WOLRD MOVES TO CUT OFF WEST AFRICA AS EBOLA PANIC INCREASES

Millions of ordinary Africans, facing panicky quarantine orders and cancelled flights, are beginning to pay a heavy price for the world’s alarmist myths about the Ebola crisis.

Far from the centre of the Ebola outbreak, airlines and governments are imposing restrictions on African travellers, ignoring the advice of medical experts. Korean Air Lines became the latest example on Thursday, suspending all of its flights to Kenya, a country that doesn’t have a single Ebola case and is located 5,000 kilometres from the danger zone.

Other fear-based reactions are multiplying. Nigerian athletes were placed into quarantine at the Summer Youth Olympic Games in China, prompting them to quit in protest. Ghana is proposing a ban on all “public gatherings.” Zambia is banning entry to anyone from Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria, the four West African nations where Ebola is present. British Airways and Emirates have suspended flights to some West African cities, and Ivory Coast is blocking ship cargo to the three hardest-hit countries, raising fears of food and fuel shortages.

The heavy-handed travel bans are provoking sharp criticism from experts at the World Health Organization and Médecins sans frontières (Doctors Without Borders). The flight cancellations are an overreaction that could make the situation worse, hindering the efforts to help Ebola-affected regions, the WHO says.

“WHO disappointed when airlines stop flying to West Africa,” the organization said in a tweet on Thursday. “Hard to save lives if we & other health workers cannot get in.”

Stephen Cornish, executive director of MSF Canada, said the suspension of African flights will heighten the risks of Ebola spreading to other countries, since it will become more difficult to send medical and epidemiological specialists to the Ebola zone.

“We should not be cutting off the affected countries’ lifelines in a misguided effort at home society protection,” he said in an e-mail. “The oversensationalism and hype around Ebola has not helped the public’s understanding of how the disease is spread.”

Some of the panic is due to fears that Ebola could spread by air travel, as it did in one case already, when a Liberian with the Ebola virus flew to Lagos and died there, infecting several other people. But the risk of Ebola transmission during air travel “remains low,” the WHO said in a statement on Thursday.

Unlike influenza or tuberculosis, Ebola is not airborne and can only be transmitted by direct contact with the body fluids of someone who is sick with the disease. “On the small chance that someone on the plane is sick with Ebola, the likelihood of other passengers and crew having contact with their body fluids is even smaller,” the WHO said.

“Usually when someone is sick with Ebola, they are so unwell that they cannot travel. WHO is therefore advising against travel bans to and from affected countries.”

The global health organization is bracing for more panic and fear. “In the coming days there will be rumours all over the world,” WHO senior official Isabelle Nuttall told a briefing in Geneva on Thursday.

The travel restrictions aren’t just hampering the medical response to Ebola. They could also damage the economies of many African nations, scaring away investors and damaging trade.

Economic analysts are already warning that the Ebola crisis could slow the growth rates in the three worst-affected countries by up to 2 percentage points. Some farmers have abandoned their fields, cross-border markets have been shut down and several major mining companies have scaled back their operations or postponed expansion plans.

The Ebola crisis could also create shortages of food, fuel and other supplies because the nearest big port, Abidjan in Ivory Coast, has announced a ban on all ships from the Ebola-affected countries. Some media in Liberia are calling it an “economic blockade.” The country’s authorities have said they are worried that rice importers could be heavily affected by the ban, a Liberian newspaper reported on Thursday.

Liberia and Sierra Leone are especially vulnerable to the economic impact of the Ebola crisis, including the damage to trade and air travel, because they are still recovering from devastating civil wars that ended barely a decade ago.

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UNTESTED DRUGS CAN BE USED TO TREAT EBOLA VIRUS, SAYS THE WHO

Ethical to use untested Ebola drugs, says WHO

The outbreak has killed over 1,000 people

Untested drugs can be used to treat patients infected with the Ebola virus, the World Health Organization says.

The WHO said it was ethical in light of the scale of the outbreak and high number of deaths - more than 1,000 people have died in West Africa.

The statement was made after its medical experts met in Switzerland on Monday to discuss the issue.

But officials have warned that there were very limited supplies of potential treatments.

Dr Marie-Paule Kieny from the WHO said that there has been "unanimous agreement" among experts

The WHO said that where experimental treatments are used there must be informed consent and the results of the treatment collected and shared.

