Ebola

by -
0 666

 

Concerned that Africa, particularly Nigeria, is still vulnerable to emerging epidemics such as the Ebola Virus Disease, Lassa fever, Zika virus and others, a public health expert based in the United States, Dr. Babajide Sadiq, has warned that government at all levels must introduce adequate steps to prevent a re-occurrence.

Sadiq, who is currently the Health Equity Epidemiologist for the State of Texas, said he had developed a strategy called the Evidence-Based Model that would assist the country in checking disease outbreaks.

He said, “The Evidence Based Model in public health is what they use in developed countries. It involves employing the disease surveillance system in Nigeria, data collection and the healthcare management system. Following the absence of a proper health data system in Nigeria, my team and I want to design a good one.

“If we have the model in place, we would have adequate information on certain diseases, epidemics and the region or persons who are most vulnerable to contracting it. Our plan is to run the programme for two to three years in Nigeria.”

Working in partnership with the Bill Gates Foundation and similar non-governmental organisations, Sadiq, who is also the co-founder of Genii ‘Geniuses’ Associates, a global health consulting outfit, said the research would start in communities and rural areas of the country.

Sadiq said Nigeria was chosen to execute the project due to its laudable efforts in checking the EVD. He called on Nigerian scientists in the Diaspora to contribute their quota to the health sector.

“I have worked for the Centre for Disease Control and I have managed over 10 million data sets in Florida. But if everybody keeps saying they don’t want to come back home, who is going to fix the problem?

“The reports from the World Health Organisation about developing countries are not favourable. There are always cases of cholera, malaria, diarrhoea and so on. I have my family members who live in Nigeria and if somebody calls me to say that someone is knocked down by any of these diseases, it would affect me psychologically. I’m working with some experts with over 35 years’ experience.”

The scientist said the organisation was set to convene a health summit in December, which will focus on the management and prevention of disease outbreaks.

“This conference will enable experts from different countries to exchange ideas on how to detect epidemic, how to develop our capacity for rapid diagnosis and how we can develop our capacity for rapid case detection.

“Other aims include contact tracing, disease surveillance, biosecurity and biosafety, detecting biological trace, vaccine strategy and preventive measures,” Sadiq added.

by -
0 748

However, most cases were transmitted by everyday close contact, researchers say

HealthDay news image The Ebola virus was transmitted by semen and breast milk during the latter stages of the outbreak in Sierra Leone, a new study shows.

Researchers from the United Kingdom identified several instances of unconventional transmission of the deadly disease, including a mother who may have passed it to her baby through breast-feeding. In another instance, an Ebola survivor sexually transmitted the virus a month after being released from quarantine.

“Close contact with an infected individual is still by far the most common way for Ebola to spread, but this study supports previous research suggesting that the virus can persist in bodily fluids for a long time after recovery,” said Jeremy Farrar, director of Britain’s Wellcome Trust, which funded the study.

“These unusual modes of transmission may have contributed to isolated flare-ups of infections towards the end of the epidemic,” said Farrar in a news release from the organization.

The recent West African outbreak of Ebola, the largest in history, killed more than 11,000 people and infected more than 28,000, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cases were concentrated in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The study does not suggest that unconventional transmission of Ebola was more common than previously believed.

However, the study authors said their findings suggest that rapid sequencing of viral genomes (determining a virus’ genetic code) during an epidemic could enable public health officials to quickly trace new cases back to their source. This could prove important in bringing future outbreaks under control, the researchers said.

The study “shows how important it is to carry out genome sequencing within the affected countries, and for the data to be shared in a rapid and open way as part of the epidemic response,” Farrar said. “Strengthening laboratory and surveillance facilities where they are currently lacking will also aid early detection, making the world better prepared for infectious disease outbreaks.”

The study was published May 18 in the journal Virus Evolution.

SOURCE: Wellcome Trust, news release, May 18, 2016

HealthDay

by -
0 808

Stark claim comes ahead of WHO’s emergency meeting, with notional vaccine-testing on pregnant women a ‘practical and ethical nightmare’

The Zika virus outbreak in Latin America could be a bigger threat to global health than the Ebola epidemic that killed more than 11,000 people in Africa.

