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Thread: The Ebola Epidemic

  1. #576
    Senior Member TupeloHoney's Avatar
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    I know there's a newer Ebola post, but I refuse to contribute to that vigilante-worshiping nutjob's thread. Maybe a mod can change the title of this one to something more generic about Ebola since the latest outbreak isn't in West Africa.


    https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/17/h...-outbreak.html


    Ebola Outbreak in Congo Is Declared a Global Health Emergency

    The year-old Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo is now considered a global health emergency, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, in a formal declaration that many public health experts called long overdue.

    "This is still a regional emergency and by no way a global threat," said Robert Steffen of the University of Zurich, chairman of the W.H.O. emergency committee that recommended the declaration.

    But the panel was persuaded by several factors that have made combating the epidemic more urgent in recent weeks: The disease reached Goma, a city of nearly two million people; the outbreak has raged for a year; the virus has flared again in spots where it had once been contained; and the epidemic hot zone has geographically expanded in northeastern Congo near Rwanda and into Uganda.

    Violence against health workers has been a constant worry, and intensified after two Congolese workers were killed in their homes in Beni last week.

    Officials are also dismayed by the persistence of the epidemic even with the extensive use of a successful vaccine.

    This was the fourth time that the W.H.O. had considered whether to declare a global health emergency in the Congo outbreak. It stopped short the first three times, even though some aid agencies and public health officials had called on the organization to do so in hopes such an order would elicit more funds and recruit more health workers to the region.

    But government officials have repeatedly expressed competing concerns about interrupting trade or restricting travel, which Dr. Steffen emphasized should not result from the emergency status issued on Wednesday.

    Emergency declarations are issued sparingly, reserved for outbreaks that pose a serious threat to public health and could spread to other countries. Only four such declarations have been made in the past: in 2009, for pandemic influenza; in 2014, for a polio resurgence in several countries; in 2014, for the Ebola epidemic in West Africa; and in 2016, for the Zika virus epidemic.

    The Congo outbreak began a year ago, with the first cases confirmed in August. As of Monday, the disease had infected 2,512 people and killed 1,676 of them. The virus has defied efforts to control its rampant spread in the northeastern part of the country, a conflict zone under unrelenting peril from warring militias.

    Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the W.H.O., has described this outbreak as one of the world?s most dangerous viruses in one of the world?s most dangerous areas. Public health experts warn that the implacable spread of the virus means the outbreak could easily continue well into next year.

    It is the second largest Ebola outbreak in history after the one in West Africa in 2014-15, which infected 28,616 people and caused 11,310 deaths.

    The decision on Wednesday was based on a vote by 11 members of an expert panel convened by Dr. Tedros to reassess the current outbreak after an infected man carried the virus to the city of Goma, a densely populated transportation hub close to Rwanda that has an international airport. That patient has died.

    Global health groups had been calling for the declaration for months. Josie Golding of the Wellcome Trust, a research charity based in London, said in statement, "We commend the W.H.O. for making this tough decision, it is right to do so.? The public health response in Congo, she added, was ?overstretched and underfunded."

    Labeling the epidemic a global emergency will "help raise international support and release more resources ? including finance, health care workers, enhanced logistics, security and infrastructure," she predicted.

    Rebecca Katz, director of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University, said in a statement: "Almost all international legal and policy experts agree that the conditions for declaring a public health emergency of international concern were met long ago, so we are delighted to see that the emergency committee and the director-general have finally come to this decision. Not only do we believe that the decision will help bring additional needed attention to this ongoing crisis, but also move nations in the regions to take all necessary steps to address the potential spread of the disease."

    The executive director of Unicef, Henrietta Fore, said in a statement: "This is an emergency. There is a very real risk that the Ebola outbreak could spread to neighboring countries, so the international community should urgently come together to make sure that doesn?t happen."

