Concern over Africa's largest outbreak of Ebola in seven years is moving up to a higher level as the death toll rises and the spread of the epidemic moves into an unusual pattern breaking out at places of multiple origins. Today, I have a survey of several articles released in the last 24 hours.
First, Simon Calder of the Independent, writesWest Africa on high alert after deadly Ebola outbreak kills 83 so far.
The deadliest strain of Ebola virus is spreading through West Africa. Confirmed cases in Guinea, where the outbreak began, now number 127, of whom 83 victims have died. Eight deaths have occurred in the capital, Conakry, with further cases in neighbouring Sierra Leone and Liberia.
The variant responsible is the Zaire strain; this is the most aggressive form of Ebola, and kills nine out of 10 people who contract it.
Médecins Sans Frontières describes the epidemic as “unprecedented”. The medical charity’s project coordinator, Mariano Lugli, said: “We are facing an epidemic of a magnitude never before seen in terms of the distribution of cases in the country."
The World Health Organization is being more cautious in its descriptions.
Just as the virus is spreading to new parts of Africa, reports of the epidemic are now finally, spreading into mainstream U.S. newspapers. Remember, you've been reading about this epidemic, here, from me, for a week and a half. In The Washington Post, we read Deadly Ebola virus on the move in Africa, describing Ebola moving into urban Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
A deadly Ebola outbreak in urban Guinea, where it had not been seen before, has killed at least 80 people there and in neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone. The virus causes severe bleeding and has killed up to 90 percent of the people infected in some past outbreaks. Authorities suspect it was transmitted to humans in Guinea through contaminated bat meat and is now being passed from person to person.
Ebola creates holes in blood vessels, often causing bleeding and shock. It does this by killing endothelial cells, which form the blood vessels’ lining and other partitions in the body. When those cells die, blood and other fluids can leak out. Organs shut down.
The virus replicates very quickly, before most people’s bodies can mount an attack. People often have massive bleeding seven to 10 days after infection.
Last week, I reported that bats have been discovered to be the reservoir for the virus between epidemic between outbreaks, and I am wondering if the unusual pattern of this outbreak may be evidence that the virus has spread in the bat population through out a wider region. The local fisheries have been collapsing driving local populations to seek alternative food sources, which may be leading to multiple sources of infection rather than the more typical cases of primarily human to human transmission in previous epidemics -- perhaps, implying that that transmission from bats to human may be a relatively low probability event, but that it may now have spread widely through the bat population for some reason. If the prevalence of the Ebola virus in the bat population, and or the region of its spread, has recently grown exponentially, this could offer one possible explanation for this curious pattern. This is just my own hypothesis to try to explain these unusual pockets of outbreaks not seen in previous outbreaks.
Ebola Reaches Capital of Guinea, Stirring Fears
DAKAR, Senegal — An outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the West African nation of Guinea has reached the crowded capital, Conakry, prompting new fears about its spread, health officials said Tuesday. ...
Now, with 13 cases in a densely populated capital of two million people, health officials say the challenge of containing the outbreak has become more acute. Ebola has killed hundreds in rural Central Africa over the past four decades, but it is unusual for it to reach urban centers. ...
“In Conakry everybody is worried,” said Fodé Abass Bangoura, a lawyer with an office downtown. “People are really preoccupied about this. There is a sort of psychosis about this now. I’m avoiding physical contact with people, and I’m eating at home.”
Linda Poon, of NPR, explains how the largest outbreak of Ebola in Africa in seven years, is following an unusual pattern in, Why Is Guinea's Ebola Outbreak So Unusual?
Doctors Without Borders has called the current outbreak of the in Guinea "unprecedented" — not because of the number of victims (so far at least 78 have died) but because the disease has traveled to various parts of the country. The (which includes the capital city of Conakry) is at least unusual, the World Health Organization agrees, and presents more challenges than usual to the medical team seeking to contain the virus.
To learn more, we spoke with Esther Sterk, a tropical medicine adviser for . She's been on the ground during past Ebola outbreaks in Africa and, from her base in Geneva, is helping coordinate efforts to quash this one. Sterk believes the infection may have spread more than usual because it's easy for people to travel from place to place in Guinea, including from the southern part of the country (where the first cases were reported) to the capital. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
The recent Ebola outbreak started in southern Guinea, but has spread. Authorities have recorded 122 suspected cases so far and 78 deaths.
The recent Ebola outbreak started in southern Guinea, but has spread. Authorities have recorded 122 suspected cases so far and 78 deaths.
