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'You cannot stop Ebola' US experts warned British troops

Sun, 2015-03-15 14:28 — mike kraft

THE TELEGRAPH by Ben Farmer March 15, 2015

British commanders were warned last year it was impossible to halt Ebola in Sierra Leone and they were about to lose control of the deadly outbreak in its capital, it has been disclosed.

British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon on the RFA Argus hospital ship in Sierra Leone Photo: Will Wintercross/The Telegraph

United Nations and American experts said there was nothing British troops could do to stop the virus rampaging through the country and they were about to “lose Freetown”.

Loss of the capital would have triggered an international evacuation from the country, the commander of British troops revealed, as he explained for the first time the scale of the outbreak they have been fighting....

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2 Aid Workers In West Africa Are Infected With Ebola

Thu, 2015-03-12 21:15 — mike kraft

NEW YORK TIMES by Sheri Fink and Allan Cowell March 12, 2015

A worker from Partners In Health, the prominent American medical aid organization, and an emergency worker from the British military have been infected with the deadly virus in Sierra Leone, health officials said Thursday.

The Partners In Health worker was the first in that group to be infected since it made an ambitious commitment last fall to help combat Ebola in West Africa, and was the first American health worker in months to get the disease while working in the region. ...

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British Army medic with Ebola evacuated with two other suspected cases

Thu, 2015-03-12 10:15 — mike kraft

THE TELEGRAPH by Victoria Ward and Ben Farmer March 12, 2015

A female Army medic who has caught Ebola while working in Sierra Leone is being flown back to Britain by the RAF, along with two workers who have been in close contact with her.

Beatrice Yordoldo (Seated), an Ebola patient, poses for photographs with medical staff Photo: AFP

Two further health workers who have been exposed to the unnamed soldier are being tested in Sierra Leone and could be evacuated later...

The woman is the third British health care worker confirmed to have caught the deadly virus...

Justine Greening, the Development Secretary, said the checks on the four other workers were "purely precautionary" after they had close contact with the female patient.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/ebola/11466376/British-Army-medic-with-Ebola-being-flown-back-to-UK.html

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Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey allowed to work

Sat, 2015-03-07 08:27 — mike kraft

THE SCOTSMAN March 6, 2015

PAULINE Cafferkey, the Scottish nurse who contracted Ebola while working in Sierra Leone, is free to continue working while under investigation, a medical council has ruled.

Pauline Cafferkey flew back to the UK via Casablanca and London Heathrow before landing at Glasgow Airport late on December 28.

She was admitted to hospital in Glasgow early the next morning after feeling feverish, before being diagnosed with the disease.

Last month, Public Health England said it had passed information to the General Medical Council and Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) on three nurses and two doctors after assessing the screening of healthcare workers returning to the UK.

An NMC spokeswoman said:

“The panel decided not to impose an interim order. Pauline Cafferkey is free to practise without restriction.” The full case is likely to be held later this year.

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UK Ebola medics under investigation

Mon, 2015-02-23 09:19 — mike kraft

BBC Feb.23, 2015

Five UK Ebola nurses and doctors are under investigation by regulators, Public Health England says.

They are looking into the screening of medics who flew back to England on 28 December after treating patients in Sierra Leone.

Pauline Cafferkey was diagnosed with Ebola in December after volunteering work in Sierra Leone

On this flight was Scottish nurse Pauline Cafferkey - who developed Ebola - and some of her colleagues.

Questions have arisen over the health assessments and protocols that were followed.

Media reports have suggested Ms Cafferkey may have had signs of Ebola before leaving Sierra Leone but regulators have not commented on this.

http://m.bbc.com/news/health-31586074

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WHO May Lose Credibility After Ebola

Sun, 2015-02-15 17:31 — mike kraft

Agency seeks a new model after flaws revealed by Ebola crisis.

COMMENTARY MEDPAGE TODAY by Michael Smith Feb. 15, 2015

As the Ebola epidemic drags on, the World Health Organization is in danger of losing its credibility as a bulwark against infectious disease.

The West African epidemic is a "mega-crisis (that) overwhelmed the capacity of WHO," according to Director-General Margaret Chan, MD, speaking to reporters in late January.

