Alpha Centauri 2

Community => Recreation Commons => Our researchers have made a breakthrough! => Topic started by: Buster's Uncle on January 04, 2015, 06:16:02 pm

Title: Ebola News 1/4
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 04, 2015, 06:16:02 pm

Victory against Ebola 'within our reach': new UN mission chief
AFP  10 hours ago


(http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/00VYQtSNjTbW4dTK0wJwvA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTY2NDtpbD1wbGFuZTtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz05NjA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/afp.com/9ae4c5a478bd6b8bc5bceb528441dee2155bfcb0.jpg)
A healthcare worker (C) diagnosed with Ebola after returning from Sierra Leone is walked from an ambulance and put into a quarantine tent before being wheeled into a plane at Glasgow International Airport on December 30, 2014 (AFP Photo/)



ACCRA (AFP) - Ending the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history is a difficult task, but it is "within our reach", the UN's new mission chief on the disease said, warning that the world has no choice but to beat back the infection.

"This is a global crisis. We definitely have a difficult time ahead of us, but we can achieve it," Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the new head of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER), said on arrival in Ghana on Saturday.

"We have no plan B, we have to get rid of this virus. This is within our reach, but we should not be complacent," said Ahmed, a Mauritanian, who had arrived in Accra to officially assume duty, taking over from American Anthony Banbury.

UNMEER, based in the Ghanaian capital, is leading international efforts in the battle against Ebola.

According to the latest World Health Organization figures, there are more than 20,200 confirmed, probable or suspected cases of Ebola and just over 7,900 reported deaths. The three worst-affected countries are Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.

"We need to keep going until we don't have even one case, because even one case is too many," he said. "The work ahead remains very hard but we really have no other choice," the Ebola mission chief added, according to the statement.

Ahmed will be visiting Liberia and Sierra Leone this week, and Guinea shortly after, "to reinforce UNMEER's strategic priorities and see first-hand the Ebola response." the text said.

He will be accompanied by UN Special Envoy on Ebola, David Nabarro, it added.

Before his new appointment, Ahmed served as Deputy Special Representative and Deputy Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).

At a press conference last week in Ghana on the eve of his departure for New York, Banbury had said he was confident that the number of Ebola cases would start to fall in the early part of 2015.


http://news.yahoo.com/victory-against-ebola-within-reach-un-mission-chief-075544472.html (http://news.yahoo.com/victory-against-ebola-within-reach-un-mission-chief-075544472.html)

Title: Patient possibly exposed to Ebola due at Nebraska hospital for observation
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 04, 2015, 06:22:24 pm

Patient possibly exposed to Ebola due at Nebraska hospital for observation
Reuters  12 hours ago


(http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/UbirPLiAubPy__GZ6OUidQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTMwMDtpbD1wbGFuZTtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz00NTA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/Reuters/2015-01-04T055050Z_1_LYNXMPEB03024_RTROPTP_2_HEALTH-EBOLA-USA-HOSPITAL.JPG)
A view of the emergency entrance at the Nebraska Medical Center Biocontainment Unit in Omaha, Nebraska, November 15, 2014. REUTERS/Brian C. Frank



(Reuters) - A U.S. health care worker who was possibly exposed to the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone was expected to arrive for observation on Sunday at a Nebraska facility that has treated three Ebola cases, hospital officials said.

The patient, who was not identified, was expected to arrive at the Biocontainment Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha via private air ambulance around 2 p.m. CST for observation and possible treatment, the center said in a statement.

The patient "has been exposed to the virus but is not ill and is not contagious," said Dr. Phil Smith, the unit's medical director, adding "we will be taking all appropriate precautions."

It gave no details on how the possible exposure occurred.

The same team that cared for three previous Ebola patients at the facility, two of whom were successfully treated, would be working on the case, Smith said. A third patient who arrived gravely ill died a short time later.

The center will monitor for development of infection over the 21-day incubation period using observation and blood tests.

On Saturday, a London hospital said a British nurse being treated for Ebola was in critical condition after deteriorating over the last two days.

The Royal Free Hospital said Pauline Cafferkey, 39, the first person diagnosed with Ebola on British soil, had returned to Britain from Sierra Leone where she had been working for a charity.

