Ebola: US Commends Nigeria as Four More Patients are Discharged

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSPW0v8xYpxt8h-SFOrJGzl_tG7gq12wNfGjmWpvHjahFjWgv8tRpkuPvuHkVmsPGODd6czVV8KXtmfi9OJjtWG_ihtPhRDDWobObt47lnZafsqmg_SGEBBo02E6qsljOb-KsDUgSeMio/s1600/Onyebuchi-Chukwu.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" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSPW0v8xYpxt8h-SFOrJGzl_tG7gq12wNfGjmWpvHjahFjWgv8tRpkuPvuHkVmsPGODd6czVV8KXtmfi9OJjtWG_ihtPhRDDWobObt47lnZafsqmg_SGEBBo02E6qsljOb-KsDUgSeMio/s1600/Onyebuchi-Chukwu.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" /></span></a></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <em style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, Health Minister</em></div> <ul> <li style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> Rules out sending trial drug</span></li> <li style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> Two new persons in Lagos, one in Kaduna placed under watch </span></li> <li style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> WHO: All outbound travellers must be screened</span></li> </ul> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <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 US government has commended the Nigerian government and its health authorities for their handling of the Ebola virus since it broke in Lagos last month.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The US’ commendation came on the back of more good news yesterday that four more patients who had contracted the disease had been discharged and declared free of the infectious disease.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">With their discharge, this brings the total number of people who have been given the all clear to five.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A total of 12 people were struck with the virus in Nigeria, including the index case Patrick Sawyer, of which four have died, five have been discharged while three remain in the isolation ward at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, Lagos.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">However, all hopes that the US would send the ZMapp experimental drug to Nigeria were dimmed yesterday when the US government ruled out the possibility, saying there were insufficient quantities of the drug available.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Making this known when he visited the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, in Abuja, the US</span></div> </div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><em><strong></strong></em><a href="" name="more"></a>Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, informed reporters that what was needed was to focus primarily on isolation and the screening of patients or those suspected to have contracted the virus.</span><br /> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">According to Entwistle: “We’ll see down the road what is possible. But there are no huge quantities now. And we think the focus now needs to be on exactly what you are doing: the isolation wards, screening, and especially important that now your government is doing a very good job on this, that is contact tracing.”</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The envoy said he just came back from the US late last week, adding, “I was in Washington, of course, for the US-African Leaders Summit and I came over to see the minister right away as soon as I got back into town to discuss our anti-Ebola cooperation.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I was in the room in Washington when Vice President (Joe) Biden and President (Goodluck) Jonathan talked about the Ebola crisis, talked about our partnership, and pledged the total cooperation between your government and my government on this issue.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“So I just came over to see the minister this morning to talk to him about that and you’ve all seen the headlines over the weekend. This is an issue where we have to keep working hard. It may last for a while but there are some encouraging signs.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The Emergency Operation Centre (EOC), I understand, is working well. The isolation ward, I understand, is working well. So this is an example we have, as part of the broad partnership between our two countries, just keep collaborating and cooperating and keep working hard.”</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">While commending Nigeria for effectively curtailing the spread of the Ebola virus, Entwistle stated: “I noticed that when I flew back on Thursday night into this country, before I left the plane, I filled out a questionnaire.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I was very impressed because I even had to put my seat number which is a very good idea. So if you ever have to trace the guy sitting next to me you know where I am. So I have been impressed by these things and I encourage the government of Nigeria to keep at it as I know they will.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I always say we have a broad partnership between our two countries which means we do things together as equals to make the world a better place. I can’t think of a more important example today than our Ebola cooperation.”</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Chukwu, on his part, said the visit came at the right time considering the need for collaboration between the two countries, specifically on the Ebola virus.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Chukwu said as the representative of the US government, the envoy will assist in various ways in the prevention of the virus from spreading further.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The minister referred to the US ambassador as the spokesperson for the US government in Nigeria, adding, “So he came to me as the chief public health officer of the country, because that is what the Minister of Health is, to exchange views with me on the collaboration with America.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Four Patients Discharged</strong></div> </strong><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 minister also disclosed that four additional patients were yesterday discharged and declared free of the infectious disease.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In a statement in Abuja, Chukwu said the development was a good omen for Nigeria, taking into cognisance the devastation the virus had caused in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The statement signed by his Special Assistant, Media and Communication, Dan Nwomeh, stated that the “Minister of Health has announced that four additional confirmed cases of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), which have been managed successfully, and are now disease-free and have been discharged to go home today (yesterday)”.