Thread: Obama Doing Nothing to Protect America from Ebola Outbreak

Obama Doing Nothing to Protect America from Ebola Outbreak

Several countries in West Africa, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, are reporting the worst Ebola virus outbreak in history. Over 700 people have died and the virus is still spreading.
So how much do you know about the Ebola virus and what are the chances of it spreading into the US?

There are five different viruses that cause Ebola virus disease. According to the World Health Organization:

• Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans.
• EVD outbreaks have a case fatality rate of up to 90%.
• EVD outbreaks occur primarily in remote villages in Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests.
• The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.
• Fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are considered to be the natural host of the Ebola virus.
• Severely ill patients require intensive supportive care. No licensed specific treatment or vaccine is available for use in people or animals.

The CDC has informed the airline industry to be on the watch for anyone with flu-like symptoms. They’ve also alerted Customs and Border Patrol to watch for people who may exhibit symptoms of EVD.
In case you’re wondering, the symptoms are:

“EVD is a severe acute viral illness often characterized by the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding. Laboratory findings include low white blood cell and platelet counts and elevated liver enzymes.”
“People are infectious as long as their blood and secretions contain the virus. Ebola virus was isolated from semen 61 days after onset of illness in a man who was infected in a laboratory.”

“The incubation period, that is, the time interval from infection with the virus to onset of symptoms, is 2 to 21 days.”

Is there a danger of Ebola entering the US and spreading? Most definitely! All it takes is for one infected person to enter the country and then come in contact with others. EVD is spread through contact with bodily fluids which could include saliva, blood, urine, feces, tears and even nasal mucus. An infected person could transmit the disease simply by coughing or sneezing on someone.
Consider the fact that some of the illegals that have been detained by Border Patrol agents have come from the same West African nations where the outbreak is occurring. Illegals have already been found to carry other infectious diseases such as TB and dengue fever and some Border Patrol agents have already tested positive for TB just by processing the illegals.
On the news today they said the chances of EVD spreading into the US are remote, but this is the same liberal news that ignores the seriousness of the border crisis and the other dangerous diseases already being transmitted by infected illegals. It would only take one infected illegal from West Africa to spread the disease into the US. There is no cure and the fatality rate can be as high as 90%.
Many illegals tend to congregate together, making the spread of Ebola more likely. They’ll shop in the same stores you and I shop in. All they have to do is cough or sneeze and then touch anything in the store to infect someone else. The danger is real.
Yet, Barack Obama is not taking any steps to further secure our border with Mexico, knowing that thousands of illegals pour in every day. The fear of deadly diseases is not enough for him to take the proper action to secure the border and protect Americans. Obama doesn’t care about your health or the health of your family. All he cares about is allowing thousands more illegals into the US so they can vote for Democrats. He is risking our health and lives for the sake of votes. I don’t wish anyone to get infected with the Ebola virus, but if it happens, I hope it strikes the White House first. Then perhaps Obama may think differently and do what he should be already doing to protect the country.

Read more at http://godfatherpolitics.com/16488/o...tUyMIe4j9Qm.99

Why is military prepping for biological attack?
Ebola detection units distributed to all 50 states


EBOLA Detection Kits Deployed to National Guard Units In All 50 States

potrblog






Published on Apr 11, 2014
http://pissinontheroses.blogspot.com/...
(c)2014 www.POTRBLOG.com
On April 8th Congress was informed by the the Department of Defense [DoD] that because of emerging threats JBAIDS hemorrhagic fever assays have been deployed to National Guard units of all 50 States.

. "By partnering with the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command and the Food and Drug Administration, we have made accessible additional diagnostic assays for high
consequence, low probability biological threat agents for use during declared public
health emergencies. This collaboration has facilitated the availability of viral hemorrhagic fever diagnostic assays for use during a declared emergency and adds
previously unavailable preparedness capabilities to this fielded system...
......To address the need for a near term capability to combat emerging threat materials,
we have already provided Domestic Response Capability kits to the National Guard weapons of mass destruction civil support teams resident in all 50 states. These
kits provide emerging threat mitigation capability that includes detection, personnel
protection, and decontamination."

It is unclear how real or imminent the threat may be, but it is clear that a massive surge of Governmental spending and preparedness has occurred since Hemorrhagic H7N9 Bird Flu came on the scene in 2013 and those preparedness activities are accelerating as EBOLA has started to gain momentum in Africa. (see links below)

There are multiple vignettes one could put forth for these governmental activities ranging from simple wasteful defense spending to airborne mutated EBOLA, or an expected biological first strike prelude to WW3. The preparations seem to lean towards the latter.

Rather than worry about the situation, the best course of action is be aware of the unusual military equipment which would be utilized in a defense situation, as such information will provide leading edge risk mitigation actionable information to threats that may result in mass panic or mass quarantine.

In that regard, spotting the field use of the biomedical equipment shown below is an extremely strong indicator that a Biodefense operation is underway. Pay special attention to the JBAIDS device shown below, its presence at any medical or field facility is prima facie evidence of a high risk medical event of disastrous proportion. For mobile applications the JBAIDS device is carried in the Bio sampling vehicles shown below.

