Fresh cases of Ebola Reported In Sierra Leone

 The National Ebola Response Centre (NERC) in Sierra Leone's says it has recorded fresh cases of the deadly Ebola virus that ravaged the country and some other countries in West Africa last year.

 Six people are under observation after the first person with symptoms of the disease was admitted on June 17th. 3,900 deaths were recorded in Sierra Leone alone during the last Ebola epidemic in West Africa. Sierre Leone was declared Ebola free in May by the World Health Organization.

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Ebola May Be Transmitted Sexually - WHO Warns

 The World Health Organisation has issued an interim advice on the possibility of Ebola Virus of being sexually transmitted.

 The WHO had directed all Ebola survivors and their sexual partners to receive counselling to guard against possible transmission of the disease.

 This is contained in a statement made available by WHO to newsmen in Lagos on Saturday.

It indicated that the sexual transmission of the Ebola Virus had yet to be established.

WHO said, “The sexual transmission of the Ebola Virus from males to females is a strong possibility, but has not yet been proven; less probable, but theoretically possible.

“Studies have shown that Ebola virus can be isolated from semen up to 82 days after symptom onset.

“A recent case investigation identified genetic material (RNA) from the virus by nucleic acid amplification tests (such as RT-PCR) 199 days after symptom onset.

“This is well beyond the period of virus detecting ability in the blood of survivors and long after recovery from illness.

“The detection of virus genetic material many months after symptom onset is assumed to reflect the continuing, or at least very recent, presence of live and potentially transmissible Ebola virus.”

More surveillance data and research are needed on the risks of sexual transmission and particularly on the prevalence of viable and transmissible virus in semen over time, WHO said.

WHO recommends that, in the interim, all Ebola survivors and their sexual partners should receive counselling.

It added that this is to ensure safe sexual practices until their semen has twice tested negative; and survivors should be provided with condoms.

“Ebola survivors and their sexual partners should either abstain from all types of sex or observe safe sex through correct and consistent condom use until their semen has twice tested negative.

“Having tested negative, survivors can safely resume normal sexual practices without fear of Ebola virus transmission,” the statement added. 

NAN

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Wow! Good News, Last Known Ebola Patient In Liberia Discharged

 According to reports by BBC Africa, the last known Ebola patient in Liberia has been discharged from hospital. Her name is Beatrice Yardolo, 58.

 Liberia is one of the most ebola ravaged nations, so thank God it's all over now.

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Ebola : Vice President Quarantined Over Ebola

 Nigeria might have been declared ebola free but the deadly disease is still very much an issue in some not too distant countries.

 According to reports, the vice-president of Sierra Leone has put himself into quarantine after one of his bodyguards died from Ebola. Samuel Sam-Sumana said he would stay out of contact with others for 21 days as a precaution.

 There was optimism the virus was on the decline in Sierra Leone at the end of last year but there has been a recent increase in confirmed cases. Nearly 10,000 people have died in the outbreak, the vast majority in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

 Mr Sam-Sumana said on Saturday that he had chosen to be quarantined to “lead by example” after the death of his bodyguard, John Koroma, last week. He told Reuters news agency that he was “very well” and showing no signs of the illness, but said he did not want to “take chances”.

His staff have also been placed under observation.

 He is the country’s first senior government figure to subject himself to a voluntary quarantine.

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Pictured : Sierra Leone Doctor Taken To The US For Ebola Treatment Dies

 Ebola virus is still very much in the business of taking lives. And it's latest victim is a surgeon from Sierra Leone who was being treated for the deadly disease in the US.

  He died this morning November 17th in a hospital in Omaha, Nebraska, aged 44.

 Late Dr Martin Salia who had US residency and was married to an American, arrived for treatment in the state on Saturday November 15th in a critical condition after leaving Freetown by air ambulance. 

 "We are extremely sorry to announce that the third patient we've cared for with the Ebola virus, Dr Martin Salia, has passed away as a result of the advanced symptoms of the disease." the Nebraska Medical Center said in a statement.

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"We Are Struggling To Stay Afloat" - First Consultant Management Reveal, After Ebola Fight

 In an interview with Tribune yesterday, Dr Benjamin Ohiaeri, the Chief Medical Director of the First Consultant Hospital where the first case of Ebola was diagnosed in Nigeria, says as an organization, they are struggling to float after reopening for business last month. He said himself, his staff and their families still face firsthand stigmatization even after being certified free of the Ebola virus.