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It added that the discharged patients included two male medical doctors and one female nurse.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The three participated in the treatment of the index case while the fourth person was a female patient at the time the index case was on admission.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“This brings to five the total number of patients diagnosed with the Ebola Virus Disease who have now been discharged from hospital,” it explained.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Three under Surveillance</strong></div> </strong><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);">Also, giving an update, the Lagos State Government yesterday confirmed the discharge of the four patients, but revealed that three more persons had been placed under surveillance to ascertain whether they would show symptoms of the disease.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, made the disclosure last night at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, stating: “We have four more patients that are ready to be discharged today (yesterday).</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“They have gone through the same protocol. The protocol is that before we release anyone or certify him or her negative, he or she has to be symptom-free for a period of over three weeks.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“We also had to test their blood samples and the result was negative. They will be released today after they have completed their counseling being conducted by our psychosocial team. But they will come periodically for check-ups, though they are okay.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The other three patients are still being monitored at the isolation centre. Once they get better, they will be released. The lady who ran to Enugu is still under isolation and she has tested positive to the virus.”</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On those under surveillance, Idris said the new cases had been discovered. “One of them is a blood sample from Kaduna while two others are from Lagos. They are primary contacts. On the Kaduna case, the reason for this is that they do not have the laboratory to test for the virus.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Four persons have died already, including the index case, Mr. Patrick Sawyer. We had eight in the isolation ward before Saturday when we released the doctor. This doctor was released after testing negative and going through the WHO and CDC procedures for discharge.”</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Idris maintained that there have been 12 confirmed cases, which he said included the index case, noting that all the cases that had been confirmed positive and those who had died were linked to the index case.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He also disclosed that more medical personnel had shown interest “to care for the patients. We have eight doctors and nine nurses and some health workers who have gone through training.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“We have also been joined by infectious disease experts from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH). All these people have gone through training. Though the number is not enough as we need more”.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">NLC Opposes Doctors’ Dismissal</strong></div> </strong><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);">But as Nigeria made inroads in its fight against the virus, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) criticised the federal government’s dismissal of resident doctors in federal hospitals.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">NLC, in a statement yesterday by its president, Abdulwaheed Omar, said it was ill-advised and urged government to reconsider its stand in view of the prevailing health challenges in the coutry.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The union pointed out that no country could afford to neglect its health sector, including the personnel that work there during trying times.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It emphasised that what the country needed urgently was the recruitment of more health professionals, well equipped public hospitals, and a well organised health system capable of responding to the health concerns of Nigeria’s growing population.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“We believe the federal government was misadvised and also misled by this action. It is clearly unwarranted to sack doctors just as we are collectively faced with the challenge of the Ebola virus. It is even more dangerous to sack medical personnel in a country of over 170 million people with a ratio of one doctor to over five thousand patients.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“What the country needs urgently is recruitment of more health professionals, well equipped public hospitals, and a well organised health system, and not sacking of any category of health personnel,” the NLC said.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It urged the federal government to carry out an urgent audit of the public health sector to determine the state of the sector in terms of equipment, personnel and funding.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“While workers and indeed all Nigerians are at great risk and require adequate protection, those in the medical sector should particularly be sufficiently equipped and given incentives to guarantee their safety and boost morale.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“No country can afford, especially in these trying times, to neglect its health sector, including the personnel that work there,” the statement added.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Doctors Protest</strong></div> </strong><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 NLC’s position was given fillip by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Lagos and Ondo States whose members embarked on peaceful protests against the government’s sack of the resident doctors.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Lagos State NMA chairman, Dr. Tope Ojo, who led his colleagues on the protest at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), said a reversal of the mass sacking was the only thing that could make discussions with government continue on the strike.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He said this was an important step for NMA to continue to dialogue with the government, adding that doctors should not feel threatened by the sack.