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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- | |
| Ebola Toll Hits 2,400 as Cuba Pledges Medics | |
| 2014-09-15 | |
[AnNahar] The worst-ever Ebola outbreak has killed more than 2,400 people, the U.N. said Friday,
World Health Organization chief Margaret Chan warned the spiraling epidemic of the murderous tropical virus demanded a stronger, faster response from the international community. In the three hardest-hit countries, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, "the number is moving faster than the capacity to manage them," she told news hounds in Geneva. As of Friday, 4,784 people had been infected with Ebola and more than 2,400 of them had died, Chan said. She did not specify if the figures also included Nigeria, which has reported 21 cases, eight fatal, since the deadliest Ebola outbreak on record began in Guinea at the start of the year. Senegal ... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees... has also seen one confirmed case of Ebola -- a Guinean student who has recovered. While experimental treatments raise hope of eventually finding a cure, Chan stressed Friday that "the thing we need most of all is people" on the ground. She welcomed a pledge from Cuba to send 62 doctors and 103 nurses to Sierra Leone, where more than 500 people have died. The U.N.'s announcement came as health officials in Sweden said they were conducting tests on a patient with a possible case of the virus. Results are expected Saturday from the unnamed patient who "comes from a country in west Africa" affected by Ebola, a front man told Agence La Belle France Presse. The WHO estimates that another 500 foreign health professionals and around 1,000 local doctors and nurses are needed to stop its deadly surge through west Africa. The Cuban health workers will remain in the region for six months, Cuban Health Minister Roberto Morales Ojeda told the Geneva news conference. All have "previously participated in post-catastrophe situations," and all volunteered for the mission, he said. Cuba, which has a long tradition of sending its world-renowned medics to help with situations around the globe, has pledged the biggest team to date to take part in the Ebola fight. The United States has already sent some 100 medics, and the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... has pledged to send around 100 more, while a range of other countries have pitched in with smaller teams and other aid. WHO and the Doctors Without Borders charity meanwhile each count around 200 international medical experts on the ground in the region, while WHO has 300 more on standby. | |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #13 Whatever one might think of Islam, that would be a horror of epic proportions. Insha'Allah. |
| Posted by: Sonny Glarong6820 2014-09-15 15:34 |
| #12 Every single person at the Hajj could wear gloves and masks, and it wouldn't matter. Ebola can enter through the eyeballs and microscopic breaks in the skin. Denying visas may or may not help, as it only takes one person to start a chain of transmission. It is also impossible to identify persons infected with ebola during the incubation period - a week or more - while they are asymptomatic. Even symptomatic cases are difficult to distinguish early on, as the initial symptoms resemble malaria and flu. |
| Posted by: RandomJD 2014-09-15 15:19 |
| #11 Plus Muslims are fastidiously clean. For a certain value of clean, anon1. The pious wipe their bottoms only with the left hand, and eat only with the right. But I cannot imagine that cooking also is only done with the right hand... By their own lights they are fastidious about cleanliness. But a closer examination suggests that the understanding of cleanliness in 8th century Arabia is not the same as that of the modern First World, with our soaps and private bathrooms and antibacterial hygiene. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2014-09-15 15:09 |
| #10 There will be no ebola at the Hajj as Saudi is way stricter than the US or Britain. They will just deny visas. Plus Muslims are fastidiously clean. The women for one are wearing gloves and masks. Two most important things to prevent transmission from an infected surface. |
| Posted by: anon1 2014-09-15 13:42 |
| #9 The $4.27 billion WHO is incapable of standardised regular updates of new infections. They stopped on August 20. My projections from previous figures say that in the two weeks to end September there should be roughly 2025 new cases. Next month we should have another couple of countries with first infections |
| Posted by: anon1 2014-09-15 13:41 |
| #8 "Why has the US sent over 100 doctors, but the African Union has only pledged to do so?" Because there's a hellacious shortage of doctors anywhere in Africa. And not all African doctors have decent training. Many schools in Africa are not equipped to teach basic science--the majority of schools aren't equipped to teach much of anything beyond elementary school. |
| Posted by: mom 2014-09-15 13:02 |
| #7 phil_b, you'll love this. The concern is that the virus is getting so many chances to mutate, an airborne strain may emerge. That is, more airborne than it already is, through aerosols, which occur with every sneeze, cough, vomit. If ebola were ever to spread through air as readily as smallpox - which behaves like smoke - that would be pretty much game over. |
| Posted by: RandomJD 2014-09-15 12:38 |
| #6 Patrick Sawyer, a U.S. citizen, is the reason ebola is spreading in Nigeria. He had been in Liberia on business, then erupted with symptoms on the flight to Nigeria, en route to the U.S. He collapsed in the airport in Lagos and died short time later in the hospital. All subsequent ebola infections in Nigeria trace back to him, mostly medical staff who treated him, and their families. If he'd left Liberia one day earlier, he would've made it to the U.S. So it can spread anywhere humans can travel. Or ship it, in the form of infected bush meat, smuggled to the large West African community in New York, for example. |
| Posted by: RandomJD 2014-09-15 12:21 |
| #5 As I said earlier, the big question is, can this spread outside tropical Africa? I don't know and I have a degree in genetics. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2014-09-15 10:56 |
| #4 Yep. The Hajj is in 3 weeks. IMO, the only horror would be the huge risk of hajis bringing it back to their permanent residences in Europe and North America. |
| Posted by: RandomJD 2014-09-15 08:54 |
| #3 Why is it that the US has already sent >100 doctors, but the African Union has only pledged to do so? *Sigh* I guess we're just too racist. |
| Posted by: BA 2014-09-15 08:31 |
| #2 Not sure how many days following, but to die during the pilgrimage or while in attendance, is covered under the plan. ~ Sahih Bukhari 1208, Sahih Muslim 1206 |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-09-15 07:25 |
| #1 ...I know some folks who are quietly concerned that this might get loose in the Hajj. Whatever one might think of Islam, that would be a horror of epic proportions. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2014-09-15 07:13 |