Ebola, a hemorrhagic fever, has killed more than 8,000 people out of more than 20,000 cases in an outbreak that began in March. Most all of the cases have been in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

(Reporting by Chris Michaud; Editing by Kim Coghill)


http://news.yahoo.com/patient-possibly-exposed-ebola-due-nebraska-hospital-observation-055050194.html (http://news.yahoo.com/patient-possibly-exposed-ebola-due-nebraska-hospital-observation-055050194.html)

Title: US healthcare worker under watch after Ebola exposure
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 04, 2015, 07:20:28 pm

US healthcare worker under watch after Ebola exposure
AFP  20 minutes ago



Washington (AFP) - An American healthcare worker who has been in Sierra Leone will be placed under close observation at a Nebraska hospital after high-risk exposure to the Ebola virus, doctors said on Saturday.

The unnamed patient will arrive on Sunday aboard a private air ambulance for observation and possible treatment.

"This patient has been exposed to the virus but is not ill and is not contagious," said Phil Smith, medical director of the Biocontainment Unit at Nebraska Medicine.

"However, we will be taking all appropriate precautions. This patient will be under observation in the same room used for treatment of the first three patients and will be carefully monitored to see if the Ebola disease develops."

Two of the previous three Ebola patients at the facility were treated and released but the third -- a surgeon who was infected while working in his native Sierra Leone -- died in November.

Ebola has killed 7,890 people in the past year, out of 20,171 cases, according to the latest tally by the World Health Organization.

Almost all the deaths and cases have been recorded in the three west African countries worst hit by the outbreak: Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.


http://news.yahoo.com/us-healthcare-worker-under-watch-ebola-exposure-185833910.html (http://news.yahoo.com/us-healthcare-worker-under-watch-ebola-exposure-185833910.html)

Title: Ebola survivors in West Africa to share stories via mobile app, to fight stigma
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 04, 2015, 07:24:11 pm

Ebola survivors in West Africa to share stories via mobile app, to help fight stigma
Reuters  30 minutes ago



DAKAR (Reuters) - Ebola survivors in the three West African countries worst hit by the epidemic will share their stories through a mobile application to be launched on Monday, in a UNICEF-backed campaign to inform and fight stigma around the disease.

The Ebola outbreak, the worst on record of the highly infectious haemorrhagic fever, has killed over 7,900 people with more than 20,000 cases recorded mostly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Although many people have survived the disease, they still face rejection and stigma from their communities, while the virus continues to spread due to lack of information and denial, according to the WHO and other health organizations.

The campaign called #ISurvivedEbola, is funded by U.S philanthropist and co-founder of Microsoft Paul G. Allen's foundation which has committed $100 million to fight the disease. UNICEF, the U.N. children's agency is collaborating in the project.

Survivors in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia will be given smartphones and will document their stories and exchange tips on how to cope with it for a mobile app, which will be available to the public, the backers said in a statement.

"While treatment of Ebola patients is critical, the best way to end the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is to cut the chain of transmission and prevent further infections," Rafael Obregon of UNICEF said in the statement.

"#ISurvivedEbola is reinforcing our efforts by providing this information in multiple, highly entertaining forms, including through the testimonies of actual survivors,” Obregon said.

Survivors who have agreed to contribute include Camara "Fanta" Fantaoulen in Guinea who lost six members of her family to Ebola, and Decontee Davis, a 23-year-old from Liberia who overcame Ebola but lost her fiancé.

(Writing by Bate Felix; Editing by Susan Fenton)


http://news.yahoo.com/ebola-survivors-west-africa-share-stories-via-mobile-185036389.html (http://news.yahoo.com/ebola-survivors-west-africa-share-stories-via-mobile-185036389.html)

Title: Patient Possibly Exposed To Ebola Due At Nebraska Hospital For Observation
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 04, 2015, 07:27:09 pm

Patient Possibly Exposed To Ebola Due At Nebraska Hospital For Observation
Reuters  January‎ ‎04‎, ‎2015


(https://s.yimg.com/cd/resizer/2.0/FIT_TO_WIDTH-w500/073720d6417474b1092a7e2e8238b8402bff4e93.jpg)
A view of the emergency entrance at the Nebraska Medical Center Biocontainment Unit in Omaha, Nebraska, November 15, 2014. (Photo: Reuters / Brian C. Frank)



A U.S. health care worker who was possibly exposed to the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone was expected to arrive for observation on Sunday at a Nebraska facility that has treated three Ebola cases, hospital officials said.

