Ebola news 9/17

[Buster's Uncle]

Ebola could drain billions of dollars from African economies: World Bank
Reuters
By Anna Yukhananov  41 minutes ago



A social mobilizer from NGO Association des Jeunes Conditionnaires et Manutentionnaires (AJCOM), a UNICEF partner, carries a basin of water past the soapy hands of children, to help prevent the spread Ebola in Conakry, Guinea, in this handout photo provided by UNICEF taken September 15, 2014. REUTERS/Timothy La Rose/UNICEF/Handout via Reuters



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The largest-ever outbreak of Ebola could drain billions of dollars from economies in West Africa by the end of next year if the epidemic is not contained, the World Bank said in an analysis on Wednesday.

The global development lender predicted that slow containment of the deadly virus in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone could lead to broader regional contagion, particularly through tourism and trade.

Under the worst-case scenario, Guinea's economic growth could be reduced by 2.3 percentage points next year while Sierra Leone's growth would be cut by 8.9 percentage points. Liberia would be hardest hit, with a reduction of 11.7 percentage points next year.

"We really need to scale up our response and what we have learned from this study is that time is of the essence," World Bank President Jim Yong Kim told reporters.

Even under the best-case scenario, countries would need a "massive" scaling up of their response to contain the disease in the next four to six months, the bank said.



Social mobilizers from NGO Association des Jeunes Conditionnaires et Manutentionnaires (AJCOM), a UNICEF partner, share information on Ebola and best practices to help prevent its spread in Conakry, Guinea, in this handout photo provided by UNICEF taken September 15, 2014. REUTERS/Timothy La Rose/UNICEF/Handout via Reuters


The World Health Organization (WHO) said the outbreak requires a $1 billion expenditure to limit its spread. "The ($1 billion) is something we need right now, and it could go up rapidly if we do not respond," Kim said.

The United States announced on Tuesday it would send 3,000 troops to help tackle the Ebola outbreak.

The bank itself has pledged about $200 million in emergency assistance to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the three countries most affected.


HARDEST-HIT ECONOMIES

The World Bank predicted the three West African countries so far affected by the virus would lose $359 million in economic output this year. All three also have significant funding gaps, totaling nearly $300 million.



A social mobilizer from NGO Association des Jeunes Conditionnaires et Manutentionnaires (AJCOM), a UNICEF partner, uses an illustrated printout while speaking with a man about Ebola and best practices to help prevent its spread in Conakry, Guinea, in this handout photo provided by UNICEF taken September 15, 2014. REUTERS/Timothy La Rose/UNICEF/Handout via Reuters


Inflation and food prices were also starting to rise due to shortages, panic buying and speculation, the bank said.

Failure to contain the virus quickly could also affect business in neighboring countries, including Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal.

"The analysis finds that the largest economic effects of the crisis are not as a result of the direct costs ... but rather those resulting from aversion behavior driven by fear of contagion," the bank said in a statement.

The worst Ebola outbreak since the disease was identified in 1976 has already killed nearly 2,500 people, half of the number infected by the virus.

The bank said agreeing on a standardized Ebola treatment and prevention protocol, endorsed by the WHO, was critical and would significantly reduce the virus's death rate, now at 53 percent.

The outbreak of the highly contagious virus, which causes fever and uncontrolled bleeding, was first confirmed in the remote forests of southeastern Guinea in March.

(Reporting by Anna Yukhananov; Additional reporting by Stella Dawson, Thomson Reuters Foundation; Editing by Andrea Ricci and Jeffrey Benkoe)


http://news.yahoo.com/world-bank-sees-possible-ebola-hit-billions-dollars-141429010--business.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Liberia hopes US Ebola aid pushes world to do more
Associated Press
By JONATHAN PAYE-LAYLEH  1 hour ago



Health workers in protective gear move the body of a person that they suspect dyed form the Ebola virus in Monrovia, Liberia, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014. The number of Ebola cases in West Africa could start doubling every three weeks and it could end up costing nearly $1 billion to contain the crisis, the World Health Organization warned Tuesday. (AP Photo/Abbas Dulleh)



MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — Liberia's president called Wednesday on the world to do more to end a spiraling Ebola outbreak, saying "Liberia cannot defeat Ebola alone."

President Barrack Obama announced Tuesday that he will order 3,000 military personnel to West Africa to help contain the dreaded disease, which has killed at least 2,400 people. The U.S. is also planning on delivering 17 treatment centers with 100 beds each to Liberia, which has been hardest hit by the outbreak.

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Wednesday called that commitment significant but said she hopes it will only be the beginning.

"We hope this decision by the United States will spur the rest of the international community into action," she said in a written statement read out by Information Minister Lewis Brown at a press conference. "This disease is not simply a Liberian or West African problem. The entire community of nations has a stake in ending this crisis."

An Ebola outbreak in West Africa has also touched Guinea, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Nigeria, and is believed to have sickened nearly 5,000 people.

It is the largest Ebola outbreak ever, and public health experts have said the three hardest hit countries — Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea — are desperately short of everything needed to contain it, from health workers to the hazard suits needed to protect them.



some initiatives planned to ramp up the U.S. response to Ebola outbreak in West Africa (AP)


In recent weeks, promises of aid have ramped up significantly, and Sirleaf praised Obama's commitment, which is among the biggest from any single country. Liberia was founded by former American slaves, and the two countries share close ties.

But even as she welcomed the aid, Sirleaf noted that the plans have to be formalized. American officials expect to have the first treatment centers open in a few weeks, and it is unclear when all of the personnel and equipment will be on the ground.

Public health officials have warned that the window is closing to stamp out the outbreak and that promises must be converted into action quickly.

Australia announced Wednesday that it is providing another $6.4 million to the fight. The U.N. has estimated it will cost $1 billion to contain Ebola.

Germany is also considering providing a mobile hospital to Liberia and may also send transport planes to help with logistics.

___

Associated Press writer Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed to this report.


http://news.yahoo.com/germany-logistical-help-ebola-crisis-130551984.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Ebola crisis 'spiraling out of control' warns Obama
AFP
By Stephen Collinson  7 hours ago



The Ebola epidemic has killed more than 2,400 people in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone this year (AFP Photo/Cellou Binani)



Atlanta (AFP) - President Barack Obama issued a global call to action to fight West Africa's Ebola epidemic, warning the deadly outbreak was unprecedented and "spiraling out of control," threatening hundreds of thousands of people.

Speaking as he unveiled a major new US initiative which will see 3,000 US military personnel deployed to West Africa to combat the growing health crisis, Obama said the outbreak was spreading "exponentially."