That is the stark claim of several senior health experts ahead of an emergency meeting of the World Health Organisation on Monday which will decide whether the Zika threat – which is linked to an alarming rise in cases of foetal deformation called microcephaly – should be rated a global health crisis.

“In many ways the Zika outbreak is worse than the Ebola epidemic of 2014-15,” said Jeremy Farrar, head of the Wellcome Trust.

“Most virus carriers are symptomless. It is a silent infection in a group of highly vulnerable individuals – pregnant women – that is associated with a horrible outcome for their babies.”

There is no prospect of a vaccine for Zika at present, in contrast to Ebola, for which several are now under trial. “The real problem is that trying to develop a vaccine that would have to be tested on pregnant women is a practical and ethical nightmare,” added Mike Turner, head of infection and immuno-biology at the Wellcome Trust.

With at least 80 per cent of those infected showing no symptoms, tracking the disease is extremely difficult. The mosquito species that spreads Zika, Aedes aegypti, has been expanding its range over the past few decades. “It loves urban life and has spread across the entire tropical belt of the planet, and of course that belt is expanding as global warming takes effect,” added Farrar.

Only extreme measures are likely to contain the Zika threat, said Turner. These could include the use of DDT to eradicate Aedes aegypti as quickly as possible.

“We have to balance the risk posed to the environment by DDT with the terrible impact this virus is having on the unborn.”

Britain is unlikely to be affected because Aedes aegypti cannot survive the cold of UK winters. However, couples returning from south or central America have been warned not to try for a baby for at least a month in case they have become infected.

Public Health England said that the risk of sexual transmission of Zika was low, but it had been recorded in a limited number of cases.

–Science Daily

by -
0 737

Perhaps, you do not know, a new case of the Ebola Virus Disease was confirmed in Liberia last Friday. The news is coming after the declaration of the West African country free of the viral disease for the second time.

Currently, no fewer than 158 people are under observation in the county. This obviously is not good news to citizens and health officials who lost their loved ones and colleagues to Ebola at the height of the outbreak in the country.

Interestingly, the new case is coming at a time when many countries, including Nigeria and Liberia, think that the end has come for the viral disease that has killed over 10,000 persons globally.

Nigeria lost some of its brilliant professionals to the menace, especially a senior physician, Dr. Stella Adadevoh, who handled the treatment of the index case.

Meanwhile, the newest Liberia case has thrown up some issues. For instance, people still wonder why there are so many Ebola causalities. The reason, of course, is simple. It is a highly infectious disease, such that one can contract it just by touching a surface an infected person had earlier touched.

The virus, medics say, can stay in the body fluids, such as the semen, for many months even after an infected person had received treatment.

Ebola is one of the deadliest viruses, not only because it has no known cure, but also because it is highly infections. Medics say the disease can kill within hours or a few days after contracting it, whether an infected person gets treatment or not.

The initial symptoms of the viral disease include sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle pain and sore throat. It can later progress to vomiting, diarrhoea and, in some cases, internal and external bleeding.

Because the virus is highly infectious, it has killed both doctors and patients while they were receiving treatment. It also does not respond to any vaccine. It can live in the body system of an infected person for two days to three weeks without any symptoms.

Another attribute is that the virus is difficult to diagnose. Doctors note that by the time the symptoms start to manifest in an infected person, it is often too late to stop the spread of the virus through vital organs of the body. According to them, the best treatment an affected person can get is therapy.

Experts say we must not forget the very important lessons and habits we learnt during from the last Ebola outbreak.

Preventing infection

Stressing the need for residents to adopt an urgent precautionary measures against the disease, the Permanent Secretary in the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Modele Osunkiyesi, urges members of the public to maintain high standards of personal and environmental hygiene in order to prevent the outbreak of the disease.

Osunkiyesi, who notes that the main host of the virus is relatively unknown, however, adds that there is enough scientific evidence to show that the Ebola virus can be contracted by persons handling sick or dead infected wild animals, including chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, forest antelope, and fruit bats.