The patient, who was not identified, was expected to arrive at the Biocontainment Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha via private air ambulance around 2 p.m. CST for observation and possible treatment, the center said in a statement.

The patient “has been exposed to the virus but is not ill and is not contagious,” said Dr. Phil Smith, the unit’s medical director, adding “we will be taking all appropriate precautions.”

It gave no details on how the possible exposure occurred.

The same team that cared for three previous Ebola patients at the facility, two of whom were successfully treated, would be working on the case, Smith said. A third patient who arrived gravely ill died a short time later.

The center will monitor for development of infection over the 21-day incubation period using observation and blood tests.

On Saturday, a London hospital said a British nurse being treated for Ebola was in critical condition after deteriorating over the last two days.

The Royal Free Hospital said Pauline Cafferkey, 39, the first person diagnosed with Ebola on British soil, had returned to Britain from Sierra Leone where she had been working for a charity.

Ebola, a hemorrhagic fever, has killed more than 8,000 people out of more than 20,000 cases in an outbreak that began in March. Most all of the cases have been in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.


https://www.yahoo.com/health/patient-possibly-exposed-to-ebola-due-at-nebraska-107109328232.html (https://www.yahoo.com/health/patient-possibly-exposed-to-ebola-due-at-nebraska-107109328232.html)

Title: Ebola-infected UK nurse fighting for her life
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 04, 2015, 07:31:35 pm

Ebola-infected UK nurse fighting for her life
AFP
By Robin Millard  27 minutes ago


(http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/fikep7H2zGkBN3mrUPUlVw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTU2NDtpbD1wbGFuZTtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz03Njg-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/afp.com/d8553d67bebcdc2b192d7841caaa85773f63fed0.jpg)
A nurse diagnosed with Ebola after returning from Sierra Leone is wheeled in a quarantine tent trolley onto a Hercules Transport plane at Glasgow International Airport on December 30, 2014 (AFP Photo/)



London (AFP) - A British nurse with Ebola was fighting for her life Sunday as two health workers, who also spent time in Sierra Leone, were placed under observation in the US and Germany.

On Saturday, the London hospital where nurse Pauline Cafferkey is being treated, said her health had taken a turn for the worse.

"The condition of Pauline Cafferkey has gradually deteriorated over the past two days and is now critical," the Royal Free Hospital said.

On Wednesday, doctors had said the 39-year-old Scot, who had been working with the charity Save the Children in Sierra Leone, was sitting up in bed, reading and talking to staff from inside her isolation tent in the hospital.

British Prime Minister David Cameron told BBC television Ebola was "uppermost" in his mind given Cafferkey's condition and said he was "thinking of her and her family".

Cafferkey's doctors said she had agreed to be treated with blood plasma from an Ebola survivor containing virus-fighting antibodies as well as an experimental anti-viral drug.


(http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/QAnT6BkQElzayt0HStu.HQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTUyODtpbD1wbGFuZTtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz03Njg-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/afp.com/91be40fec3f1e7ac8fc57971d25935eff5a7d071.jpg)
Health workers and military personnel at the Kerry Town Ebola treatment center on the outskirts of Freetown, Sierra Leone on November 13, 2014 (AFP Photo/Francisco Leong)


Cafferkey was volunteering at a British-built treatment centre in Kerry Town, not far from Sierra Leone's capital Freetown, when she contracted the deadly virus.

She was diagnosed in Glasgow on December 29, a day after flying home, and transferred to the Royal Free, which has the only isolation ward in Britain equipped for Ebola patients.

Expert microbiologist Professor Hugh Pennington said she would need luck to survive the disease, which experts still do not fully understand.

"The plasma is probably her best chance of treatment," he said.

In the United States, a US healthcare worker who also spent time in Sierra Leone, was to be placed under observation at a Nebraska hospital after high-risk exposure to the Ebola virus, health officials said.


(http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/NbZs91wqo_5QMB1VmAXnAg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTUyNDtpbD1wbGFuZTtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz03Njg-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/afp.com/2f46da2b6b194fd2a4cf31c508cd3b2e0345c0ca.jpg)
Health workers and military personnel at the Kerry Town Ebola treatment center on the outskirts of Freetown, Sierra Leone on November 13, 2014 (AFP Photo/Francisco Leong)


In Germany, a South Korean medical worker recently working with patients in Sierra Leone was hospitalised and placed in an isolation unit, according to Berlin's Charite hospital.

