Ebola news 9/30

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Ebola Update: 1st Case Diagnosed in the US
LiveScience.com
By Rachael Rettner, Senior Writer  1 hour ago



A patient in Texas is the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The patient had previously traveled to West Africa, a region that is currently experiencing the worst outbreak of Ebola in history.

The man flew out of Liberia on Sept. 19 and arrived in the United States on Sept. 20. He did not have symptoms during his flight or when he landed, but began showing symptoms around Sept. 24, Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the CDC, said at a news conference today.

The patient sought health care on Sept. 26 and was admitted on Sept. 28 to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, where he was isolated and tested for Ebola. Today, the patient tested positive for the Ebola Zaire virus, the strain involved in the current outbreak, health officials said.

Frieden stressed that Ebola patients are only contagious when they show symptoms, and so this patient was not infectious during his flight.

"There's no reason to think that anyone who was on the flight he was on would be at risk," Frieden said. "There is no risk from having contact with somebody who's either recovered from Ebola … or people who have been exposed but are not yet sick from it," Frieden said. People in West Africa are also screened for fevers, a symptom of Ebola, before they are allowed to fly, Frieden said.

The total number of confirmed Ebola cases in the three most affected countries — Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone — has now surpassed 6,500, and more than 3,000 people have died, according the World Health Organization.

Previously, four health workers from the U.S. were infected with Ebola virus while working in West Africa, and were later transported to U.S. hospitals for treatment.

The CDC will now work to identify anyone who had contact with the Texas patient while he was sick.

Although it's possible that someone who had contact with the man while he was showing symptoms, such as a close family member, could possibly develop Ebola, "I have no doubt that we will control this importation, or this case of Ebola, so that it does not spread widely in this country," Frieden said. "We're stopping it in its tracks,", Frieden said.

It does not appear that the current patient was involved in the Ebola response in West Africa, and he came to the United States to visit family members who live here, Frieden said. Health officials are working to provide the most effective care for the patient as safely as possible, Frieden said.


http://news.yahoo.com/ebola-1st-case-diagnosed-us-230656684.html

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The Faces of Ebola’s Orphaned Children in West Africa
Takepart.com
By Samantha Cowan | 54 minutes ago


Federal officials announced Tuesday that Ebola, the highly-contagious, deadly illness that has ravaged West Africa in recent months, has reached American shores, with the first case diagnosed in a Texas man who recently visited Liberia. The announcement has many Americans worried about the illness for the first time, which makes this a good time to remember the littlest victims affected worldwide.

At least 3,700 children have lost one or both parents to Ebola in the most severely affected West African countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. These orphaned children have nowhere to go to escape the largest Ebola outbreak in history that has infected at least 6,500 people and killed more than 3,000 people since it was first diagnosed in the spring, according to American health officials.

“Orphans are usually taken in by a member of the extended family, but in some communities the fear surrounding Ebola is becoming stronger than family ties,” said Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF Regional Director for West & Central Africa in a statement Tuesday.

After leaving Liberia, the man diagnosed in a Texas came into contact with a handful of Americans after showing symptoms, but health officials are confident they can contain the virus. “I have no doubt that we will control this importation or this case of Ebola so that it does not spread widely in this country," said Dr. Thomas Frieden, the director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The population in West Africa is not as fortunate, with more than 3,000 casualties reported.

Children as young as three years old have been found left behind in the hospitals where their parents died or they've been neglected in their home communities for fear of further spreading the deadly disease, BBC News reports. The women who would normally care for them are infected and dying at a disproportionate rate to men.

Many of these children are missing their mothers. In Liberia, 75 percent of Ebola deaths are women.  “Women are the caregivers—if a kid is sick, they say, ‘Go to your mom,’ ” said Julia Duncan-Cassell, Liberia’s minister for gender and development, The Washington Post reports. Exposure is high for women—along with comforting sick children as traditional caretakers, more women work as nurses, and prepare funeral rituals.

 The children grieving familial losses need extra care and support, but the contagious disease makes doing so dangerous. “Ebola is turning a basic human reaction like comforting a sick child into a potential death sentence,” Fontaine added. Infected or not, the children left behind could face death themselves without receiving basic aid they once received from their parents.