 "Since re-opening, we have witnessed firsthand what it means to be stigmatized. At a time when you would think we would be appreciated for our professionalism in containing Ebola, we are enduring a significant depletion in patient-turn up. We are down on numbers by a factor of about 90%. But for the generosity of friends and family, Aledo Peterside, Tunde Ayeni, Diamond Bank, etc., this business would have collapsed. Even now, we are struggling to stay afloat. It has been very tough indeed."

"The loss of Dr Adadevoh, Dr Abaniwo, Evelyn Uko and Ejelonu, four key members of our team, the first two of who were the most senior of our medics and members of the Hospital Executive Committee, has been hard.

 They were colleagues, they were family. We are talking of a lifetime of working as a close team - as confidantes, as family. So, yes it’s been very tough. As well as our fallen heroes, we have many of the survivors here. Medics, who placed their lives on the line to avoid Ebola spreading to the general public; they suffered the trauma of threats to their lives and the horror of rejection, in many cases, simply because they once had Ebola.

 The families of our people have suffered horrendous victimisation too. Children of the dead hounded out of rented homes just when they needed compassion; the husband of a sufferer thrown out of his job simply because the employer learned of his wife’s condition. The pain, the suffering, the horror goes on and on. Still, our people are back at work, doing what they do best - caring for the ill.

 For the hospital, we are inching back to life. As you know, the place was shut down for nearly three months while it was decontaminated by the WHO. So, our business was essentially shut in all that time, though our expenses, salaries, among others, continued to run" he said. Source

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Nigerian Man Banned From Work In The UK Over Ebola Fear, After Visiting Nigeria

 A Nigerian man Sam Ogunnoiki, who works as a security guard at Stout Security Ltd headquartered in Cornwall, UK, has been told not to go to work over fears he may have Ebola after visiting Nigeria.

 The 46 year old British citizen, faces a three-week quarantine from his employers who told him that he needs to get the all-clear from a British doctor before he can go back to work. Below is the letter (in full) his direct boss sent to him.

 "I have spoken to you and expressed my very deep concerns about your trip to Nigeria. Several members of staff have now voiced their concerns about the possibility of your carrying the Ebola virus back with you and have made it very clear that they are extremely reluctant to work with you on your return." 

 One member of staff has even written a clear and concise letter stating the concerns of your work colleagues. In this case I have to support their concerns especially as I have already voiced them personally to you. In order to allay any fears that you are a carrier for this deadly virus I feel I cannot allow you to return to work until you have been back in the United Kingdom for three weeks, which is the incubation period. I must also request that you visit your doctor on your return and get a clean bill of health before you can start work with us. I am very sorry about this Sam but everyone works in close proximity together and I have to put the concerns of the majority first.’

 Sam, who said he's on a zero-hours contract now worries about not being paid. He said:

‘Nigeria does not have Ebola but he said I have to be cleared. There is this stigma surrounding me now – it’s just ignorance and a nightmare because I cannot work. I’m a British citizen. There is no justification for this at all.’

 The boss who sent the letter, Mr Mannell, later defended his position saying:

‘I did send Sam a letter saying anyone returning from any African countries for safety reasons cannot work for three weeks afterwards. I know Nigeria is Ebola-free but I don’t know where he’s travelled. My problem is that Pendennis [shipyard], which I have a contract with, sent me an email saying they cannot have anyone working there that’s been in contact with Sam." Source

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Our Heroes: Meet The First Consultant Hospital Staffs Who Helped Fight Ebola In Lagos State

 See the faces of the team at the First Consultant Hospital in Lagos state, whose prompt action helped contain the spread of the deadly Ebola virus in Lagos.

 Pictured above: The Chief Medical Director of the hospital Dr Benjamin Ohiaeri (middle) Dr Adaora Igonoh (2nd left), Dr Ibeawuchi Morris (3rd left) Dr Fadipe Akinniyi (2nd right) who got infected but got healed. 