The patient was displaying no symptoms, but sustained a "slight" cut to the finger while taking the blood of a patient on December 29.


- 'No plan B'

The Ebola outbreak has killed more than 7,900 people out of more than 20,300 cases, according to the latest tally Friday by the World Health Organization.

Almost all the deaths and cases have been recorded in the three west African countries worst hit by the outbreak: Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.


(http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/YVlGTESQRTxa_ADHHiWTUQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTQ0NDtpbD1wbGFuZTtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz03Njg-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/afp.com/1d0ae41fe166951972b8e0585f54e0b286acac9b.jpg)
"The condition of Pauline Cafferkey has gradually deteriorated over the past two days and is now critical," the Royal Free Hospital in London said in a statement. (AFP Photo/Justin Tallis)


As part of attempts to halt the epidemic, Sierra Leone announced on Sunday the lockdown in the northern Tonkolili district had been extended for two weeks.

It also imposed "additional screening measures" at Freetown International Airport after two workers apparently caught the disease.

Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the new head of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response, said the world had no choice but to beat back the infection, as he arrived in the Ghanaian capital Accra to assume duty.

"This is a global crisis. We definitely have a difficult time ahead of us, but we can achieve it," he said.

"We have no plan B; we have to get rid of this virus. This is within our reach, but we should not be complacent.

"We need to keep going until we don't have even one case, because even one case is too many," he said.

Ahmed will be visiting Liberia and Sierra Leone this week, and Guinea shortly after.

Ebola can fell its victims within days, causing severe fever and muscle pain, weakness, vomiting and diarrhoea. In severe cases it shuts down organs and causes unstoppable bleeding.

The virus is spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, meaning people caring for the sick are particularly exposed.


http://news.yahoo.com/ebola-struck-uk-nurse-critical-condition-115606632.html (http://news.yahoo.com/ebola-struck-uk-nurse-critical-condition-115606632.html)

Title: British hospital reports nurse diagnosed with Ebola is in critical condition
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 04, 2015, 07:36:42 pm

British hospital reports nurse diagnosed with Ebola is in critical condition
The Week
Sarah Eberspacher   January 3
 

(https://7e8c.https.cdn.softlayer.net/807E8C/origin.theweek.com/img/speedreads/274387.jpg?209)
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images



Pauline Cafferkey, a Scottish nurse who was diagnosed with Ebola after returning to Britain from Sierra Leone, is in critical condition, The Guardian reports.

Cafferkey, 39, was in Sierra Leone volunteering with a British-built Kerrytown Ebola treatment center. She developed a fever while waiting for a connecting flight to Glasgow at Heathrow Airport, but she was cleared to fly. After her condition worsened in Scotland, Cafferkey contacted officials, who transferred her to a London hospital.

The Royal Free hospital released a short statement on Saturday, which said that Cafferkey's condition "has gradually deteriorated over the past two days and is now critical."

Her doctors had warned that use of an experimental, anti-viral drug was not guaranteed to improve her condition.


http://theweek.com/article/index/274387/speedreads-british-hospital-reports-nurse-diagnosed-with-ebola-is-in-critical-condition (http://theweek.com/article/index/274387/speedreads-british-hospital-reports-nurse-diagnosed-with-ebola-is-in-critical-condition)

Title: UK Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey 'in critical condition'
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 04, 2015, 07:47:34 pm

UK Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey 'in critical condition'
BBC News  4 January 2015 Last updated at 02:58 ET


(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/79989000/jpg/_79989669_79989668.jpg)
Pauline Cafferkey works as an associate public health nurse at Blantyre Health Centre, South Lanarkshire



A British nurse who was diagnosed with Ebola after returning from Sierra Leone is now in a critical condition, the London hospital treating her has said.

The Royal Free Hospital said it was "sorry to announce that the condition of Pauline Cafferkey has gradually deteriorated over the past two days".

Ms Cafferkey, from South Lanarkshire, was given an experimental anti-viral drug and blood from disease survivors.