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ojo said doctors were not asking for an increment in their salary but a better healthcare delivery system.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The country’s universal health coverage is inadequate as it only covers 30 per cent of the people. We want this for everybody, irrespective of age and class in the society,” he added.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The NMA chair also urged the government to lift the ban on residency training so that medical education can continue to grow like those of the United Kingdom and the US.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Also speaking, the Second Vice President, Lagos State branch of NMA, Dr. Olusegun Akinwotu, said resident doctors constituted about 60 per cent of the medical workforce, adding that sacking them would mean killing the patients who require their services.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Also government’s handling of the issue is not encouraging as resident doctors join consultants during surgery. They also impart knowledge on to house officers,” he said.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Speaking to the protesters, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of LUTH, Prof Akin Osibogun, represented by the hospital’s Chairman Medical Advisory Committee (CMAC), Prof Chris Bode, said they should go about their complaints peacefully.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He said the situation called for sober reflection and moderation. “We are doctors and it is expected of us to be of high moral conduct. We must not constitute a danger to the public,” Osibogun said.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">NMA presented a letter stating their demands to the CMD for onward transmission to the health minister.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Similarly, doctors in Ondo State under the auspices of NMA demanded the recall 16,000 resident doctors sacked by the federal government before they could return to the negotiating table with the government to end their strike.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The chairman of the state chapter, Dr. Bamidele Betiku, said the decision of the federal government would make the country lack specialised doctors and make adequate healthcare delivery elusive to the masses.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The doctors, who marched from the NMA secretariat along Igbatoro Road to the governor's office in Alagbaka, Akure, sang solidarity songs while the protest lasted.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Also, the Cross River State chapter of NMA equated the sack of the resident doctors with the closure of all federal medical institutions in the country.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">NMA in the state said the sacking of the resident doctors, by implication, was the consequential sack of about 64,000 of its members.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Chairman of the NMA in the state, Dr. Calistus Enyuma, a consultant pediatrician, at a press briefing in Calabar, said: “As it stands, the federal government suspended the training of resident doctors; that means the government has closed down teaching hospitals, closed down medical schools, and the implication is that you have sacked over 64,000 doctors throughout Nigeria.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“It happened during the (Muhammadu) Burari regime in 1984 and we had the brain drain and you can guess what will happen in the next few months.”</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On the current strike embarked on by the NMA, he said: “Our appeal to the federal government is to negotiate with the NMA to bring sanity to the health sector.”</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">EU Border Agency Suspends Migrant Flights</strong></div> </strong><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);">In a related incident, the European Union (EU) border agency, Frontex, said yesterday it had suspended flights taking migrants back to Nigeria.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“We have decided to indefinitely suspend those flights that we coordinate and co-finance to Nigeria,” Frontex spokeswoman, Ewa Moncure told AFP.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Warsaw-based agency only handles around two per cent of all flights carrying migrants who have crossed into the EU back home. The EU countries in question handle the rest.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Last year, 160,000 such migrants were sent back to their home countries, mainly to Albania, India, Pakistan and Russia.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Certain countries, notably Austria, have taken a similar decision” to suspend flights to countries affected by the deadly Ebola virus, Moncure said.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The current Ebola outbreak, the worst since the virus first appeared in 1976, has claimed 1,145 lives including four in Nigeria.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">WHO: All Outbound Travellers Must be Screened</strong></div> </strong><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);">Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has advised authorities in countries struck with Ebola to screen all travellers departing at international airports, seaports and major border crossings.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A statement issued by the UN health agency recommended that people with any sign of the virus should be stopped from travelling.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The agency reiterated that the risk of getting infected with Ebola on an aircraft was small and said there was no need for wider travel or trade restrictions, reported the Reuters news agency.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Affected countries are requested to conduct exit screening of all persons at international airports, seaports and major land crossings, for unexplained febrile illness consistent with potential Ebola infection.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Any person with an illness consistent with EVD should not be allowed to travel unless the travel is part of an appropriate medical evacuation,” the statement said.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Nigeria’s health minister had on August 7 announced that all outbound passengers from the country would be screened.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The precautionary measure was taken after the disease was imported into Nigeria from Liberia on July 20.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <i style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Source: ThisDay</i></div> </div>

