From Cayman Islands Public Health Department

Following an outbreak of Ebola viral disease (previously known as Ebola Hemorrhagic fever) in West Africa, the Medical Officer of Health in the Cayman Islands, Dr Kiran Kumar, has issued an advisory.

Ebola is a rare but serious viral infection that affects humans and animals such as monkeys, gorillas and chimpanzees. It first appeared in Africa in 1976, since then it has spread to 10 African Nations. Currently, there is an ongoing outbreak in West Africa, initially reported in March 2014 in Guinea and since late May has involved three countries: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The mode of transmission is not clear but it is thought that humans become infected through contact with infected animals. When the infection does occur in humans, the virus can be transmitted to others by direct contact with the blood or secretions of an infected person and exposure to objects such as needles that have been contaminated with infected secretions.

The virus that causes Ebola viral disease is often spread through family and friends because they come in close contact with infectious secretions when caring for sick persons. The disease can also spread quickly in health care settings when staff does not wear appropriate protective equipment such as masks, gowns and gloves.

Symptoms include fever, headache, joint and muscle pain, weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, lack of appetite. In some cases, patients may experience a rash, red eyes, hiccups, cough, sore throat and chest pain along with difficulty in breathing and swallowing.

While there are no borders for communicable diseases, it is unlikely that Ebola will pose a likely threat to the Cayman Islands. We do not have many travelers to and from the part of the world in which the outbreak is occurring, but things could change and for that reason we should not be complacent. Although unlikely, it is not impossible that a person infected in Guinea, Liberia or Sierra Leone could arrive in the Cayman Islands. An individual infected with Ebola may arrive in the Cayman Islands with symptoms which began prior to departure or with symptoms that developed in transit or they may arrive before developing any symptoms.

Hence, the seaport and airport staff are advised of general protective measures against blood and body fluids and if they encounter passengers coming from the countries where there is an outbreak who appear ill, to refer to the Cayman Islands Hospital. Healthcare Workers (both government and private) have been advised of the outbreak.

Travellers to these countries are advised to consult a physician should they develop symptoms while in these countries or on return, especially if they had come in contact with a confirmed or suspected case of Ebola viral disease.

For more information on Ebola a fact sheet can be collected from the Public Health Department or by accessing the following websites:

Public Health England (including the outbreak and maps of affected area):

http://www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/InfectiousDiseases/InfectionsAZ/Ebola/

World Health Organization (WHO):

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/en/index.html

CDC on http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/transmission/index.html

IMAGE: www.globalresearch.ca

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Europe, Asia on alert as Ebola fears spread

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London: Fears that the west African Ebola outbreak could spread to other continents is growing, with European and Asian countries on alert and a leading medical charity warning the epidemic is out of control.

The US Peace Corps said it was pulling all 340 volunteers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea because of the spreading virus, while Liberia said it would close schools and consider quarantining some communities, the toughest measures yet imposed by a west African government to halt the worst Ebola outbreak on record.

Customs officers are looking for people carrying the Ebola virus at Melbourne Airport.

Medecins Sans Frontieres said the crisis would only get worse and warned there was no overarching strategy to handle the outbreak.

Hong Kong announced quarantine measures for suspected cases, although one woman arriving from Africa with possible symptoms tested negative, while the EU said it was ready to deal with the threat.

The International Civil Aviation Organisation has held talks with global health officials on potential measures to halt the spread.

In Britain, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond chaired the government’s COBRA crisis management committee to assess the situation.

Security forces in Liberia were ordered to enforce the steps announced by the government on Wednesday, part of an action plan that includes placing all non-essential government workers on 30-day compulsory leave.

“This is a major public health emergency. It’s fierce, deadly and many of our countrymen are dying and we need to act to stop the spread,” Liberia’s Information Minister Lewis Brown said. “We need the support of the international community now more than ever. We desperately need all the help we can get.”

But highlighting international concern about the crisis, the US Peace Corps said it was withdrawing volunteers from the three African nations.

A Peace Corps spokesman said two volunteers were isolated and under observation after being exposed to a person who later died of Ebola.

“These volunteers are not symptomatic and are currently isolated and under observation,” the spokesman said.

The US State Department has confirmed that one American died from Ebola in Nigeria after being infected in Liberia. Two other American aid workers infected with Ebola – Dr Kent Brantly and missionary Nancy Writebol – are in serious condition, but have shown slight improvement.

Ebola can kill victims within days, causing severe fever and muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in some cases, organ failure and unstoppable bleeding.

Since March, there have been 1201 cases of Ebola and 672 deaths in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organisation.