    The W.H.O. said it had received $49 million from international donors from February to July, only half the money it needs. Officials who have visited the region say supplies are running short, including the protective gear that health workers need to avoid becoming infected. At a United Nations meeting about the outbreak on Monday, one official said he had seen syringes and gloves being reused because equipment was becoming scarce.

    Dr. Tedros said that emergency declarations were not meant to be used to raise money, and that the W.H.O. did not know of any donors who had withheld funds because no emergency had been declared.

    "But if that is the excuse, it can no longer be used," he said.

    More than 161,000 people have received an Ebola vaccine made by Merck that is considered highly effective. Concerns about the supply have led the W.HO. to recommend using smaller doses to keep from running out.

    Pamela L. Eisele, a spokeswoman for Merck, said in an email that Merck had donated more than 195,000 doses of the vaccine to the W.H.O. since last year, had 245,000 more ready to ship and expected to have 900,000 more in the next six to 18 months. It takes about a year to produce a batch of the vaccine, she said.

    The W.H.O. and other experts have advocated the use of a second vaccine as well, made by Johnson & Johnson. But Congo?s Ministry of Health has declined it, saying that the Merck vaccine is known to work, and that it is the only one the nation?s citizens, after a period of mistrust and suspicion, have come to accept.

    Dr. Michael Ryan, the executive director for W.H.O.'s health emergencies program, said, "W.H.O. still supports the introduction of a second vaccine." He added that the agency was discussing it with officials in Congo.

    The man who brought the disease to Goma was a pastor who had preached in seven churches in the epidemic zone, laying hands on the sick. He became ill and was treated by a nurse, but got on a bus to Goma anyway. The bus stopped at three checkpoints meant to halt the spread of the disease by screening passengers for symptoms, but his illness was not detected. He gave a different name at each checkpoint, apparently hoping to avoid being detained, local health authorities said. Sick and feverish by the time he arrived in Goma, he went to a clinic there, where the disease was diagnosed.

    He was the only patient in the Goma clinic, which was disinfected after his visit. Health authorities have been tracking the 18 other bus passengers and the driver, as well as others who might have been exposed to the disease by the pastor, and providing vaccinations. So far, 257 people -- contacts of the pastor, and their contacts -- have been vaccinated.

    Dr. Steffen said the emergency declaration should not be seen as a criticism of the efforts already made to stop the epidemic.

    "The rationale is to better cope with the volatile characteristics of this outbreak,? he said. ?The strategy is not to be changed."
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  2. #577
    Senior Member Jumaki15's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TupeloHoney View Post
    I know there's a newer Ebola post, but I refuse to contribute to that vigilante-worshiping nutjob's thread. Maybe a mod can change the title of this one to something more generic about Ebola since the latest outbreak isn't in West Africa.


    https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/17/h...-outbreak.html
    You may not have to worry about Kambing for much longer. Mike is supposed to contact me about being a mod and updating the site.

  3. #578
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    https://www.apnews.com/3db1cad3a2cb4f0aad69f9adfac6e5b3

    JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — With the deadly Ebola outbreak in Congo now an international emergency , neighboring South Sudan and its war-weakened health system is a major concern, especially after one case was confirmed near its border. Health experts say there is an urgent need to increase prevention efforts.

    The World Health Organization on Wednesday made the emergency declaration for the year-old outbreak, a rare move that usually leads to more global attention and aid. More than 1,600 people have died in what has become the second-worst Ebola outbreak in history.


    Health experts worry about what would happen if Ebola reaches South Sudan as the shattered nation tries to recover from a five-year civil war that killed nearly 400,000 people and displaced millions. Many health facilities were badly damaged or destroyed, and unrest continues in parts of the country despite a fragile peace deal signed in September.

    Last month a 41-year-old woman was discovered with Ebola in northeastern Congo, just 70 kilometers (43 miles) from South Sudan. She had traveled 500 kilometers from Beni, the epicenter of the outbreak, despite having been exposed to the virus and warned not to travel.