"Here's the hard truth. In West Africa, Ebola is now an epidemic of the likes that we have not seen before," Obama said.

"It's spiraling out of control. It is getting worse. It's spreading faster and exponentially. Today, thousands of people in West Africa are infected. That number could rapidly grow to tens of thousands.

"And if the outbreak is not stopped now, we could be looking at hundreds of thousands of people infected with profound political and economic and security implications for all of us."

As well as the military deployment, the US will also set up a command and control center in the capital of Liberia, the hardest-hit country, build new treatment centers and train health workers.



US President Barack Obama speaks at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on September 16, 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia (AFP Photo/Mandel Ngan)


Precise timing on deployment was still unclear.

"No deployment in the coming days. The troops have to be properly trained and equipped," a Pentagon official said privately. Among the US soldiers sent to West Africa will be doctors and also engineers to set up the field hospitals, the official said.

Meanwhile, the United States moved to fund these plans.

Specifically, the Department of Defense plans to ask Wednesday to have reprogrammed "an additional $500 million in Fiscal Year 2014 Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funds to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to fight Ebola," an administration official said.

This is separate from the funds already put toward the effort, including the $175 million already dedicated, and the $88 million requested through a continuing resolution.



Liberian health workers wear protective suits as they remove the body of an Ebola victim from a clinic in Monrovia, on September 12, 2014 (AFP Photo/Zoom Dosso)


- Security Council action -

The Ebola epidemic has killed more than 2,400 people in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone this year.

The virus can fell its victims within days, causing severe fever and muscle pain, weakness, vomiting and diarrhea -- in some cases shutting down organs and causing unstoppable bleeding.

No licenced vaccine or treatment exists.

The United Nations Security Council is poised to adopt a resolution on Thursday exhorting countries to provide more field hospitals and urgent aid to the crisis-stricken region.



Sierra Leone health workers are disinfected after loading the bodies of Ebola victims onto a truck in Kailahun, on August 14, 2014 (AFP Photo/Carl de Souza)


Likely passage of the resolution marks only the third time that the Security Council will vote on a public health crisis after resolutions on AIDS in 2000 and 2011.

"This has gone beyond health issues," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said.

"It has gone to areas affecting social and economic situations. It may even affect political stability if not properly contained and treated."

The United Nations said nearly one billion dollars would be needed to beat back the worst-ever outbreak of the disease, which is on track to infect 20,000 people by the end of the year.

The world body has set a goal of stopping the spread of Ebola within six to nine months but aid agencies are complaining that help has been too slow.



United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos gestures during a press conference on September 16, 2014 in Geneva (AFP Photo/Fabrice Coffrini)


Ban is planning a "high-level event" on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly next week to draw attention to the crisis.

UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos told reporters in Geneva the Ebola crisis faced a "huge funding challenge."


- World 'needs to do more' -

The capacity of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia to provide even the most basic necessities is "on the brink of collapse," she warned.

The United Nations said the response to the crisis would require $987.8 million (763 million euros), with about half needed for Liberia.



Volunteers show students a poster to raise awareness on the symptoms of the Ebola virus in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on September 15, 2014, the first day of the school year (AFP Photo/Sia Kambou)


The World Bank meanwhile approved a $105 million grant, part of a $200 million pledge made in early August aimed at helping people cope with the economic impact of the crisis and strengthening public health systems.

"The world needs to do much, much more to respond to the Ebola crisis in these three countries," World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said in a statement.

The UN said if the international community and affected countries respond swiftly and energetically, transmission should begin to slow by the end of the year and halt by mid-2015.

"The level of surge we need to do is unprecedented. It is massive," the United Nations' Ebola coordinator David Nabarro told reporters.

China will send a 59-person mobile laboratory team from its Centre for Disease Control to Sierra Leone, including epidemiologists, clinicians and nurses -- bringing the number of Chinese medics in the country to 174, the WHO said.

The EU, Britain, France and Cuba have also pledged to send medical teams and other aid to the region.

But this is far from enough, warned Joanne Liu, head of the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity.

Noting that the known Ebola toll "represents only a fraction of the real number," she stressed that "the ground response remains totally and lethally inadequate."

"The window of opportunity to contain this outbreak is closing," she warned.


http://news.yahoo.com/obama-stop-ebola-hundreds-thousands-infected-202248034.html

[Buster's Uncle]

First UK volunteer gets experimental GSK Ebola shot in trial
Reuters
By Kate Kelland  21 minutes ago



A British Airways airplane flies past a signage for pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in London April 22, 2014. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor



LONDON (Reuters) - The first volunteer in a fast-tracked British safety trial of an experimental Ebola vaccine made by GlaxoSmithKline received the injection on Wednesday, trial organizers said.

The candidate Ebola vaccine, which GSK co-developed with the U.S. National Institutes of Health, has also been given to 10 volunteers taking part in a similar separate trial in the United States, and so far there were no signs of any serious adverse reactions, doctors said. [ID:nL1N0RH2BI]

The vaccine being tested in the UK is designed to specifically target the Zaire strain of Ebola, the one circulating in the West Africa epidemic, the worst Ebola outbreak recorded.

Since the shot contains no infectious Ebola virus material, only one of its genes, experts say there are no concerns that any of the subjects will contract the deadly disease.

Latest data from the World Health Organization (WHO) show about 2,500 people have died of Ebola in an outbreak that started in March and has infected almost 5,000 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria.

Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told a U.S. Senate panel on Tuesday that "no red flags" indicating serious adverse reactions have been found in the 10 healthy volunteers vaccinated there so far.

The trials are seeking to determine not only whether the vaccine is safe, or causes adverse side effects, but also whether it triggers the production of antibodies against the Ebola virus.

Professor Adrian Hill, a vaccine researcher at the Jenner Institute at Oxford University who is leading the trial, said the volunteer - a 48-year-old former nurse - had experienced no problems since she was given the vaccine early on Wednesday and was "doing very well at her two-hour check".

The aim is to recruit a total of 60 people for the UK trial and complete the tests by the end of 2014, after which the vaccines could be deployed on an emergency basis.

Study data from an animal trial of an Ebola vaccine similar to this one showed that it was effective for at least five weeks in lab monkeys but required boosting with an additional vaccine to extend its protection to 10 months.

Hill said he has no shortage of volunteers, with some 200 people having contacted him so far. These are being screened, he said, to make sure they fit the required age and health profiles, and to ensure they are able to return for a total of nine check-ups over the duration of the trial.

"I'm pretty confident that the safety is going to be ok, but the big question is, will it work? In other words, will the immune response that we get be strong enough to prevent Ebola infection?" Hill said in a telephone interview.

