This morning's New Zealand Herald had this headline this morning - Nigeria's Ebola outbreak almost over - and we are told elswhere that Ebola is not particularly contagious. Is it a case of, 'nothing to worry, go back to sleep' or is there a lot of fear-mongering, as I've heard expressed by some with a lot of opinions and not much knowledge.
Make up your own mind, but see the following first
Special Report : Ebola, the next Global Crisis
The
Extinction Protocol Radio
17
September, 2014
THE FOLLOWING IS ESSENTIAL LISTENING TO UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF EBOLA AND THE THREAT IS POSES.
The interviewee, Alvin Conway of the Extinction Protocol, contradicts the NZ Herald report by saying that Ebola is a close-contact virus with a 90% mortality rate. Compared with airborne viruses it is more akin to be being shot at close range rather than by a sniper. In other words it is more dangerous.
The following can sum up what we know about Ebola and its potential to turn into an uncontrollable pandemic, in which case the best use of money would be to build crematoria to deal with the bodies..
EBOLA: MAKINGS OF A PANDEMIC
- Exponential increase in cases
- Bodies are buried, not cremated
- Ebola has no vaccines or treatment
- Ebola is rapidly mutating
- The virus has spread to five countries across porous borders
- Simultaneous outbreaks are occurring
- The virus is reinfecting regions that had already recovered from the virus
- The host(s) has not been identified
The sending of troops to an area of infection, apart from being ineffective in any control, is a surefire way of spreading the virus
Ebola
- What You're Not Being Told
StormCloudsGathering
31
July, 2014
Mass graves being prepared in Liberia – Doctors without borders, refusing volunteers – “too late to fight outbreak”
September 2014 – LIBERIA, Africa – Liberia, the West African nation hardest it by Ebola, has begun a frightening descent into economic hell. That’s the import of three recent reports from international organizations that seem to bear out the worst-case scenarios of months ago: that people would abandon the fields and factories, that food and fuel would become scarce and unaffordable, and that the government’s already meager capacity to help, along with the nation’s prospects for a better future, would be severely compromised. They are no longer scenarios. They are real. While these trends have been noted anecdotally, the cumulative toll is horrific. The basic necessities of survival in Liberia — food, transportation, work, money, help from the government — are rapidly being depleted, according to recent reports by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
The FAO says that food is in increasingly short supply. Fields in some regions have been abandoned in part because people perceive Ebola may be coming from them or from the water used to irrigate them. “People are terrified by how fast the disease is spreading,” Alexis Bonte, FAO Representative in Liberia, said in a statement. “Neighbors, friends and family members are dying within just a few days of exhibiting shocking symptoms, the causes of which are not fully understood by many local communities. This leads them to speculate that water, food or even crops could be responsible. Panic ensues, causing farmers to abandon their fields for weeks.” –Washington Post
Too late to stop virus? After months of seeing almost no qualified doctors volunteer to help treat infected Ebola victims in West Africa, physicians are now signing up in droves, but it may be too late, experts say. The outbreak, which has claimed more than 3,000 lives, was deemed an “unprecedented epidemic” back in March, but critical health care workers didn’t heed the call, which was a major reason why the virus couldn’t be contained. While physicians are now stepping up in a bolstering way, experts say there will be a considerable delay before these volunteers can make a noticeable difference.
“As a result [of the delay] thousands of people will die,” Dr. Joanne Liu, president of Doctors Without Borders, told The New York Times. “I can’t say the exact figure because we don’t know how many unreported cases there are. But thousands for sure.” The virus could eventually infect as many as 20,000 people, according to the World Health Organization. But enough physicians have come forward that Doctors Without Borders, the nonprofit that has been leading the charge in combating the outbreak, recently announced that it no longer needs any more volunteers. The news came on the heels of a troubling statement Liu made earlier this month when she said that the organization was “overwhelmed” and “at a loss” as to how it was supposed to shoulder so much of the responsibility in addressing the crisis.
–Huffington Post
Sierra Leone government cannot account for more than 1,000 Ebola patients: missing, dead, out of the country?
Unthinkable to reality: first Ebola case diagnosed in the United States – CDC vows to prevent an ‘outbreak’ in Dallas
September 2014 – DALLAS, TX – U.S. health officials said on Tuesday the first patient infected with the deadly Ebola virus had been diagnosed in the country, in a new sign of how the outbreak ravaging West Africa can spread globally. The patient had recently traveled to West Africa and developed symptoms several days after returning to Texas, state officials said. The patient was admitted to an isolation room at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the diagnosis. U.S. health officials and lawmakers have been bracing for the eventuality that a patient would arrive on U.S. shores undetected, testing the preparedness of the nation’s healthcare system. The Texas Department of State Health Services said it was working with the CDC, the local health department and the hospital “to investigate the case and help prevent transmission of the disease. The hospital has implemented infection control measures to help ensure the safety of patients and staff,” the statement said. U.S. hospitals have treated several patients who were diagnosed with Ebola in West Africa, the center of the worst known outbreak of the virus that has killed more than 3,000 people.
