels this experimental vaccine is a global resource, so in response we are sharing it with the international community, while keeping a small supply in Canada."<br /></span></div> <div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The news comes hours after the World Health Organization said a panel of experts advised that it would be ethical to use untested drugs and vaccines in this raging epidemic, which is several times larger than any previous outbreak.</span></div> </div> </div>

Ebola: Canada offers 1000 dose of experimental vaccine to Africa

The Canadian Public Health Agency has offered to release 1000 dose of a made-in-Canada experimental Ebola virus vaccine known as VSV-EB...

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Ukraine says may block Russian aid convoy

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <br /> <div class="linebreak" style="clear: both; float: none; height: 1px; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; width: 610px;"> </div> <div class="relatedRai" id="relatedInlineVideo"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><iframe allowtransparency="true" border="0" frameborder="0" height="330" scrolling="no" src="http://www.reuters.com/assets/video/html5?videoId=340469532&width=580&height=330" style="border-style: none; height: 330px; overflow: hidden; width: 580px;" width="580"></iframe></span></div> <div class="columnLeft" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-right: 35px;"> <div class="relatedRail gridPanel grid2" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; width: 140px;"> <div class="module" id="relatedVideo" style="float: left; margin: 0px 0px 20px; width: 140px;"> <div class="moduleHeader" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0px 0px; 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display: inline; float: left; margin-right: 35px;"> <div class="relatedRail gridPanel grid4" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; width: 300px;"> <div class="assetBuddy" name="ukraine convoy ss"> <span modulename="E0813142133_475484" name="trackingEnabledModule" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"></span><br /> <div class="module" style="float: left; margin: 0px 0px 20px; width: 300px;"> <div class="moduleBody" style="float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 300px;"> <div class="feature" style="float: left; padding: 0px; width: 300px;"> <div class="photo" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 4px 0px; position: relative;"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody> <tr><td valign="middle"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/slideshow?articleId=USRTR4263W" modid="worldNews|Text|E0813142133_475484" style="cursor: pointer; outline: none medium; text-decoration: none;"></a><br /> <div class="slideshowOverlay" style="background-image: url(http://s3.reutersmedia.net/resources_v2/images/btn_overlay_slideshow.png); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; bottom: 0px; height: 21px; left: 0px; position: absolute; width: 83px;"> </div> <a href="http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/slideshow?articleId=USRTR4263W" modid="worldNews|Text|E0813142133_475484" style="cursor: pointer; outline: none medium; text-decoration: none;"> <img alt="Photo" border="0" src="http://s2.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20140812&t=2&i=963591107&w=120&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=2014-08-12T205130Z_3_GM1EA8C1SH501_RTRMADP_0_UKRAINE-CRISIS-RUSSIA-AID" style="border: none; outline: none;" title="Photo" /></a></td></tr> </tbody></table> </div> <h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"> <span modulename="E0813142133_475484" name="trackingEnabledModule" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> <a href="http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/slideshow?articleId=USRTR4263W" modid="worldNews|Text|E0813142133_475484" style="cursor: pointer; outline: none medium; text-decoration: none;">Russian convoy heads to Ukraine</a></span></h2> <div style="margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px;"> <span modulename="E0813142133_475484" name="trackingEnabledModule" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A Russian convoy sets off for eastern Ukraine.  <span class="inlineLinks" style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/slideshow?articleId=USRTR4263W" modid="worldNews|Text|E0813142133_475484" style="cursor: pointer; outline: none medium; text-decoration: none;">Slideshow</a></span> </span></div> </div> </div> </div> <span modulename="E0813142133_475484" name="trackingEnabledModule" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div> </div> </div> <span id="articleText" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span id="midArticle_start"></span><span id="midArticle_0"></span><span class="focusParagraph"></span></span><br /> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> (Reuters) - A Russian convoy of trucks carrying tonnes of humanitarian aid left on Tuesday for eastern <span class="mandelbrot_refrag"><a class="mandelbrot_refrag" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.reuters.com/places/ukraine?lc=int_mb_1001" style="color: #006e97; cursor: pointer; outline: none medium; text-decoration: none;">Ukraine</a></span>, where government forces are closing in on pro-Russian rebels, but Kiev said it would not allow the vehicles to cross onto its territory.