Ebola: US Commends Nigeria as Four More Patients are Discharged

Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, Health Minister  Rules out sending trial drug  Two new persons in Lagos, one in Kaduna placed under watch   W...

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Ebola: Why U.S. won't give Nigeria experimental drug, Zmapp — U.S. Ambassador

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6898470381004524941" 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/AVvXsEiaxy1PA14eIN9oKDOGxDahXpvw61W6bjeiXmyXGvrXRxIKCphWLPpjyUwjsfMB-PquBcd8rr6MrXKEGq0daulOV38dSda2CtQ6G3R2Kn3LUztKXAa90XF195f3ZHLXyiuZdjh2S2jzhmA/s1600/US-ambassador-and-nig-min-of-health-1726x1080.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="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaxy1PA14eIN9oKDOGxDahXpvw61W6bjeiXmyXGvrXRxIKCphWLPpjyUwjsfMB-PquBcd8rr6MrXKEGq0daulOV38dSda2CtQ6G3R2Kn3LUztKXAa90XF195f3ZHLXyiuZdjh2S2jzhmA/s1600/US-ambassador-and-nig-min-of-health-1726x1080.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);">The American Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, on Monday said his country was not yet in a position to make the Ebola Disease experimental drug, Zmapp, available to Nigeria. Mr. Entwistle said during a visit to the Nigerian Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, that the drug was not yet available in sufficient quantity to go round all the countries requesting it. The ambassador did not say when the drug would be available for Africa’s most populous country. He only advised the Nigerian health ministry to focus on isolation, screening and prevention. Mr. Entwistle commended the efforts of the Federal Government in curbing the spread of the Ebola virus in the country.<br /><br />He said the aim of the visit was to discuss further on the anti-Ebola cooperation between the U.S government and the Nigerian government. The ambassador also praised the work done at the emergency operation centre and the isolation centre, saying he understood that they were working hard. “You have all seen the headlines over the weekend, this is an issue that we have to keep working hard on, it may be with us for a while but there are some encouraging signs.<br /><br />“Your government is doing a good job on contact tracing; I noticed when I flew back here on Thursday night into the country, before I left the plane I filed in the questionnaire. “I was very impressed because I had to put in my seat number which is a very good idea, so that if you have to trace the guy who was seating next to me you will know where I am. “I have been very impressed by this thing so I encourage the government of Nigeria to keep at it, which I know they will,” he said. Mr.Entwistle said the two countries had a broad partnership to keep collaborating, cooperating and working hard to make the world a better place. He said he could not think of a more important example of cooperation than the Ebola cooperation. Speaking during the visit, the Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, said the Nigerian Government was withholding its approval for the Anti-Ebola drug Nano-Silver produced by a Nigerian because it did not meet the requirements of the National Health Research Ethics Code. He said that the Nano Silver drug, which was made available to the Emergency Operations Centre in Lagos on August 14, did not meet basic research requirements. “The experimental drug, Nano Silver did not meet the requirements of the National Health Research Ethics Code. “Accordingly, the approval was withheld by the National Health Research Ethics Committee,” Mr. Chukwu said. He said the ambassador’s visit was an opportunity to share ideas and information on Ebola virus. “He is the spokesperson for the United States’ government here in Nigeria, and so he came to me as the Chief Public Health Officer of the country to exchange views with me,” Mr. Chukwu said. The minister said Mr. Entwistle also visited to know if there was any new development that recently cropped up on the Ebola virus.</span></div> </div>

Ebola: Why U.S. won't give Nigeria experimental drug, Zmapp — U.S. Ambassador

The American Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, on Monday said his country was not yet in a position to make the Ebola Disease expe...