    South Sudan has sent a health team to strengthen surveillance at one of its busiest border posts, Kaya in Central Equatoria state, near where the woman’s case was confirmed. Hers was the closest confirmed case to South Sudan since this outbreak was declared.

    “The risk of cases of Ebola coming across the border into South Sudan is very high,” said Sudhir Bunga, South Sudan country director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “A person who comes into contact with a confirmed case of Ebola in (Congo) could travel to South Sudan, or any neighboring country, undetected during the 21-day incubation period and spread the disease once contagious.”

    That recently happened in neighboring Uganda, a more stable country with a more developed health system and experience with past Ebola outbreaks, as millions of people flow across borders in the densely populated region. Three people died in Uganda before other family members were taken back to Congo for treatment and Ugandan officials quickly declared the country was again free of the disease.

    Ebola’s spread into South Sudan would pose more of a challenge.


    Even though Ebola preparedness, including vaccinations for some health workers, began several months ago the current phase of the country’s $12 million response plan is just 36% funded, according to a report this month by the country’s health ministry.

    Fighting in places such as Central Equatoria has hampered efforts to prepare for Ebola. The United Nations’ migration agency manages 15 screening sites along the border but three others have yet to be established in part because of access challenges.

    Many South Sudan communities lack the basic resources to respond to one of the world’s most notorious diseases. The phone network in Central Equatoria is limited, meaning most people cannot call the emergency help line. Many hospitals don’t have staff trained to deal with the virus or the isolation wards needed to control its spread.

    The country is about 60% ready to deal with a potential Ebola outbreak, Richard Lako with South Sudan’s national Ebola task force has told The Associated Press.

    But he expressed concern about the border: “There are forest areas between communities in South Sudan and the Congo and these people can’t be screened from the other side. It’s a big worry if those people sneak in and we have a case. It’ll take us time to get in and control the issue.”

    South Sudan’s prevention efforts include educating communities to dispel myths about Ebola that have posed a major challenge for disease responders in Congo. Health workers in South Sudan’s border towns are going door-to-door trying to inform people, with support from WHO and people who responded to West Africa’s devastating outbreak in 2014-2016 that killed more than 11,000 people.

    At one animated training session earlier this year in an army barracks outside Yei, a major city in western South Sudan near the Congo border, two U.N. staffers playfully bumped elbows, showing how to greet others without shaking hands. Ebola is spread via close contact with bodily fluids of those infected.

    “Don’t touch each other, don’t play with saliva, yours or someone else’s,” a WHO staffer from Sierra Leone said.

    This month diplomats and other officials made a special visit to Yei, one of the hardest-hit cities during South Sudan’s civil war, to observe Ebola preparations.

    “It is really the most important place in South Sudan right now,” U.S. Ambassador Thomas Hushek said, according to the U.N. mission in South Sudan. “This is where we are most worried about what might happen.”

    ___

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    https://nypost.com/2019/08/14/two-eb...ith-new-drugs/

    KINSHASA, Congo — Two Ebola patients who were treated with new drugs in the city of Goma in eastern Congo have been declared “cured” and returned to their home.

    Top doctors fighting Ebola quickly used the case on Tuesday to press the message that people can recover from the potentially deadly disease if they seek proper care.

    Ebola is dangerous but it is also curable with correct treatment, said Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe, director of Congo’s National Institute for Biomedical Research.

    “Ebola kills quickly and Ebola heals quickly. That’s the message,” said Muyembe, at a press conference in Goma.

    “These cases were detected very quickly. The husband was infected, he was at home for 10 days and his wife and son were infected,” said Muyembe. “As soon as the response teams detected these cases, they brought them here to the treatment center. We gave them treatment that is effective and here in a short time both are cured.”

    Muyembe said two new drugs “are now be used to treat Ebola patients because, according to the studies and the results we obtained in the lab, these are the two drugs that are effective.”