"We need to find out whether what works in monkeys also looks good in humans."

GSK says it plans to begin making up to about 10,000 doses of the vaccine at the same time as the initial clinical trials, so that if they are successful, the vaccine could be made available immediately for an emergency immunization program.

Ben Neuman, a virologist at the University of Reading who is not involved in the vaccine studies, said it was important not to get ahead of the results.

"There is clearly a need for this vaccine, but what is not clear is whether it will work well enough to protect someone from Ebola," he said.

He said the experimental shot "uses some of the best available technology to give the immune system a good long look at its target, a small but vitally important part of the virus", but added: "We won't really be able to tell whether the vaccine works until it is tested on the ground in West Africa."

(Editing by Janet Lawrence and Sonya Hepinstall)


http://news.yahoo.com/first-uk-volunteer-gets-experimental-gsk-ebola-shot-122336321--finance.html

[Buster's Uncle]

West African powerhouse Ivory Coast battles to keep out Ebola
Reuters
By Joe Bavier  10 minutes ago



ABIDJAN (Reuters) - The billboard depicts a masked health worker in a biohazard suit looming over a bed-ridden patient. Above them, bright red letters warn commuters on a busy Abidjan street that "The Ebola risk is always there".

As Ivory Coast campaigns to fend off an Ebola outbreak ravaging neighboring West African states, such grim reminders of the catastrophe unfolding across its western border are everywhere.

The worst recorded outbreak of the virus has killed over 2,400 people in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, wreaking havoc on their fragile economies, and has also spread to Nigeria and Senegal.

If it reaches Ivory Coast, the powerhouse of French-speaking West Africa, the economic consequences could be yet worse. The country of 20 million people exports 40 percent of the world's cocoa, the raw material for chocolate, and supplies its landlocked neighbors with everything from rice to fuel.

Ivory Coast is taking the kind of aggressive anti-infection measures that its poorer, smaller western neighbors were slow to adopt. Hand washing stations have appeared at the entrances of government buildings and office towers in Abidjan, the bustling economic capital. People have abandoned the traditional three-kiss greeting.

Mass mobile text messages send out a government awareness campaign nationwide. And children, exposed to the information drive on radio and television, quarantine their classmates in a playground game they call "Ebola".

"It's without precedent," said Daouda Coulibaly, the epidemiologist charged with leading the effort. "We started back in March to explain to people that this is a real disease. It must be taken seriously."

The World Health Organization (WHO) has already warned that several neighboring countries are at risk. With the outbreak gathering pace, the WHO has said a $1 billion international response will be needed to keep the number of those infected within the "tens of thousands".

Coulibaly is working seven days a week to ensure that none of them is Ivorian, and the government has imposed draconian measures at its borders. Flights to and from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have been banned - provoking anger in those countries - and last month the western border was shut.

Dozens of people have been tested for the disease. The army is now patrolling the area and those caught crossing into Ivory Coast illicitly face an automatic 21-day quarantine.

A man hunting bush rats in violation of a government ban on bush meat, thought to be one way in which Ebola is transmitted, was condemned to five years in prison last month.

But experts warn that Ivory Coast may struggle to insulate itself completely due to its long, porous borders with both Guinea and Liberia - the country worst hit by the disease.

"The epidemic, particularly in Sierra Leone and Liberia, is outpacing our attempts to control it," said Marc Poncin, head of emergency response for medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres in Guinea. "Ivory Coast is the country most at risk. It's probably a question of time before it appears in Ivory Coast."


RENAISSANCE AT RISK

Little over three years after a civil war, the Ivorian economy is bouncing back. Growth hit 9.8 percent last year and investors' interest is booming.

A $750 million Eurobond issued in July attracted $4.75 billion worth of orders, and the government has said it will tap international debt markets again next year.

President Alassane Ouattara, who emerged victorious from the 2011 conflict largely thanks to military backing from France, is up for reelection next year. He is campaigning as the architect of an Ivorian renaissance but Ebola could jeopardize that.

"We're worried by Ebola in neighboring countries that are our economic and commercial partners," Ouattara said on Wednesday, in his first direct comments on the outbreak. "We're working to ensure that we maintain our strong rate of growth."

For Ronak Gopaldas, head of country risk analysis at South Africa's Rand Merchant Bank, the government knows its record is on the line: "Ebola risks puncturing all the good work that's been done and I think that's why they've been so proactive."

While economists assess Ebola's impact, it is clear that an economic calamity is brewing across Ivory Coast's borders. Economic growth in Liberia and Sierra Leone could drop by almost 3.5 percentage points, according to the International Monetary Fund, as Ebola cripples agriculture and services.

Prices there have rocketed as worried citizens rush to stock up on provisions and border closures disrupt imports.

Ivory Coast would face the same problems were Ebola to jump the border. But, with an economy that makes up 40 percent of the eight-nation CFA franc bloc, the repercussions would be regional, including higher inflation.

"We're already affected economically speaking because of the perception," Trade Minister Jean-Louis Billon told Reuters. "Those who are frightened are more those who know less about Africa and are coming to discover."

Though the country has yet to register a single case, at least two international conferences due to take place in Ivory Coast have been canceled. International cocoa exporters have restricted staff movements in the country, exposing the sector's vulnerability to the growing fear of Ebola.

"The more you go to the perception that things are getting out of control, the more you will have this psychological effect," said Alain Feler, IMF representative in Ivory Coast.

Citizens of Abidjan are wary. On packed public buses, people try to avoid touching. "It's often difficult because you can't avoid human contact," said student Cesar Kouame Kouakou. "But we try to do it because no-one knows what causes this sickness."

Ivorian authorities are heartened by events in Senegal and Nigeria, where relatively rapid government responses appear to have contained outbreaks.

After an initially slow start, hundreds of millions of dollars in international financial assistance are also beginning to pour into Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to fund the Ebola fight and offset the economic damage.

President Barack Obama has announced that the United States plans to send 3,000 troops to the region.

For Coulibaly, the growing momentum is a positive step, but he worries that nations on the frontline are still being neglected. "The neighboring countries must be assisted financially, logistically, with material resources," he said. "We need to see that assistance now."

(Additional reporting by Daniel Flynn in Dakar and Loucoumane Coulibaly; Editing by Daniel Flynn and David Stamp)


http://news.yahoo.com/west-african-powerhouse-ivory-coast-battles-keep-ebola-164129306--business.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Citing security threat, Obama expands U.S. role fighting Ebola
Reuters
By Jeff Mason and James Harding Giahyue  10 hours ago



Health workers wearing protective clothing prepare to carry an abandoned dead body presenting with Ebola symptoms at Duwala market in Monrovia August 17, 2014. REUTERS/2Tango



ATLANTA/MONROVIA (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday called West Africa's deadly Ebola outbreak a looming threat to global security and announced a major expansion of the U.S. role in trying to halt its spread, including deployment of 3,000 troops to the region.