Meanwhile, a patient who was tested in Swindon for Ebola has tested negative.


'Best possible care'
 
Ms Cafferkey, a public health nurse, was diagnosed with Ebola in December after volunteering with Save the Children in Sierra Leone.

On Saturday Prime Minister David Cameron said on Twitter: "My thoughts and prayers are with nurse Pauline Cafferkey who is in a critical condition with Ebola."

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt also expressed his concern, adding: "I know Dr Mike Jacobs and his team at the Royal Free Hospital are working tirelessly to provide her with the best possible care."

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: "My thoughts are with Pauline & her family at this extremely difficult time. Thanks to all who are caring for her."

Ms Cafferkey had travelled home via Casablanca, Morocco, and London's Heathrow Airport.

She was screened for the disease at Heathrow where she told officials she believed a fever might be developing.

Her temperature was taken seven times in total, six of which were within 30 minutes, and was normal each time, so she was allowed to fly home to Scotland.

The government's chief medical officer, Dame Sally Davies, has said the case raises questions about airport screening procedures.


(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/80037000/jpg/_80037579_80003464.jpg)
Ms Cafferkey was part of a group of up to 50 NHS healthcare workers who volunteered in Sierra Leone

 
Ms Cafferkey was later placed in an isolation unit at Glasgow's Gartnavel Hospital after becoming feverish, before being transferred by RAF Hercules plane to London and on to the Royal Free's specialist treatment centre.

Officials from Health Protection Scotland have spoken to all 71 people aboard the British Airways flight from Heathrow to Glasgow that Ms Cafferkey took - a Public Health England (PHE) spokeswoman has said.

And all 101 UK-based passengers and crew aboard the Royal Air Maroc flight from Casablanca to Heathrow have been contacted by PHE officials.

The remaining 31 international passengers on the flight were being traced by international health authorities, the spokeswoman added.

Dr Nick Beeching, an infectious disease specialist and a senior lecturer at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, told the BBC the risk to the general public of disease spreading was "almost nil".

He said Ms Cafferkey was receiving the best possible care, and the doctors and nurses at the Royal Free were aware of the risks of contamination.


'Critical period'
 
Ms Cafferkey's is the second UK case of Ebola. Another nurse - William Pooley - recovered from Ebola in September after also being treated at the Royal Free Hospital.

He donated some blood plasma and was treated with the anti-viral drug ZMapp, of which there are no stocks left.

Microbiologist Professor Hugh Pennington said patients responded to Ebola treatment differently.

"Some patients with Ebola get sick and then they get better. Not everybody dies," he said.

For this reason, he said, it was "very difficult" to tell how effective treatments would be - especially when "relatively small numbers of people are being treated with these various experimental approaches".


'Critical period'
 
David Mabey, an expert in communicable diseases from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, also said Mrs Cafferkey's reaction to the virus would have been hard to predict.

"A proportion of people don't get severely ill; Will Pooley was an example - he was never very sick and he recovered fully within a few days.

"The critical period is in the first four or five days after it's diagnosed, because, you know, if you are going to get worse then that's when it happens, and I'm very sorry to hear that seems to have been the case."

Dr Chris Smith, a consultant virologist at Cambridge University, said symptoms usually develop "abruptly" and peak after "about seven days".

After 10 days, he added: "Usually they've turned the corner and they begin to improve."

Ebola is transmitted by direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, such as blood, vomit or faeces.

The virus has killed more than 7,800 people, almost all in West Africa, since it broke out a year ago.

The World Health Organization says the number of people infected by the disease in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea has now passed 20,000.


(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/79984000/gif/_79984967_uk_worker_map_20143012_624_v4.gif)
The patient's journey from Sierra Leone Ms Cafferkey had travelled from Freetown in Sierra Leone via Casablanca


http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-30666265 (http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-30666265)

Title: Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey in ‘critical’ condition
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 04, 2015, 07:51:08 pm

Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey in ‘critical’ condition
Ms Cafferkey had begun treatment in London using experimental anti-viral drug
The Irish Times  Sat, Jan 3, 2015, 15:01


(http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2054112.1420296245!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/box_620_330/image.jpg)
Pauline Cafferkey’s treatment involved convalescent plasma taken from the blood of a recovered patient and an experimental anti-viral drug which is “not proven to work.” Photograph: Handout/PA Wire



The condition of British nurse Pauline Cafferkey who was diagnosed with Ebola has deteriorated and is now critical, the Royal Free Hospital in north London said in a statement on Saturday.