    Muyembe and other scientists announced this week that preliminary results from two trials in Congo found two drugs — made by Regeneron and the US National Institutes of Health — seem to be saving lives. Researchers said more study is needed to nail down how well those two compounds work. The drugs are antibodies that block Ebola. In the trial, significantly fewer people died among those given the Regeneron drug or the NIH’s, about 30%, compared to those who received another treatment.

    Esperance Nabintu rejoiced that she and her young son had survived Ebola.

    “May the Lord be praised, I thank the Lord very much. I and my child were sick with Ebola, but God has just healed us.

    “My brothers, we must not doubt. Ebola exists,“ said Nabintu, whose husband was the second Ebola victim to die in Goma. No other Ebola death has been detected since then.

    After a public announcement that Nabintu and her son, Ebenezer Fataki, 1, had recovered from Ebola, the response team accompanied the two former patients to their home in the Kiziba area, where the medical team educated the residents about proper Ebola treatment.

    There is less danger that Ebola will spread through Goma, the capital of North Kivu province with more than 2 million inhabitants, because about 200 contacts and suspected cases have been identified and have received proper medication, said Muyembe. He said people arriving in Goma are being monitored at the city’s entry points.

    “People who come from Beni and Butembo (nearby cities where there are many Ebola cases) must be carefully examined, “said Muyembe. “All of the 200 contacts we are following are doing well. We are waiting until the end of the 21-day surveillance period. We are at day 13, so there are still eight days to go before we can say that Goma has won against Ebola.”

    Health officials have also vaccinated tens of thousands of people in Congo and surrounding countries in an attempt to stop the outbreak, but the virus has now continued to spread for more than a year. Response efforts have been repeatedly hampered by attacks on health workers and continuing mistrust among the affected communities; many people in the region don’t believe the virus is real and choose to stay at home when they fall ill, infecting those who care for them.

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    https://www.unicef.org/press-release...r-province-drc

    KINSHASA, 23 July 2020 – More than 32 children have lost or have been separated from one or both parents due to Ebola since a new outbreak was declared on 1 June in Equateur Province, western Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UNICEF said today, as the organisation warned that the response urgently needs to be stepped up.

    A previous outbreak in Equateur Province in 2018 was brought under control within just two months, thanks to the speed and scale of the response and donor support. However, UNICEF is yet to receive any funding to fight the new outbreak.

    UNICEF and partners have assisted 10 children in temporary protection facilities while one or both of their parents undergo screening or treatment in one of the four Ebola treatment centres in the province. However, UNICEF needs urgent support to build nurseries in close proximity of the Ebola treatment centres in order to provide adequate care for separated children.

    “As we have seen in previous epidemics, Ebola affects children in a number of ways beyond the immediate risk of infection and death,” said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF’s Representative in DRC. “Whether children are infected themselves, or see parents or other family members infected, they require specialized care and support, both physically and psychologically. We must do our utmost to minimize the impact of the epidemic on children’s wellbeing.”

    The 11th Ebola outbreak to hit DRC since 1976 has so far recorded 62 cases and 27 deaths – including two children. According to UNICEF’s records, more than 20 children between the ages of 2 and 17 years have passed through one of the four treatment centres with suspected or confirmed Ebola in Equateur Province. The children are closely monitored in dedicated areas of the treatment centre, where UNICEF and partners provide nutrition and psychosocial support. In addition, UNICEF has provided community-based care to 10 children under 24 months who have been separated from their parents.

    UNICEF urges national partners and international donors to support the Ebola response in Equateur and its work to provide specialized assistance to vulnerable children, as resources are not keeping up with the pace of the epidemic. The response has been hampered by the limited number of organizations on the ground in Equateur, donor fatigue related to Ebola in DRC, and the additional pressure that the growing COVID-19 epidemic is putting on the country’s weakened health system.

    UNICEF estimates that US$6.98 million is required for its activities to respond to Ebola in Equateur. UNICEF has advanced US$2 million from its own resources to meet critical needs until additional funding is secured.