"The reality is that this epidemic is going to get worse before it gets better," Obama said at the Atlanta headquarters of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"But, right now, the world still has an opportunity to save countless lives. Right now, the world has the responsibility to act, to step up and to do more. The United States of America intends to do more," he added.

The U.S. plan, a dramatic expansion of Washington's initial response last week, won praise from the U.N. World Health Organization, aid workers and officials in West Africa. Experts said it was still not enough to contain the epidemic, which is rapidly spreading and has caused already-weak local public health systems to buckle under the strain of fighting it.

U.S. officials said the focus of the military deployment would be Liberia, a nation founded by freed American slaves that is the hardest hit of the countries affected by the crisis.

Obama's plan calls for sending 3,000 troops, including engineers and medical personnel; establishing a regional command and control center in Liberia's capital, Monrovia, commanded by Major General Darryl Williams, who arrived there on Tuesday; and forming a staging area in Senegal to help distribute personnel and aid on the ground.

It also calls for building 17 treatment centers with 100 beds each; placing U.S. Public Health Service personnel in new field hospitals in Liberia; training thousands of healthcare workers for six months or longer; and creating an "air bridge" to get health workers and medical supplies into West Africa more quickly.

Late on Tuesday, an Obama administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Defense Department would ask Congress to approve another $500 million in funds to be reallocated from fiscal 2014 to help cover the mission's costs.

Added to the $500 billion sought earlier to be moved from the previous fiscal year for Ebola and fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq, up to $1 billion would be available to be spent on the Ebola response.

This was separate from $175 million already dedicated to the effort, and $88 million being sought in Congress this week as a stopgap measure, the official noted.

The worst Ebola outbreak since the disease was identified in 1976 has already killed nearly 2,500 people and is threatening to spread elsewhere in Africa.

Obama said "the world is looking to us" to take the lead against Ebola, but urged other nations also to take action because the epidemic is "spiraling out of control" and "people are literally dying in the streets."

The White House said the troops will not be responsible for direct patient care. Amid concern about infections, Obama said the "safety of our personnel will remain a top priority." He also said the "chances of an Ebola outbreak here in the United States are extremely low."


GLOBAL SECURITY

Obama said that if the outbreak is not stopped now, hundreds of thousands of people may become infected, "with profound political and economic and security implications for all of us."

"This is an epidemic that is not just a threat to regional security. It’s a potential threat to global security, if these countries break down, if their economies break down, if people panic. That has profound effects on all of us, even if we are not directly contracting the disease," Obama added.

The WHO praised the U.S. plan for providing support to the United Nations and other international partners to help authorities in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal contain the outbreak.

"This massive ramp-up of support from the United States is precisely the kind of transformational change we need to get a grip on the outbreak and begin to turn it around," Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO's director-general, said in a statement.

Earlier, a senior WHO official said the Ebola outbreak requires a much faster response to limit its spread to tens of thousands of cases.

"We don't know where the numbers are going on this," WHO Assistant Director-General Bruce Aylward told a news conference in Geneva, calling the crisis "unparalleled in modern times."

The initial U.S. response last week had focused on providing funding and supplies, drawing criticism from aid workers for not deploying manpower as in other disasters like earthquakes.

Obama's announcement marks his second within a week of a new mission for the U.S. military, following last week's speech outlining a broad escalation of the campaign against the Islamic State militant group in Iraq and Syria.

During a congressional hearing in Washington, CDC official Beth Bell said the "window of opportunity" to control Ebola's spread is closing, while both Democratic and Republican lawmakers voiced support for funding the fight against the virus.

"We need to declare a war on Ebola," Republican Senator Jerry Moran said.


'WELCOME NEWS'

Liberians hailed the word that U.S. troops were coming, recalling a military operation in 2003 that helped stabilize the country during a civil war.

"This is welcome news. This is what we expected from the U.S. a long time ago," Anthony Mulbah, a student at the University of Monrovia, said in the dilapidated oceanfront capital. "The U.S. remains a strong partner to Liberia."

In Liberia, a shortage of space in clinics for isolating victims means patients are being turned away, then infecting others.

Ebola spreads rapidly, causes fever and uncontrolled bleeding.

The virus has so far killed 2,461 people, half of the 4,985 people infected, and the death toll has doubled in the past month, WHO's Aylward said.

The outbreak was first confirmed in the remote forests of southeastern Guinea in March, then spread across Sierra Leone and Liberia. A handful of Ebola deaths have been recorded in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country.

The disease has crippled weak health systems, infecting hundreds of local staff in a region chronically short of doctors. The WHO has said that 500 to 600 more foreign experts and at least 10,000 more local health workers are needed.

"It is not enough to provide protective clothing when you don't have the people who will wear them," Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama said during a visit to Sierra Leone.

The U.S. intervention comes as the pace of cash and emergency supplies dispatched to the region accelerates.

Before Tuesday, Washington had sent about 100 health officials and committed some $175 million in aid. Other nations, including Cuba, China, France and Britain; have pledged medical workers, health centers and other forms of support.

Critics, including regional leaders, former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Peter Piot, one of the scientists who discovered Ebola in 1976; have said international efforts so far have fallen woefully short.

"It is now up to other governments to equally scale up their support in Sierra Leone and Guinea," Piot, now director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told Reuters.

Many neighboring African countries have closed their borders and canceled flights to affected countries, making the humanitarian response more difficult.

A draft U.N. Security Council resolution on Ebola, obtained by Reuters, calls on U.N. member states, particularly in the region, to lift general travel and border restrictions. The resolution could win approval later this week.


http://news.yahoo.com/citing-security-threat-obama-expands-u-role-fighting-065313049.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Ebola survivor: No time to waste as Obama ups aid
Associated Press
By LAURAN NEERGAARD and JIM KUHNHENN  4 hours ago



President Barack Obama will travel next week to Atlanta to address the Ebola crisis during a visit to the Centers for Disease Control. White House spokesman Josh Earnest says Obama will be in Atlanta on Tuesday. (Sept. 15)



WASHINGTON (AP) — An American doctor who survived Ebola said there's no time to waste as President Barack Obama outlined his plan to ramp up the U.S. response to the epidemic in West Africa.

"We can't afford to wait months, or even weeks, to take action, to put people on the ground," Dr. Kent Brantly told senators Tuesday.