UNICEF officials project the number of orphaned children to double by mid October. Officials are working to train 400 mental and social care workers to aid children in Liberia and training 2,500 Ebola survivors, who are now immune to the disease, in Sierra Leone to care for quarantined children.


http://news.yahoo.com/faces-ebola-orphaned-children-west-africa-000550770.html

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The US Ebola case: 5 things to know
Associated Press
By MARILYNN MARCHIONE  1 hour ago



Director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Tom Frieden speaks during a news conference after confirming that a patient at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital has tested positive for Ebola, the first case of the disease to be diagnosed in the United States, announced Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014, in Atlanta. The person, an adult who was not publicly identified, developed symptoms days after returning to Texas from Liberia and showed no symptoms on the plane, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)



Health officials on Tuesday announced the first case of Ebola diagnosed in the United States — a man isolated in intensive care at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.

Five things to know about the case:


WHEN AND HOW IT HAPPENED

Health officials say they don't know how the man was infected but he flew from the West African country of Liberia, where the outbreak is ongoing, on Sept. 19 and arrived to visit relatives in the U.S. a day later. His symptoms started around Sept. 24, he sought medical care on the 26th but was not admitted to the hospital until Sept. 28.


RISK TO FELLOW TRAVELERS

"Ebola doesn't spread till someone gets sick, and he didn't get sick for four days" after getting off the plane, so officials are not seeking out fellow passengers for signs of illness, said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The virus does not spread through the air — only through close contact with bodily fluids from a sick person, he stressed.


RISK TO PEOPLE IN DALLAS

Several family members and maybe a few community people are being monitored for possible risk — "handful is the right characterization" for how many, Frieden said.


HOW LONG RISK LASTS

People will be watched for fever or other possible signs for 21 days.


WHAT TO DO IF YOU THINK YOU'RE AT RISK

Contact the CDC, Frieden said. State and local health officials in Texas also are working to trace any possible contacts.
___

Online:

http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/


http://news.yahoo.com/us-ebola-case-5-things-know-232923318.html

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First Case of Ebola Diagnosed in the U.S.
The Atlantic Wire
By Polly Mosendz  3 hours ago






The first Ebola case to be diagnosed in the United States has been discovered by the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.

The patient has been in "strict isolation" since Sunday and it appears they contracted the virus while traveling in West Africa. Their blood was submitted to the Centers for Disease Control for testing at 9 a.m. on Tuesday and the diagnosis was confirmed just after 1 p.m. Officials plan to rigorously identify and monitor all those who came in contact with the patient while they were infectious.

"This is not Africa," said Zachary Thompson, director of the Dallas County Health and Human Services, "We have a great infrastructure to deal with an outbreak."

In a press conference announcing the news, the CDC revealed that the patient recently visited Liberia and had no symptoms (and was therefore not infectious) while entering the United States on September 20. Four days later, the patient started to develop non-specific symptoms and went to the hospital on September 26. The patient was sent home and then returned to the hospital on September 29, when he was placed in isolation.

According to the CDC's Tom Frieden, the patient likely had close contact with someone who was infected or had died from virus while in Liberia. The patient, who remains unidentified, is apparently not an American citizen but was visiting relatives who live in the United States.

Ebola is transmitted through bodily fluids, easily passing between patients and their caretakers, but is not an airborne virus. Thus far, it has killed at least 3,000 people in Africa. Three other Americans have already been discharged after being treated in the States.

Frieden remained confident that the "imported" ailment would be swiftly contained and prevented from spreading. "There is no doubt in my mind that we will stop it here," he said, but "It is certainly possible someone who had contact with this individual could develop Ebola in the coming weeks." Officials say the number of people who may have been in contact with the patient while he was infectious is a "handful."


This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/national/2014/09/first-case-of-ebola-diagnosed-in-the-us/380975/

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Worst Ebola outbreak on record tests global response
Reuters
1 hour ago



(Reuters) - International agencies and governments are fighting to contain the world's worst Ebola epidemic since the disease was identified in 1976.

The virus, which causes fever and bleeding, has killed at least 3,000 people.