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    https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/...eron-s-inmazeb

    Nearly seven years after the largest Ebola epidemic broke out in West Africa, two drugs against the deadly virus are now available.

    The FDA has approved Ridgeback Biotherapeutics? Ebanga, or ansuvimab, to treat Zaire ebolavirus infection. The drug was originally developed by the National Institutes of Health and licensed to the Miami biotech.

    Monday?s approval marks the second for an Ebola drug after Regeneron?s Inmazeb, a cocktail of three monoclonal antibodies, claimed the first title in October.

    Both Ebanga and Inmazeb were tested in the PALM study conducted during the 2018-19 outbreak in Congo. The trial pitted the drugs against Mapp Biopharmaceutical?s ZMapp or Gilead?s remdesivir?which recently became the first FDA-approved COVID-19 therapy. The two drugs in the control arm have never been approved for Ebola but were at the time considered the standard of care.

    The study showed patients on Ebanga were more likely to survive than those in the control arm. Of the 174 patients who received Ebanga, 35.1% died after 28 days, compared with 49.4% of the 168 control patients.

    Approvals for the Ebola treatment came months later than the green light for the first Ebola vaccine, Merck?s Ervebo. Neither Ebanga nor Inmazeb can be concurrently administered with Ervebo because the two antibodies could kill off the live virus antigen contained in the vaccine and therefore reduce its efficacy.

    RELATED: Ridgeback tests COVID-19 antiviral for patients in hospital?and at home

    Sporadic outbreaks have been identified in Congo, with the most recent one beginning in June and declared over in mid-November after claiming the lives of 55 people.

    Both Ridgeback and Regeneron have recently pivoted their antiviral know-how to COVID-19. Regeneron has again pursued the antibody cocktail path, as its REGN-COV2, a combination of casirivimab and imdevimab, won FDA an emergency use authorization for outpatient treatment.

    In June, Ridgeback ushered its COVID-19 candidate molnupiravir (EIDD-2801) into two separate phase 2 trials in outpatients and hospitalized patients. The company has licensed the drug?s exclusive global rights to Merck & Co.

  7. #582
    Moderator puzzld's Avatar
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    2nd Person Dies Of Ebola In Congo, Marking Virus's Return

    February 11, 20215:58 AM ET

    Jaclyn Diaz

    The Democratic Republic of Congo saw the end of its second-worst Ebola outbreak in June. More than 2,000 people died in that outbreak. Burial workers, seen above in 2019, follow safe burial practices to mitigate the spread of the virus.
    Jerome Delay/AP

    A second person who had contracted the Ebola virus died this week in the Democratic Republic of Congo, marking another outbreak just three months after the nation outlasted the virus's second-worst outbreak in history.

    The latest victim was from the North Kivu province, the World Health Organization and the DRC's health ministry said in a statement Thursday.

    This death comes one week after a 42-year-old woman died from Ebola. The wife of an Ebola survivor, she entered an intensive care unit Feb. 4 and died the same day. She was buried on Feb. 5, but not under proper burial practices to prevent the spread of Ebola; during prior outbreaks, the handling of bodies was kept to a minimum and done by trained teams.

    The lab confirmed she tested positive for Ebola the day after she was buried.

    During her illness, the woman visited three health centers after first seeking treatment following symptoms of a nosebleed on Jan. 25.

    As of Feb. 8, health investigators were able to track a total of 117 contacts with the woman. It's unclear whether the victim announced Thursday was in direct contact with the unnamed woman.

    This new cluster marks the 12th outbreak of Ebola in Congo. Thousands of people have died from the virus in Congo in recent years. An outbreak that began in 2018 and the WHO declared over in June 2020 killed more than 2,000 people.

    A threat of a widespread outbreak of the disease comes as the nation, and the rest of the world, must also contend with the spread of COVID-19, which may further strain the country's health care infrastructure.