Obama called the Ebola crisis a threat to world security as he ordered up to 3,000 U.S. military personnel to the region along with an aggressive effort to train health care workers and deliver field hospitals. Under the plan, the government could end up devoting $1 billion to containing the disease.

"If the outbreak is not stopped now, we could be looking at hundreds of thousands of people affected, with profound economic, political and security implications for all of us," Obama said after briefings in Atlanta with doctors from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and from Emory University, where Brantly and two other aid workers with Ebola have been treated.

Obama acted under pressure from regional leaders and international aid organizations who pleaded for a heightened U.S. role in confronting the deadly virus. He called on other countries to also quickly supply more health workers, equipment and money.

"It's a potential threat to global security if these countries break down," Obama said, speaking of the hardest-hit countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. At least 2,400 people have died, with Liberia bearing the brunt.



President Barack Obama speaks at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014. Obama traveled to the CDC, to address the Ebola crisis and announced that he is sending 3,000 American troops to West Africa nations fight the spread of the Ebola epidemic. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)


He described the task ahead as "daunting" but said what gives him hope is that "the world knows how to fight this disease."

Topping the new aid, the U.S. promises to deliver 17 100-bed treatment centers to Liberia, where contagious patients often sit in the streets, turned away from packed Ebola units. The Pentagon expects to have the first treatment units open within a few weeks, part of a heightened U.S. response that includes training more local health care workers.

"This massive ramp-up of support from the United States is precisely the kind of transformational change we need to get a grip on the outbreak and begin to turn it around," said World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan.

Doctors Without Borders, which has sounded the alarm for months, also welcomed the U.S. scale-up but said that it needed to be put into action immediately — and that other countries must follow suit.

"The response to Ebola continues to fall dangerously behind and too many lives are being lost," said Brice de le Vingne, the group's director of operations. "We need more countries to stand up, we need greater concrete action on the ground, and we need it now."



President Barack Obama, left, talks during a meeting with Emory University doctors and healthcare professionals at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014. Obama traveled to the CDC, to address the Ebola crisis and announced that he is sending 3,000 American troops to West Africa nations fight the spread of the Ebola epidemic. Sitting with Obama is Dr. Bruce S. Ribner, Professor of Medicine in the School of Medicine and Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)


Nearly 5,000 people have become ill from Ebola in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria and Senegal since it was first recognized in March. WHO says it anticipates that figure could rise to more than 20,000 and end up costing nearly $1 billion to contain.

The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Thursday on the crisis, and the head of the United Nations said the General Assembly will follow up with a high-level meeting next week as the world body "is taking the lead now" on the international fight.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed Obama's plan, his spokesman said in a statement, and called on the international community "to be as bold and courageous in its response as those who are on the front lines fighting this disease."

At a packed Senate hearing, the CDC's Dr. Beth Bell told senators the outbreak is "ferocious and spreading exponentially."

"If we do not act now to stop Ebola, we could be dealing with it for years to come," she warned.



Ebola survivor Dr. Kent Brantly, former Medical Director of Samaritan's Purse Ebola Care Center in Monrovia, Liberia, center, talks with Emira Woods, right, Director of Social Impact at ThoughtWorks, right, before the start of a hearing on Ebola before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014. Brantly's wife Amber watches at left. Woods thanked Brantly for his work fighting Ebola in Liberia. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)


Congress still must vote on an Obama administration request for $88 million more to help the Ebola fight, including funding CDC work in West Africa through December and speeding development of experimental treatments and vaccines.

The U.S. already has spent more than $100 million fighting the outbreak. Obama administration officials said some of the costs of the new military response would be covered by $500 million in overseas contingency operations, such as the war in Afghanistan, that the Pentagon already has asked Congress to redirect for West Africa and for humanitarian assistance in Iraq. Late Tuesday, the Obama administration submitted a request to reprogram another $500 million in Pentagon money for the Ebola effort.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said urgent action was needed. "We must take the dangerous, deadly threat of the Ebola epidemic as seriously as we take ISIS," he said, referring to the extremist group in Syria and Iraq.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the 3,000 troops would not provide direct care to Ebola patients. In addition to delivering the 17 treatment facilities, they will help train as many as 500 local health care workers a week. Among other initiatives the military will:

—Set up a headquarters in Monrovia, Liberia, led by Maj. Gen. Darryl Williams, head of U.S. Army Africa.



President Barack Obama, center, and from left, Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Mathews Burwell, CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden, and National Security Adviser Susan Rice, during a briefing at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014. Obama traveled to the CDC, to address the Ebola crisis and announced that he is sending 3,000 American troops to West Africa nations fight the spread of the Ebola epidemic. Obama (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)


—Build a regional transportation and staging base in Senegal, where the U.S. will help coordinate the contributions of other allies and partners.

—Provide home health care kits to hundreds of thousands of households, designed to help healthy people caring for Ebola-stricken family members. That includes 50,000 kits the U.S. Agency for International Development will deliver to Liberia this week.

—Carrying out a home- and community-based campaign to train local populations on how to handle exposed patients.

In Monrovia, Boima Folley runs a sport materials shop and said he'd welcome the U.S. military response.

"We have been praying to get the disease wiped out of our country, so if the coming of U.S. troops will help us get that done, we should be happy," he said.

"The soldiers don't have to have medical backgrounds. They can help with logistics," he added.

___

Jim Kuhnhenn reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Lolita Baldor and Jennifer C. Kerr in Washington and Jonathan Paye-Layleh in Monrovia contributed to this report.


http://news.yahoo.com/ebola-survivor-no-time-waste-obama-ups-aid-071227913--politics.html

[Buster's Uncle]

American doctor cured of Ebola meets Obama
AFP
18 hours ago



Dr. Kent Brantly, the Fort Worth, Texas, doctor who was cured of Ebola after contracting the deadly virus in Liberia, and his wife Amber smile during a hearing on Ebola in Washington, DC, on September 16, 2014 (AFP Photo/Jim Watson)



Aboard Air Force One (AFP) - An American doctor cured of Ebola met President Barack Obama Tuesday, as the US leader hammered out a strategy to curtail the deadly epidemic ravaging west Africa.

Kent Brantly was infected with Ebola while working as an obstetrician in Liberia and was repatriated to an American hospital, where he was treated with the experimental drug, ZMapp.

Brantly met Obama in the White House ahead of the president's visit to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia.

"The President met briefly in the Oval Office with Dr Kent Brantly and his wife Amber," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters aboard the president's plane, Air Force One.

The US will send 3,000 military personnel to west Africa to respond to the epidemic, which has already killed more than 2,400 people.

The US will also set up a command and control center in the capital of Liberia, the hardest-hit country, build new treatment centers and train health workers.

