Posted on 07/23/2014 9:55:04 AM PDT by blam
Reuters
July 23, 2014
The head doctor fighting the deadly tropical virus Ebola in Sierra Leone has himself caught the disease, the government said.
The 39-year-old Sheik Umar Khan, hailed as a "national hero" by the health ministry, was leading the fight to control an outbreak that has killed 206 people in the West African country. Ebola kills up to 90 percent of those infected and there is no cure or vaccine.
Across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, more than 600 people have died from the illness, according to the World Health Organisation, placing great strain on the health systems of some of Africa's poorest countries.
Khan, a Sierra Leonean virologist credited with treating more than 100 Ebola victims, has been transferred to a treatment ward run by medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, according to the statement released late on Tuesday by the president's office.
Health minister Miatta Kargbo called Khan a national hero and said she would "do anything and everything in my power to ensure he survives".
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
It’s extremely easy to catch.
Sounds like the disease a community organizer for change could find quite useful. Sort of like blankets with smallpox infection secretions to natives.
The infection path so far with this Ebola outbreak has been high atypical.
There is strong epidemiological evidence to suggest that the Ebola virus is being spread intentionally in this outbreak.
It burns it self out because it usually originate in remote areas and it kills faster then people can walk out.
This outbreak is in semi-populates areas with transportation available.
That’s a real hero
This is scary!
Only a matter of time before it shows up in Central America.
It’s not airborne?
I wonder how much of this is coming across our southern border with the ‘children’
Just hope that none of those illegals, pouring over our border, carries that disease.
Preppers’ PING!!
Indeed
Prayers up for his recovery
He was compassionate, that’s for sure...
What a shame. Prayers for this brave man. They need him - not many people would be willing to do what he does.
We tend to forget that public health workers often put their life on the line. They are the foot Soldiers in a war of disease vs. us.
My daughter is a budding epidemiologist and was excited to hear of a position in Lesotho doing research on drug resistant TB. I hope whatever she does she stays safe.
There are variants of the Ebola virus which are known to be airborne.
This was discovered in a US Government laboratory in Reston, VA when lab animals succumbed to the virus under conditions which precluded any other form of transmission.
Several researchers tested positive for Ebola exposure, although they did not develop the disease. The Government had to close the affected buildings for decontamination.
I am not sure if they ever reopened the buildings.
Bump!
There has already been one case that showed up in Canada. The patient had travelled from West Africa to Toronto and then became ill.
The patient was immediately quarantined and there has been no further public information on the outcome. If the Canadian authorities started any contact tracing, they have been extremely quiet about it.
Up to 40 illegal immigrants from Africa were reportedly quarantined in Italy with suspected Ebola infection. The Italian Government declared the matter a national security issue and has censored all further information on the incident.
The reported number of Ebola deaths in West African countries varies widely and is unreliable - except that it is likely higher than any Government official will admit.
The great fear is that the virus will mutate and, at some point, become airborne. Up until now, the virus has apparently been transmitted only through direct contact.
The notable exception is the Reston, Va. case a few years ago in which workers caring for infected animals contracted the disease through the air. As I recall, none got ill, although at least one tested positive for antibodies.
So there are both species-to-species and transmissability issues, as well as the virus’s ability to adapt and mutate.
As someone else noted, most strains of Ebola are so virulant that they kill quickly. That is both terrible and, from a containment standpoint, desirable. When the incubation and fatality rates drop so that the infected can travel and transmit, the world will be in deep trouble.
Perhaps I should say in more deep trouble, as if we don’t already have enough.
You can’t effectively treat patients and behave like they’re level 4 bio hazards at the same time. This leads to medical professionals in plague zones getting sick.
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