</div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> (Reuters) - A Russian convoy of trucks carrying tonnes of humanitarian aid left on Tuesday for eastern <span class="mandelbrot_refrag"><a class="mandelbrot_refrag" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.reuters.com/places/ukraine?lc=int_mb_1001" style="color: #006e97; cursor: pointer; outline: none medium; text-decoration: none;">Ukraine</a></span>, where government forces are closing in on pro-Russian rebels, but Kiev said it would not allow the vehicles to cross onto its territory.</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> Kiev and Western governments warned Moscow against any attempt to turn the operation into a military intervention by stealth in a region facing a humanitarian crisis after four months of warfare.</div> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> "This cargo will be reloaded onto other transport vehicles (at the border) by the Red Cross," Ukrainian presidential aide Valery Chaly told journalists.</div> <span class="focusParagraph" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans;"></span><span id="midArticle_1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans;"></span><span id="midArticle_2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans;"></span><span id="midArticle_3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans;"></span><br /> <div style="margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"We will not allow any escort by the emergencies ministry of Russia or by the military (onto Ukrainian territory). Everything will be under the control of the Ukrainian side," he said.</span></div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> Russia said it would transfer the convoy to the aegis of the International Committee of the Red Cross, but made no reference to the demand the goods be reloaded. The European Union said the aid would have to be verified.</div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> "No political or any other objectives must be pursued," EU humanitarian aid commissioner Kristalina Georgieva told a news conference. "The content of humanitarian aid must be exactly that, humanitarian aid, and obviously cannot be taken on face value."</div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> Russian media said the column of 280 trucks had left from near Moscow and it would take a couple of days for it to make the 1,000 km (620 mile) journey to Ukraine's eastern regions where rebel fighters seek union with Russia.</div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> Western countries believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has whipped up nationalist fervor in Russia through the state-controlled media since annexing Crimea in March, might be spurred to fresh action since separatists in their main redoubt of Donetsk are now encircled by Kiev government forces.</div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> Rossiya 24 TV showed a 3-km long line of containers and trucks loaded with crates of drinking water and other products stretched along a road with workers loading sacks of aid. A Russian orthodox priest marched across a line of trucks, spraying them with holy water before they left.</div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> "It has all been agreed with <span class="mandelbrot_refrag"><a class="mandelbrot_refrag" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.reuters.com/places/ukraine?lc=int_mb_1001" style="color: #006e97; cursor: pointer; outline: none medium; text-decoration: none;">Ukraine</a></span>," Business FM radio quoted Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, as saying of an operation publicized with fanfare on Russian TV channels.</div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> The U.S., French and Australian governments voiced concern that Russia, sole international supporter of rebels in Ukraine's Russian-speaking east, could use the humanitarian deliveries to carry out a covert operation to help fighters who appear to be on the verge of defeat.</div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> </div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> BITTER FIGHTING</div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> With Ukraine reporting Russia has massed 45,000 troops on its border, NATO said on Monday that there was a "high probability" Moscow might now intervene militarily in Ukraine.