Obama is expected to present the strategy at the CDC later Tuesday.

Ebola has swept across west Africa, infecting 4,985 people in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria.

The UN has said that almost $1.0 billion is needed to fight the outbreak, warning that 20,000 people could be infected by the highly fatal virus by year-end.


http://news.yahoo.com/american-doctor-cured-ebola-meets-obama-223233405.html

[Buster's Uncle]

U.S. scientist: Ebola unlikely to become airborne
Associated Press
By LAURAN NEERGAARD  1 hour ago



Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies before the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations hearing on the Ebola virus on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)



A top government scientist says it's very unlikely that Ebola would mutate to spread through the air.

In congressional hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday, lawmakers asked Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health about that possibility.

He said a mutation that could completely change how a virus is transmitted would be a very rare event. But he said researchers are monitoring for genetic changes as the outbreak in West Africa continues.

Fauci said stopping the epidemic is the best way to make sure to guard against a dangerous change — because a virus that isn't spreading can't mutate.


http://news.yahoo.com/us-scientist-ebola-unlikely-become-airborne-190615448--politics.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Ebola by the Numbers
The Fiscal Times
By Maureen Mackey  6 hours ago



President Obama announced on Tuesday that up to 3,000 U.S. military personnel will travel to West Africa to help combat the deadly Ebola virus – but this is only the beginning of what may be a long and costly enterprise.

The outbreak in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea of the deadly hemorrhagic fever has now spread to Nigeria and Senegal – and global health experts say they have weeks, not months, to act.

“Everyone realizes that no one group or one country or one organization is going to be able to tackle this,” Dr. Jim Yong Kim, the president of the World Bank and an infectious disease expert, told The New York Times. The U.S. is also sending medicine and equipment. 

“We can’t dawdle on this one,” President Obama said Tuesday. Kim said coordination among all involved was an urgent priority.

“Obama’s announcement is an attempt to take the reins in combating the outbreak. The effort, including the influx of personnel to provide medical and logistical support, could cost as much as $750 million over the next six months, senior administration officials said,” reports National Journal. China, Cuba and others are also sending assistance. 


Related: Ebola Spreads Exponentially in Liberia

Here are some of the other critical figures associated with the rapidly spreading illness, as of Wednesday morning:

4,985: The number of reported cases of Ebola so far, according to U.N. officials in Geneva. Actual numbers could be far higher.

2,461: The number of reported deaths so far, says the same source. Half these victims died in the last three weeks.

20,000: The projected number of Ebola cases if the outbreak is not controlled, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

250,000: The projected number of cases by other groups.

$600 million: The smallest amount needed to control the epidemic in West Africa in the next six to nine months, per WHO.

$13 million: The amount France has sent so far to Guinea for two tons of medical equipment and the creation of medical centers.

$15.5 million: The amount France has sent to Senegal and Ivory Coast.

24: The number of doctors France has sent to Senegal and Ivory Coast.

$500 million: The amount the Obama administration is asking Congress to redirect from existing Defense Department funds to fight Ebola.

11: The number of chief executives of firms in the region that have joined the call for world leaders to help fight the disease.

$150,000: The amount donated by Exxon Mobil to the Liberian National Red Cross.

550: The number of tons of medical supplies sent to West Africa by Unicef in the past several weeks.

17: The number of treatment centers with 100 beds each the American military is planning to build in Liberia.

14: The number of counties in Liberia – out of 15 – that have reported confirmed cases so far.

1,000: The number of beds needed in Liberia in the next week alone to contain the disease, according to Liberian officials.

500: The number of health care workers to be trained each week once the U.S. military sets up the medical facilities.

2-21 days: Ebola's incubation period, or interval from infection to the onset of symptoms, though typically symptoms appear 8-10 days after exposure.

As high as 90 percent: The illness's fatality rate.

As long as 2 weeks: The amount of time it will take U.S. personnel to begin setting up the earliest treatment centers.

3 days: The amount of time some dead bodies are left in homes and neighborhoods in Liberia “before they are taken away by burial teams” that are vastly overwhelmed, reports The Times.

0: The number of licensed available vaccines for Ebola, though several are being tested.

1976: The year of the first human outbreaks.

Sources: WHO, The New York Times, National Journal, Government Executive, Reuters, CNN


http://news.yahoo.com/ebola-numbers-152200698.html

[Buster's Uncle]

There's a Black Market for Ebola Survivors' Blood
The Atlantic Wire
By Shirley Li  5 hours ago



A black market has emerged in West Africa trading the blood of Ebola survivors, the World Health Organization reported.
The wrong blood type could cause anaphylactic shock and death in a patient, not to mention pass on any blood-borne diseases like HIV if the original blood is infected.

The convalescent serum collected from survivors' blood has been used by trained doctors to treat Ebola patients in the outbreak so far, including 51-year-old American aid worker Rick Sacra, who received blood from survivor Kent Brantly. The blood's antibodies are particularly helpful in fighting the virus, and the black market spawned from a mixture of desperation in the region and lack of reliable resources.

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said at a press conference that the agency is sounding the alarm to "stamp out any black market activity." "This is something we need to work very closely with the affected countries to stem," Chan said. "The use of convalescent serum has to be done properly."

The wrong blood type could cause anaphylactic shock and death in a patient, not to mention pass on any blood-borne diseases like HIV if the original blood is infected. A black market could be disastrous for the distribution of supplies to the region. If those trading in the market grab airdropped supplies, the system could end up preventing the supplies from reaching patients in need.

Laurie Garret, senior fellow for global health at the Council of Foreign Relations, warned the black market is already steps ahead of any actions from President Obama and other global initiatives. "I'm very distressed," she told The Hill. "I don't think we're even close to playing catch up, much less mount a response that will get us ahead of the virus."

This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/global/2014/09/theres-a-black-market-for-ebola-survivors-blood/380351/

[Buster's Uncle]

Doctors expect Nebraska Ebola patient to recover
Associated Press
By MARGERY A. BECK  1 minute ago



In this Sept. 10, 2014 file photo, provided by the Nebraska Medical Center, Ebola patient Dr. Richard Sacra listens to Bible verses, read to him by his wife Debbie Sacra, via a video link . Doctors treating Sacra at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Neb. said Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014, that they are optimistic about his departure from the hospital and expect him to make a full recovery. (AP Photo/Nebraska Medical Center, Max Sacra, File)



OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An American aid worker infected with Ebola who's being treated in Nebraska is now expected to make a full recovery, his doctors said Wednesday.