She says, “The Ebola virus can be spread through a close contact with the blood, body fluids, organs and tissues of infected animals; direct contact with blood, organ or body secretions of an infected person. The transmission of the virus by other animals like monkeys and chimpanzees cannot be ruled out.”

Osunkiyesi states that those at the highest risk of contracting the disease are health care workers who treat patients without taking the right precautions as well as families or friends of an infected person.

She notes that one could still contract the virus from an infected person as long as their blood and secretions contain the virus — in some cases, up to seven weeks after they have recovered. She adds that it does not exempt even those exposed to body fluids of a person killed by the virus.

Recognise the risk

She explains that though there is no specific treatment for the disease, persons with symptoms — including bleeding from the mouth, nose, rectum and ear; or those suffering from fever, malaria and cholera — should report to health centres closest to them, where they would be admitted for special care and treated in isolation.

Hunters and those who eat or handle game meat of monkeys and chimpanzees are also at risk, experts say; that is why the WHO warns against consuming raw bush meat and forbids any contact with infected bats, monkeys and apes. According to the WHO, these game meats are considered as delicacies in the areas where the outbreak started.

Wash your hands

Public health physician, Dr. Segun Adeboye, notes that there is no overemphasising the importance of washing one’s hands with soap and water to get rid of germs, bacteria and other viruses.

According to him, this age-long habit has reduced the risk of getting infections by more than 60 per cent.

Adeboye says, “Many people are aware of washing of hands, but what we are saying is that you should use soap or a disinfectant when you are washing your hands. That is what will kill the bacteria or virus. Also, the hand is the body part by which most infections are contracted. The average any person touches his/her mouth a day is at least 10 times.

“Imagine if you had touched an infected person with your hand unknowingly, and you do not wash your hand before eating. You have introduced a virus into your body just by being negligent. Science has proved that 70 per cent of infections are contracted via the mouth through the hands.”

If you cannot access potable water every time, you can always improvise with hand sanitisers. They are portable, which means, you can carry one in your bag, car and in your office.”

PUNCH.

by -
0 1105

Just over a year ago, the Ebola virus arrived in the United States via Liberian man, Thomas Eric Duncan, who eventually died after being treated in a Dallas hospital. Despite the West Africa Ebola outbreak beginning months prior to that, not too much media coverage was given to the tragedy that was overseas, much like what were seeing now.

However, with the arrival of the first and only Ebola infected individual (not including health workers transported back to the states for treatment) one year ago, the media grabbed hold of the issue running it 24/7 with loads of fearmongering, hyperbole and whatever else it would take to get ratings.

Ebola: How the ‘mainstream’ media was really no help

I am  no liberal, but I found Fox News was particularly bad at this with a slew of their top TV hosts spewing fear and pointing fingers (interestingly, one month prior to an election), videos can be found peppered on YouTube and here area couple of examples- HERE and HERE. Of course there was the intelligent and lucid exception of Sheppard Smith.

Even Republican Presidential frontrunner, Dr. Donald Trump and and the always bombastic “conservative”Anne Coulter had nonsensical things to say about bringing home infected American health workers back home for treatment.

About six weeks before the Mr. Duncan Ebola in Dallas situation, I was a guest on Jesse Ventura’s “Off the Grid” TV show to discuss Ebola.

Several commenters blasted me for things I said on the show– let’s take a look:

I told Gov. Ventura, “there is no risk for a real global pandemic for Ebola, is it as bad as they say in West Africa, absolutely.”

YouTube commenter, Roy Lavecchia wrote: No risk for a global pandemic? Do me a favor people….contact me in 12 months and tell me Ebola isn’t a global pandemic. I dare you. Well Roy, it’s been 12 months and no global pandemic.
Nina Pham Image/Video Screen Shot

Ventura asked me about spread of Ebola in the US if it came here. I said, “The question is if an Ebola patient arrived in the US,  is it possible there could be secondary spread? Yes, if I said it would be impossible, I’d be lying. If so it would most likely be family or someone like that.”