To prevent a similar crisis in the future, Chan has proposed a package of reforms, including a large contingency fund for emergencies, an increase in the number of trained people able to deploy quickly to a crisis site, and structural changes to streamline the famously unwieldy organization.

Whether those get anywhere is the vital question, according to Lawrence Gostin, JD, of the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Washington's Georgetown University.

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Ebola infection 'linked to visor'

Wed, 2015-02-04 07:54 — mike kraft

THE PRESS ASSOCIATION Feb. 4, 2015
LONDON --A British nurse who contracted Ebola while working in Sierra Leone possibly caught the virus by wearing a visor and not goggles, an investigation has suggested.
Press Association - Save the Children said Pauline Cafferkey, pictured on her return to health, may have contracted Ebola by wearing a visor rather than goggles when treating patients in Sierra Leone

The report by Save the Children said it cannot be completely certain how Pauline Cafferkey contracted Ebola but said both pieces of equipment are "equally safe".

The nurse, from Cambuslang in South Lanarkshire, had volunteered with the charity at the Ebola Treatment Centre (ETC) in Kerry Town before returning to the UK in December....

Save the Children published the findings of an independent review into the possible causes of how the 39-year-old caught the virus. The report said both visors and goggles are safe but there are slight differences in the type of clothing worn with each and in the protocols for putting them on and removing them....

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Ebola tests for UK military worker

Mon, 2015-02-02 10:08 — mike kraft

PRESS ASSOCIATION Feb. 2, 2015

LONDON --A second UK military healthcare worker has been transported back to England after likely exposure to Ebola via a needle-stick injury while treating someone with the virus in Sierra Leone, Public Health England said.

Press Association - The healthcare worker has been admitted to the Royal Free Hospital in London

The healthcare worker arrived in the UK today and has been admitted to the Royal Free Hospital in London where they are undergoing an assessment.

They have not been diagnosed with Ebola and do not have symptoms, Public Health England added.

It comes after another British military healthcare worker was flown back to England for monitoring after suffering a needle-stick injury, also in Sierra Leone.

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https://uk.news.yahoo.com/ebola-tests-uk-military-worker-105839068.html#tDyqh5N

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In pursuit of next-generation Ebola stockpile vaccines

Sun, 2015-02-01 11:16 — mike kraft

REUTERS by Kate Kell and Ben Herschler Feb. 1. 2015
LONDON --As West Africa's devastating Ebola outbreak begins to dwindle, scientists are looking beyond the endgame at the kind of next-generation vaccines needed for a vital stockpile to hit another epidemic hard and fast.

Research assistant Georgina Bowyer works on a vaccine for Ebola at The Jenner Institute in Oxford, southern England January 16, 2015. Credit: Reuters/Eddie Keogh

Determined not to lose scientific momentum that could make the world's first effective Ebola interventions a reality, researchers say the shots, as well as being proven to work, must be cheap, easy to handle in Africa and able to hit multiple virus strains.

That may mean shifting focus from the stripped-down, fast-tracked vaccine development ideas that have dominated the past six months, but it mustn't mean the field gets bogged down in complexities.

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British Ebola patient recovering, no longer critical, says hospital

Mon, 2015-01-12 14:02 — mike kraft

REUTERS Jan. 12, 2015

LONDON- A British nurse diagnosed with Ebola last month is recovering and is no longer in a critical condition, the London hospital treating her said in a statement on Monday.

Pauline Cafferkey, a 39-year-old nurse who normally works at a Scottish health center, became the first person to be diagnosed with the disease in Britain after contracting it in Sierra Leone where she was volunteering at an Ebola clinic.

"Pauline Cafferkey is showing signs of improvement and is no longer critically ill," the statement from the Royal Free Hospital said. "She remains in isolation as she receives specialist care for the Ebola virus."

Cafferkey is being treated with blood plasma from an Ebola survivor and an unnamed experimental anti-viral drug, the hospital has said.

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http://news.yahoo.com/british-ebola-patient-recovering-no-longer-critical-says-141357956.html;_ylt=AwrBEiLsF7RUKgYAww_QtDMD

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