The medical team treating Rick Sacra also said it's optimistic that the 51-year-old from Worcester, Massachusetts, will soon be able to leave the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

"However, we are still somewhat cautious because of the severity and unknown factors of this disease," said Dr. Angela Hewlett, associate medical director of the isolation unit housing Sacra, who contracted Ebola while working in Liberia. "We know from experience how other patients look as their condition improves, but since we have so little experience treating patients with Ebola, that tempers our optimism a little bit."

The unit's medical director, Dr. Phil Smith, said an initial set of blood samples from Sacra sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed a decreased amount of the virus in his blood over his first five days of treatment. Doctors are now awaiting results of a second set of blood samples.

"For Dr. Sacra to be discharged, there has to be two negative blood tests done 24 hours apart," Hewlett said. "If the second set of blood samples continues to trend in the same way the first set did, we'll be able to administer those tests fairly soon."

Sacra, who's been hospitalized in Omaha since Sept. 5, received an experimental drug for seven days, but is no longer receiving that treatment, the hospital said in a written release. Sacra also was given blood from a fellow doctor who battled the disease and recovered.

His wife, Debbie, and the medical team treating him have offered daily updates that seemed to show his condition steadily improving since he was wheeled into the hospital on a gurney.

"He looks great in person," Smith said. "We're hopeful the latest round of lab data reflects what we're seeing in his room."

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is believed to have sickened nearly 5,000 people, mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. The deadly virus also has reached Nigeria and Senegal. It has killed at least 2,400 people.

President Barack Obama announced Tuesday that he will order 3,000 U.S. military personnel to West Africa to try to help stem the spread, which occurs through direct contact with the bodily fluids of sick patients. The U.S. is also planning on delivering 17 treatment centers with 100 beds each to Liberia.


http://news.yahoo.com/doctors-expect-nebraska-ebola-patient-recover-204115594.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Australia promises $6.4 million to fight Ebola
Associated Press
17 hours ago



CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia announced on Wednesday it will immediately provide an additional 7 million Australian dollars ($6.4 million) to help the international response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

The country had previously committed AU$1 million to the international response to the viral disease outbreak that has killed at least 2,400 people. The World Health Organization says the death toll from Ebola could rise to more than 20,000.

The fresh funds include AU$2 million requested by Britain to help that country deliver medical services in Sierra Leone, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said in a statement.

Another AU$2.5 million will go to the World Health Organization's consolidated regional response, and AU$2.5 million will be given to Medecins Sans Frontieres, also known as Doctors Without Borders, for medical services, she said.

"Health systems in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea are under severe strain, and the United Nations assesses that these countries are facing a humanitarian emergency," Bishop said.

There have been no cases of Ebola in Australia, and health authorities rate the risk of an outbreak in the island continent as low.

President Barack Obama declared Tuesday that the Ebola epidemic in West Africa could threaten security around the world.


http://news.yahoo.com/australia-promises-6-4-million-fight-ebola-034941746.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Ebola epidemic a "potential threat to global security," Obama says
By/Rebecca Kaplan/CBS News/Sep 16, 2014 5:13 PM EDT



President Obama on Tuesday announced a major expansion of U.S. aid in the fight against the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, warning that the virus is spiraling out of control and could become a threat to global security if left unchecked.

"In West Africa, Ebola is now an epidemic, of the likes that we have not seen before. It's spiraling out of control; it is getting worse; it's spreading faster and exponentially," Mr. Obama said. "Today thousands of people in West Africa are infected. That number could rapidly grow to tens of thousands. And if the outbreak is not stopped now we could be looking at hundreds of thousands of people infected with profound political and economic and security implications for all of us."

"This is an epidemic that is not just a threat to regional security. Its a potential threat to global security if these countries break down, if their economies break down, if people panic," the president continued. "That has profound affects on all of us even if we are not directly contracting the disease."

Mr. Obama spoke from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, where he received a briefing on the outbreak and met with scientists, doctors and health care workers fighting its spread. Earlier in the day, he met with Kent Brantly, one of the American aid workers who was infected with Ebola in West Africa and returned to the U.S. for treatment. Brantly and another aid worker, Nancy Writebol, recovered and were released from Emory University Hospital last month.

Speaking before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Tuesday, Brantly chastised the international community for giving virtually no attention to the crisis before he and Writebol were infected, and has been too slow to respond since despite intense media attention.

 "The response to date...has remained sluggish and unacceptably out of step with the scope and the size of the problem that is now before us. The United States government has been closely following these events in West Africa since that time, if not before, and only now are we seeing a significant commitment to a solution," Brantly said. "It is imperative that these words are backed up by immediate action."

In addition to thanking CDC personnel who are working to fight the outbreak, Mr. Obama said he wanted the American people to know "that our experts here at the CDC and across our government agree that the chances of an Ebola outbreak here in the United States are extremely low." Still, he said, the U.S. has taken extra precautions such as working with West African countries to ensure people are being screened for the virus before boarding planes to the U.S. and helping flight crews to identify those who are sick.

Mr. Obama announced that the U.S. is sending up to 3,000 military personnel to West Africa in order to combat and contain the spread of the Ebola virus, which has been blamed for more than 2,400 deaths in the region so far. The CDC has already dispatched more than 100 employees to West Africa, its largest deployment in history.

Using $500 million in overseas contingency operations funds, the U.S. is stepping up its efforts in the fight against the virus. The Defense Department is planning to build as many as 17 treatment units with a 100-bed capacity each in Liberia, the hardest-hit country. They will train as many as 500 local heath workers per week for up to six months, and are setting up U.S. headquarters in Monrovia, Libera, to coordinate U.S. and international efforts.

The U.S. has already dedicated $175 million to fight the Ebola and the administration has asked for an additional $88 million to fight the virus.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, had some critical words on the president's handling of the crisis Tuesday morning.

"I think this Ebola outbreak in Africa is a serious problem and I'm a bit surprised the administration hasn't acted more quickly to address what is a serious threat, not only to Africans but to others around the world," he said.
 
More than 16 tons of medical supplies and 10,000 sets of personal protective equipment have been shipped to the region from the U.S. since late March. One mobile laboratory is up and running, with two more are on the way.

Senior administration officials on Monday laid out four goals for combating the spread of the virus: control the epidemic at its source, mitigate the effect on local food and water supplies, coordinate and galvanize the U.S. response with the international efforts and fortify global health security.

Mr. Obama also said more countries around the globe need to offer personnel, supplies and funding needed to fight the outbreak. He will discuss the subject when he chairs a meeting of the U.N. Security Council in New York next week.

"The reality is that this epidemic is going to get worse before it gets better but right now the world still has an opportunity to save countless lives. Right now. The world has a responsibility to act, to step up, and to do more," he said.