Joint Biological Agent Identification and Diagnostic System [JBAIDS]

Photos and source links here:
http://pissinontheroses.blogspot.com/...




http://www.brasschecktv.com/videos/m...l-attack-.html

Why does the CDC own a patent on Ebola 'invention?'

Sunday, August 03, 2014
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Tags: Ebola patent, vaccines, profit motive

(NaturalNews) The U.S. Centers for Disease Control owns a patent on a particular strain of Ebola known as "EboBun." It's patent No. CA2741523A1 and it was awarded in 2010. You can view it here. (Thanks to Natural News readers who found this and brought it to our attention.)

Patent applicants are clearly described on the patent as including:

The Government Of The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary, Department Of Health & Human Services, Center For Disease Control.

The patent summary says, "The invention provides the isolated human Ebola (hEbola) viruses denoted as Bundibugyo (EboBun) deposited with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ("CDC"; Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America) on November 26, 2007 and accorded an accession number 200706291."

It goes on to state, "The present invention is based upon the isolation and identification of a new human Ebola virus species, EboBun. EboBun was isolated from the patients suffering from hemorrhagic fever in a recent outbreak in Uganda."

It's worth noting, by the way, that EboBun is not the same variant currently believed to be circulating in West Africa. Clearly, the CDC needs to expand its patent portfolio to include more strains, and that may very well be why American Ebola victims have been brought to the United States in the first place. Read more below and decide for yourself...

Harvesting Ebola from victims to file patents

From the patent description on the EboBun virus, we know that the U.S. government:

1) Extracts Ebola viruses from patients.

2) Claims to have "invented" that virus.

3) Files for monopoly patent protection on the virus.

To understand why this is happening, you have to first understand what a patent really is and why it exists. A patent is a government-enforced monopoly that is exclusively granted to persons or organizations. It allows that person or organization to exclusively profit from the "invention" or deny others the ability to exploit the invention for their own profit.

It brings up the obvious question here: Why would the U.S. government claim to have "invented" Ebola and then claim an exclusively monopoly over its ownership?

U.S. Government claims exclusive ownership over its "invention" of Ebola

The "SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION" section of the patent document also clearly claims that the U.S. government is claiming "ownership" over all Ebola viruses that share as little as 70% similarity with the Ebola it "invented":

...invention relates to the isolated EboBun virus that morphologically and phylogenetically relates to known members filoviridae... In another aspect, the invention provides an isolated hEbola EboBun virus comprising a nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of: a) a nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1; b) a nucleotide sequence that hybridizes to the sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1 under stringent conditions; and c) a nucleotide sequence that has at least 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% identity to the SEQ ID NO:

1. In another aspect, the invention provides the complete genomic sequence of the hEbola virus EboBun.

Ebola vaccines and propagation

The CDC patent goes on to explain it specifically claims patent protection on a method for propagating the Ebola virus in host cells as well as treating infected hosts with vaccines:

In another aspect, the invention provides a method for propagating the hEbola virus in host cells comprising infecting the host cells with the inventive isolated hEbola virus described above, culturing the host cells to allow the virus to multiply, and harvesting the resulting virions.

In another aspect, the invention provides vaccine preparations, comprising the inventive hEbola virus, including recombinant and chimeric forms of the virus, nucleic acid molecules comprised by the virus, or protein subunits of the virus. The invention also provides a vaccine formulation comprising a therapeutically or prophylactically effective amount of the inventive hEbola virus described above, and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

No medical reason to bring Ebola to the United States

This patent may help explain why Ebola victims are being transported to the United States and put under the medical authority of the CDC. These patients are carrying valuable intellectual property assets in the form of Ebola variants, and the Centers for Disease Control clearly desires to expand its patent portfolio by harvesting, studying and potentially patenting new strains or variants.

Dr. Bob Arnot, an infectious disease specialist who spent time on the ground in developing nations saving lives, recently told Judge Jeanine, "There is no medical reason to bring them here, especially when you see how well Dr. Bradley was." (2)

There is, however, an entirely different reason to bring Ebola patients to America: so they can be exploited for medical experiments, military bioweapons harvesting or intellectual property claims.

Surely, medical authorities at Emory University and the CDC are working hard to save the lives of the two patients who have been transported to the U.S. But they are also pursuing something else at the same time: an agenda of isolating, identifying and patenting infectious disease agents for reasons that we can only imagine.

Only hoping to save lives?

On one hand, it's worth pointing out that the CDC's patent on Ebola is at least partially focused on methods for screening for Ebola and treating Ebola victims with drugs or vaccines. This seems like a worthwhile precaution against an infectious disease that clearly threatens lives.

On the other hand, why the patent? Patenting Ebola seems as odd as trying to patent cancer or diabetes. Why would a government organization claim to have "invented" this infectious disease and then claim a monopoly over its exploitation for commercial use?

Does the CDC hope to collect a royalty on Ebola vaccines? Is it looking to "invent" more variants and patent those too?