    Ebola is "endemic"

    Ebola is a severe, often fatal illness, according to the WHO. It causes fever, fatigue and muscle pain at the start. Victims then suffer from vomiting, diarrhea, rash, and in some cases internal and external bleeding.

    Efforts to quickly tame the Ebola outbreak that started in 2014 were hindered in part by the nation's ongoing rebel conflicts, extreme poverty and poor infrastructure. Health care workers and patients were killed in attacks on health clinics, further delaying a stop to the disease's spread.

    The resurgence of the illness now is not wholly unexpected, the WHO said on Feb. 7. Ebola is "endemic" in Congo, and the virus remains in animal reservoirs in the region.

    Heath care workers are trying to head off further spread. Health centers visited by the first woman were disinfected; the WHO is providing support to national authorities in the Butembo territory and shipping vaccine doses to the area; and is is helping in the contact tracing investigation.

    In October, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted formal approval to an antibody cocktail from the pharmaceutical company Regeneron that's been shown to reduce mortality rates. The treatment is known as REGN-EB3 and is marketed under the brand name Inmazeb.
    https://www.npr.org/2021/02/11/96675..._medium=social
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    lol at Nestle being some vicious smiter, she's the nicest person on this site besides probably puzzld. Or at least the last person to resort to smiting.
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  8. #583
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    http://outbreaknewstoday.com/ebola-o...f-virus-37553/

    Health authorities in Guinea declared an Ebola outbreak on 14 February after three cases detected in Gou?ck?, a rural community in N’Zerekore prefecture tested positive for the virus. It is the first Ebola outbreak in Guinea since 2016.

    As of Feb. 18, Guinea has reported seven cases (3 confirmed and 4 probable) and 5 deaths.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) is deploying teams of experts to support the national authorities ramp up the response and avert widespread infections.

    More than 100 WHO staff, deployed from other countries and from within Guinea, are expected to be part of the Ebola response by the end of February.

    Efforts are ongoing to step up surveillance, contact-tracing, testing and treatment as well as preparing for vaccination.

    “We are hard at work, shifting quickly through the gears to get ahead of the virus. With experts and emergency supplies already getting on the ground, the response is off to a strong start,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “Our collective, quick action is crucial to averting an uncontrolled spread of Ebola amid the COVID-19 pandemic which has already pushed health workers and health facilities to the edge.”

    A humanitarian flight arrived on 15 February in N’Zerekore with 700 kg of medical equipment donated by WHO and partners. A consignment of more than 11 000 doses of Ebola vaccine is expected to arrive in Guinea this weekend. In addition, more than 8500 doses will be shipped from the United States of America for a total of 20 000 doses. Vaccination is set to kick off shortly afterwards. A 30-strong vaccination team has already been mobilized locally and is ready to deploy as soon as the vaccines are received.

    With the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak in Guinea being a border area, countries in the sub-region are on high alert and increasing public health measures and surveillance in border towns and communities to quickly detect and respond to possible cross-border infections.

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    https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/02/ebol...travelers.html


    NOOOOOOOO!!!!!! not another Pandemic

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is requiring airlines to collect contact information for all passengers from Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo amid two separate Ebola outbreaks in the African countries.

    Beginning Thursday, airlines will be required to collect and handover contact information to the CDC for all travelers to the U.S. who have been in the DRC or Guinea within the last 21 days before their arrival in the U.S., the CDC said Tuesday. On Friday, the CDC announced that it would funnel travelers from the two countries through six U.S. airports in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, the District of Columbia, Newark and Los Angeles.

    The risk of Ebola spreading to the U.S. is “extremely low,” the CDC said last week, but health officials are readying their public-health response protocols to ensure the disease doesn’t enter the country.

    “Timely public health follow-up requires health officials to have immediate access to accurate and complete contact information for travelers as they arrive in the United States,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement. “Any delay in contacting exposed individuals can increase the likelihood of disease spread.”