Ms Cafferkey, a Scottish public health nurse who had been volunteering in West Africa, was diagnosed with the deadly virus after returning to Glasgow from Sierra Leone via Casablanca in Morocco.

A brief statement on the hospital’s website said: “The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust is sorry to announce that the condition of Pauline Cafferkey has gradually deteriorated over the past two days and is now critical.”

Crisis workers at an Ebola treatment centre in Sierra Leone. The Government has pledged €780,000 to fund ambulances and burial teams in the country to help fight the virus. Photograph: Daniel Berehulak/NYTGovernment pledges €780,000 in Ebola aid

Boys stand by a wall in the old city of Aleppo in Syria. Unicef predicts by the end of 2015, the lives of over 8.6 million children across Syria will have been torn apart by violence and forced displacement. Photograph: Jalal Al-Mamo/ReutersMiddle East humanitarian crisis will worsen, says Unicef chief

Minister for Health Leo Varadkar has said he is “in contact, on a daily basis, with the British and European authorities”. Photograph: Cyril Byrne/The Irish Times.No immediate Ebola threat in Ireland, says Varadkar
    
Ms Cafferkey had begun specialist treatment via a quarantine tent at the Royal Free Hospital after initially flying home from Heathrow to Glasgow. The treatment involved convalescent plasma taken from the blood of a recovered patient and an experimental anti-viral drug which is “not proven to work.”

Ms Cafferkey, a public health nurse at Blantyre Health Centre in South Lanarkshire from Glasgow, was part of a 30-strong team of medical volunteers deployed to Africa by the UK Government last month and had been working with Save the Children at the Ebola Treatment Centre in Kerry Town, Sierra Leone.

She was initially placed in isolation at a Glasgow hospital early on Monday after feeling feverish, before being transferred south on an RAF C-130 Hercules plane.

The healthcare worker had flown from Sierra Leone via Morocco to Heathrow, where she was considered a high risk because of the nature of her work but showed no symptoms during screening and a temperature check.

However, while waiting for a connecting flight to Glasgow she raised fears about her temperature and was tested a further six times in the space of 30 minutes.

Despite her concerns, she was given the all-clear and flew on to Scotland where, after taking a taxi home, she later developed a fever and raised the alarm.

Britain’s chief medical officer, Dame Sally Davies, said questions have been raised about the airport screening procedure for Ebola but insisted that the nurse’s temperature was checked.

“We regularly keep under review what we are doing because this is a new process,” she told ITV. “Clearly queuing and things like that are unacceptable and we will review. But we will let people who are well travel because they will not infect the public.”


http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/uk/ebola-nurse-pauline-cafferkey-in-critical-condition-1.2054113 (http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/uk/ebola-nurse-pauline-cafferkey-in-critical-condition-1.2054113)

Title: UK passengers on Ebola flights traced
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 04, 2015, 08:02:08 pm

UK passengers on Ebola flights traced
BBC News  3 January 2015 Last updated at 03:29 ET


(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/79989000/jpg/_79989669_79989668.jpg)
Pauline Cafferkey boarded flights from Casablanca to Heathrow and from Heathrow to Glasgow



All the UK-based passengers and crew on two flights taken by a British nurse who contracted Ebola have now received health advice, officials say.

Pauline Cafferkey was diagnosed with Ebola after returning from Sierra Leone and is receiving specialist treatment at London's Royal Free Hospital.

She flew from Casablanca to Heathrow, where she boarded a flight to Glasgow.

Passengers and crews on the flights were given "advice and reassurance", a Public Health England spokeswoman said.

Officials from Health Protection Scotland had spoken to all 71 passengers and members of crew aboard the British Airways flight from Heathrow to Glasgow, a PHE spokeswoman said.

And all 101 UK-based passengers and crew aboard the Royal Air Maroc flight from Casablanca to Heathrow had been contacted by officials from Public Health England.

The remaining 31 international passengers on the flight were being traced by international public health authorities, the spokeswoman added.


'Best opportunity'
 
The Moroccan Ministry of Health has also been tracing passengers who were on the first Royal Air Maroc flight, into Casablanca from Freetown in Sierra Leone, as a precautionary measure.

