Thread: Obama Doing Nothing to Protect America from Ebola Outbreak

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/

← Stepping Up to Manage the New Reality
Special Report: An Update on Ebola


August 5, 2014 6 Replies

Care to share ?1211702

The landing of Ebola on North American soil and in an American hospital has generated fear, confusion, and for some, a feeling of panic over the potential of a global pandemic. I am compelled to say this: now is not the time to fall prey to fear-mongers and others that wish to stir up thoughts of an impeding apocalypse.
Instead, consider this a wakeup call to continue your emergency preparations with a special emphasis on learning how to create a sick room in the event you might need one at some point down the road.

I am going to lead off today with an article from Backdoor Survival Contributing Author, Joe Alton, also known as Dr. Bones. Although he first wrote this article on July 30th, he has continued to make updates to reflect some of the latest news. Read and learn.

An Ebola Update from Dr. Bones

Several countries in West Africa are in the throes of an epidemic of Ebola virus. Over 1200 cases and almost 700 deaths in the country of Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia make it a candidate for the next great Pandemic. The disease has decimated health care workers, with a number of doctors, nurses, missionaries, and others dying from the illness. Indeed, the Peace Corps is now pulling its workers from the affected countries as we speak.
The Ebola outbreak hit close to home when American Patrick Sawyer died in Lagos, Nigeria en route to visit his family in Minnesota. Although he did not become Patient Zero in the U.S., other infected Americans were transferred to the CDC hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Despite all this, few people really know what Ebola virus is and how it does its damage, and they certainly don’t know what to do if it arrives in their neighborhood.
Dr. Bones says: Now this: West African woman dies in London airport after flight from Sierra Leone. Authorities state Ebola tests proved negative. A New York Hospital is now treating a suspected Ebola patient, also recently arrived from West Africa, and awaiting testing. CDC admits it has tested 6 possible cases, but all have turned out to be negative.
Dr. Bones says: The Nigerian doctor who treated Patrick in Lagos has now tested positive for Ebola, although no news as to whether he is sick.
Despite all this, few people really know what Ebola virus is and how it does its damage, and they certainly don’t know what to do if it arrives in their neighborhood.
Ebola virus, a member of the Filoviridae virus family, was first reported in 1976, when 602 cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo resulted in 431 deaths. Ebola, named after the river where the first victims were identified, has several variants, a sign that it probably has the capacity to mutate.
WHAT DO WE KNOW?

Not much. How Ebola manages to first infect humans is poorly understood. Primates like monkeys and apes are possible agents of transmission (also called vectors), although birds, rodents, bats, pigs, and insects may be more likely to transmit the disease. The virus can even be transmitted to dogs, although they don’t seem to get sick.
Ebola appears to be transmitted through saliva and other bodily fluids, even sweat. The practice of relatives and workers washing a body before burial may have helped spread the disease. A 2012 Canadian study suggested that the virus may also be transmitted in air droplets. Given the highly contagious nature of the disease, this would be big trouble if true, but hasn’t been proven.
What does Ebola virus do to its victims? Ebola causes a hemorrhagic fever with a 25-90% death rate, much higher than even the worst of the influenza pandemics of the past century. Compare this to a 2.5% death rate from the great Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, and 0.1% from routine influenza outbreak.
Dr. Bones says: The current outbreak has over a 60% death rate at present.
Symptoms begin presenting about 2 weeks after exposure. Ebola patients develop the sudden onset of what first appears to be influenza: Aches and pains, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, fever and chills, and malaise are commonly seen at this stage. Nausea is noted, often accompanied by abdominal pain, diarrhea, and vomiting.
Later on, The central nervous system becomes affected: Severe headaches, altered mental status, and seizures ensue, sometimes resulting in the patient going into a coma.
Evidence of disorders in blood clotting are seen in advanced stages of the disease. Signs include:
• Spotty Rashes
• Bruises
• Broken blood vessels in the skin
• Collections of blood under the skin after injections
• Bloody vomit or sputum
• Spontaneous nosebleeds
• Bleeding from gums
• Blood in bowel movements
Once bleeding disorders occur, the likelihood of survival is slim. Although deaths from severe hemorrhage have occurred in women giving birth, multiple organ failure leading to shock is the usual cause of death.
PREVENTION