In a statement, it said: "In the particular circumstances of this outbreak, and provided certain conditions are met, the panel reached consensus that it is ethical to offer unproven interventions with as yet unknown efficacy and adverse effects, as potential treatment or prevention."

But the organisation conceded that there were still a lot of questions to be answered including how data could be gathered effectively while the focus remained on providing good medical care.

It was also unclear where the funding for the treatment would come from.

Last week the WHO declared the Ebola outbreak was a global health emergency.


The move came as Liberia said it was getting an experimental drug, Zmapp, after requests to the US government.

But the WHO said there were only 12 doses.

Zmapp has been used on two US aid workers who have shown signs of improvement, although it is not certain what role the medication played in this.

A Roman Catholic priest, infected with Ebola in Liberia, who died after returning home to Spain is also thought to have been given the drug.

However, the drug has only been tested on monkeys and has not yet been evaluated for safety in humans.

What drugs exist currently ?
There a handful of drugs that have been shown to work well in animals.

One is Zmapp - the drug requested by the Liberian government. This contains a cocktail of antibodies that attack proteins on the surface of the virus.

Only one drug has moved onto early safety testing in humans. Known as TKM-Ebola this interrupts the genetic code of the virus and prevents it from making disease causing proteins.

The drug was trialled in healthy volunteers at the beginning of 2014 but the American medicines regulator asked for further safety information. The manufacturer says human studies may soon resume.

Another option would be to use serum from individuals who have survived the virus - this is a part of the blood that may contain particles able to neutralise the virus.

Vaccines to protect against acquiring the disease have also been shown to work in primates. American authorities are considering fast-tracking their development and say they could be in use in 2016. Trials are likely to start soon according to the WHO.

But experts warn ultimately the only way to be sure a drug or vaccine is effective is to see if it works in countries affected by Ebola.

There is no cure for Ebola, which has infected at least 1,779 people since the outbreak was first reported in Guinea in February.

'Hard place'
The Liberian government said it was aware of the risks associated with Zmapp, but the alternative was to allow many more people to die.

"The alternative for not testing this is death, a certain death," Information Minister Lewis Brown told the BBC.

"This is not even the rock and the hard place for us.

"We think those who have been infected should be given the chance to have that tested on them if they give their consent to do so.

"We know there may be risks associated with it," the minister added, "but choosing a risk and choosing dying I am sure many would prefer to see that risk happen".

Ebola's initial flu-like symptoms can lead to external haemorrhaging from areas like eyes and gums, and internal bleeding which can lead to organ failure. Patients have a better chance of survival if they receive early treatment.

Ebola virus disease (EVD)

Symptoms include high fever, bleeding and central nervous system damage

Fatality rate can reach 90% - but the current outbreak is about 55%

Incubation period is two to 21 days

There is no vaccine or cure

Supportive care such as rehydrating patients who have diarrhoea and vomiting can help recovery

Fruit bats are considered to be virus' natural host

                                                                                                                          -Source: BBC News

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ARTICLE: THE RISE AND FALL OF EBOLA VIRUS

Today I write in fear, like every other residents of the only black continent in the world. Our world is ravaged by a dreadful holocaust and our existence under extreme threat. Africa, as the world knows it may soon become a park of flirt and death. The over one billion men and women, boys and girls, young and old may soon become extinct.

Ebola, the now most dreadful disease in the world has found succor within our realm and with the growing concern around the world and Africa being fingered as the breathing nest for this virus, it is only a matter of time before we become a threat to world peace which may force the Super Powers into taking decisive action against the continent.

Around the world already there have been growing demands to alienate countries with outbreak of Ebola. Borders are being closed, Airport under immense scrutiny, Visa application procedures under review and in some cases (see 'South Korea denies 3 Nigerian students visit') outright rejection. While the sole responsibility of every government is to protect the lives and properties of its citizens, it goes without saying that such decisions must be tempered with caution. In the process of keeping our countries safe we are gradually heading towards prejudicism.

The successful outbreak and spread of Ebola today is a result of the nonchalant, selfish and aloof behavior of African countries to one another. Late last year when reports of the disease became lethal and life threatening in Guinea and Sierra Leone, what measure(s) or step(s) did fellow African countries like Nigeria, Liberia, Ghana, Togo, Mali, Cote d'ivoire, Cameroon take to assist these countries? As usual, we didn't give a damn; our brothers and sisters may as well suffer and die but once we are unhurt is less our business!