All passengers on that flight had been screened before they left Freetown and on their arrival in Casablanca, PHE said.


(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/80032000/jpg/_80032909_3c4ce09b-658c-47a6-b895-980eacc8cadd.jpg)
Pauline Cafferkey was transferred from Glasgow by a RAF Hercules plane


Ms Cafferkey - who was working in the West African country as part of a Save the Children team - was also screened for the disease at Heathrow and told officials she believed a fever might be developing.

Her temperature was taken seven times in total on Sunday and was normal each time, so she was allowed to fly home to Scotland.

She was placed in an isolation unit at Gartnavel Hospital in Glasgow after becoming feverish on Monday and then transferred by RAF Hercules plane to London and on to the Royal Free's specialist treatment centre on Tuesday.

The nurse, who is based at Blantyre Health Centre in South Lanarkshire, faces a "critical" few days as she is treated with an experimental anti-viral drug and blood from a survivor of the virus, her doctor has said.

Dr Michael Jacobs said Ms Cafferkey was in an early phase of the disease which gave the hospital the "best opportunity to give her treatment".

She had been sitting up and talking, was able to read, eat and drink, and had been in communication with her family, he added.


(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/79984000/gif/_79984967_uk_worker_map_20143012_624_v4.gif)
Ms Cafferkey had travelled from Freetown in Sierra Leone via Casablanca


Ebola is transmitted by direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, such as blood, vomit or faeces.

The virus has killed more than 7,800 people, mostly in West Africa, since it broke out a year ago.

The World Health Organization says the number of people infected by the disease in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea has now passed 20,000.

---

Temperature screening

A normal body temperature is considered 37C
A raised temperature is one sign of Ebola and forms a core part of entry screening
The UK uses a relatively tough 37.5C as the cut-off for further testing
Belgium and Australia use a higher threshold of 38C
India uses 38.3C
Spain and the US use 38.6C
Source: The Lancet

---

Ms Cafferkey is the second UK case of Ebola. Another nurse - William Pooley - recovered from Ebola in September after also being treated at the Royal Free Hospital.

He donated some blood plasma and was treated with the anti-viral drug ZMapp, of which there are no stocks left.

Dr Jacobs said the cases "were quite separate from one another".

"We're starting from the beginning again," he said. "We're treating Pauline absolutely on her own merits."

He said there was "a European pool" of recovered patients' blood plasma and they had identified "the best plasma for her".

It is hoped the antibodies in the plasma will help Ms Cafferkey's immune system fight the disease.

---

What are the symptoms?

(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/78119000/jpg/_78119518_ebola_viruses-spl.jpg)
The Ebola virus causes a range of painful and debilitating symptoms


The early symptoms are a sudden fever, muscle pain, fatigue, headache and sore throat.

This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, a rash and bleeding - both internal and external - which can be seen in the gums, eyes, nose and in the stools.

Patients tend to die from dehydration and multiple organ failure.

---

Professor Jeremy Farrar, director of healthy charity the Wellcome Trust, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he thought the Ebola epidemic would come to an end at some stage during 2015.

"But the epidemic is still currently going on particularly in rural areas which are difficult to reach. It will be a very long tail to the end of this epidemic, which I think will go on for most of 2015," he said.


http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-30662825 (http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-30662825)

Title: Ebola tests on Swindon Great Western Hospital patient
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 04, 2015, 09:40:38 pm

Ebola tests on Swindon Great Western Hospital patient
BBC News  3 January 2015 Last updated at 12:33 ET


(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/80040000/jpg/_80040237_de22.jpg)
Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said the patient was being screened for the disease "as a precautionary measure"



A patient who recently returned to the UK from West Africa is being tested for Ebola at a Wiltshire hospital.

The patient was transported to Swindon's Great Western Hospital earlier and is being kept in isolation.

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said the patient was being screened as "a precautionary measure".