Unfortunately four of their colleagues including Dr Stella Adadevoh and nurse Justina Ejelonu(God bless their souls) died from the deadly viral disease. Source

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WHO Finally Declares Nigeria Ebola-free Country

 The World Health Organization, WHO, and the Federal Ministry of Health today held a joint press conference in Abuja were they formally declared Nigeria Ebola Virus Disease free. This is great news. See some photos from the press conference below... 

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Nigerians May Escape Enhanced Ebola Screening At UK Airports

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that Nigeria has won the fight against Ebola and therefore it is not an Ebola risk country,no wonder is not listed among the countries where passengers arriving into the UK will be heavily screened.The UK is beginning enhanced screening of passengers coming to the UK from the countries worst affected by the Ebola outbreak.

Checks are under way at Heathrow's Terminal 1 and will then be expanded to Gatwick airport and the Eurostar rail terminals by the end of the week.

The move is designed to halt the spread of a disease which has killed more than 4,000 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Previously British Airways was the only airline that operated a direct service to the UK from the affected area.

Although it stopped flying to Liberia and Sierra Leone in August, there are fears that people who have picked up infections in those countries may try to reach the UK by another route.
About 1,000 passengers a month are said to travel to the UK from the three countries.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said that it is "likely" that ebola will be seen in the UK with around 10 cases expected to be confirmed in the next three months.

He said the screening measures being put in place, which include temperature checks and a travel questionnaire, should ensure 89% of people travelling to the UK from the affected region on tickets booked directly to the UK are checked.

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US Ebola Nurse Gets Special treatment As She gets blood transfusion from survivor Kent Brantly

So many people are still accusing the US of giving the Liberian, Thomas Duncan who died of Ebola last week very poor health care services while they pay very good attention to their citizens who contacts the virus. The fact that the Liberian beat airport officials and started showing signs of Ebola while already the US is the reason so many people expected him to survive but he didn't.  The Texas nurse who got infected by Thomas Duncan has received a life saving blood transfusion from Dr.Kent Brantly ,the first person to be treated of Ebola.

Nina Pham, 26,(shown above) became the first person known to contract the disease in the USA.She tested positive on Friday and according to AP,by evening, she had received a transfusion of plasma from Kent Brantly,because they say their blood type matched .She is now said to be clinically stable ..

This is the third time Brantly is donating blood.The NBC cameraman who is under treatment also got the transfusion.Those who have survived Ebola have anti bodies in their blood which can help new sufferers beat the disease..

Liberian, Thomas Duncan reportedly didn't get the blood transfusion because their blood didn't match and he didn't get Zimmap either because they say it was out of stock.It's strange, the Liberian didn't get any of these helpful treatment but all the other Americans did.

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Sudanese UN worker dies of Ebola in Germany

This is the first case of Ebola death reported in Germany. Three Ebola patients has been taken to Germany for treatment so far.A United Nations employee infected with Ebola while working in West Africa has died in a German hospital.
The aid worker was taken to Germany after contracting the disease in Liberia and was being treated in hospital in Leipzig.

The man had tested positive for ebola on 6 October and was put into a special isolation unit when he arrived in Germany three days later. Last week it was reported that he was a Sudanese doctor.

In a statement the hospital said:

The patient sick with ebola fever died during the night in St Georg Clinic in Leipzig. Despite intensive medical measures and maximum efforts by the medical team, the 56-year-old UN employee succumbed to the serious infectious disease.

He was the third Ebola patient to be taken to Germany. One of the others, a Senegalese expert, has been released from hospital in Hamburg and the other, a Ugandan doctor, is still receiving treatment in Frankfurt.

The latest ebola outbreak has so far killed more than 4,000 people, mainly in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

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Ebola Spreading In The U.S : Dallas Health Worker Contracts Virus

 A health worker who helped in the treatment of Liberian man, Thomas Eric Duncan, who died on Wednesday October 8th, at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, Dallas, has contracted the deadly disease.

 Dallas state health officials released a statement today revealing the first case of Ebola transmission in America.

"We knew a second case could be a reality, and we’ve been preparing for this possibility. We are broadening our team in Dallas and working with extreme diligence to prevent further spread.” 

 Texas health commissioner. Dr. David Lakey said

The worker has been isolated since Friday night October 10th but his/her identity has not disclosed.

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Macedonia Shut Down Hotel After British Man With Ebola Symptoms Died Inside - Report

People look from the window of a quarantined hotel in Skopje on October 9th, 2014.

