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Bushmeat is believed to be the origin of the current Ebola outbreak. The first victim's family hunted bats, which carry the virus. Could the practice of eating bushmeat, which is popular across Africa, be responsible for the current crisis? The origin has been traced to a two-year-old child from the village of Gueckedou in south-eastern Guinea, an area where batmeat is frequently hunted and eaten. The infant, dubbed Child Zero, died on 6 December 2013. The child's family stated they had hunted two species of bat which carry the Ebola virus. Bushmeat or wild animal meat covers any animal that...

Obama: US can’t cut itself off from West Africa President Barack Obama urged Americans on Saturday not to succumb to hysteria about Ebola, even as he warned that addressing the deadly virus would require citizens, government leaders and the media to all pitch in. In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama also pushed back against calls for the U.S. to institute a travel ban. Lawmakers have called it a common-sense step to prevent more people with Ebola from entering the U.S., but Obama said such a ban would only hamper aid efforts and screening measures. “Trying to seal off...

The Economist October 18, 2014 On March 25th the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported a rash of cases of Ebola in Guinea, the first such ever seen in west Africa. As of then there had been 86 suspected cases, and there were reports of suspected cases in the neighbouring countries of Sierra Leone and Liberia as well. The death toll was 60. On October 15th the WHO released its latest update. The outbreak has now seen 8,997 confirmed, probable and suspected cases of Ebola. All but 24 of those have been in Guinea (16% of the total), Sierra Leone (36%)...

Air France flight attendant unions on Friday called for a halt to services to the Guinean capital Conakry due to concerns about a "serious risk" of spreading Ebola. The daily Air France Paris-Conakry flight "carries a serious risk of spreading the epidemic, particularly in our country," read a statement from the two unions of flight crew and commercial staff. They called for a closure of the route until the epidemic is under control. They also slammed what they called totally inappropriate protection from Air France -- which provided them with "a simple pair of gloves" -- and called for more...

First Dear Leader told us we couldn't ban travel from east African nations with Ebola victims lying rotting in the streets because it would 'hamper aid efforts'... like the United States of America doesn't have an Air Force or anything- NOW the story goes that his bungling, incompetent administration's reactive, paralyzed-by-some-racial-narrative response to the crisis is 'more effective' according to  'experts in the field' that he's consulted. And you know what Obama 'experts' look like. But as Churchill once said, 'No matter how beautiful the strategy, one should at least occasionally look at the results'... indeed. I can understand him not wanting to...

Not again! After being for a travel ban, then changing her position to say such restrictions would not work, Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC) is back on board with a travel ban. “I am calling on the Administration to temporarily ban the travel of non-U.S. citizens from the affected countries in West Africa,” Hagan, who is running for reelection,

A woman who recently returned from Africa and was found vomiting today has been transferred to and isolated at Inova Hospital in Fairfax, Virginia. Officials are scrambling to find everyone the woman has had contact with recently. The woman became sick at approximately 9:00 a.m. this morning, and started to vomit near the Pentagon. She was on a tour bus and, if found to have Ebola, could have potentially exposed dozens to the extremely deadly virus. The most recent reports state that hazmat teams belonging to Arlington County were at the scene of where the woman started vomiting on the...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)There's a lot of information out there on the Ebola crisis. And now, the issue's gone political with increasingly vocal talk on Capitol Hill and in midterm campaigns calling for a travel ban to keep the disease from spreading in the U.S. Let's sort through the muck and get to the facts:What's all this talk about a travel ban to deal with the Ebola outbreak?Some Republican lawmakers and a handful of Democrats are calling for a travel ban on people from the West African countries most affected by the disease. In Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, more than 4,400 people...

As the U.S. military rushes to combat Ebola in West Africa, soldiers are receiving on-the-fly instructions on how to protect themselves against the deadly virus. American military operations to fight Ebola in Africa are unfolding quickly—forcing the military to come up with some procedures and protocols on the fly. Soldiers preparing for deployment to West Africa are given just four hours of Ebola-related training before leaving to combat the epidemic. And the first 500 soldiers to arrive have been holing up in Liberian hotels and government facilities while the military builds longer-term infrastructure on the ground. For soldiers at Fort...