Make no mistake that billions of dollars in profits are at stake in all this. Shares of Tekmira surged over 11% last Friday as pressure was placed on the FDA to fast-track Ebola vaccine trials the company has set up. "Health campaigners have started a petition which has already been signed by approximately 15,500 people on change.org pressurizing FDA to approve the drug in the minimum possible time frame," reports BidnessEtc.com. (3)

Carefully scripted medical theater

With this, we start to see the structure of the elaborate medical theater coming together: A global pandemic panic, a government patent, the importation of Ebola into a major U.S. city, an experimental vaccine, the rise of a little-known pharmaceutical company and a public outcry for the FDA to fast-track the vaccine.

If Act II stays on course, this medical theater might someday involve a "laboratory accident" in a U.S. lab, the "escape" of Ebola into the population, and a mandatory nationwide Ebola vaccination campaign that enriches Tekmira and its investors while positioning the CDC with its virus patents as the "savior of the American people."

Yes, we've heard this music before, but the last time around it was called Swine Flu.

The formula is always the same: create alarm, bring a vaccine to market, then scare governments into buying billions of dollars worth of vaccines they don't need.

Watch the episode with Judge Jeanine here:




Sources for this article include:

(1) http://www.google.com/patents/CA2741523A1?cl...

(2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHAK6oX-JN4&feature=...

(3) http://www.bidnessetc.com/23519-tekmera-shar...

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/046290_Eb...#ixzz39LticaVK

Top Secret Drug Saved Ebola Doctor’s lives

By

DNA on August 4, 2014



(CNN) — Three vials containing an experimental drug stored at subzero temperatures were flown into Liberia last week in a last-ditch effort to save two American missionary workers who had contracted Ebola, according to a source familiar with details of the treatment.
The drug appears to have worked, sources say. Dr. Kent Brantly’s and Nancy Writebol’s conditions significantly improved after receiving the medication, sources say. Brantly was able to walk into Emory University Hospital in Atlanta after being evacuated to the United States last week, and Writebol is expected to arrive in Atlanta on Tuesday.
On July 22, Brantly woke up feeling feverish. Fearing the worst, Brantly immediately isolated himself. Writebol’s symptoms started three days later. A rapid field blood test confirmed the infection in both of them after they had become ill with fever, vomiting and diarrhea.
It’s believed both Brantly and Writebol, who worked with the aid organization Samaritan’s Purse, contracted Ebola from another health care worker at their hospital in Liberia, although the official Centers for Disease Control and Prevention case investigation has yet to be released.
A representative from the National Institutes of Health contacted Samaritan’s Purse in Liberia and offered the experimental treatment, known as ZMapp, for the two patients, according to the source.
The drug was developed by the biotech firm Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc., which is based in San Diego. The patients were told that this treatment had never been tried before in a human being but had shown promise in small experiments with monkeys.
According to company documents, four monkeys infected with Ebola survived after being given the therapy within 24 hours after infection. Two of four other monkeys that started therapy within 48 hours after infection also survived. One monkey that was not treated died within five days of exposure to the virus.
Brantly and Writebol were aware of the risk of taking a new, little understood treatment and gave informed consent, according to two sources familiar with the care of the missionary workers. In the monkeys, the experimental serum had been given within 48 hours of infection. Brantly didn’t receive it until he’d been sick for nine days.
The medicine is a three-mouse monoclonal antibody, meaning that mice were exposed to fragments of the Ebola virus and then the antibodies generated within the mice’s blood were harvested to create the medicine. It works by preventing the virus from entering and infecting new cells.
The Ebola virus causes viral hemorrhagic fever, which refers to a group of viruses that affect multiple organ systems in the body and are often accompanied by bleeding.
Early symptoms include sudden onset of fever, weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat. They later progress to vomiting, diarrhea, impaired kidney and liver function — and sometimes internal and external bleeding.
The ZMapp vials reached the hospital in Liberia where Brantly and Writebol were being treated Thursday morning. Doctors were instructed to allow the serum to thaw naturally without any additional heat. It was expected that it would be eight to 10 hours before the medicine could be given, according to a source familiar with the process.
Brantly asked that Writebol be given the first dose because he was younger and he thought he had a better chance of fighting it, and she agreed. However, as the first vial was still thawing, Brantly’s condition took a sudden turn for the worse.
Brantly began to deteriorate and developed labored breathing. He told his doctors he thought he was dying, according to a source with firsthand knowledge of the situation.
Knowing his dose was still frozen, Brantly asked if he could have Writebol’s now-thawed medication. It was brought to his room and administered through an IV. Within an hour of receiving the medication, Brantly’s condition dramatically improved. He began breathing easier; the rash over his trunk faded away. One of his doctors described the events as “miraculous.”
By the next morning, Brantly was able to take a shower on his own before getting on a specially designed Gulfstream air ambulance jet to be evacuated to the United States.
Writebol also received a vial of the medication. Her response was not as remarkable, according to sources familiar with the treatment. However, doctors on Sunday administered Writebol a second dose of the medication, which resulted in significant improvement.
She was stable enough to be evacuated back to the United States and is expected to arrive before noon Tuesday.
The process by which the medication was made available to Brantly and Writebol is highly unusual. ZMapp has not been approved for human use, and has not even gone through the clinical trial process, which is standard to prove the safety and efficacy of a medication. It may have been given under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s “compassionate use” regulation, which allows access to investigational drugs outside clinical trials.
Getting approval for compassionate use is often long and laborious, but in the case of Brantly and Writebol, they received the medication within seven to 10 days of their exposure to the Ebola virus.
On July 30, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, an arm of the military responsible for any chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosive threats, allotted additional funding to MAPP Biopharmaceutical due to “promising results.”

http://topinfopost.com/2014/08/04/to...-doctors-lives


Gee let's test it on all our politicians after all they aren't human....