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Spanish priest to be treated with experimental Ebola drug

<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);">A Spanish priest infected with Ebola will be treated with an experimental drug that has been used on two Americans infected with the deadly virus, the government said.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <a href="http://dvsl3w2q45hb8.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/vaccine-Ebola.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="vaccine-Ebola" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-458845" height="274" src="http://dvsl3w2q45hb8.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/vaccine-Ebola.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);">The drug called ZMapp arrived at Madrid’s La Paz-Carlos III hospital where the 75-year-old missionary was being treated in isolation, the health ministry said in a statement late on Saturday.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Spain’s drug safety agency allowed the “exceptional importation” of ZMapp under a law that allows “the use of non-authorised medications in cases where a patent’s life is in danger and they can’t be treated satisfactorily with an authorised medication,” it said.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Roman Catholic priest, Miguel Pajares, was one of three people who tested positive for Ebola at the Saint Joseph Hospital in the Liberian capital Monrovia where he worked.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He was brought back to Spain on Thursday on a medically equipped Spanish airforce plane, the first patient in the fast-spreading Ebola outbreak to be evacuated to Europe for treatment.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Spanish health authorities said Thursday the priest was in a stable condition. The hospital is not providing medical updates for the missionary at his request.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The military flight also evacuated Spanish nun Juliana Bonoha Bohe, 65, who worked at the same hospital as Pajares in Liberia and who was found not to have Ebola.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Spanish charity Pajares worked for, the Hospitaller Brothers of St. John of God, had asked Madrid to bring to Spain for treatment two African missionaries infected with Ebola who also worked at the hospital but the request was turned down.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">One of those two missionaries, a Congolese nun, died on Saturday due to Ebola, the charity said.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There is no proven treatment or cure for Ebola, which causes severe fever and, in the worst cases, unstoppable bleeding. Some 55 percent of cases in this outbreak have been fatal.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Two Americans infected with Ebola while treating patients in Liberia have shown signs of improvement since being given Zmapp back in the United States but health authorities say it is too early to tell if the drug had anything to do with that.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">ZMapp, a treatment made by private US company Mapp Pharmaceuticals, is still in an extremely early phase of development and had only been tested previously on monkeys.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The use of the medication has sparked an ethical controversy as experts call for it to be made available to African nations.</span></div> <br /></div>

Spanish priest to be treated with experimental Ebola drug

A Spanish priest infected with Ebola will be treated with an experimental drug that has been used on two Americans infected with the deadl...

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Ebola-infected American doctor releases statement from isolation: 'I am growing stronger every day'