Here is a timeline of the outbreak:

March 22: Guinea confirms a previously unidentified hemorrhagic fever, which killed over 50 people in its southeastern Forest Region, is Ebola. One study traces the suspected original source to a 2-year-old boy in the town of Gueckedou. Cases are also reported in the capital, Conakry.

March 30: Liberia reports two Ebola cases; suspected cases reported in Sierra Leone.

April 1: Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) warns the epidemic's spread is "unprecedented." But a World Health Organization (WHO) spokesman calls it "relatively small still."

April 4: A mob attacks an Ebola treatment center in southeastern Guinea. Healthcare workers in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia face growing hostility from fearful, suspicious local people.

May 26: WHO confirms first Ebola deaths in Sierra Leone.

June 17: Liberia says Ebola has reached its capital, Monrovia.

June 23: With deaths above 350, making the West African outbreak the worst Ebola epidemic on record, MSF says it is "out of control" and calls for massive resources.

July 25: Nigeria, Africa's biggest economy, confirms its first Ebola case, a man who died in Lagos after traveling from Monrovia.

July 29: Dr. Sheik Umar Khan, who was leading Sierra Leone's fight against the epidemic, dies of Ebola.

July 30: Liberia shuts schools and quarantines the worst-affected communities, using troops for enforcement.

Aug. 2: A U.S. missionary physician infected with Ebola in Liberia is flown to Atlanta in the United States for treatment.

Aug. 5: A second U.S. missionary infected with Ebola is flown from Liberia to Atlanta for treatment.

Aug. 8: WHO declares Ebola "international public health emergency," stops short of urging ban on trade and travel.

Aug. 12: WHO says death toll has topped 1,000, approves use of unproven drugs or vaccines.

A Spanish priest with Ebola dies in a Madrid hospital.

Aug. 15: MSF says the epidemic will take about six months to control.

Aug. 20: Security forces in Monrovia fire shots, tear gas to disperse crowd trying to break out of quarantine, killing a teenager.

Aug. 21: The two U.S. missionary aid workers treated in Atlanta are released from the hospital free of the virus.

Aug. 24: Democratic Republic of Congo declares Ebola outbreak in a northern province, apparently separate from larger outbreak.

An infected British medical worker is flown home from Sierra Leone for treatment.

Aug. 28: WHO puts death toll at above 1,550, warns outbreak could infect more than 20,000.

Aug. 29: Senegal reports first confirmed Ebola case.

Sept 2: MSF President Joanne Liu tells U.N. members the world is "losing the battle" to contain Ebola, slams "a global coalition of inaction."

Sept. 3: Epidemic's pace accelerates; deaths top 1,900. Officials say there were close to 400 deaths in the past week.

A third U.S. missionary doctor infected with Ebola is flown out of Liberia for treatment in Omaha, Nebraska.

Sept. 5: Latest WHO tally: More than 2,100 dead out of about 4,000 people thought to have been infected.

Sept. 7: President Barack Obama says in an interview the United States needs to do more to help control Ebola to prevent it from becoming a global crisis.

Sept. 8: Britain says it will send military and humanitarian experts to Sierra Leone to set up a treatment center; United States says it will send 25-bed military field hospital to Liberia to care for health workers.

A fourth Ebola patient will be flown to the United States for treatment in Atlanta.

Sept. 9: New WHO tally: At least 2,296 dead out of 4,293 cases recorded in five countries.

Sept. 13: Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf appeals to Obama for urgent aid in tackling Ebola.

Sept. 16: The United States promises to send 3,000 military engineers and medical personnel to West Africa to build clinics and train healthcare workers.

New WHO tally: 2,461 dead out of 4,985 infected, a doubling of the death toll in the past month.

Sept. 17: MSF says a French nurse volunteering for the medical charity in Liberia has Ebola.

Sept. 18: New WHO tally: 2,630 dead out of 5,357 believed infected.

The United Nations says a special mission to combat Ebola will deploy staff in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. U.N. Security Council adopts U.S.-drafted resolution calling for the lifting of travel and border restrictions.

French President Francois Hollande says a military hospital will be set up in Guinea.