 A British man with what looked like Ebola symptoms has died in Macedonia and the hotel where he was staying has been shut down and those thought to have had contact with the deseased put under quarantine.

 According to reports, a health Ministry official said the man had arrived from Britain on October 2nd and had been rushed to hospital at 3 p.m. on Thursday, where he died several hours later. Dr. Jovanka Kostovska of the ministry's commission for infectious diseases said the man had been suffering from fever, vomiting and internal bleeding, and that his condition had deteriorated rapidly. 

Amid fears that the disease might spread in Europe, Kostovska told a news conference: 

"These are all symptoms of Ebola, which raises suspicions with this patient."

It was unclear, however, whether the man had recently been to West Africa, where Ebola has killed nearly 4,000 people since March in the largest outbreak on record.

"Initially we had information that he had been to Nigeria, but then his friend told us they hadn't been anywhere," said Kostovska.

A government spokesman said later: 

"Medical authorities have informed us that up till now they cannot confirm whether the patient who died had Ebola. But as a precaution, based on the protocol of the World Health Organisation, medical authorities are taking all measures as if the patient had been suffering from a highly infectious disease."

Authorities did not name the man, saying only that he was born in 1956. His Ebola diagnosis can't be confirmed until a German lab has completed its analysis.

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US Ebola Patient, Thomas Duncan Is Dead

Thomas Duncan, a Liberian who brought Ebola Into the US Is Dead. He caught the virus in his native Liberia, was being kept in isolation in a Dallas hospital and receiving experimental drug called brincidofovir died in an isolation ward of a Dallas hospital, 11 days after being admitted on Sept. 28.

Duncan's death has revealed some bottlenecks in America healthcare system,first he had visited an hospital in the US 2 days before he was finally admitted for treatment and even when he told the nurse he recently arrived from West Africa, he was sent home with antibiotics.
Secondly, Ebola experts also asked why Duncan received the experimental drug  'brincidofovir', made by Chimerix Inc., which has not been tested on humans or animals, rather than Tekmira Pharmaceuticals drug TKM-Ebola, which has been tested on humans. TKM-Ebola was given to another U.S. patient, Dr. Rick Sancra, who contracted Ebola while working in Liberia and was cured.

"We know Dr. Sacra was pretty damn sick when he began treatment," said virologist Thomas Geisbert of the University of Texas Medical Branch, who has done pioneering work on Ebola treatments. It "potentially saved him."

"It is with profound sadness and heartfelt disappointment that we must inform you of the death of Thomas Eric Duncan this morning at 7:51 am," a spokesman said in a statement.
source

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Nigeria Ebola Free - WHO

 The World Health Organization (WHO) is hoping to announce later on this week that  two African countries Nigeria and Senegal are free of Ebola after 42 days with no infections.

 The 42 days is the standard period for declaring an outbreak over, twice the maximum 21-day incubation period of the virus.

 According to a statement signed by the Director of Information in the Ministry of Health, Mrs. Ayotunde Adesugba, WHO will soon make the official declaration after Nigeria successfully curbed the virus which was imported into the country by Liberia-American, Patrick Sawyer, in July. The country recorded seven deaths in the process.

 However, one of the discoverers of the deadly virus said on Tuesday that sex could keep the Ebola epidemic alive even after the World Health Organization (WHO) declares an area free of the disease. 

'In a convalescent male, the virus can persist in semen for at least 70 days; one study suggests persistence for more than 90 days,' the WHO said in an information note on Monday. 

'Certainly, the advice has to be for survivors to use a condom, to not have unprotected sex, for 90 days,' said Peter Piot, a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a discoverer of Ebola in 1976.

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US Ebola Survivor Readmitted To Hospital And Put In Isolation

 The third US patient, Dr. Rick Sacra, to be treated for Ebola on American soil has been isolated again in hospital after suffering persistent cough and fever which is a sympton of the deadly disease.

 DailyMail reports that Dr Rick Sacra, 51, who contracted the deadly virus while working in Liberia was readmitted to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, two weeks after he was cleared. He was treated at the University of Nebraska Medical Center for the infection last month and was released.

Doctors are said to be performing tests on him to make sure Ebola has not returned, however they claim he has not relapsed - also stressing that the public should not be concerned.