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-8401649511726582292" 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/AVvXsEicBI5tE7qCD4ZKMFtXeozeaspn34_dShdhpaNG_sHZsjpQrkXnfy2VOr-dI0sOXGeO4z3kGrkowMO3b6JYfBBZRRLzjZykg7tBttcbt1lv9YIEB2QR5eeOyWf6OE70zVlmwzj5K-khdj5S/s1600/373801_ebola-virus.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="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicBI5tE7qCD4ZKMFtXeozeaspn34_dShdhpaNG_sHZsjpQrkXnfy2VOr-dI0sOXGeO4z3kGrkowMO3b6JYfBBZRRLzjZykg7tBttcbt1lv9YIEB2QR5eeOyWf6OE70zVlmwzj5K-khdj5S/s1600/373801_ebola-virus.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);">Dr. Kent Brantly, the American doctor infected with Ebola released a statement Friday afternoon— his first since being brought back to the U.S.<br /><br />Brantly was working for humanitarian organization Samaritan’s Purse in West Africa, treating Ebola patients at a Liberia hospital when he contracted the deadly virus. On Saturday, August 2, he was flown to Emory University Hospital, where he has been in isolation while receiving care.<br /><br />He released the following statement through Samaritan’s Purse:<br /></span><blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I am writing this update from my isolation room at Emory University Hospital, where the doctors and nurses are providing the very best care possible.  I am growing stronger every day, and I thank God for His mercy as I have wrestled with this terrible disease. I also want to extend my deep and sincere thanks to all of you who have been praying for my recovery as well as for Nancy and for the people of Liberia and West Africa.</span></blockquote> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span><blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> "My wife Amber and I, along with our two children, did not move to Liberia for the specific purpose of fighting Ebola. We went to Liberia because we believe God called us to serve Him at ELWA Hospital.  </span></blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br />"One thing I have learned is that following God often leads us to unexpected places. When Ebola spread into Liberia, my usual hospital work turned more and more toward treating the increasing number of Ebola patients. I held the hands of countless individuals as this terrible disease took their lives away from them. I witnessed the horror firsthand, and I can still remember every face and name.  </span></blockquote> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span><blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"When I started feeling ill on that Wednesday morning, I immediately isolated myself until the test confirmed my diagnosis three days later. When the result was positive, I remember a deep sense of peace that was beyond all understanding. God was reminding me of what He had taught me years ago, that He will give me everything I need to be faithful to Him.  </span></blockquote> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span><blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Now it is two weeks later, and I am in a totally different setting. My focus, however, remains the same—to follow God.  As you continue to pray for Nancy and me, yes, please pray for our recovery. More importantly, pray that we would be faithful to God's call on our lives in these new circumstances.”</span></blockquote> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br />Fellow American Nancy Writebol, who was working for U.S. mission group SIM, was also infected with Ebola. She returned to the U.S. Tuesday and is also at Emory receiving treatment.<br /><br />In a press conference August 1st, Emory’s Dr. Bruce Ribner, said this would be the first time a patient with the Ebola virus would be treated in the U.S. and Emory is taking safety precautions seriously.<br /><br />The patients were placed in the hospital’s containment unit, which is discrete from the rest of the hospital.</span><blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br />"From the time the air ambulance arrives in the metro Atlanta area, up to and including being hospitalized at Emory University Hospital, we have taken every precaution we know and that our colleagues at the CDC know to ensure no spread of this pathogen," Ribner said.</span></blockquote> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br />The patients are under the care of four infectious disease physicians, including Ribner. At any given time, there are two nurses available for each patient and subspecialists are available if more care is needed. Ribner noted that, at that time, they did not know how long the patients would be under their care, as degrees of illness complications affect patients' ability to stabilize and recover.</span><blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br />"Based on our experience, policies, procedures, I have no concern about either my personal health or the health of the other health care workers," Ribner said. “We are talking about a viral pathogen that does not have some exotic mode of transmission. [Ebola has] a mode of transmission we are well familiar with with other viruses. We have special policies and procedures from the transport side and health care side in the hospital to ensure there is a safe environment to take care of these patients. [I] don’t believe there’s any likelihood at all there would be any secondary [transmission] at all of these patients coming to us.”</span></blockquote> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br />Early symptoms of Ebola can include fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, sore throat and weakness, followed by diarrhea, vomiting and stomach pain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In some cases, the disease causes rashes, red eyes, hiccups and internal and external bleeding, the CDC says.<br /><br />For a patient who contracts Ebola and is able to recover, once their blood tests normalize and after they no longer show any symptoms, they no longer need to be in isolation.<br /></span><blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“It’s a viral infection and viral infections generally, eventually clear,” Dr. Joseph Rahimian, infectious disease specialist and assistant professor of clinical medicine at New York University Langone Medical Center, told FoxNews.com. “So once they’ve made it through their symptoms and their symptoms resolve, within a short time after that, there’s little reason to think they’re going to have an ongoing risk of infection to other people.”</span></blockquote> <div style="clear: both;"> </div> </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> </div>

Ebola-infected American doctor releases statement from isolation: 'I am growing stronger every day'

Dr. Kent Brantly, the American doctor infected with Ebola released a statement Friday afternoon— his first since being brought back to t...

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