Sept. 19 - Streets in Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, are deserted as the country starts a controversial three-day lockdown to try to halt Ebola's spread.

Sept. 22 - WHO says the outbreak has been largely contained in Senegal and Nigeria but says Ebola has killed more than 2,811 people in West Africa.

Sept. 23 - The CDC estimates between 550,000 and 1.4 million people in West Africa may be infected with Ebola by January.

Sept. 25 - At a meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Obama calls on more countries to help fight Ebola, saying hundreds of thousands of lives are at stake.

Sept. 26 - New WHO tally: 3,091 dead out of 6,574 probable, suspected and confirmed cases.

Cuba says it will send nearly 300 doctors and nurses to West Africa, to join 165 healthcare workers slated to arrive in early October.

Sept. 30 - CDC confirms the first diagnosis in the United States of a patient infected with Ebola. The patient, being treated at a hospital in Dallas, had traveled to West Africa.

(Writing by Pascal Fletcher and Jonathan Oatis; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)


http://news.yahoo.com/worst-ebola-outbreak-record-tests-global-response-231543381.html

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Traveler from Liberia is first Ebola patient diagnosed in U.S.
Reuters
By Julie Steenhuysen and Sharon Begley  13 minutes ago



Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director, Dr. Thomas Frieden, speaks at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia September 30, 2014. REUTERS/Tami Chappell



(Reuters) - A man who flew from Liberia to Texas has become the first patient infected with the deadly Ebola virus to be diagnosed in the United States, health officials said on Tuesday, a sign the outbreak ravaging West Africa may spread globally.

The patient sought treatment six days after arriving in Texas on Sept. 20, Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told reporters. He was admitted two days later to an isolation room at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.

U.S. health officials and lawmakers have been bracing for the eventuality that a patient would arrive on U.S. shores undetected, testing the preparedness of the nation's healthcare system. On Tuesday, Frieden and other health authorities said they were taking every step possible to ensure the virus did not spread widely.

"It is certainly possible someone who had contact with this individual could develop Ebola in the coming weeks," Frieden told a news conference. "I have no doubt we will stop this in its tracks in the United States."

Frieden said a handful of people, mostly family members, may have been exposed to the patient after he fell ill and that health authorities were tracking down anyone who might have had contact with the man. The emergency responders who transported the man to the hospital have been quarantined, according to a statement from Dallas city officials.



A general view of the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, Texas September 30, 2014. REUTERS/Brandon Wade


He said there was likely no threat to any airline passengers because the patient had no symptoms during his flight. Asked whether the patient was a U.S. citizen, Frieden described the person as a visitor to family in the country.

At least 3,091 people have died from Ebola in the worst outbreak on record that has been ravaging Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea in West Africa. More than 6,500 cases have been diagnosed, and the CDC has warned that the number of infections could rise to as many as 1.4 million people by early next year without a massive global intervention to contain the virus.

U.S. hospitals have treated, and released, three aid workers who were infected in Africa and flown back to the United States under strict medical supervision in a specially outfitted airplane.

A fourth person is being treated at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia and a fifth person who may have been exposed to the virus is under observation at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

President Barack Obama discussed the Dallas case with Frieden on Tuesday, the White House said.



Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), speaks at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia September 30, 2014. REUTERS/Tami Chappell


GLOBAL SECURITY ISSUE

The Ebola outbreak has overwhelmed health systems in Africa, one of the world's poorest regions, prompting the U.S. government and other nations to send funds, supplies and personnel to stop its spread.

The Dallas case "underscores that Ebola is a global and national security issue and that we need to double-down on our efforts to help West Africa get this outbreak under control,” Gerald Parker, vice president for Public Health Preparedness and Response at Texas A&M Health Science Center, said in an interview.

Frieden has said U.S. hospitals are well prepared to handle Ebola patients and has assured the public that the virus should not pose the same threat in the United States as it does in Africa.

“Americans need to remain calm and listen to the precautionary measures being suggested by the CDC," said Senator Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs.



Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), speaks at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia September 30, 2014. REUTERS/Tami Chappell


"It was only a matter of time before an Ebola case would emerge here in the United States, but as we’re seeing in Dallas today, our public health system has the resources, capabilities, and knowledge to address and contain this virus quickly and safely."

Ebola symptoms generally appear between two and 21 days after infection, meaning there is a significant window during which an infected person can escape detection, allowing them to travel. Symptoms include fever, vomiting and diarrhea.

This outbreak has killed about 50 percent of its victims. In past outbreaks, fatality rates have been as high as 90 percent.

Frieden emphasized that Ebola cannot be spread through the air but only through contact with bodily fluids such as blood, diarrhea and tears.

He said that CDC and other health officials were discussing whether to treat the Ebola patient with an experimental drug.

Stocks in Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp and other small biotechnology companies working on Ebola therapies or vaccines rose on the news of the U.S. Ebola patient in after-hours trading.

(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago and Sharon Begley in New York; Additional reporting by Steve Holland in Washington and Lisa Maria Garza in Dallas; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Lisa Shumaker)


http://news.yahoo.com/traveler-liberia-first-ebola-patient-diagnosed-u-003007621--finance.html

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Ebola outbreak nears end in Nigeria: US
AFP
3 hours ago



A school Principal checks a student's temperature for Ebola during an assembly in Abuja on September 22, 2014 (AFP Photo/)



Washington (AFP) - The Ebola outbreak in Nigeria is almost over, US health officials said Tuesday, in a rare sign of authorities turning the tide on the highly contagious disease that has killed more than 3,000 in West Africa.

But in a fresh setback to the global fight against the virus, the United States almost simultaneously said an Ebola case had been diagnosed there for the first time in a man who became infected in Liberia and traveled to Texas.

The virus's incubation period is 21 days and after two of these periods have passed without any new cases, officials can declare an outbreak over.

Therefore, since there have been no new cases in Nigeria since August 31, the country should be able to announce a formal end to its outbreak on October 12, a spokesman for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told AFP.

Meanwhile, the last three people monitored due to potential exposure to an Ebola patient will end their 21 days of follow-up for signs of symptoms later this week.

"The last three patient contacts will exit their 21-day follow-up on October 2 -- strongly suggesting the outbreak in Nigeria has been contained," the CDC said in a statement.



A health official waits to screen Muslim faithfuls on pilgrimage to Mecca for the Ebola virus on September 19, 2014 at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos (AFP Photo/Pius Utomi Ekpei)


While Nigeria may be able to soon declare victory over Ebola, its outbreak was far smaller than in nearby Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, all also in West Africa.

The death toll from the world's worst Ebola epidemic has claimed 3,091 lives in five West African countries out of 6,574 infected, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Eight people died of Ebola in Nigeria out of 20 confirmed cases, according to the WHO. The Nigerian government has said seven people died and 19 were infected.

The outbreak in Nigeria began July 20 when Patrick Sawyer, a dual US-Liberian citizen, boarded a plane to Lagos, a densely populated city of 21 million people.

Ebola is spread through close contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. The illness causes diarrhea, vomiting, fever and fatal bleeding in some cases.

"By the time it was recognized that the patient carried the Ebola virus, he had exposed 72 people on commercial aircraft, at the airport, and at the hospital," the CDC said.

The US agency credited Nigerian authorities with taking quick actions to isolate patients and set up an incident management center for a coordinated response.

"Although Nigeria isn't completely out of the woods, their extensive response to a single case of Ebola shows that control is possible with rapid, focused interventions," said CDC Director Tom Frieden.

Official forecasts of the end of Nigeria's outbreak vary.

The Nigerian government has previously said the last confirmed case was discovered September 8, suggesting the end would come later in October than foreseen by the CDC.

Typically, the WHO is the formal authority for declaring an end to any outbreak.

Speaking last week at the UN General Assembly in New York, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said -- prematurely, according to medical experts -- that his nation was free of Ebola.