This is pretty much what happened, instead of being close family members, it was two nurses (HERE and HERE) who cared for Mr. Duncan who had close contact with the patient and his fluids and were not properly protected.

More Ebola news

Commenter coolrob73 wrote: Really will not spread to the U.S? I am beginning to think Jessie is not to much different than some government people because if he was right it would not be in texas right now

Noah Stone wrote:  That was two months ago, what do you say about this now?

And Justin Craig was a little more blunt writing: This guy obviously doesn’t know shit. A secondary spread already happened and now the infected patients are getting shipped all around the U.S. For treatment. Why are you not talking about this

It happened pretty much as I said.

by -
0 1249

A baby born to “healthy parents” has tested positive for the Ebola virus in the town of Forecariah in Guinea near the border with Sierra Leone, Fodé Tass Sylla, the communication officer of the national response coordination against the epidemic confirmed on Sunday.In a local radio interview, Mr. Sylla described the newborn’s infection as an “unusual caseâ€� in the spread of the devastating disease.

The communication officer announced that Guinean Prime Minister, Mohamed Said Fofana and his government have been informed about the new case involving a baby, whose parents were not diagnosed with Ebola following tests in specialized laboratories.

To date, only four confirmed cases are reported in Guinea with another three suspected ones, he said.

Signature : APA

by -
0 596

A British nurse who was successfully treated in January after contracting Ebola in Sierra Leone is now “critically ill” due to a resurgence of the virus, the hospital treating her said on Wednesday. “We are sad to announce that Pauline Cafferkey’s condition has deteriorated and she is now critically ill.
NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 25: A young man, dressed in a biohazard costume, stands on the corner of 546 West 147th Street on October 25, 2014 in New York City. After returning to New York City from Guinea, where he was working with Doctors Without Borders treating Ebola patients, Dr. Craig Spencer was quarantined after showing symptoms consistent with the virus. Spencer was taken to Bellevue hospital to undergo testing where he was officially diagnosed with the Ebola virus on October 23. Bryan /AFP

Pauline is being treated for Ebola in the high-level isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital,” it said in a statement.

Cafferkey was taken to the specialist unit in London – the only one of its kind in Britain — last week after being admitted to a hospital in Glasgow on Tuesday when she felt unwell.

Her sister Toni has said doctors diagnosed her with a virus on Monday but had sent her home, missing an opportunity to act quickly.

Health officials have contacted and are monitoring 58 people who have been in close contact with Cafferkey, 40 of whom have had direct contact with her bodily fluids — the main mode of Ebola transmission.

Of the 40, 25 are receiving a vaccine and a further 15 have either declined it or were unable to receive it due to existing medical conditions.

This gives cause for concern on the treated ebola cases in Nigeria. constant checks on patients treated of the virus in Nigeria and elsewhere need to be kept to avoid post-Ebola syndrome.

Cafferkey was diagnosed with Ebola in December after returning to Glasgow from Sierra Leone. She spent almost a month in the isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital and was treated with an experimental anti-viral drug and blood from survivors of the Ebola disease. Details of her condition have not been disclosed for reasons of patient confidentiality.

Doctor Ben Neuman, a lecturer in virology at the University of Reading, said earlier that Cafferkey could be only the second known case of “reactivated” Ebola.

“Over the past few years, there has been mounting evidence of the mental and physical problems in Ebola survivors that can last for years after the virus is cleared from the bloodstream,” he told the Science Media Centre in London.

“The newly-discovered twist on this post-Ebola syndrome is that, in some cases, the health problems – often including damage to the eyes and joints — is actually caused by live Ebola virus growing in bodily fluids in some of the less-accessible compartments of the body.”

The deadliest-ever Ebola outbreak since the virus was identified in central Africa in 1976 has killed 11,312 of the 28,457 people infected since December of 2013, according to the latest WHO figures. Nearly all the victims have been in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

by -
0 654

The authorities of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) on Saturday announced that their staff members that were quarantined after a patient who presented “symptoms of mimicking viral hemorrhagic fever” died on Wednesday have been released.