Ebola Quarantine Stations Established in El Paso, Los Angeles and 18 Other Cities

Dean Garrison 1 hour ago

I have an idea. Let's bring Ebola here instead of worrying about it coming here unexpectedly. If we are going to put 300 million people in jeopardy, it should be our choice to do so rather than having it come as a surprise.

By now you have surely heard that at least one patient is set to arrive for treatment at a hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. I am seeing reports today that it might actually be two patients, and who says they will stop there?
Does anyone see anything wrong with this?
Anyone at all?
A few days ago, Dave Hodges reported that the CDC is quietly setting up Ebola Quarantine Stations across the U.S. I took a lot of flack for running that article on my website. As usual, I was called a conspiracy theorist who was trying to scare people.
Am I trying to scare you?
Yes I am. I have never denied that I try to scare people because something has to be done to awaken people from their stupor. We can scare you with facts just as easily as fantasy because things really are that bad. Not only is Ebola set to arrive voluntarily in the U.S. at any time, now we are starting to see evidence of those stations (he called them "centers") that Dave was talking about.
A local CBS affiliate in Los Angeles is reporting:

The Centers for Disease Control have established a quarantine station at LAX to prevent the spread of the deadly Ebola virus from passengers coming off international flights.

The CDC is warning Americans to avoid the Ebola-ravaged nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea where more than 700 people have died.

Tom Bradley International Terminal now has a CDC quarantine station where health officials will determine whether a sick person getting off an international flight can enter the country.

"We're fairly comfortable that if a patient were identified here in the U.S. , that the normal kinds of barrier nursing precautions that would be in place would prevent spread even before the person would be confirmed to be a case of Ebola," Dr. Stephan Monroe said.

Two American aid workers have been infected with the virus in Liberia.

All of this seems perfectly logical except for the fact that we are bringing this disease to America. We aren't just preparing for the worst. We are bringing it here. Has that started to sink in yet? As for the American aid workers that are mentioned, as well as the doctors and nurses who have become infected, do you not think that precautions were taken in these instances?
Ebola is not something that one invites into their living room.

KVIA.com, an ABC affiliate, is reporting that El Paso, Texas has also been chosen as a "quarantine station":

The Centers for Disease Control has designated El Paso as one of 20 quarantine stations for the ebola virus.

The Sun City is part of a comprehensive system designed to prevent the spread of the disease in the United States.

While ebola has never been detected in the U.S., that doesn't mean it can't make its way to the country. The biggest concern is at airports with international flights and ports of entry, which there are a lot of in the Borderland.

"It's a scary virus … Definitely," said Dr. Hector Ocaranza, the health authority for the El Paso City/County Health Department. "Terribly deadly. It's one of those viral hemorragic fevers. They haven't found where it's coming from, if it's coming from an animal to the human or what. But we know there is human tissue transmission."

That means it cannot be contracted like the flu, through the air. It can only be spread by direct contact with bodily fluids like saliva or secretions.

The CDC released a map showing the 20 quarantine stations designated across the country, including El Paso, mostly where international travelers arrive. The closest ones are in San Diego and Dallas.

The CDC website seems to be suffering from some issues today that might be caused by heavy traffic. The navigation is off and I have not been able to download the map or even see it. However, I can tell you that San Francisco and Houston are mentioned as quarantine stations as well. I also temporarily found an East Coast map but the page crashed. Is Michelle Obama's schoolmate in charge of this site as well?
Again, all of this would make sense as being precautionary if we were not allowing illegal aliens, with dangerous diseases, into this country, and if we were not willingly endangering the lives of people by bringing Ebola to America.
Why use the back door when the front door works just fine?
This is either incredibly stupid or it is part of the plan.
Either way America is now playing with fire.
Source
Don't forget to Like Freedom Outpost on Facebook, Google Plus, Tea Party Community & Twitter.


Read more at http://freedomoutpost.com/2014/08/eb...J867SK0zcSz.99

Health Officials: No Ebola Outbreak in U.S., but We're Prepping Anyway

CDC and WHO are trying to contain the outbreak in West Africa and are ready if it hits the U.S., where one case has been confirmed.

Doctors put on protective gear at a hospital in Guinea, where ebola victims are being treated. The virus is not a threat to the U.S., and would not spread if it were found here, officials say.