[ID:nL6N0QH2YV]</div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> Itar-Tass news agency said the convoy carried 2,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid. It included 400 tonnes of cereals, 100 tonnes of sugar, 62 tonnes of baby food, 54 tonnes of medical equipment and medicine, 12,000 sleeping bags and 69 generators.</div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> Thousands of people are believed to be short of water, electricity and medical aid in Donetsk and in the border town of Luhansk due to bitter fighting, involving air strikes and missile attacks.</div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> U.N. agencies say well over 1,000 people have been killed, including government forces, rebels and civilians, in the conflict in which a Malaysian airliner was downed on July 17 with the deaths of all 298 people on board.</div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> A further six Ukrainian soldiers were killed in action overnight, military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said, bringing to more than 570 the number of government forces killed since conflict erupted in April.</div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> Kiev and its Western allies say Russia, which opposes the new leadership's pro-Western policies, has been funneling tanks, missiles and other heavy weapons to the rebels for months. Moscow denies this.</div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> </div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> "TRANSPARENT ARTIFICE"</div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> With the humanitarian crisis growing by the day in eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin might welcome the opportunity to garner sympathy if the Russian convoy arrives at the border and is turned away by the Ukrainians.</div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> If, and when, the cargo crosses into Ukraine it is expected to come through a border crossing point just north of the city of Kharkiv.</div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> A former Ukrainian president, Leonid Kuchma, who has been involved in tentative mediation with the rebels said it would then travel down through north-eastern Ukraine to Luhansk under an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) escort.</div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> Speaking in Sydney on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said: "Our hope is that in the next days and weeks, we can find a way for President Petro Poroshenko and Ukraine to be able to work with the Russians to provide the humanitarian assistance necessary in the east."</div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told reporters: "Any intervention by Russia into Ukraine under the guise of an humanitarian crisis would be seen for the transparent artifice that it is and Australia would condemn (it) in the strongest possible terms." [ID:nL4N0QI25I]</div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> In Paris, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said: "We must be extremely careful because this (the convoy) could be a cover for the Russians to install themselves near Lugansk and Donetsk and put us before a done deed."</div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> </div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> </div> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> </div> <span id="articleText" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans;"><span id="midArticle_5"></span><span id="midArticle_6"></span><span id="midArticle_7"></span><span id="midArticle_8"></span><span id="midArticle_9"></span><span id="midArticle_10"></span><span id="midArticle_11"></span><span id="midArticle_12"></span><span id="midArticle_13"></span><span id="midArticle_14"></span><span id="midArticle_15"></span><span id="midArticle_0"></span><span id="midArticle_1"></span><span id="midArticle_2"></span><span id="midArticle_3"></span><span id="midArticle_4"></span><span id="midArticle_5"></span><span id="midArticle_6"></span><span id="midArticle_7"></span><span id="midArticle_8"></span><span id="midArticle_9"></span><span id="midArticle_10"></span><span id="midArticle_11"></span><span id="midArticle_12"></span><span id="midArticle_13"></span><span id="midArticle_14"></span><span id="midArticle_15"></span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans;"></span><br /> <div class="relatedTopicButtons" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans;"> </div> <br /> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> (Additional reporting by Natalia Zinets in Kiev, <a data-ls-seen="1" href="http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=stephanienebehay&" style="color: #006e97; cursor: pointer; outline: none medium; text-decoration: none;">Stephanie Nebehay</a> in Geneva and Polina Devitt in Moscow; Writing by <a data-ls-seen="1" href="http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=richard.balmforth&" style="color: #006e97; cursor: pointer; outline: none medium; text-decoration: none;">Richard Balmforth</a>)</div> </div>