    Airlines will be required to collect travelers’ names, addresses while in the U.S., primary contact phone numbers, secondary or emergency contact phone numbers and email addresses, the CDC said in a statement. It’s “the minimum amount of information needed to locate travelers reliably,” the CDC added.

    The information provided by travelers will be “verified by U.S. government officials on arrival to ensure it is accurate and complete,” the CDC said. The agency noted that a Feb. 2020 rule authorized the CDC to impose such a requirement on airlines.

    “Air travel has the potential to transport people, some of whom may have been exposed to a communicable disease, anywhere across the globe in less than 24 hours,” the CDC said. “In certain situations, public health officials may need to follow up with travelers who have arrived from a country where an outbreak is occurring, such as the Ebola outbreaks in DRC and Guinea.”

    The World Health Organization is responding to two outbreaks of Ebola, one in the West African nation of Guinea and another in the DRC in Central Africa. Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s health emergencies program, said Monday that 13 cases of Ebola have been confirmed in Guinea, with four more listed as probable.

    The cases in Guinea appear to be currently contained in the remote N’Zerekore and Gueckedou regions in southern Guinea, Ryan said. He added that 99% of about 500 identified people who have been exposed to the virus are being followed. More than 1,100 people have been immunized against Ebola since its reemergence last month, he added.

    Separately, Ryan said that eight cases, including four deaths, have been confirmed in the DRC. No new cases there have been reported since Feb. 22, Ryan said.

    Unlike the highly infectious coronavirus, which can be spread by people who don’t have symptoms, Ebola is thought to spread mainly through people who are already visibly sick. The virus spreads through direct contact with the blood or body fluids of people who are sick or who died of the disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    Ebola has an average case fatality rate of 50%, though it can vary by outbreak, according to the WHO.

    The reemergence of Ebola in Guinea and the DRC has global health specialists particularly concerned because those countries are home to the two worst Ebola outbreaks in history. The outbreak in the DRC that was declared over in June lasted for nearly two years. By the time it ended there were 3,481 total cases and 2,299 deaths, according to the WHO.

    The infamous West Africa Ebola outbreak began in Guinea in 2014 before spreading across land borders to Sierra Leone and Liberia, according to the WHO. By its end in 2016, there were more than 28,000 cases, including over 11,000 deaths, WHO says.

    During the West Africa Ebola outbreak, the U.S. CDC confirmed 11 cases of Ebola in the U.S., mostly among medical workers who had traveled to Africa to assist with the response.

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    https://ktvz.com/health/2021/03/25/o...can-countries/

    BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Four people who recently returned to Oregon from Africa are under watch from the Oregon Health Authority.

    They all recently visited the West African countries of Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).


    Areas in both of those countries are experiencing a small Ebola outbreak.

    As of Wednesday, Guinea reported 18 Ebola cases and nine Ebola-related deaths, while the DRC reported 12 cases and six Ebola-related deaths.

    Dr. Richard Leman, chief medical officer with the Oregon Health Authority. said Thursday that none of the four people are showing any Ebola symptoms, but they will be monitored for at least 21 days.

    "These approaches that we're using have been successful in those situations, and we've never had a case of Ebola in Oregon,” Leman said.

    Leyman would not disclose which counties these people are currently in, whether they are Oregon residents or what they were doing in Africa.

    "And I'm not going to get into the specifics of each person, but basically we've got several groups of folks who could fall into this category,” Leman said.

    He said the OHA is informing the public of their travel as a form of transparency, but does not want to give out any information about the individuals that could possibly identify them.

    "It's kind of a two-edged sword, right? I mean, I'd like to be able to tell everybody everything, but you really need to think about what the consequences of that are,” Leman said.

    Leman emphasized there is very little to no risk of an outbreak in Oregon, and the ways Ebola and COVID-19 spread are very different.

    COVID is spread through particles in the air, such as coughing, sneezing and breathing, while Ebola is spread through the exchange of bodily fluids, such as blood contact, sexual intercourse or food sharing.