By Kimberly LeonardJuly 31, 2014 | 6:46 p.m. EDT+ More

The risk of an Ebola outbreak in the U.S. is unlikely, but health officials say they are responding anyway, sending advisories to hospitals, preparing to quarantine those who may have been infected, discouraging travel to certain countries and pouring funds into West Africa to contain the outbreak.

In a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention press briefing Thursday, Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the agency, says 50 staff members, including health communications experts and epidemiologists, are being sent to affected areas. While he stresses the virus shows little threat to the U.S., he says it is worsening in West Africa. "This is the largest most complex [Ebola] outbreak that we know if in history," he says, adding that it may take as much as six months to contain.

Only a few hours after the CDC briefing, Emory University, in conjunction with the CDC, released a statement saying it is preparing to treat the first Ebola patient here in the United States. Staff members at Emory Hospital in Atlanta, where the CDC is headquartered, were not able to confirm the identity or current whereabouts of the patient, or when the patient would arrive, but said he or she will be treated in an isolation unit.

[READ: Emergency Declared Over Ebola Outbreak]
Ebola patients headed to Atlanta
Ebola patients headed to Atlanta





The West African nations affected by the Ebola outbreak are plagued by violence and have weak, scarce health care systems. Fruit bats are considered by the World Health Organization to be the host of the virus, which can also infect monkeys, gorillas, chimpanzees, antelope and porcupines – animals with which some West Africans have frequent contact through hunting and handling infected, raw meat. During this particular outbreak, however, WHO says Ebola has spread mostly from human to human. It has swept Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, killing 729 people as of July 31.

According to Frieden, about 10,000 people in the past three to four months have traveled from these countries to the U.S. – a number he says is tiny. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., requested a travel ban in a Tuesday letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and Secretary of State John Kerry.

[READ: Congressman: Close Border to Ebola Countries.]

News of the disease caught the public's attention when Dr. Sheik Humarr Khan, who has been lauded as national hero for treating the disease in Sierra Leone, died Tuesday while quarantined in a hospital.

Though it is not spread as easily as airborne diseases, like the flu, Ebola's fatality levels can be as high as 90 percent.

There is no specific treatment for Ebola, and the National Institutes of Health will not be entering trial stages for a new vaccine until the fall.

Doctors and nurses help control patients' dehydration through intravenous fluids and keep them isolated from others. The virus spreads through direct contact of bodily fluids like saliva, sweat, stool, blood, urine and semen. It also can spread when the virus touches clothing, bed linen or needles, according to WHO. A person who is buried after dying of the disease is still contagious, and anyone who has contact with the corpse can get the virus.

CDC officials say they are confident that there will be no significant spread of Ebola in the United States even if the virus is found here.

"Any hospital with an intensive care unit has the chance to isolate patients," Frieden says. The CDC this week sent an advisory about Ebola to state and local health departments, says Jennifer Schleman, a spokeswoman for the American Hospital Association. "Hospitals coordinate closely with their public health departments to monitor and respond to these situations," she says. "As part of their 24/7 standby role, every hospital has an emergency plan that they regularly exercise and update. When there is a greater risk, hospitals increase their surveillance for signs of symptoms associated with the specific disease."

If a patient comes into a hospital with a fever and has traveled to West Africa recently, the CDC recommends immediate quarantine, contacting local health officials and the CDC, and carrying out rapid testing, Frieden says. Other signs of infection are headache, joint and muscle aches, diarrhea and vomiting; it takes anywhere from two to 21 days from the time of infection for a person to show symptoms of the disease. Someone who is infected but does not yet have symptoms is not yet contagious, health officials say.

Stopping an outbreak is possible, "but it takes meticulous work," Frieden says. "It's like putting out a forest fire."

As of July 30, WHO has not recommended any travel restrictions or closing orders, though some organizations, like the Peace Corps, have withdrawn personnel from some areas. "It is highly unlikely that someone suffering such symptoms would feel well enough to travel," says a press release from the International Air Transport Association.

The CDC recommends at this time avoiding all nonessential travel to Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone so that it can begin to contain the disease there. It issued a "Level 3" warning, which indicates a high risk to people who travel to those countries. "We're not telling people who are essential to leave," Frieden says, referring to state department officials and health care workers. "We want to support the countries in terms of their ability to control the disease."

Direct flights from affected countries to the United States are connected through Houston, Atlanta and New York.​ If a patient is ill on a plane, the CDC is called to assess the condition, and if appropriate will track or trace the people around them on the plane, Frieden says.

The president of Sierra Leone has declared a state of emergency, and WHO has pledged $100 million to help bring the outbreak under control.
"It will not be quick or easy but we do know how to stop Ebola," Frieden says. "This is a marathon, not a sprint."
Sierra Leone's Top Ebola Doctor Dies From Virus

The doctor leading Sierra Leone's fight against the worst Ebola outbreak on record died from the virus on Tuesday, the country's chief medical officer said. The death of Sheik Umar Khan, who was credited with...



http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/...repping-anyway

Ebola Outbreak 'Not in the Cards' for U.S., CDC Director Says

BY MAGGIE FOX

International health experts are preparing to “surge” into West Africa to fight the raging outbreak of Ebola virus, and say they are confident they can keep it from spreading to countries like the United States and eventually stamp it out.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stepped up a travel alert for West Africa Thursday, saying nonessential people should put off travel there for now. But CDC director Dr. Thomas Frieden said that was more to keep people out of the way of emergency work than to prevent the spread of Ebola.