It said the hospital had "robust systems" in place to manage patients with suspected infectious diseases and people "should not be concerned".


http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-30668872 (http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-30668872)

Title: New Ebola lockdown in Sierra Leone as airport checks upped
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 04, 2015, 09:53:34 pm

New Ebola lockdown in Sierra Leone as airport checks upped
AFP  2 hours ago


(http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/1U3gqE0hD04ZZNia44nhjw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTUyNjtpbD1wbGFuZTtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz04NDI-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/afp.com/eeb2c0755c867a6a0d34ad0c6f30e9b27d7d83f0.jpg)
Medical staff wearing protective clothing treat the body of an Ebola victim at their facility in Kailahun, on August 14, 2014 (AFP Photo/Carl de Souza)



Freetown (AFP) - The Ebola lockdown in the northern Tonkolili district of Sierra Leone was extended on Sunday for two weeks as authorities stepped up the fight to contain the epidemic.

The move comes as the government imposed "additional screening measures" at Freetown International Airport after two workers apparently caught the disease.

A five-day lockdown had been declared by the government across the badly-hit north of the country last month.

More than 70 cases of the virus had been confirmed in Tonkolili during a five-week locked down there ordered by local authorities, District Coordinator Salieu Bah told journalists.

"The lockdown is extended for another two weeks to intensify monitoring efforts by all sectors in the district as we need this mopping up operation until January 17," he added.

He said people had been "reluctant to comply with health rules such as late reporting of suspected Ebola cases and undertaking secret burials."


(http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/dTt1hcsASFrsEONzdv4WoQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTYwOTtpbD1wbGFuZTtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz05NjA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/afp.com/1a420e6020cd0814bc6681530beb02cb097bf24f.jpg)
A woman walks past signs warning of ebola in Freetown, Sierra Leone, on August 13, 2014 (AFP Photo/Carl de Souza)


Meanwhile, Health Minister Dr Abubakarr Fofanah said screening of workers at the airport in Freetown will now be done "on a 24-hour basis to detect any suspicion of Ebola on a worker or traveller".

The National Ebola Response Centre (NERC) said "a case of Ebola was detected and confirmed by laboratory test on Friday involving a person who worked at the airport up to mid-December but had not worked since that time."

Another airport employee who had been in contact with the person has not come to work since Christmas Day. "Due to these developments, additional measures have been put in place to enhance robust screening," NERC said in a statement.

"These include documentation of employees temperatures at the airport front gate and entry to the terminal."

Sierra Leone has overtaken Liberia as the country worst hit by the virus, with 2,758 confirmed deaths out of 9,446 cases, according to the UN.


http://news.yahoo.com/ebola-lockdown-sierra-leone-airport-checks-upped-191625879.html (http://news.yahoo.com/ebola-lockdown-sierra-leone-airport-checks-upped-191625879.html)

Title: US medical worker exposed to Ebola overseas arrives in Omaha
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 05, 2015, 12:10:24 am

US medical worker exposed to Ebola overseas arrives in Omaha
Associated Press  7 minutes ago



OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An American health care worker who experienced high-risk exposure to the Ebola virus while working in Sierra Leone arrived at a Nebraska hospital Sunday for observation.

The patient landed in Omaha on Sunday afternoon. Paramedics wearing full-body protective gear drove the patient to the Nebraska Medical Center, which has a specialized biocontainment unit.

Dr. Phil Smith, who leads the unit, said the patient is neither ill nor contagious. He said the patient will be observed for any signs of Ebola throughout the virus' 21-day incubation period, and that "all appropriate precautions" will be taken.

Hospital spokesman Taylor Wilson added that doctors and nurses are wearing full protective gear and taking the same precautions they did when treating patients with Ebola, even though this patient hasn't tested positive.

The Omaha hospital treated three patients with Ebola last fall. Dr. Rick Sacra, who worked at a Liberian hospital, and freelance video journalist Ashoka Mukpo, who also worked in Liberia, both recovered from Ebola after being treated at the hospital. Dr. Martin Salia, who contracted Ebola while working in Sierra Leone, was much more ill when he arrived in Nebraska and he did not survive.

Doctors have said early treatment increases the chances of surviving the virus.

Few details have been released about the latest patient. Hospital officials said he or she would have to agree to disclose any information.

The World Health Organization estimates that roughly 8,000 people have died from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa that began about a year ago. The epidemic has been centered in the countries of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.


http://news.yahoo.com/us-medical-worker-exposed-ebola-overseas-heads-omaha-054815648.html (http://news.yahoo.com/us-medical-worker-exposed-ebola-overseas-heads-omaha-054815648.html)