Health - US

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Tue, 2012-04-17 17:45 — mdmcdonald

This working group is focused on discussions about health.

The mission of this working group is to focus on discussions about health.

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Corey Watts	John Girard	jonber37	Kathy Gilbeaux	Lisa Stelly Thomas	Maeryn Obley
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Bats’ Link to Ebola Finally Solved

Thu, 2014-11-13 16:12 — mike kraft

THE DAILY BEAST Nov. 11, 2014
By Carfrie Arnold

A new paper outlines five steps required for a virus to ‘spill over’ from bats to humans. But don’t just blame the bats—deforestation and hunting are to blame, too.

These nocturnal fliers might do some good, but their association with night, rabies, and All Things Creepy means that, at best, we tolerate them. Adding to their negative aura is recent research showing that bats can be the source of infectious diseases like SARS and Ebola, as well as lesser-known pathogens like Hendra and Nipah virus.

It’s all too easy to blame bats for causing these human pandemics, including the most recent (and deadliest) Ebola outbreak. After all, these viruses hang out in bats in between outbreaks—trace any outbreak of these viruses back far enough and you will find a bat.

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Out of Africa — Caring for Patients with Ebola

Thu, 2014-11-13 14:40 — mike kraft

NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE Nov. 12, 2014

Eric J. Rubin, M.D., Ph.D., and Lindsey R. Baden, M.D.

The Journal has now published detailed clinical information about three patients transferred from West Africa to the United States or Germany in the midst of their illness.

See details of the treatment

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe1412744

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Out of Africa — Caring for Patients with Ebola

Thu, 2014-11-13 14:39 — mike kraft

NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE Nov. 12, 2014

Eric J. Rubin, M.D., Ph.D., and Lindsey R. Baden, M.D.

The Journal has now published detailed clinical information about three patients transferred from West Africa to the United States or Germany in the midst of their illness.

See detais of the treatment

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe1412744

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The economics of Ebola

Thu, 2014-11-13 11:43 — mike kraft

HOMELAND SECURITY NEWS WIRE Nov. 13, 2014
By Catherine de Fontenay
Economists are being called upon to estimate the costs of the Ebola epidemic to West Africa and elsewhere. Economists, however, should also play a part in estimating the likelihood of the disease spreading. Economics is the study of incentives, and many biological models of the spread of the disease may be underestimating the impact of individual incentives.

Based on cost-benefit analysis, the potential costs of Ebola spreading are extremely high and the risks may be much higher than they are currently portrayed. Voters and donors should support greater efforts to end Ebola in West Africa. As International Monetary Fund director Christine Lagarde says, “real action” is needed to counter the outbreak. Without such action Ebola places the global economy at risk.

...If Ebola spreads throughout West Africa, the cost could rise to US$32.6 billion by the end of 2015.
Read complete article
http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20141113-the-economics-of-ebola

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Q&A with Rajiv ‘Raj’ Shah, USAID administrator dealing with Ebola in Liberia

Thu, 2014-11-13 11:10 — mike kraft

WASHINGTON POST Nov. 13, 2014
By Joel Achenbach
Excerpt:

"We’re now dealing with an epidemic in a different phase, which is as many as 15 to 20 microepidemics around the country [Liberia] that require a more nimble and more rapid response. So we’re working with our partners to build rapid-response teams that can quickly get to a community, identify where there are clusters of cases, very rapidly stand up a community care center, or almost a mini-ETU [Ebola Treatment Unit], and have the protective equipment and connectivity back to laboratory diagnostics that allows for accelerated disease control of those epidemics."

USAID administrator Rajiv “Raj” Shah, second from right, inspects a newly built Ebola treatment center in Monrovia, Liberia, on Oct. 14. (Abbas Dulleh/AP)

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Are we asking the wrong questions about Ebola?

Thu, 2014-11-13 09:46 — mike kraft

BBC NEWS MAGAZINE NOV. 11, 2014

By Ben Carter

The Ebola virus has killed about 5,000 people since March - but one scientist who is studying the statistics says this is not the best figure to consider if we really want to understand the current state of the outbreak and how to beat it.

A total of 4,960 people have died from Ebola this year according to statistics released by the World Health Organisation on 4 November. More than half of those cases - 2,766 - were in Liberia.

But this cumulative figure, which is widely reported, can only go one way - up. It gives no meaningful insight into how the outbreak has developed says Hans Rosling, professor of global health at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden....

Read full story.
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30011521

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Health Officials Reassess Strategy to Combat Ebola in Liberia

Thu, 2014-11-13 09:32 — mike kraft

NEW YORK TIMES Nov. 13, 2014

By HELENE COOPER and SABRINA TAVERNISE

WASHINGTON — As the rate of new Ebola infections in Liberia has slowed, American and Liberian officials are debating whether to build all 17 planned Ebola treatment centers in the country or to shift money from the Obama administration that was planned for the centers into other programs to combat future outbreaks.

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Full Senate Committee on Appropriations Hearing on the U.S. Government Response to Ebola Outbreak

Wed, 2014-11-12 22:34 — Kathy Gilbeaux

appropriations.senate.gov - C-SPAN3 - November 12, 2014

Full Committee Hearing on the U.S. Government Response to the Ebola outbreak

WHEN:             WEDNESDAY, November 12, 2014 at 2:00 p.m.

WHERE:            Room SD-G50 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building

(VIEW THE RECORDED VIDEO IN THE LINKS BELOW)

http://www.appropriations.senate.gov/webcast/full-committee-hearing-us-government-response-fighting-ebola-and-protecting-america

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Lawmakers question Obama's $6-billion request for Ebola funding

Wed, 2014-11-12 19:45 — mike kraft

LOS ANGELES TIMES Nov. 12, 2014
By Matt Hansen
Weighing President Obama’s request for billions of dollars in new funding to combat the Ebola virus, lawmakers on Wednesday pressed federal agencies to explain how the additional money would help in the fight against the disease.

Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee debated Obama’s request for $6.18 billion in additional funds to battle the virus, which has infected more than 13,000 people, mostly in West Africa...

Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson appear before the Senate Appropriations Committee during a hearing Tuesday in Washington over the government's response to Ebola. (Michael Reynolds / European Pressphoto Agency)

... the request faced skeptical lawmakers who questioned whether additional money would be well spent by a federal government that has struggled at times with containing the epidemic.

“Instead of an effective response, what we’ve witnessed from various agencies is confusing and at times contradictory plans,” Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) said.

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US Scales Back Ebola Response Numbers

Wed, 2014-11-12 19:11 — mike kraft

VOICE OF AMERICAN Nov.12, 2012
By Carla Babb
PENTAGON--The U.S. military says it is scaling back its planned Ebola response deployments to West Africa from 4,000 troops to 3,000.

FILE- Members of the U.S. Department of Defense's Ebola Military Medical Support Team go through special training at San Antonio Military Medical Center.

Major General Gary Volesky, who heads the U.S. military's response to the Ebola outbreak, said in a call to reporters at the Pentagon from Liberia the United States does not need 4,000 troops to fight Ebola in West Africa. He said the troop total will increase from about 2,200 today to just under 3,000 by mid-December.

"There is a lot of capacity here that we did not know about before, and so that enabled us to reduce the forces that we thought we originally had to bring," said Volesky....

See complete story
http://www.voanews.com/content/us-scales-back-ebola-response-numbers/2518196.html

Link to Defense Department announcement

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