“It is not a potential of Ebola spreading widely in the U.S. That is not in the cards,” Frieden told reporters on a conference call. “We are not telling people who are essential to leave.”
CDC Issues Highest-Level Travel Warning as Ebola Spreads
Ebola has infected 1,323 people and killed 729 people in the current outbreak, which spans Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

The World Health Organization says it is still out of control in some places and announced a $100 million plan Thursday for stepping up efforts against it.

As part of the plan, CDC will send 50 people to the region over the next month, Frieden said.

“This is a tragic, painful, dreadful, merciless virus. It is the largest, most complex outbreak that we know of in history,” Frieden said. “We at CDC are surging our response along with others. Although it will not be quick and it will not be easy, we do know how to stop Ebola.”

“Although it will not be quick and it will not be easy, we do know how to stop Ebola."

As for Ebola coming to the U.S., Frieden is not overly worried.

“We have quarantine stations at all the major ports of entry,” he said. People cannot transmit Ebola to others unless they are sick, and Ebola makes you so sick that it’s pretty obvious pretty quickly, Frieden said. A traveler will be flagged by the flight crew and if someone gets sick after arrival in the U.S. they will almost certainly seek medical care.

“Ebola poses little risk to the U.S. general population,” Frieden said. “Ebola is spread as people get sicker and sicker. They have fever and may develop serious symptoms.” Ebola doesn’t spread through the air like measles. People who get sick are family members or healthcare workers in prolonged and close contact with victims.
Sierra Leone declares emergency after Ebola outbreak
That's almost certainly how two Americans became infected. Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol were caring for patients in a crowded, busy facility in Monrovia, Liberia when they were both infected. They're both now struggling for their own lives. Emory University Hospital in Atlanta said Thursday it waspreparing a special isolation unit to receive a patient with Ebola disease “within the next several days” but did not say whether the patient is one of the two Americans.

“It’s not the common cold. It is not the flu. It really requires exposure to blood and bodily fluids,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and senior associate at the UPMC Center for Health Security.

And basic hygiene at the emergency room door or in the clinic should prevent spread there. Any U.S. intensive care unit can do it, Frieden said. “We work actively to educate American health care workers,” he said. “There is nothing particularly special about the isolation of an Ebola patient, other than it is really important to do it right.”

While hospitals in West Africa have become “amplification centers” for Ebola, that wouldn’t happen in a country with modern facilities, Frieden said. “We have strong systems to find people, if there is anyone with Ebola in the U.S. … to isolate them and to provide follow-up.”

In Africa, CDC specialists will help set up emergency operations centers to help coordinate the response. Right now, health experts say they don’t even know where outbreaks are popping up until it’s almost too late. Having a command and control center gives experts a place to gather information and to coordinate decision-making and action.

Ebola first emerged in 1976 and since then there have been two dozen outbreaks in Congo, Uganda, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan. Public health experts know how to cope with it.

“They will be able to implement the tried and true activities,” said Dr. Adalja. “There is no reason that is not going to work here.”

“This is going to take at least three to six months, even if everything goes well.”

That means painstaking work of identifying cases quickly, isolating the patients so they don’t infect anybody else, and tracking down everyone they were in close contact with to watch and make sure they don’t become infected. “That is what has stopped every Ebola outbreak that has ever happened before and that is what is going to stop this Ebola outbreak,” Frieden said.

It also includes educating the public about Ebola. Ebola’s spread so badly in West Africa for several reasons: It’s never been seen there before so people don’t know what to expect and don’t understand how to stop its spread.

In addition, the countries have very weak or even nonexistent health care facilities, so patients often cannot even be diagnosed, much less isolated or treated. Healthcare workers become infected as they struggle to treat cases. And because so few people in the three countries are familiar with outside medical practices, they are suspicious of strangers coming in, wearing protective gear and telling them what to do.

So CDC, WHO and nonprofit groups must find local, trusted leaders to help them communicate the basics about the disease in a way that people will accept.

CDC experts and state health officials have years of experience of tracking down people who have been in contact with patients who have a range of infectious diseases, from Lassa fever to MERS and measles.

In fact, Lassa fever, which is similar to Ebola in many ways, is a good example of how the system does work, Adalaja said. “We have had eight importations of Lassa fever in the past few decades,” he said. “None of those cases ended up with any secondary cases. We were ready for them.”

It will take a while to put out this fire, however, Frieden cautioned.

“This is a marathon, not a sprint,” he said. “This is going to take at least three to six months, even if everything goes well.”

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebo...r-says-n169836

You are more likely to die from Flesh Eating Bactria in the U.S.

People in the U.S. have already died from flesh eating bacteria.

No one in the U.S. has ebola, until the plane brings in the 2 Americans who caught it in Africa.

http://www.alipac.us/f19/flesh-eatin...waters-308433/

The bacteria was responsible for at least 11 deaths in Florida last year.