The hospital said the released staff members have been placed on monitoring until the result of test conducted on the sample taken from the deceased, a student identified simply as Eyamba, was concluded and announced.
The hospital said the tests so conducted had shown that the patient did not die as from Ebola or Lassa fever, stressing that further test on the sample was being conducted.

Chairman Medical Advisory Committee of the UCTH, Dr. Queeneth Kalu, who addressed journalists at the instance of the hospital’s chief medical director, Dr. Thomas Agan, said a temporary accident and emergency ward has been created while the main one has been fumigated and closed for the time being.

The text read by Kalu at the press briefing stated: “On Wednesday 7th of October there was an Ebola scare following a patient we managed who died after presenting with symptoms mimicking viral haemorrhagic fever. We are pleased to inform you that preliminary tests have excluded Ebola and Lassa fever. Further tests are being done for confirmation in line with international standards.

“The Accident and Emergency (A and E) Unit is being decontaminated and will remain closed throughout this weekend.

Meanwhile a temporary A and E (Unit) has been set up to attend to patients. The quarantined staff members have been released for twice daily self-monitoring.

“A hospital sensitisation seminar facilitated by the National Centre for Disease Control was held yesterday (Friday). All our clinical services are still open on inpatient and outpatient basis. We are grateful to all who have shown concern over this incident”, she added.

Multi-Joint Task’s Working with Army to End Insurgency, Says CoAS
Chiemelie Ezeobi

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Turkur Buratai, yesterday in Lagos, said the multi-joint task force is working with the Nigerian Army, with the aim putting an end to the insurgency in the country.

While speaking with journalists, the army chief said the fight against the insurgents would be over at the stipulated time given by President Mohammadu Buhari.

He warned officers to stay away from politicians or be ready to incur the wrath of Army Headquarters Towards this end he urged all soldiers to be apolitical in their daily activities.

The Chief of Army Staff gave the warning yesterday while addressing officers and soldiers at 9th Brigade Parade ground, Ikeja, Lagos. He said the Nigerian Army would deal with officers who fraternise with politicians.

“I want you to remain professional and apolitical. Any officer or soldier seen hibernating with politicians or getting involved in politics of whatever nature would not be tolerated and such officer will be dealt with accordingly if caught,” Buratai said.

Aside, he told officers that the country must have a professionally responsive Nigerian Army in the discharge of its constitutional roles, which was part of his vision.

by -
0 647

Primary health care is the pillar of health systems and is central to preventing epidemics like Ebola; improving women’s and children’s health; controlling major infectious diseases, such as HIV and TB; and managing the rising burden of non-communicable diseases, such as heart disease and cancer.

Underscoring the urgent need to transform how essential health care is delivered in low- and middle-income countries, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, World Bank Group and World Health Organization launched a new partnership to support countries in improving the performance of primary health care.

The new partnership, the Primary Health Care Performance Initiative (PHCPI), will support countries to strengthen monitoring, tracking and sharing of key performance indicators for primary health care. While many countries have identified primary health care as an urgent priority, they lack the data needed to pinpoint weaknesses, understand their causes and drive improvements.

The partnership will be launched at an event co-hosted by the governments of Germany, Ghana and Norway, where German Chancellor Angela Merkel will release a new framework, “Roadmap: Healthy Systems – Healthy Lives,” for global cooperation to strengthen health systems. The launch of these two complementary initiatives are taking place as world leaders meet at the United Nations to adopt 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

PHCPI partners highlighted the far-reaching benefits of stronger primary health care, including as a pathway to universal health coverage.

“For the first time, the world has set a goal with specific targets for universal health coverage by 2030,” says Dr Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group and co-founder of PHCPI. “To ensure that everyone has access to essential and affordable health services, countries must have strong primary health care systems to deliver them—that’s how we’ll reach the poorest and most vulnerable people with the care they need, in the most equitable way.”

Primary health care is a weak link in most health systems

As the foundation of health systems, primary health care connects people and families with trusted health workers and supportive systems throughout their lives and provides access to services ranging from family planning and routine immunizations to treatment of illness and management of chronic conditions. Health systems built on strong primary health care are more resilient, efficient and equitable.