It’s thought that Ebola doesn’t spread until a victim develops symptoms. As the illness progresses, however, bodily fluids from diarrhea, vomiting, and bleeding become very contagious.
Poor hygiene and lack of proper medical supplies in underdeveloped countries, such as in West Africa impede the progress of medical authorities to tame the outbreak. The best they can do is isolate sick individuals as best they can and follow infectious disease precautions.
This is something they are, apparently, not doing so well, because so many medical personnel are getting sick. When the doctors and nurses are dying, you know you have an illness about which to be truly concerned. Imagine if the disease becomes worldwide.
TREATMENT

So how do we cure Ebola? We don’t.
There is no known treatment, cure, or vaccine for Ebola at present. The doctors can only try to make the patient comfortable and hope they get better on their own.
Therefore, I recommend stocking up on masks, gowns, eye protection, and gloves, and learn about how to have an effective survival sick room. We’ve got a video on our YouTube channel on the subject.
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE…

So what’s the big deal? Why should an epidemic in Africa matter to citizens of countries thousands of miles away?
Well, this outbreak is not in the deepest areas of Africa, it’s on the west coast, a more populated and easily traveled area. News about the virus is disrupting the economies of the countries affected, and their governments haven’t been all that straightforward about giving reports, until just recently.
As such, many natives of the countries affected are suspicious of health workers, sometimes blocking them from entering their villages with knives and machetes.
Dr. Bones says: There are more than 10 different suspected Ebola “hotspots” that health workers can’t access due to hostile locals.
The country of Guinea, where the first cases occurred, is the world’s largest exporter of bauxite, the ore used to make aluminum. Therefore, exports from the country go to many of the world’s manufacturing plants.
The advent of air travel can easily spread the disease throughout the world is just 24 hours. As a matter of fact, a Liberian official took sick on a flight to Nigeria, one of the most populous countries in Africa, and died soon after. With an incubation period of a couple of weeks, you might have Ebola and not even know it (until you’ve infected a lot of other people).
This may be a third-world disease now, but it wouldn’t take much to make it, indeed, the next great pandemic. We’ll keep you posted.
Dr. Bones says: Although there shouldn’t be panic, I think it is very possible that Ebola will make its way to Europe and North America at some point.
Joe Alton, M.D.

What You Should Do Now – A BDS Reader Speaks Up

In the coming days, the internet will be bursting with advice of one sort or another. As I mentioned in the beginning, the most important thing to do is to continue with your preps, including extra emphasis and stored food, water and sick room supplies. It also would be prudent to keep some cash on hand because if, and this is a big if, there is a huge panic, there may be a run on the banks.

Let common sense prevail. As a matter of fact, Backdoor Survival reader “Dee” shared these common sense suggestions in the Sunday Survival Buzz and the are worth repeating here.

I never rely on one or two plans. I do like the essential oils as one method. I will also be using local herbs and foraged items which may work in combo. The big addition I’m adding to my first aid gear for illnesses such as Ebola, but also if it were necessary to handle the dead or dying.
1. Shoe covers—- rubber boots would be great but I’m buying several Dollar store shower caps instead. They work for keeping clothes clean when traveling, they should work for this too.
2. Gowns—-I’m buying some heavy duty yard garbage bags to work in a pinch but also some of those Dollar store ponchos for space saving purposes.
3. Gloves—-I have 3 boxes of disposable gloves but thinking a couple of pair of dishwashing gloves would be handy since they are long and more durable. For this, bigger is better.
4. Goggles—- I have some cheap store ones, but now, I’m also going to store some face shields to cover the whole face even with.
5. Masks— I need a few more of those N99 masks to wear with the shield depending on what’s happening (if I know specifically, if not, wear anyway for caution).
6. More Duct Tape…which may be need to create isolation units and/or sealing outfits to keep contamination low. real fashionable I know.
7. Tarps or big roll of plastic for creating those walls for isolation units.