U.S. standards for protecting healthcare workers from Ebola are weaker than those widely used in West Africa, according to the leader of a group treating victims of the virus in Liberia. “We’re not comfortable with [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)] procedures,” Ken Isaacs, the vice president of Samaritan's Purse, told The Hill. When Samaritan's Purse health workers treat patients in Liberia, they wear two pairs of gloves and spray themselves with disinfectant twice before leaving the isolation ward. They have a three-foot “no touch” policy and hold safety meetings every day. In U.S. hospitals — such as Texas...

WUSA in Washington DC reported that a woman who claimed she had recently been to West Africa vomited in a bus inside the Pentagon parking lot on Friday. According to WUSA, the woman vomited in the parking lot around 9:10 a.m. in the Pentagon’s parking lot. Officials in Arlington said that “the individual allegedly indicated that she had recently visited western Africa. Out of an abundance of caution, all pedestrian and vehicular traffic was suspended around the South Parking lot, while Arlington County responded to the scene.” The woman was taken to the Virginia Hospital Center, but did not exit...

Christian Mihr, from the German branch of Reporters without Borders (RSF) claims the press is increasingly muzzled in reporting flaws and difficulties in crisis management. Report lists incidents in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Ebola carriers exposing Americans to the deadly Virus? Did any Ebola carriers visiting the White House to attend Obama’s first-ever US-Africa Leaders Summit on August 4-6 precede the late Thomas Eric Duncan in potentially exposing Americans to the deadly virus? Dozens of high-ranking government officials from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone were in attendance at the Summit, some accompanied by entourages. The three West African countries—where the Ebola outbreak was already claiming lives—were listed on the White House guest list in alphabetical order.

Now this… The Obama administration is making it easier for Africans from Ebola infected countries to stay in America. The US Department of Homeland Security is expediting visa requests from Ebola-infected countries: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone Currently in the United States.

Some members of the Lagos State House of Assembly on Thursday commended 591 Nigerian professional health workers who volunteered to help in the containment of Ebola in affected countries. They gave the commendation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos. Mr Taiwo Kolawole, the Deputy Speaker, said that there was nothing wrong in assisting the affected countries in such a pathetic situation.

The nephew of the black African who brought Ebola to the United States doesn't blame his uncle. He blames us. He writes in The Dallas Morning News that his uncle did everything right in Liberia, but still got Ebola, and wasn't treated correctly in the U.S. The claim is that he had a right to be on U.S. soil and that it's our fault he's dead. I suspect this is how President Barack Obama views Ebola. How else do you explain his opposition to a common-sense ban on travel to the U.S. by people from Ebola-infected countries? Tragically, Obama's alternative...

(CNSNews.com) - Ebola is "a very concerning matter," Secretary of the Army John McHugh told reporters on Wednesday. "I certainly would not suggest to any family, don't be worried, don't be concerned. Every time a solider goes forward on any mission, there's concern. And -- and this is a very concerning matter." Hundreds of U.S. military personnel are now in Liberia to help that country deal with its raging Ebola epidemic. Thousands more are expected to arrive in the coming weeks and months. McHugh said the U.S. military has been working "very, very closely" with its own medical experts as...

Pamela Engel October 16, 2014While the US is panicking about three Ebola cases in one month, parts of West Africa are deteriorating rapidly, with little sign that the region is getting the outbreak under control. Ebola has hit Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone the hardest because these countries don't have healthcare systems that are equipped to handle the disease. Nurses at hospitals in these countries are "lightly trained and minimally protected" and Ebola patients are dying "surrounded by pools of infectious waste," according to a report in The New York Times. Some hospitals don't have access to running water, soap,...

Six months on, outrage and sorrow over the mass schoolgirl abduction has disappeared – except for families in Nigeria. Abuja, Nigeria – Six months after the armed group Boko Haram kidnapped 276 Nigerian girls from a boarding school in the northeastern town of Chibok, 219 remain in captivity after 57 escaped. That may come as a surprise to many because the April 14 mass abduction that drew global shock, condemnation, and media attention has since been largely forgotten – except in Chibok that is. Every day at Unity Fountain in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, family members of the girls, community members,...

resident Obama will sign an executive order as soon as today deploying National Guard troops to Ebola stricken countries in West Africa according to a report from NBC News.President Barack Obama is expected to issue an executive order Thursday paving the way for the deployment of National Guard forces to Liberia to help contain the Ebola outbreak there, sources told NBC News. The sources said that eight engineers and logistical specialists from the Guard, both active-duty and reservists, would probably be included in the first deployment. They are expected to help build 17 Ebola treatment centers, with 100 beds apiece....