Lets believe we decided to 'mind our business'; it would have made more sense if we had engaged on massive civil education on the disease and create contingent plans into truly safeguarding our territories. But as African as we are, we went to bed with noise of our neigbours house on fire hoping on divine that the wind of inferno doesn't locate ours. The case of the outbreak in Nigeria is more pathetic than unfortunate. First, a man with nearly fourteen days active symptoms from an Ebola prone country successfully boarded a flight en route Lagos, Nigeria unchecked. The airport staff and medical team relatively uninformed and perpetually unaware of the symptoms of the virus rushed unprotected to give a helping hand to the victim when he collapsed at the airport. The receiving hospital and doctor with little knowledge about the disease 'nakedly' attended to the victim and the rest is history.

Africa has come a long way. Amidst the thorns of scramble and partition, slavery, neo-colonialism and apartheid we rose to a continent of choice. Our continent now has a place in the UN Security Council; Nigeria the presumed capital of the continent made the MINT classification and South Africa a member of the G20 group. But beyond the tales of success our continent continues to wallow in extreme poverty and dearth orchestrated by corrupt public office holders who would rather take possession of the latest Private Jet than invest in the health sector, leaders with short or no foresight! Leaders who do not see the need for Africa to grow in research and technology believing that the dependence on foreign countries and their conditional aids is enough. Alas, Ebola is an African disease which means foreign countries may not be so moved into urgently producing cure and vaccine.

Africa must realize we are alone in this war against Ebola. Our greedy leaders must come to terms that their lives are also under threat. There is nothing so delicious in bats and monkeys if not for poverty! The governments must immediately create a welfare package to feed the nation, especially people in the rural areas. Massive education and enlightenment program should be embarked upon with jingles on radio and television. Rural communities, most of whom are oblivious to the disease must be reached out to. Primary and Secondary schools should also be visited and informed with a strategy that will create minimal panic and discrimination. Outright closure of borders and airspace against fellow African countries as Ghana did should not be an option, what we should focus on is screening individuals willing to travel to and fro.

We (all African countries either affected or not) must unite to fight this plague. It is high time Africa solved its own problem. Only Africa can solve African problems. It goes beyond setting up committee of friends and associate to further siphon public funds. African countries must declare an immediate emergency in the research sector. Brothers and Sisters far away in Europe, America, Asia and Middle East with vast experience in medical and scientific research must come home. The humble abode of the black race is under attack and together we must stand and fight.

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NIGERIA: ANOTHER SUSPECTED CASE OF EBOLA VIRUS REPORTED IN LAGOS

Just seven days after Mr. Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian and US citizen, died in a private hospital in Lagos, Nigeria, one of the personnel, who helped him out of the aircraft on his arrival in Lagos, has shown signs of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).

The latest victim who has not yet been named was said to have helped the late Sawyer and was among the 59 persons the Federal Government and the Lagos State Government registered to have had contact with the late Sawyer immediately on his arrival in Nigeria on Sunday, July 20.

Early symptoms of EVD include fever, headache, chills, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, sore throat, headache and joint pains, while later symptoms include bleeding from the eyes, ears nose, and the mouth as well as the rectum, eye swelling, swelling of the genitals and rashes all over the body that often contain blood. It could progress to coma, shock and death.

As at four days after Sawyer’s death in Nigeria, precisely, Monday, July 27, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, said 20 of the 59 people registered to have had contact with Sawyer had been physically screened. He said 50 per cent of these 20 people had type one contact with Sawyer and 50 per cent had type two contact.

Explaining this terminol­ogy, the Director, Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Abdulsalam Nasidi, said type one contact means those who had direct one-on-one contact with the late Sawyer, while type two contact refers to those that had contact with those who had direct contact with Saw­yer.

However, he said the committee working on the Ebola virus disease emergency was following the World Health Organisation (WHO) guideline which recommended that only persons who showed signs of the EVD symptoms should be screened.

Efforts to get confirma­tion about the latest on the person showing signs of the EVD from Nasidi failed. A text message to his phone asking for confirmation was not responded to.