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<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="post-252127 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-news entry" style="margin: 0px 0px 30px;"> <h1 class="entry-title" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: url(http://www.punchng.com/wp-content/themes/punch/images/dots-horizontal.gif); background-position: 0% 100%; border-top-color: rgb(255, 1, 1) !important; border-top-style: solid !important; border-top-width: 1px !important; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 9px 4px;"> <br /></h1> <div class="entry-content" style="overflow: hidden;"> <div class="story-featured-image" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); float: left; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-right: 15px; min-width: 378px !important; width: 368px;"> <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" /><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);">Health inspectors at work<br /><small style="font-weight: normal;"><em>| credits: www.globapost.com</em></small></span></div> </div> <div style="float: left; padding: 10px 18px 5px 0px; width: 370px;"> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7167863529667065" data-ad-slot="6184555097" data-adsbygoogle-status="done" style="display: inline-block; height: 140px; width: 370px;"><ins id="aswift_0_expand" style="border: none; display: inline-table; height: 140px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 370px;"><ins id="aswift_0_anchor" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: none; display: block; height: 140px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 370px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="140" hspace="0" id="aswift_0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="aswift_0" scrolling="no" style="left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px;" vspace="0" width="370"></iframe></ins></ins></ins></div> <div id="nrelate_flyout_placeholder"> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The World Health Organisation has said clinical trials of a preventative vaccine for the Ebola virus, produced by British pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline, may begin next month and be made available by 2015.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There is currently no available cure or vaccine for the virus that causes the severe fever and, in the worst cases, unstoppable bleeding.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ebola has claimed close to 1,000 lives in the latest epidemic that was first reported in March and spread across West Africa. Fatality rate can approach 90 per cent, although the latest outbreak has reportedly killed around 55 to 60 per cent of those infected.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">According to a French news wire, Agence-France Presse, the world health body’s Head of Vaccines and Immunisation, Jean-Marie Okwo Bele, told French radio on Saturday that it planned to begin the clinical trials in the United States and Africa.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He added that he was optimistic about making the vaccine commercially available.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“We are targeting September for the start of clinical trials, first in the United States and certainly in African countries, since that’s where we have the cases.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“We think that if we start in September, we could already have results by the end of the year.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“And since this is an emergency, we can put emergency procedures in place, so that we can have a vaccine available by 2015,” Bele said.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Several vaccines are being tested, and a treatment made by San Diego-based Mapp Biopharmaceutical, ZMapp, has shown promising results on monkeys and may have been effective in treating two Americans recently infected in Africa.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Meanwhile, three people on Saturday have been isolated at a Ghana hospital for showing symptoms of the Ebola virus.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The three persons are being kept at the Nsawam Government Hospital in the eastern region of the country for observation.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">According to Myjoyonline.com, blood samples of the patients have been taken for laboratory test at the Noguchi Memorial Institute.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Among the patients was a 16-year-old girl who went to the hospital on Thursday with blood in her urine.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The second person, a 56-year-old man, also came to the hospital from a nearby village, Adawso, with blood in his urine.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The third patient was reported to have blood in his urine and faeces and was in a feverish condition.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He is a 53-year-old driver.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Meanwhile, the Ghana Health Service is awaiting test results of a Burkinabe, who was admitted at a health facility in Bawku for showing signs of the virus in the northern region of the country.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"></span></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="wpbrbannerajax8d6dc35e50"> <div class="wpbrbanner" id="wpbrbanner473" 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; 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Victims may wait till 2015 for vaccine — WHO