Last week I reported bats have been identified as the reservoir for the ebola virus
Concern is escalating in the international community as the virus continues to spread.
Saudi Arabia suspends visas over Guinea Ebola outbreak:
Visas suspended for Muslim pilgrims from Guinea and Liberia due to contagious nature of deadly disease
The Saudi health ministry recommended the measure "due to the danger of the disease and its highly contagious" nature, the state news agency SPA reported.
The World Health Organisation has said it is not recommending travel or trade restrictions to Guinea, Liberia or Sierra Leone, which has reported suspected cases of Ebola, based on information currently available.
Muslims perform the hajj pilgrimage to the Saudi city of Mecca once a year, but they can make the minor umrah pilgrimage to the kingdom all year round.
The World Health Organization, and Doctors Without Borders has established containment perimeters with government health in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Senegal.
What we would do without the WHO and Doctors Without Borders, and our own CDC? Global epidemics are not challenges best left to the for-profit sector.
11:58 AM PT: May I call your attention to my April Fool's post yesterday adapting Makos's "Crashing the Gates" books to write" "Crashing the Estates: The Rise of Corporate Powered Politics and The Daily Kochs", about a grass roots movement of billionaires banding together to replace democracy with oligarchy using their new website "The Daily Kochs." Those who've read it say its pretty funny.
And, may we have an NPR moment folks. This afternoon's recent rec recommendation board was sad people. I think the mobile apps is set up to bypass Recent Apps and go Community instead. So excellent posts by non Front Pagers are languishing with 2, 5, or 7 posts. If we want to keep and cultivate a diverse group of emerging writers here we should encourage them by tipping and recommending their efforts.
You wouldn't eat out without tipping the wait staff, would you. Jotter's reports indicate that of the 143 people, or so who posted yesterday, only about 60 rec'd even one other post even though 142 of them commented in other posts. Are these grass roots values, or elitist values? I mean this in the nicest possible way.
12:55 PM PT: I had to take my girlfriend to the doctor. She is ok, now. I see some corrections I'd like to make but I am on my IPhone, which is down to 10 percent power. Could one of our SciTech or Ebola teams please help moderate in my absence?. Maybe Wisper is around? I should be back in two hours, or so. Boston traffic is extra bad today. I should have thought about this before getting involved with reality.
Sorry
4:00 PM PT: I'm baaaack! Someone here a few years told me to get a life, so I got back with my significant other of 10 years, last after a year. During that off year, of 2012, election year, I published 400 posts. Then, when we got back together, I didn't post anything for a 1.25 years. Don't let this happen to you! These relationship things can soak up a lot of time. Anyway, she's fine, now and I made some minor word-smithing corrections to post and am responding to comments. Sorry for my absence. As most of you know, I try to be extensively engaged with my readers in my posts. Thanks for your patience.
4:13 PM PT: bkamr brings up the important issues of illegal imports of African bushmeat into Europe and I responded that he is not the only one concerned about this. Saudi Arabia's cancellation of visas to countries in the West Africa region is likely just the first of many such reactions we will soon see.
Sadly, we may soon see an over reaction shutting down much trade from Africa as well as a major drop off of tourism, trade and other travel.
No one has written about it yet, but if health authorities do not get this epidemic contained PDQ, which is looking increasingly unlikely, the whole region, and perhaps continent of Africa may suffer an economic disaster even bigger than this immediate health disaster.
If there is sufficient interest I may form a special interest group to follow this.
I'm not sure if it should be just Ebola, of Global Epidemics, Food Supply, and other Environmental and Health Issues? What do people think?
4:27 PM PT: Please help me rally support for our emerging non-Front Page writers here at Daily Kos. You all have an infinite number of Tips and Recs that cost you nothing, and our writers get so happy, encouraged, and motivated rwhen you acknowledge that many of us work even harder to make Daily Kos, the Democratic Party, progressive causes, our country, and our world a better place.
So, please dig deep, and give our volunteer Kossacks a little love. Come on, you know you really want to. Let that cold hearted veneer that somehow settled in during this harsh winter melt off and go out and find an emerging lonely writer here who is doing promising work and give them an internet hug. You'll feel so much bettter! We all will. Do it now Kossack.
Because "in the end. The the love you take is equal to the love, you make!?" Follow the link for one of the best Beatles song ever, and one of the best HoundDog pep rallys and calls to action ever as well. Hey, I should have been a cheer leader.
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