Sunday Show Round Up

CDC downplays threat of Ebola outbreak on U.S. soil as American patient arrives in Atlanta





CDC director Thomas Frieden (AP)



BY: Ellison Barber
August 3, 2014 3:40 pm

The Director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Dr. Tom Frieden, appeared on four Sunday programs to quell fears that the United States may be at risk for an Ebola outbreak.
“We know that there are travelers from places where there’s Ebola. We know it’s possible that someone will come in. If they go to a hospital and that hospital doesn’t recognize it’s Ebola there could be additional cases or their family members could have cases. That’s all possible, but I don’t think it’s in the cards that we would have an outbreak in this country,” Frieden said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
“The way it spreads in Africa is really two things. First, in hospitals where there isn’t really infection control and second in burial practices where people are touching the bodies of people who have died from Ebola. So it’s not going to spread widely in the U.S. Could we have another people here, could we have a case or two, not impossible … but we know how to stop it here.”
The outbreak began in Guinea, before spreading to Liberia and Sierra Leone. As of July 30, 826 people have been killed by the illness that has a fatality rate of up to 90 percent.
Two American aid workers, Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, have contracted the disease.
Concern in the United States escalated after it was announced that both patients would be brought back to America. Brantly arrived in Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday and Writebol is expected to follow shortly.
Medical experts echoed Frieden’s position and downplayed the threat of an outbreak in the United States.
“This disease is spread by direct contact or body fluid contact, and inside these containment areas there’s negative pressure so any air going, would go into rather than come out of that facility. The workers are protected by complete covering of their face and all of their body, and they are isolated,” said Dr. Toby Cosgrove, President and CEO, of the Cleveland Clinic.
“Interestingly, this is not as highly contagious as many other diseases,” Cosgrove told NBC. “You have to understand that we’ve gone to a globalized world now, and disease are globalized as well. … With transportation, this is something we must learn to deal with.”
“There’s a humanitarian reason for stopping this in West Africa,” noted Dr. Richard Besser, “but the conversation we’ve been having also shows we have a self interest in doing that. The conversation really has to look at what will it take to beef up the health system to control this where it is.”
While officials understood the public’s concerns, they insisted there was no reason to worry.
“I can understand why people are scared of Ebola,” Frieden said on Fox News Sunday. “It’s deadly, it’s a gruesome death … but I hope and I’m confident that our fears are not going to overwhelm our compassion. We care for our own. We bring people home if they need to come home.”
The decision to bring Brantly back to America was made by the organization that sent him to Africa, Frieden said, and the role of CDC is to ensure the process of it is safe, by “isolate[ing] the patient so that it doesn’t spread during transit or when he’s in the hospital.”
Less than a month ago, Frieden appeared before a Congressional committee to explain why researchers at the CDC “mishandled live anthrax and other deadly pathogens” on four different occasions. That history, which officials characterize as “lapses,” has resulted in skepticism over the safety of the transportation process.
There is currently no cure for the disease, but a vaccine is being developed and should be ready for human testing in early September.
“We would love an Ebola vaccine,” Frieden said, “but even in the best case, it’s a long way away and it’s uncertain.”
“Really, the tried and true public health mechanisms work. You find the patients. You isolate them. You find out who their contacts were. You trace the contacts. You track them everyday for 21 days. If they get fever you start that process again. You make sure there’s good infection control and you educate the community in Africa about safe burial practices. When you do those simple things, Ebola stops.”
Previous Ebola outbreaks were stopped through the process, Frieden noted, but the current outbreak is “out of control in West Africa and it may well spread further in that region.”
In the meantime, CDC is “surging their response,” sending more researchers to Africa in an effort to control it and “put out the embers.”
The U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit will be held in Washington, D.C., this week and the outbreak, while not the summit’s focus, will likely be addressed.

http://freebeacon.com/uncategorized/...w-round-up-29/

Ebola Infected U.S. Aid Workers Due To Arrive At Emory University Hospital Atlanta

http://goo.gl/D4IHvL

Ebola Infected U.S. Aid Workers Due To Arrive At Emory University Hospital Atlanta
goo.gl


Ebola Infected U.S. Aid Workers Due To Arrive At Emory University Hospital Atlanta
By

DNA
on
August 3, 2014

Brantly and Writebol. Image: Reuters

At least one, but possibly two U.S. citizens with Ebola is due to fly from West Africa to Atlanta during the next few days. Barbara Reynolds spokeswoman for the CDC in Atlanta said that she is not aware of any Ebola patient ever been treated in the United States before.
Emory Hospital in Atlanta has issued a statement saying it is well prepared to receive the patients, and that it has the facilities to safely care for them without any risk to the public.
Let’s hope and pray they are right.
Two Americans are infected, Dr Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol who are said to be in a grave condition. Apparently a serum has been made from the blood of a child who was cured of Ebola and that serum, although experimental has been offered to Dr Brantly. He is said to have refused the treatment, insisting it be given to Writebol.
On at least five occasions the CDC has made mistakes in handling deadly pathogens. According to the LA Times:

Dangerous germs, including anthrax, botulism and a strain of bird flu, were improperly sent among government laboratories in five incidents during the last decade, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which said it had closed two labs and had imposed a moratorium on shipping deadly pathogens.
The announcement of the previously undisclosed incidents comes days after the CDC said scientists had discovered six vials of the smallpox virus in an unused storage room at the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, Md.