Health inspectors at work | credits: www.globapost.com The World Health Organisation has said clinical trials of a preventative...

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box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; display: inline-block; float: left; margin: 3px 8px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;" video-index="15"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img class="fm-videos-slider-thumb-img" src="http://pthumbnails.5min.com/10367080/518353970_cv1_72_52.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 52px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 72px;" /></span></div> <div class="fm-videos-slider-thumb-container" style="border: 1px solid transparent; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; display: inline-block; float: left; margin: 3px 8px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;" video-index="16"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img class="fm-videos-slider-thumb-img" src="http://pthumbnails.5min.com/10367079/518353940_5_72_52.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 52px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 72px;" /></span></div> <div class="fm-videos-slider-thumb-container" style="border: 1px solid transparent; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; display: inline-block; float: left; margin: 3px 8px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;" video-index="17"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img class="fm-videos-slider-thumb-img" src="http://pthumbnails.5min.com/10367090/518354484_2_72_52.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 52px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 72px;" /></span></div> <div class="fm-videos-slider-thumb-container" style="border: 1px solid transparent; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; display: inline-block; float: left; margin: 3px 8px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;" video-index="18"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img class="fm-videos-slider-thumb-img" src="http://pthumbnails.5min.com/10367091/518354515_c_72_52.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 52px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 72px;" /></span></div> <div class="fm-videos-slider-thumb-container" style="border: 1px solid transparent; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; display: inline-block; float: left; margin: 3px 8px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;" video-index="19"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img class="fm-videos-slider-thumb-img" src="http://pthumbnails.5min.com/10367086/518354294_c_72_52.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 52px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 72px;" /></span></div> <div class="fm-videos-slider-thumb-container" style="border: 1px solid transparent; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; display: inline-block; float: left; margin: 3px 8px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;" video-index="20"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img class="fm-videos-slider-thumb-img" src="http://pthumbnails.5min.com/10367034/518351663_c_72_52.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 52px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 72px;" /></span></div> <div class="fm-videos-slider-thumb-container" style="border: 1px solid transparent; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; display: inline-block; float: left; margin: 3px 8px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;" video-index="21"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img class="fm-videos-slider-thumb-img" src="http://pthumbnails.5min.com/10367034/518351667_c_72_52.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 52px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 72px;" /></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);"><img class="fm-videos-slider-thumb-img" src="http://pthumbnails.5min.com/10367027/518351327_cv1_72_52.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 52px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 72px;" /></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);"><br /></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);"><br /></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);"><br /></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);"><br /></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);"><br /></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);">LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization on Friday declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa to be an international public health emergency that requires an extraordinary response to stop its spread.</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);">It is the largest and longest outbreak ever recorded of Ebola, which has a death rate of about 50 percent and has so far killed at least 961 people. WHO declared similar emergencies for the swine flu pandemic in 2009 and for polio in May.</span></div> <br /> <div class="ad_spot" id="modulous_mid_article" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </div> <br /> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> The WHO chief, Dr. Margaret Chan, said the announcement is "a clear call for international solidarity" although she acknowledged that many countries would probably not have any Ebola cases.</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 15px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline; widows: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Countries affected to date simply do not have the capacity to manage an outbreak of this size and complexity on their own," Chan said at a news conference in Geneva. "I urge the international community to provide this support on the most urgent basis possible."</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 current outbreak of Ebola emerged in Guinea in March and has since spread to Sierra Leone and Liberia, with a suspected cluster in Nigeria. Since it was first identified in 1976, there have been more than 20 outbreaks in central and eastern Africa; this is the first one to affect West Africa.</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 impact of the WHO declaration is unclear; the declaration about polio doesn't yet seem to have slowed the spread of virus.</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);">"Statements won't save lives," said Dr. Bart Janssens, director of operations for Doctors Without Borders. "For weeks, (we) have been repeating that a massive medical, epidemiological and public health response is desperately needed. ... Lives are being lost because the response is too slow."</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);">"I don't know what the advantage is of declaring an international emergency," added Dr. David Heymann, who directed WHO's response to the SARS outbreak and is now a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.</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 could bring in more foreign aid but we don't know that yet," he 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);">In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention already recommends against traveling to West Africa. The agency has also put U.S. hospitals on alert for symptoms to spot potential cases as quickly as possible.</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);">Two Americans infected with Ebola recently received a drug never before tested in people and seem to be improving slightly, according to the charity they work for.</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);">Next week, WHO will hold another meeting to discuss whether it's ethical to use experimental treatments and drugs in the current outbreak. There's no evidence in people that the experimental treatments work and it would take months even to have a modest amount. There is no licensed drug or treatment for Ebola.</span></div> <div> <br /></div> </div>