…No fresh case in Lagos –LASG

Lagos State Govern­ment yesterday, said no fresh case of the dreaded Ebola Vi­rus Disease has been found in the state or any part of the country.

According to the Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Health, Dr. (Mrs.) Ye­wande Adeshina, none of the persons said to have come in contact with the late Libe­rian victim of the Ebola Vi­rus Disease had manifested unusual body temperature or any other symptom of the dreaded virus.

She explained that all the 59 persons, who had close contact with the deceased Liberian in Nigeria were hale and hearty and had not exhibited any unusual symptoms, just as there had been no case of the dreaded disease from the country’s

borders.

Also, the Commissioner for Information, Lateef Ibirogba, has advised the citizenry to be wary of the activities of fraudsters, who were making spurious claims about their ability to provide cure for the Ebola Virus Disease, urging them to always contact health providers to report unusual feelings noticed.

He cautioned people to desist from sending panicky text messages round about the Ebola disease that could heighten tension and create anxiety.

He also advised those who wanted to make cheap money from the case to de­sist from their strange claims of cure for the disease or risk the wrath of the law, as only medical solutions were known to be appropriate for the disease.

He reminded residents of the state to make use of the emergency phone numbers- 08023169485, 08033086660, 08033065303, 08055281442 and 08055329229 provided to contact health authorities in case anyone with observed symptoms of the Ebola disease was noticed.

He also advised residents to observe the highest level of personal environmental hygiene, adding that they should visit hospitals or primary health centres nearest to them to report strange feelings noticed.

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EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EBOLA VIRUS

Ebola virus disease (formerly known as Ebola
haemorrhagic fever) is a severe, often fatal illness,
with a case fatality rate of up to 90%. It is one of the
world’s most virulent diseases.The infection is
transmitted by direct contact with the blood, body
fluids and tissues of infected animals or people.
Severely ill patients require intensive supportive
care.

During an outbreak, those at higher risk of
infection are health workers, family members and
others in close contact with sick people and
deceased patients.

Ebola virus disease outbreaks can devastate
families and communities, but the infection can be
controlled through the use of recommended
protective measures in clinics and hospitals, at
community gatherings, or at home.

Infection and transmission

In Africa, fruit bats are believed to be the natural
hosts of Ebola virus. The virus is transmitted from
wildlife to people through contact with infected
fruit bats, or through intermediate hosts, such as
monkeys, apes, or pigs that have themselves
become infected through contact with bat saliva or
faeces.
People may then become infected through contact
with infected animals, either in the process of
slaughtering or through consumption of blood,
milk, or raw or undercooked meat.
The virus is then passed from person to person
through direct contact with the blood, secretions or
other bodily fluids of infected persons, or from
contact with contaminated needles or other
equipment in the environment.

Signs and symptoms

EVD, which has a case fatality rate of up to 90%, is a
severe acute viral illness often characterized by the
sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle
pain, headache, nausea and sore throat. This is
followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, impaired kidney
and liver function, and in some cases, both internal
and external bleeding. Laboratory findings
frequently include low white blood cell and platelet
counts and elevated liver enzymes.
The incubation period, the time interval from
infection with the virus to onset of symptoms, is 2
to 21 days. People remain infectious as long as
their blood and secretions contain the virus, a
period that has been reported to be as long as 61
days after onset of illness.

Diagnosis and treatment

When considering the diagnosis of EVD, other,
more common diseases should not be overlooked;
for example, malaria, typhoid fever, shigellosis,
cholera, leptospirosis, plague, rickettsiosis,
relapsing fever, meningitis, hepatitis and other viral
haemorrhagic fevers.
Definitive diagnosis of EVD is made through
laboratory testing. Because samples from patients
are a source of infection risk for others, testing is
conducted under maximum biological containment
conditions.
No vaccine is available, nor is there any specific
treatment. Severely ill patients require intensive
supportive care. Patients are frequently dehydrated
and require oral rehydration with solutions
containing electrolytes, or intravenous fluids.