The previous U.S. patients were all medical and other aid workers who were diagnosed while still in West Africa. Ebola symptoms generally appear between two and 21 days after infection, meaning there is a significant window during which an infected person can escape detection, allowing them to travel. CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden has said U.S. hospitals are well prepared to handle Ebola patients and has assured the public that the virus should not pose the same threat in the United States as it does in Africa. Stocks in small biotechnology companies working on Ebola therapies or vaccines rose on the news of the U.S. Ebola patient in after-hours trading. –Reuters
CDC vows to stop the virus: The first Ebola case has been diagnosed in the United States, but a top health official said there is “no doubt… we will stop it here.” Dr. Tom Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the patient left Liberia on Sept 10 and arrived in the U.S. on Sept. 20. The patient sought medical help on Sept. 27 and was put in isolation on Sept. 28, Frieden said. Tests confirming the Ebola diagnosis came back today. Frieden stressed that the patient was not sick on departure from Liberia or upon arrival in the U.S. and the disease can only be contracted by someone exhibiting symptoms of the disease. Frieden said he was confident there would not be an Ebola outbreak in the U.S. “There is no doubt in my mind we will stop it here,” he said. –ABC News
https://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2014/09/30/unthinkable-to-reality-first-ebola-case-diagnosed-in-the-united-states-cdc-vows-to-prevent-an-outbreak-in-dallas/
U.S. quietly preparing for Ebola outbreak: CDC issues Ebola guidelines for U.S. funeral homes – how to dispose of bodies
September 2014 – ROSWELL, GA – CBS46 News has confirmed the Centers for Disease Control has issued guidelines to U.S. funeral homes on how to handle the remains of Ebola patients.
If the outbreak of the potentially deadly virus is in West Africa, why are funeral homes in America being given guidelines?
The three-page list of recommendations include instructing funeral workers to wear protective equipment when dealing with the remains since Ebola can be transmitted in postmortem care. It also instructs to avoid autopsies and embalming.
Alysia English is Executive Director of the Georgia Funeral Directors Association, the oldest and largest funeral association in Georgia. Georgia is comprised of 700 funeral homes and 2,000 funeral directors. CBS46 asked English if Georgians should be alarmed by these guidelines.
“Absolutely not. In fact, if they weren’t hearing about it, they should be a whole lot more concerned,” said English. She said Georgia has one of the country’s most thorough public health plans. That includes detailed planning for all hazards such as floods and the flu. “If you were in the middle of a flood or gas leak, that’s not the time to figure out how to turn it off. You want to know all of that in advance. This is no different,” said English.
–CBS46
"The director of public health, Dr Darren Hunt, said it was very unlikely that ebola would get to New Zealand"
Do you believe him?
NZ makes plans for ebola outbreak
Virologist
says spread possible after American on flight to Nigeria adds to toll
of 670 from contagious disease
1
October, 2014
New
Zealand health experts are making contingency plans to manage the
ebola virus in case the deadly disease arrives from West Africa.
Fears
of the global spread of the virus arose after an American man who was
working in West Africa began to have symptoms of the contagious
disease while flying to Nigeria, where he died on Friday. There are
fears the virus may have spread to others on the flight.
Read
more: What
is the ebola virus?
The
Daily Mail reports Nigerian health authorities have screened 59
people who had contact with the American man of Liberian descent,
Patrick Sawyer, but they do not know the exact number of contacts as
an airline has refused to hand over the list of names.
More
than 670 people have died in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in the
current ebola outbreak, which began in Guinea in February.
Britain's
chief scientist, Sir Mark Walport, told the Daily Telegraph that
diseases such as ebola were a "potential major threat to
Britain".
New
Zealand virologist Dr Sue Huang, of the Institute of Environmental
Science and Research (ESR), said there was a risk of ebola reaching
this country.
"Maybe
we are a little bit lucky. We don't have huge traffic and travel
between West Africa and New Zealand at the moment - but a theoretical
risk is there. Just think about the 2009 [influenza] pandemic when we
had students from Auckland to Mexico coming back; they carried the
virus to New Zealand."
If
a traveller arrived and developed symptoms of ebola, there was
nowhere safe enough in New Zealand for the testing of bodily samples
to isolate the virus, Dr Huang said. The highest level of physical
containment accreditation at New Zealand laboratories was level 3+ -
at labs owned by ESR and the Ministry for Primary Industries. Level 4
was needed for suspected ebola.
"We
will have to forward the sample to a reference lab overseas to deal
with that if anything happens - the CDC [Centres for Disease Control
and Prevention] in the US or maybe Australia. We have contacted
people at the moment so we can prepare if anything happens."
The
director of public health, Dr Darren Hunt, said it was very unlikely
that ebola would get to New Zealand.
Dr
Hunt said the risk of ebola infection for travellers was very low
since most infections resulted from direct contact with the body
fluids or secretions of infected patients.
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