WHO: Declares That Ebola Outbreak Is A Public Health Emergency

nt Article LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization on Friday declared the Eb...

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Mass Hysteria: Worse than Ebola Virus Disease

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="story-featured-image" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); color: #333333; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, 'Bitstream Vera Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-right: 15px; width: 208px;"> <span style="font-size: 12px; text-transform: uppercase;">BY ABIMBOLA ADELAKUN</span><img alt="VIEWPOINT Thursday, August 07, 2014" class="attachment-bigstoryimage" height="330" src="http://www.punchng.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/VIEWPOINT-Thursday-August-07-2014.jpg" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: none; float: left; margin-right: 10px; padding: 4px;" width="200" /></div> <div id="nrelate_flyout_placeholder" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, 'Bitstream Vera Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: justify;"> Mass hysteria has gripped many countries of the world over the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Like all episodes of recent epidemics – Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and Avian Flu (H5N1), this outbreak has seen governments and the World Health Organisation devoting resources to finding a cure.</div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: justify;"> Meanwhile, African leaders luxuriate and gallivant round the world, seeking nothing of importance; yet, chewing the same old issues on the same weary gums. Was it Karma that led to the United States screening some of them for Ebola? Who knows! Before we deem the US overzealous, remember it is to this same US and its European allies that our leaders look up to for a cure for Ebola. Makes one wonder, why is Africa so blest?</div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: justify;"> Is their quest in seeking a cure for Ebola informed by the contagious nature of the virus or they are genuinely concerned about their citizens for once? Despite all their panic about Ebola, we know that something greater -and worse- than Ebola invaded our shores long ago. Consequently, we die in our millions every year.</div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: justify;"> The World Health Organisation data indicates that 90 per cent of malaria deaths are in the poorest countries and mortality is greater in children under age five; the same alarming statistics apply to pneumonia/respiratory diseases and also, HIV/AIDS. Those figures are higher than what Ebola has killed since it was discovered in 1976. In Nigeria, polio is still a serious problem and maternal mortality kills more women than Ebola has ever done, so why the fuss in only one direction?</div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: justify;"> Let me state clearly that I acknowledge that Ebola is a terrible disease and is currently listed as one of the worst in the world. I am also aware that the rate of contraction is probably higher in poorer countries because poverty, filth and disease tend to walk together. In countries where people have no qualms about defecating in public spaces, spew phlegm, spittle and other body fluids without a care in the world, the rate of contagion might be higher.</div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: justify;"> Yet, there is something annoying about the moral panic Ebola has generated especially in the international media. It is almost as if every African is an Ebola vector and a grave risk to the world. From the look of things, the fear we contract from the sensationalism in the media will kill us faster than Ebola.</div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: justify;"> From the Emirates airline’s indefinite suspension of its operations in Guinea to South Korea’s withdrawing the letter of invitation to three Nigerian students who were supposed to participate in a conference in their country to the loud protest by certain US politicians and citizens against flying home their citizens who were infected with the virus while doing missionary work in Africa, fear grips everyone. Some of the panics we are witnessing have the subtext of racism. Long-held prejudices against “diseased Africans” subtly creep up in the commentaries being deployed in addressing the Ebola scourge.</div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: justify;"> In all the cacophony, some important facts are being overlooked.</div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: justify;"> One is that Ebola needs not be a death sentence. The present outbreak has a 60 per cent mortality rate. Some past outbreak have had up to 90 per cent. However, its high mortality rate should not obscure the important fact that with adequate medical care – proper nutrition and replacing body fluids- the body can be enabled to buy time to be able to fight the disease back. There is a higher chance of survival if the infection is diagnosed early.</div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: justify;"> I think that is one aspect of Ebola that needs to be highlighted in all the public health messages that are being passed around. If the detection of the disease is consistently presented as more or less a death sentence, it will be counterproductive as infected people are likely to be discouraged from reporting to health care institutions. They will rather stay at home and die without the indignity of stigmatisation.</div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: justify;"> Two is that Ebola presents another chance for Africa to improve on its health care facilities. It is no coincidence that the places where Ebola is ravaging -Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia- are also one of the most wretched countries of the world where healthcare is pathetic. Various health care professionals that have been interviewed have stated over and over that they could have done far much more if they had adequate resources to work with. In terms of health care, African leaders have simply not done enough and that is why in Nigeria, our leaders will rather die in better hospitals abroad than be seen in ours.</div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: justify;"> It is also important we invest in research and development. Outbreaks like Ebola tend to reveal our underbelly – that as a continent, we merely string things along until the white man comes to solve our problems. That is why I find the observation of the president of the UK Faculty of Public Health, Prof. John Ashton – that Ebola cure has not been found because it affects “powerless minorities” though patronising, but also a reflection of reality.</div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: justify;"> For most of Africa, we live in an environment where our wildlife has neither been sufficiently understood nor documented. There are other species out there carrying another zoonotic disease that could be worse than Ebola. We need not wait till it comes to us; we have the larger responsibility to educate ourselves ahead.</div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: justify;"> Three is the conspiracy theory that an outbreak of disease like this stimulates. For years, diseases from HIV/AIDS to Ebola have been peddled as a western conspiracy to decimate African populations. This curdled logic has taken root so much that it is partly responsible for the persistence of polio in Nigeria.</div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: justify;"> The resulting paranoia is an addendum to the Ashton attitude; the beneficiary mentality of some Africans who think that a disease should affect “Oyinbo” population just as it affects them so the former can find a cure.</div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: justify;"> Like malaria, we are the primary victims of the problem and the higher responsibility to research the cure lies with us more than it lies with the white man. That is why our leaders should take a break from stealing public funds and begin to consider how we, as a people, will not be swept into extinction by our own undoing</div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: justify;"> Now that the condition of the two US citizens who were infected are said to be improving based on some experimental drug that has been developed but previously untested on human beings, it should be obvious that what kills us in Africa is far much more than Ebola. It is good we make some noise about it and try our best to curtail the spread of the disease but that, by no means, should be the end.</div> </div> </div>

Mass Hysteria: Worse than Ebola Virus Disease

BY ABIMBOLA ADELAKUN Mass hysteria has gripped many countries of the world over the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Like all episodes of...