"We can confidently say that today Nigeria is Ebola free," Jonathan told the largest diplomatic gathering in the world on September 24.


http://news.yahoo.com/ebola-outbreak-nears-end-nigeria-us-health-authorities-174521527.html

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US Ebola case is first diagnosed outside Africa
AFP
By Kerry Sheridan  1 hour ago



An awareness poster is presented during a hearing on "Combating the Ebola Threat" at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC, on August 7, 2014 (AFP Photo/Jewel Samad)



Washington (AFP) - The United States has diagnosed its first case of Ebola in a man who was infected in Liberia and traveled to Texas, US health officials said Tuesday, pledging to contain the virus that has killed more than 3,000.

The man is also the first to be diagnosed outside Africa, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, cautioning that since he was not sick on the plane he was unlikely to have infected other travelers.

CDC chief Tom Frieden vowed that US health authorities would be able to contain the virus and the White House said President Barack Obama had been briefed by the CDC about the Texas case.

"We are stopping this in its tracks," said Frieden, describing the man as critically ill.

The world's largest outbreak of Ebola has infected more than 6,500 people across five west African countries and killed 3,091 since the start of the year, according to the World Health Organization.

The CDC warned last week that a worst-case scenario could see Ebola cases explode to 1.4 million worldwide by January, but that such dire predictions could be avoided if resources are scaled up.



US President Barack Obama takes part in a briefing on the outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa, with CDC Director Tom Frieden (R) during a visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on September 16, 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia (AFP Photo/Mandel Ngan)


The United States has already treated several patients who acquired Ebola during the West African outbreak, including Christian missionary doctors Kent Brantly and Rick Sacra, who have been declared free of the virus.

Another patient with suspected exposure to Ebola was hospitalized outside the US capital over the weekend, but it remains unclear whether that person has Ebola or not.

There is no vaccine or drug to treat Ebola, which first emerged in Africa in 1976.


- No risk to airline travelers -

Frieden said the Texas patient, whose identity and nationality were not revealed, left Liberia on September 19 and arrived in the United States a day later to visit family in Texas.



Health workers in protective suits look at an ambulance upon its arrival at Island Hospital in Monrovia on September 30, 2014 (AFP Photo/Pascal Guyot)


He did not begin experiencing symptoms until the 24th. He sought treatment on the 26th and was placed in hospital isolation on the 28th.

Ebola is not contagious until patients show symptoms, which can include fatigue, fever, muscle aches, vomiting, diarrhea and bleeding.

"At this point there is zero risk of transmission on the flight. The illness of Ebola would not have gone on for 10 days before diagnosis," Frieden said.

"He was checked for fever before getting on the flight and there is no reason to think that anyone on the flight that he was on would be at risk."

Ebola is spread by close contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person who is showing symptoms, or by touching the corpse of a person who died from the hemorrhagic virus.



Medical staff members of the Croix Rouge NGO carry the corpse of a victim of Ebola on a stretcher, after collecting it from a house in Monrovia, on September 29, 2014 (AFP Photo/Pascal Guyot)


Frieden said a "handful" of people, mainly family members, are believed to have come in contact with the man while he was sick. They are being monitored closely for symptoms.


- Rapid spread -

The beginning of the West Africa outbreak has been identified as a two-year-old boy in Guinea who became sick with Ebola in December 2013.

Experts do not know how the child came down with Ebola, but the New England Journal of Medicine has reported that he may have come in contact with an infected fruit bat, which are natural hosts for the virus.

Since then the disease has spread rapidly, primarily affecting Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea and overwhelming the healthcare systems there.

Ebola spilled into Nigeria in July by a dual US-Liberian citizen who flew on a plane from Liberia to Lagos. The outbreak there killed eight and infected 20 people, the WHO said.

But the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria is almost over, US health officials said separately Tuesday, in a rare sign of authorities turning the tide on the highly contagious disease.

Any modern American hospital with an intensive care unit should be well equipped enough to isolate a patient with Ebola, and give supportive care.

Some lawmakers have urged the US government to take stronger action to prevent Ebola from entering the country.

"Today's CDC announcement shows the need for active screening for Ebola at US points of entry," said Ohio Senator Rob Portman.

California congressman Ed Royce, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Ebola "presents a clear and present danger not only to West Africa, but to the broader international community."


http://news.yahoo.com/first-case-ebola-diagnosed-us-health-officials-205002141.html