Wikipedia listing and background on Ebola cases in the United States    Oct. 5, 2014

Link to document

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ebola_virus_cases_in_the_United_States

WASHINGTON POST's  detailed front page account of how the Ebola epidemic got out of control in West Africa.  Oct. 5, 2014

     by Lena Sun, Bradly Dennis, Lenny Bernstein and Joel Achenbach

The glow from a crematorium lights the sky as the bodies of people who died from Ebola are cremated last month in Monrovia

---Michel Du Cille, THE WASHINGTON POST

.... "The virus easily outran the plodding response. The WHO, an arm of the United Nations, is responsible for coordinating international action in a crisis like this, but it has suffered budget cuts, has lost many of its brightest minds and was slow to sound a global alarm on Ebola. Not until Aug. 8, 4 1 ⁄ 2 months into the epidemic, did the organization declare a global emergency. Its Africa office, which oversees the region, initially did not welcome a robust role by the CDC in the response to the outbreak.

UPDATE with comments from interviw with CDC Director Tom Frieden.   Scroll below.

huffingtonpost.com - October 2nd, 2014 - Jeffery Young

The world has known about Ebola for almost 40 years, yet there's no cure or vaccine on the market.

That could change amid worldwide attention to the ongoing outbreak of the virus in West Africa, which has claimed more than 3,000 lives already, and the first diagnosis of a patient with the disease in the United States. But not for a few more years -- at least.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Update: Comments by CDC Director on Sunday TV interview

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/cdc-director-tom-frieden-ebola-drug-pipeline-will-be-slow-n218666

cnn.com - October 1, 2014

CNN's Jake Tapper speaks to Gavin Macgregor-Skinner and Jeffery Stern. With the first Ebola diagnosis in the U.S., is the country prepared to handle a potential outbreak?

http://thelead.blogs.cnn.com/2014/10/01/only-four-u-s-hospitals-prepared-for-outbreak/

NEW YORK TIMES              October 3, 2014

MONROVIA, Liberia — The arrival in the United States of a Liberian man infected with the Ebola virus shows how difficult it is to control or restrict the disease from spreading, and how porous current procedures are in a world of globalized air travel.

Liberian officials said on Thursday that they planned to prosecute the passenger, Thomas E. Duncan, for lying on an airport questionnaire about not having contact with a person infected with Ebola before his travel — a pivotal part of the country’s screening process.

Mr. Duncan took three planes as he flew from Monrovia, the Liberian capital, to Dallas last month, connecting in Brussels and Washington.

Pictured here are the students in
Ms. Appel’s class in Houston, gathering information on the Ebola virus
from a Global Resilience System volunteer, Kathy Gilbeaux, with their website shown in the background. 
Photo Credit: Emma Goerges

On Thursday, a fifth grade class from an International Baccalaureate school in Houston sought answers to their questions regarding the Ebola virus. After a short period of investigating its symptoms, spread, and severity, the students were left with several unanswered questions. Specifically, the students continued to inquire about the origin of Ebola, details of its spread to Texas, in what ways the United States is helping, and Ebola treatment options.

Update with additional information and text of the hospital statement  (scroll down).

5 NBC News Chicago

 Oct 3, 2014 • Updated at 7:53 AM CDT

Link to story

Source: http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/national-international/Texas-Hospital-Software-Blame-Ebola-Patients-Misdiagnosis-277988141.html#ixzz3F5cyR89B

      NBC NEWS            October 2, 2014

An American freelance cameraman working for NBC News in Liberia has tested positive for Ebola and will be flown back to the United States for treatment.

...

The freelancer came down with symptoms on Wednesday, feeling tired and achy. As part of a routine temperature check, he discovered he was running a slight fever. He immediately quarantined himself and sought medical advice. On Thursday morning, the 33 year-old American went to a Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) treatment center to be tested for the virus. The positive result came back just under 12 hours later.

The cameraman, who also is a writer, is the fourth American to have contracted Ebola in Liberia. He has been working in Liberia on various projects for the past three years. NBC News is withholding the cameraman’s name at the request of his family.

Full Story

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/nbc-news-freelancer-africa-diagnosed-ebola-n217271

NEW YORK TIMES   Oct. 2, 2014

By Matthew J. Wald and Jad Mouawad

As he was preparing to leave Liberia for Dallas two weeks ago, Thomas E. Duncan, the man confirmed to be the first Ebola case in the United States, was checked at the airport for signs of the disease. He was determined to have no fever and allowed to board his flight, American officials say. 

UPDATE

Officials: ‘About 100′ people may have had contact with the Texas Ebola patient

WASHINGTON  POST   OCTOBER 2, 2014  10:03 AM

Texas health officials said Thursday that there are "about 100" people who may have had contact with Thomas Eric Duncan, the man who is being treated in a Dallas-area hospital for Ebola.

THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL    October 1, 2014

 By J. Peter Pham

....beyond the immediate tragedy, there are significant short, medium, and long-term impacts that we are not even beginning to address.

A patient was diagnosed with Ebola on Sept. 30 at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas.(Photo: Mike Stone, Getty Images)

THE WASHINGTON POST

By Mark Berman October 1 at 3:15 PM

The man in Texas who tested positive for Ebola told hospital officials he had traveled from West Africa when he sought treatment on Friday, but that information was not relayed to everyone treating him at that time, authorities said Wednesday.

As a result, the man was diagnosed with a “low-grade, common viral disease” and sent home that day, said Mark C. Lester, executive vice president of the health-care system that includes Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, the Dallas facility treating the Ebola patient.

“Regretfully, that information was not fully communicated throughout the full team,” Lester said during a news conference Wednesday. “As a result, the full import of that information wasn’t factored into the clinical decision-making.”

Updated with link to CDC statement (below)

The WASHINGTON post September 30 at 5:29 PM

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed the first case of Ebola that's been diagnosed in the United States.

The Texas Department of Health Services said in a statement that the patient is at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. The patient -- "an adult with a recent history of travel to West Africa" -- was admitted into an isolation unit at the hospital Sunday after developing Ebola-like symptoms "days after returning to Texas from West Africa."

The test, the Texas health department said, was conducted at the state public health laboratory in Austin and later confirmed by the CDC.

The state health lab got the ability to test for Ebola only last month, according to Carrie Williams, a spokeswoman with the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Link to full story