Preventative measures

Raising awareness of the risk factors for infection
and the protective measures that should be taken is
the only way to reduce human infection and
subsequent deaths. Close unprotected physical
contact with Ebola patients should be avoided.
Appropriate use of gloves and personal protective
equipment (including hand hygiene before putting
on, and especially after taking off personal
protective equipment) should be practised when
taking care of ill patients at home. Regular hand
washing is required after visiting patients in
hospital, as well as after taking care of patients at
home.
Almost all transmission of the virus to health-care
workers has been reported when basic infection
control measures have not been observed. Health-
care workers caring for any patient should practice
standard precautions. When caring for patients
with suspected or confirmed Ebola virus infection,
health-care workers should apply, in addition to
standard precautions, other infection control
measures to avoid any exposure to patients’ blood
and body fluids and with possibly contaminated
environments.
Preparation for burial of the bodies of persons who
have died from Ebola virus disease also carries
high risks of transmission of the virus. Those who
have died from the disease should be promptly and
safely buried.

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BODY OF EBOLA VICTIM CREMATED IN LAGOS

The body of the first victim of Ebola Virus Disease
in Nigeria, who died in Lagos on Friday, has been
cremated. Details of the cremation were not
available at press time but Sunday Vanguard
gathered
that the eveny was witnessed by officials of the Lagos
State Ministry of Health and the Nigeria Centre for
Disease Control, NCDC, led by its Project Director,
Professor Abdulsalam Nasidi, among others.
The decision to cremate the body of the victim, it was
further gathered, may not be unconnected with the
deadly nature of the Ebola Virus which is known to be
easily transmissible from human to human during
handling of corpses of victims.
The World Health Organisation recommends that in
communities where there is an outbreak of Ebola,
appropriate containment measures including burial
of the dead should be properly handled.
While stating that people who die from Ebola should
be promptly and safely buried, WHO? Notes that
cremation, which is the application of high
temperature to reduce bodies to basic chemical
components (ashes)? Is ideal for safe disposal of
bodies of persons who die during outbreaks of highly
infectious diseases such as Ebola Virus in order to
minimise further transmission.
In 2013 the Lagos State Government introduced its
Voluntary Cremation Law under which a person may
signify interest to be cremated at death or a
deceased's family members who must attain the age
of 18 years, can decide to have the corpse cremated.
Under the law the state government can also cremate
unclaimed corpses in its mortuaries after a period of
time and the ashes disposed after a 14-day notice
with approval of the Commissioner for Health.

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DEADLY EBOLA VIRUS SPREAD TO NIGERIA BY PLANE AND SIERRA-LEONE LOOK FOR KIDNAPPED PATIENT

The Ebola virus that has already killed 660 people across West
Africa has spread to Nigeria after a Liberian man boarded a
plane to the country, the most populous in the continent.
He managed to board the flight despite of having a high fever.
Once on the plane he vomited, before dying in Nigeria.
Upon arrival in the country’s capital Lagos - a megacity home
to 21 million people - the 40-year-old had been moved to an
isolation ward.
Believed to be a government official with the finance ministry,
he had recently lost his sister to Ebola in Liberia, health
officials there said. Authorities are now investigating anyone
who may have come into contact with him.
Nigerian health minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said it was the first
case of Ebola to be confirmed in Nigeria since the start of the
current outbreak in the region. The disease has already hit
Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, infecting 1,093.
In Sierra Leone, officials are hunting the first known resident of
the capital Freetown to test positive for the disease after the
family of the woman forcibly removed her from a hospital in the
city.
Saudatu Koroma, 32, a resident of the densely populated
Wellington neighbourhood, had been admitted to an isolation
ward while blood samples were analysed, health ministry
spokesman Sidi Yahya Tunis. The results came back on
Thursday.
“The family of the patient stormed the hospital and forcefully
removed her and took her away,” Tunis said. “We are searching
for her.”
Fighting one of the world's deadliest diseases is straining the
region's weak health systems, while a lack of information and
suspicion of medical staff has led many to shun treatment.
According to health ministry data and officials, dozens of
people confirmed by laboratory tests to have Ebola are now
unaccounted for in Sierra Leone, where the majority of cases
have been recorded in the country's east.
There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola, which causes diarrhea,
vomiting and internal and external bleeding. It can kill up to 90
percent of those infected, although the mortality rate of the
current outbreak is around 60 percent.
The West African outbreak is the first time that Ebola, which
was first discovered in what is now Democratic Republic of
Congo in 1976, has appeared in heavily populated urban areas
and international travel hubs.

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