    "Ebola's just a lot tougher to get,” Leman said. “It's a nasty disease, and you don't want to get it, but it's a lot less contagious."

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have issued a Level 3 travel warning for Guinea and DRC, and recommends everyone avoid non-essential travel there.

    PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon public health officials said Thursday they are monitoring four people who recently visited the West African countries of Guinea and Democratic Republic of the Congo. Regions in each of these countries are currently experiencing outbreaks of Ebola virus disease.

    "There is low risk for people in Oregon," the Oregon Health Authority said in Thursday's announcement, which continues in full below:

    OHA and local public health departments have been in contact with these individuals, who are considered “persons under monitoring,” since they arrived in the state earlier in March. The goal of this contact is to determine their risk, if any, of being exposed to Ebola and ensure their safety, as well as the safety of their families and the community.

    “We want to make sure these individuals have the support they need to monitor their health, stay in contact with public health officials and safely get help with medical services if it comes to that,” said Richard Leman, M.D., Chief Medical Officer for Health Security, Preparedness and Response at the OHA Public Health Division.

    As of Wednesday, Guinea has reported 18 Ebola cases and nine Ebola-related deaths. The Guinea outbreak is centered in Nz?r?kor? Prefecture, which is in the southern region of the country near the Liberian border.

    Democratic Republic of the Congo has reported 12 Ebola cases and six Ebola-related deaths. The outbreak in DRC is in North Kivu Province, which is in the eastern part of the country near the Ugandan border. The outbreaks are limited to small areas of each country and are not in large population centers.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued Level 3 travel warnings for the affected regions in both countries, recommending people avoid non-essential travel there.

    Beginning March 4, CDC has required all airlines to supply contact information for all U.S.-bound travelers who have been in Guinea or Democratic Republic of the Congo in the last 21 days — the largest known incubation period for Ebola.

    U.S.-bound travelers who have been in affected countries are routed through six international airports: Dulles in Washington, D.C.; John F. Kennedy in Queens, NY; Newark Liberty in Newark, NJ; O’Hare in Chicago, IL; Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta, GA; and LAX in Los Angeles, CA.

    Upon arrival, they are interviewed to determine if they are symptomatic and to confirm their contact information. If they are symptomatic, they will be offered medical evaluation.

    CDC shares information for travelers from affected regions whose itineraries include Oregon. That way, public health authorities can contact these travelers and ensure they know symptoms to watch for and how to receive prompt medical evaluation if they become ill with symptoms consistent with Ebola.

    OHA and local public health officials also are reaching out to international non-governmental organizations with services in the affected countries to request early notification for any volunteers traveling to Oregon after recent work in those areas.

    In addition, OHA and local public health officials are contacting community-based organizations in Oregon to help the persons under monitoring with language access and other support services.




    Nooo! we are just coming out of COVID-19. We are less prepared to deal with Ebola given how here in the USA we politicize pandemics

  11. #586
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    http://outbreaknewstoday.com/guineas...-begins-23525/

    The World Health Organization (WHO) African region reported today via tweet that the last Ebola patient in Guinea was discharged on Tuesday night in N’Z?r?kor? 38 days after the start of the outbreak.


    Image/CDC
    With no new confirmed cases, the 42-day countdown to the end of the Ebola outbreak in Guinea has officially begun.

    Since February 2021, Guinea has been facing the reappearance of the Ebola epidemic. For the first time since 2016, cases of hemorrhagic fever caused by the virus have been recorded in the county of N’Z?r?kor?, located in the south-east part of the country, leading to several deaths.

    Cumulatively, 18 cases of EVD had been notified, including 14 confirmed and 4 probable cases. There are 9 EVD deaths recorded in total, including 5 confirmed and 4 probable cases; overall, 5 healthcare workers (HCW) have been infected by the Ebola virus leading to 2 deaths (1 confirmed and 1 probable case).

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