The European Union is equipped and ready to treat victims should the deadly virus be found in its 28 member states, an EU source said in Brussels.

The first cases of this outbreak were confirmed in Guinea’s remote south-east in March. It then spread to the capital, Conakry, and into neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Concern deepened last week when a Liberian-American died from Ebola in Nigeria having travelled from Liberia. Authorities in Nigeria, as well as Ghana and Togo, where he passed through en route to Lagos, are trying to trace passengers who were on the same plane.

Some airlines in the region have cut routes to countries affected by Ebola, despite the World Health Organisation saying it does not recommend travel restrictions as a step to control outbreaks.

AFP, Reuters

IMAGE:Medical personnel demonstrate protective equipment to educate team members on the Ebola virus in Liberia. Photo: Reuters

For more on this story go to: http://www.smh.com.au/world/europe-asia-on-alert-as-ebola-fears-spread-20140731-zyr8l.html#ixzz39BL8hTdr

Fears of global spread of Ebola virus as death toll hits 729

From RT

Scientists in Australia and New Zealand warn that the vaccine for the deadly outbreak of Ebola won’t come soon enough to stop the current spreading of the virus. Sierra Leone has announced a state of emergency to deal with the threat.

A total of 729 people have died since the beginning of the year, and 1,200 all in all were infected in the country, the World Health Organization says.

The president of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma, said in a televised address to the nation that the virus is a high-hazard issue for the country.

“Extraordinary challenges require extraordinary measures. The Ebola virus disease poses an extraordinary challenge to our nation,” Koroma said. “Consequently… I hereby proclaim a state of public emergency to enable us to take a more robust approach to deal with the Ebola outbreak.”

Security forces and the army will ensure quarantine in all areas where the disease has occurred, and will provide support to health officers and NGOs following attacks on health workers by local communities, the president said.

House-to-house searches are set to be carried out to trace people with Ebola, while homes with the victims will be quarantined, he said.

Meanwhile, 340 US Peace Corps volunteers are set to leave Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea after two of them were in contact with a person who later died of the virus.

It comes amid concerns of the global spread of the virus were voiced following a US man who was working in West Africa started to have symptoms of the contagious disease already on his way to Nigeria, where he died Friday.

Fears now are that others on the flight have contracted the deadly Ebola virus.

Nigerian health officials have since screened 59 people who were in contact with the American man of Liberian descent, Patrick Sawyer. However, the airline refused to release the names of people on the flight, so the exact number or citizenship of passengers isn’t known, The Daily Mail reported.

And there is no treatment in sight, as Glenn Marsh from CSIRO’s Australian Animal Health Laboratory told ABC.

“It’s unlikely that any vaccine that’s developed now would come quickly enough for this current outbreak,” Marsh said.

Australian researchers use ferrets to have an idea about the cause of the latest strain Zaire Ebola making people sick, with a 90 percent fatality rate.

The World Health Organization is planning to launch a $100 million response to combat the outbreak. According to the UN, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan will meet in Conakry, Guinea, on Friday with the presidents of affected West African nations to discuss the plan.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel advisory against non-essential travel to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone on Thursday. Thomas Frieden, director of the agency, said it will also send an additional 50 health experts to assist with efforts to control the outbreak.

At the beginning, there are flu-like symptoms like fever, headache, muscle aches and sore throat. Then, external and internal bleeding starts.

Customs and border security in Australia have been told to look out for sickened Ebola sufferers in the country’s airports, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

New Zealand virologist Sue Huang said there was “a theoretical risk” of the disease spreading to the country, and there was nowhere safe enough in New Zealand to the test the bodily samples and isolate the deadly virus.

The country’s director of public health, Darren Hunt, said that it was very unlikely that the disease has spread to New Zealand.

In the UK, the government’s chief scientific adviser, Mark Walport, told The Daily Telegraph that such diseases are a “potential major threat to Britain.”

“We are living in a completely interconnected world where disruptions in countries far away will have major impacts,” he said. “We have to do the best horizon scanning. We have to think about risk and managing risk appropriately.”

Over 700 people have died in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in the current Ebola outbreak, which originated in Guinea in February.

IMAGES:

Health workers carry the body of an Ebola virus victim in Kenema, Sierra Leone, June 25, 2014 (Reuters / Umaru Fofana)

AFP Photo / Seyllou

Medical staff take a blood sample from a suspected Ebola patient at the government hospital in Kenema, July 10, 2014 (Reuters / Tommy Trenchard)

For more on this story go to: http://rt.com/news/177048-ebola-virus-sierra-leone/