Medical Director Dr Phil Smith told WCVB: 

'Even though the likelihood of Dr. Sacra having a relapse of Ebola is extremely low, doctors will run tests to be 100 percent sure. Because of his recent battle with the Ebola virus, his immune system is compromised. The symptoms he has are indicative of a respiratory illness and are not those of someone suffering from Ebola,' he added.

At the end of September, following his release from hospital, Dr Sacra had told reporters he wanted to return to the disease-ravaged areas to help fight the outbreak.

'The odds of my ending up back there are pretty high. I don't have any specific plans, but that's where my heart is. 'It's heartbreaking for me to see Liberians suffering from Ebola and other diseases right now.'

The world is currently experiencing its worst outbreak of Ebola in history, with the disease killing nearly 3,000 people in West Africa during the past six months.

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Another American Tests Positive For Ebola

 Another American has been infected with the deadly ebola virus while working in Liberia.

 The 33-year-old man, who was not identified by name, was working as a freelance camera operator for NBC News as part of a crew of five that featured the network's top medical reporter Dr. Nancy Snyderman, who has been in Monrovia reporting on the outbreak.

 That makes the cameraman the fourth American to contract the often-deadly virus in Liberia. Two doctors were in infected in July, Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, and a third, Dr. Rick Sacra, was diagnosed last month. 

The cameraman will be flown back to the States for treatment, NBC said. Snyderman and the rest of the crew will also be brought home to the U.S. via private jet. Once they arrive, they will be placed on quarantine and monitored for 21 days. The news comes just two days after the first case of ebola was diagnosed inside the United States. Source

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Liberia Government To Prosecute US Ebola Patient Thomas Duncan

 According to reports, days before he became the first person diagnosed with Ebola on American soil, Thomas Eric Duncan answered "no" to questions about whether he had cared for a patient with the deadly virus back in Liberia.

 And now, the Liberian government says they "will seek to prosecute" if Duncan lied on his health screening questionnaire before leaving West Africa. 

 Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf told Canadian public broadcaster CBC on Thursday that she would consult with lawyers to decide what to do with Duncan when he returns home. Johnson Sirleaf told CBC:

"The fact that he knew (he was exposed to the virus) and he left the country is 

unpardonable, quite frankly. I just hope that nobody else gets infected.

 With the U.S. doing so much to help us fight Ebola, and again one of our compatriots didn't take due care, and so, he's gone there and put some Americans in a state of fear, and put them at some risk, and so I feel very saddened by that and very angry with him, to tell you the truth."

 Before leaving Liberia, Duncan had answered no to a question about whether he had touched the body of someone who died in an area affected by the disease. CNN is also reporting that Duncan's family in the States said he hadn't mentioned any exposure to Ebola in Liberia. His girlfriend says he told her he hadn't been in contact with anyone with Ebola. 

 Wilfred Smallwood, Duncan's half-brother, told CNN on Thursday that he doesn't believe Duncan knew he had Ebola when he left Liberia for the United States. But he said it isn't out of the ordinary to come to the assistance of suffering people. Asked about whether Duncan had contact with Ebola patients, he said, "(it's) what we do in Liberia -- our tradition is to help somebody who needs help." Source

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"US Ebola Patient Had Contact With Kids Who Are Now Being Monitored" - Report

 The very first case of the deadly Ebola virus diagnosed on US soil occurred on tuesday October 29th.

 According to CNN, some school-age children have been in contact with the U.S. Ebola patient being treated in Dallas.

 Texas Gov. Rick Perry says the children have been identified and are being monitored for symptoms.

It's a lapse that has Americans concerned and health officials asking how it could happen. 

The unidentified man had the deadly Ebola virus, but didn't yet know it when he walked into a Dallas emergency room September 26. 

 Although his symptoms could have indicated Ebola, among other diseases, no one at the hospital asked him if he had recently traveled to countries where the virus is present, a source close to the case told CNN.

The man, who had just flown from Liberia to the United States, didn't offer the information either, the source said, and he then left the hospital. 

 A spokesman for Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital says it's investigating whether the patient was questioned about his travels. Regardless, two days later, on September 28, the man returned to the facility, where it was determined he likely had Ebola and was isolated. 

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