“Strong primary health care systems are where people turn in their communities to stay healthy and get care when they fall sick. When primary health care works, it can meet the vast majority of people’s health needs,” says Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization. “Yet Ebola revealed what can happen, starting with primary care, when health systems are broken and in need of repair.”

All too often, primary health care is a weak link in health systems. More than 400 million people worldwide lack access to essential health services typically delivered through primary health care. The recent outbreak of Ebola, a disease that can be prevented through basic health measures, both exacerbated and was partially fueled by broken primary health care systems.

Several countries offer examples of high-performing primary health care. Brazil’s efforts to train and assign primary health care workers to specific neighborhoods have led to dramatic gains in health, especially in the country’s poorest areas.

by -
0 806

(CNN)A newly developed vaccine against the deadly Ebola virus is “highly effective” and could help prevent its spread in the current and future outbreaks, the World Health Organization said Friday.

Trials of the single-dose VSV-EBOV vaccine began in March in Guinea — one of three West African nations at the center of the outbreak — and have shown such promise that this week it was decided to extend immediate vaccination to “all people at risk” after close contact with an infected person, a WHO news release said.

“This is an extremely promising development,” said Dr. Margaret Chan, the body’s director general.

“The credit goes to the Guinean Government, the people living in the communities and our partners in this project. An effective vaccine will be another very important tool for both current and future Ebola outbreaks.”

More research is needed, but the results so far on this trial show 100% efficacy.

It will take weeks at the least, and possibly a couple of months, for more supply to be made, according to Chan.

Researchers have been using a “ring” strategy — based on that used in smallpox eradication — to trial the vaccine’s effectiveness.

“The premise is that by vaccinating all people who have come into contact with an infected person you create a protective ‘ring’ and stop the virus from spreading further,” said John-Arne Rottingen, of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, which has been involved in implementing the trial.

Relatives, co-workers, health workers get jab

To date, more than 4,000 close contacts of almost 100 Ebola patients, including family members, neighbors and co-workers, have voluntarily participated in the trial, the WHO news release said.

Until this week, half were vaccinated three weeks after the identification of an infected patient and others straight away, to allow for comparison of the results. The randomization was stopped on July 26 “to allow for all people at risk to receive the vaccine immediately, and to minimize the time necessary to gather more conclusive evidence needed for eventual licensure of the product,” the WHO said.

The trial will now include 13- to 17-year-olds, and possibly children from the age of 6, on the basis of new evidence of the vaccine’s safety, it added.

The vaccine is also being trialled by front-line health workers, said Medecins sans Frontieres, also known as Doctors without Borders.

The VSV-EBOV vaccine was developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada and licensed to Merck and NewLink.

The Guinea trial is being implemented by the Guinean authorities, the WHO, MSF and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, with support from a range of international and national organizations.

The concerted effort to find a vaccine reflects the severity of the crisis presented by Ebola, spread through contact with body fluids from an infected person or contaminated objects from infected persons. Other vaccines are also being trialled.

Fighting Ebola with HIV drugs gets big boost

WHO: Lowest weekly total in over a year

More than 11,000 people have died in the three worst-affected countries — Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia — since the epidemic took hold last year.

While the number of new Ebola cases is now far below that at the peak of the outbreak, it has remained stubbornly difficult to eradicate.

On July 26 the WHO reported seven Ebola cases were confirmed in the preceding week, four in Guinea and three in Sierra Leone.

“This is the lowest weekly total for over a year, and comes after 8 consecutive weeks during which case incidence had plateaued at between 20 and 30 cases per week,” the WHO said.

Two people in Liberia, including a 17-year-old in Nidonwin, Liberia, have died of Ebola since the end of June, just weeks after the WHO declared the nation free of the disease. At the time, though, officials did warn that outbreaks in Guinea and Sierra Leone ran the risk of bringing the virus back to Liberia, where more than 4,000 people died after contracting it.

All 33 contacts in Liberia who are being followed up in the study are two days from completing the 21-day period to be declared free of the disease.

9 things to know about Ebola

CNN’s Debra Goldschmidt contributed to this report.