Additional Information

For your consideration, you might want to take a peek at the following articles as you continue your quest for information on Ebola and on pandemics in general

25 Critical Facts About This Ebola Outbreak That Every American Needs To Know
Surgical Masks for the Survival Kit
The Survival Sick Room or Video: The Survival Sick Room
Seven Facts You Should Know About Ebola

The Final Word

You already know that I am a big believer in having surgical masks on hand. Knowing that, I asked Dr. Bones whether he had a preference when it came to masks. Did he recommend N100s or were N95s okay? Here was his response:

If N100 masks aren’t significantly more expensive that N95 (a more standard mask), I say go for it!

So what happens next?
Tomorrow I share my own thoughts and preparations as I put together a plan to hunker down in place. That said, I hope and pray that it will never get to that, but as with all things disaster related, yes, it could happen. Better to be ready and not need it than to be caught off guard with no plan at all.

http://www.backdoorsurvival.com/spec...6ba1-314931469

PreventEbola.com









CDC Changes Criteria for Ebola Transmission; admits "being within 3 feet" or "in same room" can cause infection




Details Published: 10 August 2014 Hits: 7693
We've been telling you for awhile now that the government and healthcare providers were not being honest about how Ebola can spread. Over and over again, government officials and healthcare experts have insisted Ebola "can only be spread through direct contact." Thopse same people have also insisted that infected people "are not contagious until they show symptoms. CDC now admits those claims were FALSE!
THIS WEEK the CDC changed their information about how Ebola can spread; they now admit "being within 3 feet" of an infected person or "being in the same room" with an infected person can allow the virus to infect someone else! They also admit a person who is infected, but not yet showing symptoms, is contagious!
We have the proof, read it for yourself.

FROM CDC WEB SITE:

Case Definition for Ebola Virus Disease (EVD)

Person Under Investigation (PUI)
A person who has both consistent symptoms and risk factors as follows: 1) Clinical criteria, which includes fever of greater than 38.6 degrees Celsius or 101.5 degrees Fahrenheit, and additional symptoms such as severe headache, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, or unexplained hemorrhage; AND 2) Epidemiologic risk factors within the past 21 days before the onset of symptoms, such as contact with blood or other body fluids or human remains of a patient known to have or suspected to have EVD; residence in—or travel to—an area where EVD transmission is active*; or direct handling of bats, rodents, or primates from disease-endemic areas.

Probable Case
A PUI who is a contact of an EVD case with either a high or low risk exposure (see below)....

Household member or other casual contact1 with an EVD patient
Providing patient care or casual contact1 without high-risk exposure with EVD patients in health care facilities in EVD outbreak affected countries*
No known exposure (SOURCE LINK)

Hmmm, What on Earth could that little Footnote "1" mean??!?

Here ya go:


1 Casual contact is defined as a) being within approximately 3 feet (1 meter) or within the room or care area for a prolonged period of time (e.g., healthcare personnel, household members) while not wearing recommended personal protective equipment (i.e., droplet and contact precautions–see Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations); or b) having direct brief contact (e.g., shaking hands) with an EVD case while not wearing recommended personal protective equipment (i.e., droplet and contact precautions–see Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations). At this time, brief interactions, such as walking by a person or moving through a hospital, do not constitute casual contact.
* Outbreak affected countries include Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Lagos, Nigeria, as of 4-August-2014


Yup, we knew it all along, if you are near an Infected person, you can get it in the air. They say so above in their own words!

Previous scientific journals, as well as the doctor that got Ebola from Sawyer in Lagos, And the man from Spain BOTH initially tested Negative.

The below journal at 525-26 states that:


It can test negative in early stages.

Worse, it's Contagious even when the infected shows no clinical signs!!

[link to vet.sagepub.com]


Verify it yourselves and be very alert. Remember, the present US Federal Government couldn't even put up the "Obamacare" Web site for $400 Million and get it to work correctly. They are the very same government that is neglecting the healthcare needs of their own Veterans and who were covering-up Veteran deaths from neglect.
You are nothing but a piece of meat to them. If you are dumb enough to trust the government to tell you the truth or to protect you, you'd better wise-up, fast.

http://preventebola.com/public/index...ause-infection