This of course is not counting the exposure of 86 workers to anthrax in June, and as the article states comes just days after vials of the smallpox virus was found lying at the back of a shelf in a cupboard….
I have great sympathy for those suffering from this awful disease. Up to 90% of those who contract it will die a terrible death, but bringing those people to the United states, UK and Europe will not alter that fact. What it will do is increase the risk of this virus spreading.
One mistake with this, and people are going to start dying across the United States. From the point that the Ebola patient leaves the isolation ward in Africa the risks to the rest of the world start to grow.
It’s likely the patients will be transferred in pods called aeromedical biocontainment systems. These systems are specifically designed to allow medical staff access without exposing themselves to the virus. They are not particularly sturdy structures as you can see from the photograph.
There is not much room on medivac planes, and with possibly two patients to care for it is unlikely there will be enough spare equipment to deal with all possible emergency scenarios. Although bodily waste can be removed from these pods, doing so on the aircraft would be incredibly dangerous. Usually a specialized flow air system, inside a biocontainment air lock would be required to remove level four biological waste safely.
The logistics of transporting a patient with Ebola, particularly Ebola Zaire, the strain causing the current outbreak are horrendous:

• From the isolation unit along corridors to ambulance or helicopter
• From the ambulance or helicopter to the airport.
• Then they have to get the patient actually onto the plane.
• A flight of ten hours + depending on where exactly they are taking off from.
• Transfer from the aircraft on arrival in Atlanta.
• Travel by ambulance or helicopter to the Emory Hospital.
• Transfer to the isolation unit.

All of this needs to be done, twice if both patients are returned home, without snagging or breeching the flimsy plastic tent of the unit.
Now remember, these patients have Ebola Zaire, a condition where ALL bodily secretions are infected. The condition causes diarrhea and vomiting, a high fever causing the patient to sweat, and bleeding from every orifice. These symptoms will not conveniently stop because the patient is in transit to the United states, or Germany, or anywhere else.

All of these secretions and bodily fluids will need to be dealt with without emergency back-up for upwards of 15 hours.

One mistake and the medical team doing the transport, as well as any ancillary staff involved will be open to risk of contamination. One splash of bodily fluid missed when the airliner is decontaminated after the trip will expose cabin crew and future passengers to harm. The virus has been shown to remain active both in dry and liquid forms for several days outside of the body. The fact that infection can occur from those preparing Ebola victims for burial suggests possible airborne spread as persons without any cuts or grazes have become infected when preparing bodies for disposal.

…are also at risk when handling the bodies of deceased humans in preparation for funerals, suggesting possible transmission through aerosol droplets. In the laboratory, infection through small-particle aerosols has been demonstrated in primates, and airborne spread among humans is strongly suspected, although it has not yet been conclusively demonstrated.

It’s likely that just having an Ebola patient in a major U.S. city is likely to see a surge in patients presenting with flu -like symptoms as this is how Ebola first presents itself. People will quite rightly be worried. Some of concerns that I personally have are:

• Will the medical staff treating the patient(s) be confined to the hospital or will they return to their normal lives at the end of each shift?
• Is this a one off or are more patients likely to be flown out of Africa?
• As laboratory aerosol spread has been noted where is the vented air from the biocontainment airlocks pumped to?
• Will biohazard waste be incinerated on site at the hospitals or will it have to be moved to commercial facilities?
• How many layers of protection will stand between visitors of the patients and the patients themselves?
• As the virus takes up to 21 days (with a mean of 4 to 9 days) to incubate how often will staff tending the victims be tested for the virus?

Here is the statement released by Emory Hospital:

Emory University Hospital has been informed that there are plans to transfer a patient with Ebola virus infection to its special facility containment unit within the next several days. We do not know at this time when the patient will arrive. Emory University Hospital has a specially built isolation unit set up in collaboration with the CDC to treat patients who are exposed to certain serious infectious diseases. It is physically separate from other patient areas and has unique equipment and infrastructure that provide an extraordinarily high level of clinical isolation. It is one of only four such facilities in the country. Emory University Hospital physicians, nurses and staff are highly trained in the specific and unique protocols and procedures necessary to treat and care for this type of patient. For this specially trained staff, these procedures are practiced on a regular basis throughout the year so we are fully prepared for this type of situation. An Emory University spokesperson declined to provide additional details.

There are so many possibilities for something to go wrong in this situation it genuinely frightens me to think about it. Ebola Zaire is a medical nightmare, and at this point in time that nightmare has a decent chance of escaping my dreams and becoming reality.
Take Care
Liz

Sources:
Business Insider
CDC
Phac
CNN
WXIA
BBC
Russia Today
Sky News US

http://topinfopost.com/2014/08/03/ebola-infected-u-s-aid-workers-due-to-arrive-at-emory-university-hospital-atlanta