Health

The World Health Organization is reporting that the number of Ebola infections in West Africa is doubling every four weeks despite efforts to stop the spread of the deadly virus. Isabelle Nuttall, the director of the WHO’s Global Capacities, Alert and Response, announced on Thursday that 9,000 people have so far been infected with Ebola, adding that the death toll from the disease will rise to more than 4,500 this week. Fresh figures indicate the outbreak is hitting health workers hard, with 2,700 infected and 236 dead, added Nuttal. The senior WHO official further pledged that the organization would enhance its support for the Ebola-hit countries, saying it might take months before the outbreak is stopped.

 

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Ngwa Bertrand

16.Oct.2014

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The Texas nurse who contracted Ebola from the first patient diagnosed with the disease in the U.S. said Tuesday that she was recovering and was upbeat about her treatment. As she battles the deadly virus, officials have rolled out new safety measures at the hospital where she worked to help prevent the deadly disease from spreading further. Meanwhile, in a statement released by Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, the nurse, Nina Pham, said, “I’m doing well and want to thank everyone for their kind wishes and prayers.” “I am blessed by the support of family and friends and am blessed to be cared for by the best team of doctors and nurses in the world here at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas,” she added. Ms. Pham, 26 years old, has been in isolation at the hospital since Friday, when she developed a low-grade fever and drove herself to the facility. She was part of a group of hospital workers who were told to monitor their temperatures as a precaution because they had treated Thomas Eric Duncan, a 42-year-old Liberian native, from the time he was admitted to the hospital on Sept. 28 until he died Wednesday.

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Ngwa Bertrand

15.Oct.2014

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Another healthcare worker has tested positive for Ebola at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in the United States, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. The department said on Wednesday that the unidentified worker provided care for Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan has contracted the virus. The preliminary test was done at the state public health laboratory in Austin late Tuesday and the results released about midnight. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta has begun confirmation testing. "Health officials have interviewed the latest patient to quickly identify any contacts or potential exposures, and those people will be monitored," the health department said in a statement. "The type of monitoring depends on the nature of their interactions and the potential they were exposed to the virus."The second case comes after another worker, Nina Pham, became the first person infected by Ebola in the country.

 

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Ngwa Bertrand

15.Oct.2014

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Dubai health authorities quarantined Wednesday an air passenger who arrived from Liberia after he showed symptoms of Ebola, in the first suspected infection registered in the Gulf region. The United Arab Emirates health ministry said the man who travelled from Liberia through Morocco had been "isolated for checks after he suffered diarrhoea," although his body temperature was normal. All passengers on the same plane have undergone the necessary checks, the ministry said in a statement.

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Ngwa Bertrand

15.Oct.2014

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The second nurse to be diagnosed with Ebola in Texas is to be transferred from Dallas to a special bio-containment unit in Atlanta, officials announced on Wednesday, as they also acknowledged failings in the ongoing response to the arrival of the virus in the US. Dr Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), also said that the nurse, Amber Vinson, should not have been permitted to take the commercial flights that she did before she was diagnosed. Vinson flew from Dallas, Texas, to Cleveland, Ohio, reportedly travelling from there to Akron, Ohio, and then flew back to Dallas on 13 October, one day before she reported Ebola symptoms. “We will, from this moment forward, ensure that no other individual who is being monitored for exposure undergoes travel in any way other than controlled movement,” Frieden said.

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Ngwa Bertrand

15.Oct.2014

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The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned there could be 10,000 new cases of Ebola per week within two months. Health officials said that 8,914 cases of ebola have now been reported in West Africa, including 4,447 deaths. WHO assistant director general Bruce Aylward told a press conference in Geneva that the total was expected to top 9,000 by the end of this week. He warned that the death rate from the current outbreak has now risen to 70%. It was previously estimated at about 50%.  When asked how the situation would emerge over the next couple of months, he said: "It's impossible to look into a glass ball and say we're going to have this many or that many (cases) but we anticipate the number of cases occurring per week by that time to be somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 per week.

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Ngwa Bertrand

14.Oct.2014

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