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http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-ebola-may-be-endemic-in-people-20140922-story.html

Read more about CDC RELEASES ESTIMATES OF EBOLA CASES, COULD REACH 1.4 MILLION
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EBOLA MAY BECOME ENDEMIC TO WEST AFRICA WITH 71 PER CENT INFECTION RATE--WHO STUDY

Tue, 2014-09-23 13:47 — mike kraft

LOS ANGLES TIMES September 22, 10:25 PM

by Monte Morin

In a grim assessment of the Ebola epidemic, researchers say the deadly virus threatens to become endemic to West Africa instead of eventually disappearing from humans.

"The current epidemiologic outlook is bleak," wrote a panel of more than 60 World Health Organization experts in a study published Tuesday by the New England Journal of Medicine.

"We must therefore face the possibility that Ebola virus disease will become endemic among the human population of West Africa, a prospect that has never previously been contemplated."

In the absence of new control measures, the authors estimated that the total case load would exceed 20,000 by Nov 2.

Link to full story

Link to New England Journal of Medicine study

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1411100?query=featured_ebola

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Ban Ki-moon: 'World living in an era of unprecedented level of crises'

Mon, 2014-09-22 18:00 — Norea

United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon with actor Leonardo DiCaprio during his designation ceremony as the UN Messenger of Peace. Photograph: EPA

Julian Borger - New York The Guardian
21 Sep 2014 16.55 BST

More than 140 heads of state and government fly in to New York this week for the United Nations general assembly amid apprehension that international order is unraveling at an accelerating pace, while the world's leaders seem ever less willing or able to deal with the proliferating threats.

The UN's humanitarian agencies are in danger of being completely overwhelmed by the multiple crises. Ebola is spreading rapidly across West Africa, swamping rickety national health systems and a thus-far underfunded UN effort to stop its advance. The spread of Islamic State (Isis) extremists in the Middle East, feeding on the destruction of the Syrian civil war and exposing the weakness of the Iraqi state, has similarly outpaced patchy international efforts at containment.

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Global Rise Reported in 2013 Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Sat, 2014-09-20 18:00 — Norea

A mask guarded against Shanghai haze last year. China’s economy was a factor in below-average global emissions growth. Credit Eugene Hoshiko/Associated Press By JUSTIN GILLIS - SEPT 21, 2014 - nytimes.com

Global emissions of greenhouse gases jumped 2.3 percent in 2013 to record levels, scientists reported Sunday, in the latest indication that the world remains far off track in its efforts to control global warming.

The emissions growth last year was a bit slower than the average growth rate of 2.5 percent over the past decade, and much of the dip was caused by an economic slowdown in China, which is the world’s single largest source of emissions. It may take an additional year or two to know if China has turned a corner toward slower emissions growth, or if the runaway pace of recent years will resume.

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Upcoming CDC estimate reportedly predicts up to 500,000 Ebola victims - Leaked

Sat, 2014-09-20 10:39 — mike kraft

Washington Post, September 20

By Lena H. Sun

The Ebola epidemic sweeping West Africa could infect up to 500,000 people by the end of January, according to a new estimate under development by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report is scheduled to be released next week, but work on it is still ongoing and projections could change, said a person who is familiar with its contents but was not authorized to speak because the report is not yet public.

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Obama: U.S. military to provide equipment, resources to battle Ebola epidemic in Africa

Sat, 2014-09-20 07:06 — Norea

By Lena H. Sun & Juliet Eilperin - Sep 7 - The Washington Post

President Obama said Sunday that the U.S. military will begin aiding what has been a chaotic and ineffective response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, arguing that it represents a serious national security concern.

The move significantly ramps up the U.S. response and comes as the already strained military is likely to be called upon further to address militant threats in the Middle East. The decision to involve the military in providing equipment and other assistance for international health workers in Africa comes after mounting calls from some unlikely groups — most prominently the international medical organization Doctors Without Borders — demonstrating to the White House the urgency of the issue.

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U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps to Help Treat Ebola Patients in Liberia

Thu, 2014-09-18 23:06 — Kathy Gilbeaux

hhs.gov - September 16, 2014

A team of specialized officers from the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps is being prepared to deploy to manage and staff a previously announced U.S. Department of Defense hospital in Liberia to care for health care workers who become ill from Ebola.

The U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Commissioned Corps is an elite uniformed service with more than 6,800 full-time, highly qualified public health professionals, serving the most underserved and vulnerable populations domestically and abroad.

Sixty-five Commissioned Corps officers, with diverse clinical and public health backgrounds, will travel to Liberia to provide direct patient care to health care workers. In addition to their professional expertise, these officers will undergo further intensive training in Ebola response and advanced infection control.

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http://www.vox.com/2014/9/17/6334943/why-is-the-military-being-sent-to-attack-ebola-virus/in/5712456

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Why is Obama sending military to attack the Ebola virus?

Thu, 2014-09-18 09:24 — Norea

by Joe Raedle By Julia Belluz - Sep 18, 2014 - vox.com

Tuesday's announcement by President Barack Obama — that the US would be sending in an army of 3,000 to fight Ebola — came as a relief to the many wondering when the international community would wake up to the daily horror show playing out in West Africa.But the tactics also raised some questions: why was Obama sending soldiers to fight off a virus? And why has he been characterizing this disease spread as a "security threat" and "security priority"?

Why Obama is describing Ebola as a "security threat"

Obama has repeatedly referred to the threat of Ebola in security terms, arguing the virus could cripple the already fragile economies in the African region. He's made the case that this will have consequences for not only the security of countries there, but also for nations around the world — even if the virus doesn't spread beyond Africa.

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CLICK HERE - CDC Safety Training Course for Healthcare Workers Going to West Africa in Response to the 2014 Ebola Outbreak

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Ebola Training for Health Care Workers to Begin in Northeast Alabama

Wed, 2014-09-17 17:47 — Kathy Gilbeaux

al.gov - by Mike Oliver - September 15, 2014

ANNISTON, Alabama -- Everything you need to know about treating Ebola -- and staying alive doing so -- will be taught in training sessions which kick off with a pilot program Sept. 22 in this northeastern Alabama town.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is behind this series of 3-day training sessions for health care workers who may deploy to Africa's hotspots, said CDC spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund.

"This is something new we are doing for the outbreak," she said.

According to a sample syllabus, topics range from laboratory and diagnostic testing to simulating drawing blood from an Ebola patient (no real Ebola patients will participate.)

Participants will also learn how to transport or move patients, proper ways to dispose of waste and burial procedures.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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DHS Ill-Prepared for Pandemic Response, Inspector General Says

Wed, 2014-09-17 17:30 — Kathy Gilbeaux

hstoday.us - by Anthony Kimery - September 9, 2014

An audit by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General (IG) of the department’s pandemic preparedness efforts to determine if DHS effectively manages its pandemic preparedness supply of personal protective equipment and antiviral medical countermeasures found that, “DHS did not adequately conduct a needs assessment prior to purchasing pandemic preparedness supplies and then did not effectively manage its stockpile of pandemic personal protective equipment and antiviral medical countermeasures.”

“Specifically,” the IG reported, DHS “did not have clear and documented methodologies to determine the types and quantities of personal protective equipment and antiviral medical countermeasures it purchased for workforce protection.”

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United States

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Health

Pandemics

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