© 2014 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ebola-epidemic-a-potential-threat-to-global-security-obama-says/?ftag=YHF4eb9d17

[Buster's Uncle]

Why is Obama sending military to attack the Ebola virus?
Vox
Updated by Julia Belluz on September 17, 2014, 3:50 p.m. ET@juliaoftorontojulia.belluz@voxmedia.com



Joe Raedle



Tuesday's announcement by President Barack Obama — that the US would be sending in an army of 3,000 to fight Ebola — came as a relief to the many wondering when the international community would wake up to the daily horror show playing out in West Africa.

But the tactics also raised some questions: why was Obama sending soldiers to fight off a virus? And why has he been characterizing this disease spread as a "security threat" and "security priority"?


Why Obama is describing Ebola as a "security threat"

Obama has repeatedly characterized the threat of Ebola in security terms, arguing the virus could cripple the already fragile economies in the African region. He's made the case that this will have consequences for not only the security of countries there, but also for nations around the world — even if the disease doesn't spread beyond the continent that it's ravaging right now.

For examples of the Obama administration's war-like mentality for combating the disease, look no further than the president's address, delivered Tuesday from the Centers for Disease Control headquarters in Atlanta:

If the outbreak is not stopped now, we could be looking at hundreds of thousands of people infected, with profound political and economic and security implications for all of us. So this is an epidemic that is not just a threat to regional security — it's a potential threat to global security if these countries break down, if their economies break down, if people panic. That has profound effects on all of us, even if we are not directly contracting the disease.

Obama could have called Ebola a "public health threat" or "global health threat." But with this bold declaration that the virus is a "security threat", he is doing two things. First, he's trying to convey that the outbreak in West Africa — even though it's on a distant continent — presents an existential threat to America. This language shifts the focus from "them" to "us." Secondly, he's signaling that this threat is immediate enough to justify the reallocation and galvanization of American resources.



A street artist paints an educational mural to inform people about the symptoms of the deadly Ebola virus in  Monrovia. (Dominique Faget/AFP)


This has become an increasingly common way to talk about disease

The World Health Organizations constitution, penned in 1946, says that "health of all peoples is fundamental to the attainment of peace and security." But in the last 15 years, global disease threats have increasingly been treated as security issues.

Writing in the medical journal the Lancet, international relations specialist Stefan Elbe points out that 2000 marked a fundamental shift toward the "securitization of disease." That January, the UN Security Council made the unprecedented move of convening a meeting to address the out-of-control HIV/AIDS epidemic, then deemed a global security threat. This resulted in a massive concentration of resources into HIV/AIDS research, and made the conversation about the disease an international one.


"The economic impact of a pandemic is so severe that it can undermine trade and prosperity."


Since then, the Lancet article continues, "The rise of the new health security paradigm has even seen some health issues becoming formally incorporated into national security strategies."

In 2005,  President George W. Bush became concerned about mutations of the H5N1 bird flu, and declared the flu strain a security threat. Bush's declaration resulted in the establishment of America's first pandemic preparedness plan, says Laurie Garrett, a Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow for global health. And other nations adopted similar strategies.

So over the years, with globalization and the speed at which infectious diseases spread, health threats are seen as something different. "Everybody has come to agree that the economic impact of a serious virulent pandemic is so severe that it can undermine trade and prosperity in any effected country," Garrett says. And this has changed how countries respond to even the most distant threats.


Is security framing the right approach to Ebola?

On Thursday, the UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on the Ebola epidemic. This is the second such disease-focused meeting since the HIV/AIDS gathering in 2000. The reason Ebola is characterized in security terms is simple, Garrett says: "This epidemic is so dire and our toolkit is so limited."


"In the end, we'll either stop this or see it go from epidemic to endemic based on the same toolkit that was used for the first outbreak in 1976."


There are no drugs or vaccines yet on the market for the disease, and the Ebola body count is rising fast. Half of the deaths so far have happened in the past month, meaning the rate of infection is exponentially increasing. Already, the disease has spread beyond the three West African nations most afflicted (Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone) into Senegal and Nigeria. At this rate, it's a numbers game: with more and more infections, it's only a matter of time before another sick person gets on a plane and brings the virus across another border. Then another. And another.

"In the end, we'll either stop this or see it go from epidemic to endemic based on the same toolkit that was used for the first Ebola outbreak in 1976," Garrett says. And that's a sorry state of affairs.

For these reasons, Garrett believes calling Ebola a threat to national and global security is the right thing to do and will help muster resources to address a rapidly deteriorating situation. As Garrett points out in Foreign Policy, since Ebola has escaped its usual environs — the bushes and rural communities of Africa — and made its debut in dense, urban centers this year, it has become a potential existential threat in major cities in Africa and beyond in a way no one could have foreseen.

In this context, drawing on the vast resources of the US military to focus on logistics, capacity building, and coordinating supplies makes sense, she added, noting that it was the US forces who turned the post-Katrina disaster in New Orleans around. "It is at least  possible that the US military, bringing in medical supplies and marshaling forces in an appropriate and organized manner (in West Africa), that they will be viewed as heroes."



A Liberian health worker interviews family members of a woman suspected of dying of the Ebola virus inside a home in an impoverished neighborhood in Monrovia, Liberia. (John Moore/Getty Images News.)


But others don't see it that way. Simon Rushton, who researches the global politics of health at the University of Sheffield, says, "One of the big problems with the Ebola outbreak has been a lack of public trust in not only West Africa's own governments but in the west. Sending a load of US troops is unlikely to build trust, and might have the opposite effect."

We already know that people with the disease have been hiding from public view, afraid of being kept in quarantine, and wary of health workers, Rushton says. "Using military can lead to politics of fear."

A surge response doesn't address the root causes of the epidemic: broken and under-funded health systems, poverty, and misaligned incentive systems for drug development.


"If stable health systems were in place and functioning properly, Ebola would have been contained."


"What we're reaping here with Ebola is the consequence of a long-term failure to help countries develop their own health systems," says Rushton. "If stable health systems were in place and functioning properly, Ebola would have been contained."

Military action might be partially effective, it bring this outbreak to a close. But it might also heighten distrust in the authorities and the international community.

The other danger is that the health resources sent to Africa become disproportionately focused on the Ebola threat. "This surge mentality gives you single-minded focus on one particular disease" at a time when many others are ravaging Africa in numbers far greater than Ebola, Rushton added. But scourges like malaria and diarrhea are not ripe for the imagery and action that "security threats" conjure.


http://www.vox.com/2014/9/17/6334943/why-is-the-military-being-sent-to-attack-ebola-virus