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Ebola: WHO, 3 West African States to raise $100m

<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/2014/07/eu-ebola-high-alert.si_.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: WHO, 3 West African States to raise $100m"><span style="color: black;"><img alt="eu-ebola-high-alert.si" class="attachment-main-slider wp-post-image no-display appear" height="336" src="http://sunnewsonline.com/new/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/eu-ebola-high-alert.si_-690x336.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: WHO, 3 West African States to raise $100m" width="690" /></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: WHO, 3 West African States to raise $100m</span></span></h1> <a class="comments" href="http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=74835#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-meta" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-bottom-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px; margin: 0px 0px 21px; overflow: hidden; padding: 10px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">•US withdraws Peace Corps volunteers</b><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span><b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">as Ghana introduces isolation centers</b></div> <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: 0px 0px 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> •</b><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Africa leaders summit to discuss problem</strong></span><div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </div> <div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </div> <div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The World Health Organization and leaders of West African nations affected by the Ebola outbreak are set to announce a joint $100m (£59m; 75m euro) response plan.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">They will meet in Guinea today to launch the initiative aimed at tackling a virus which has claimed 729 lives.</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 disease kills up to 90 percent of those infected, though the fatality rate in the current epidemic is running at around 60 percent, according to reports. In the final stages, its symptoms include external bleeding, massive internal bleeding, vomiting and diarrhea at which point the virus becomes highly contagious.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Nigeria’s Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) suspended Asky airline for bringing Ebola to Lagos, a teeming mega-city of 21 million people. Many people had questioned how Patrick Sawyer, a person showing signs of the disease, whose sister had died of it three weeks previous had been able to board an international flight. Sawyer died in Lagos.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Health officials are scrambling to avoid the nightmare scenario of an Ebola outbreak in Lagos, but say there are so far no signs of further cases. Sierra Leone’s president yesterday declared a public health emergency over the outbreak after 233 people died there, joining neighbouring Liberia in imposing tough controls as the death toll from the worst-ever outbreak of the virus hit 729 in West Africa.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma canceled a visit to Washington for a U.S.-Africa summit next week. “Sierra Leone is in a great fight … Failure is not an option,” Koroma said in a speech late on Wednesday, adding that the state of emergency would initially last between 60 and 90 days. “Extraordinary challenges require extraordinary measures.”</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 said police and the military would enforce a quarantine on all epicenters of the disease, and would help health officers and NGOs do their work unhindered, following a number of attacks on health workers by local communities.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">House-to-house searches would be implemented to trace Ebola victims and homes where the disease was identified would be quarantined until cleared by medical teams, he said, announcing a ban on all public meetings except those related to Ebola.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Sierra Leone, a former British colony, said passengers arriving and departing Lungi International Airport would be subject to new protocols, including body temperature scans.</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 moves echoed a raft of measures unveiled by Liberia on Wednesday, which included the closure of all schools across the country and a possible quarantine of affected communities.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ghana also announced yesterday it was introducing body temperature screening of all travelers from West African countries at Accra airport and other major entry points, with isolation centers being set up in three towns.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Kyei Faried, deputy director in charge of disease control, told a news conference that authorities had a list of 11 passengers who disembarked from Sawyer’s flight and were monitoring them.  The government is considering whether to ban flights from affected countries.</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 U.S. Peace Corps said it was withdrawing 340 volunteers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea after two of them came in contact with a person who later died of the virus</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 World Health Organisation said it was in urgent talks with donors and international agencies to deploy more medical staff and resources to the regions. The WHO reported 57 new deaths between July 24 and July 27 in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.</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 a measure of rising international concern, Britain on Wednesday held a government meeting on Ebola and called it a threat requiring a response. The White House has also said President Barack Obama was being briefed on the situation.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But international airlines association IATA said the WHO was not recommending any travel restrictions or border closures due to the outbreak, and there would be a low risk to other passengers if an Ebola patient flew.</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 spread of the deadly Ebola virus and assistance for affected countries will be discussed during an African summit in Washington next week, a senior State Department official said yesterday.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the issue will be discussed in detail during side meetings. The leaders of Sierra Leone and Liberia, two of the worst affected countries, have canceled plans to attend the summit. It is unclear whether the president of Guinea, Alpha Conde, still plans to travel to Washington.</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 have spoken to all three heads of state to get from them where they see things going and what we can do to better assist them and we will be discussing that during the summit,” Thomas-Greenfield told an audience at the Atlantic Council.</span></div> </div> </div> <div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 1.857em; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> </div> <div id="adscontainer" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 1.857em; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div>

Ebola: WHO, 3 West African States to raise $100m

Ebola: WHO, 3 West African States to raise $100m   •US withdraws Peace Corps volunteers   as Ghana introduces isolation centers  ...

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