Tuesday, October 07, 2014

Ebola --- October 7, 2014 - UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE DAY







About that Spanish nurse:

USAToday: Spain investigates Ebola nurse

Spanish nurse’s Ebola infection blamed on substandard equipment
Staff at Madrid’s Carlos III hospital say protective suits do not meet WHO standards as second nurse undergoes tests for virus

Spain Seeks People in Contact With Ebola-Infected Nurse 
no mention yet about location of vacation...her husband is also in isolation..she was in the Valecia region (from video)
" The nurse went on vacation after treating the priest, with whom she was in contact twice, once before and once after his death, Vinuesa Sebastian said. "

ABCNews: Spain Quarantines 3 More After Nurse Gets Ebola


LATimes: Some Ebola experts worry virus may spread more easily than assumed


More about Ashoka Muckpo, photographer treated in Nebraska

CTV: Experimental Ebola treatments at a glance

Devastating news from the Ebola clinic

The day ends with the burial teams throwing their protective clothing - gloves, masks and body suits - into the last grave. It's starting to rain again. We remove our protective suits and put them in a yellow biohazard bag, which the burial team disposes of.

************
10/6/2014 Haaretz:
Amid spread of Ebola, Israel to tighten border control and issue travel advisory


Israel steps up fight against Ebola in Africa Three teams of medical professionals, along with mobile emergency clinics, will be sent to West Africa. 

08/04/2014 JPost: Israeli Ebola researcher unique in learning how some victims survive 
“There is general hysteria in the West about Ebola fever, but it is overblown,” the American- born Lobel said in an interview on Monday with The Jerusalem Post.

“The risks to Israel are very minimal. The only way for it to spread is through an infected traveler on plane. But if that ever happened, Israel has a security and medical system that is second to none. Infected individuals, before they appear sick, could possibly board a plane and come here. However, sick individuals would be effectively quarantined in Israel and the infection would be rapidly controlled,” Lobel said.

Norwegian woman infected with Ebola

Doctors Without Borders confirms that one of our organization’s Norwegian field workers in Sierra Leone has tested positive and has been diagnosed with bleeding fever ebola, confirms Anne Cecilie Kalteborn in MSF’s Norway branch to Norwegian media VG. The Norwegian health worker is tonight being flown with an ambulance flight from the capital Sierra Leone. She will probably land in Norway Monday night or Tuesday night.- We are working to transport our colleague home as soon as possible, says Kaltebotn.

The woman, who has been working for MSF in Sierra Leone’s second city Bo, has according to VG’s sources been feeling increasingly ill during the weekend.

When the symptoms of Ebola, fever and sickness, were felt, she was put in isolation and lab-tests proved she was infected.

- This is a situation we take very seriously, says the Norwegian Foreign Department.

The woman will be flown to Oslo’s main hospital, Ullevål, were a full team of doctor’s are ready to receive her.

Bo is a district in Sierra Leone that is badly hit by the epidemic: 227 suspected cases are reported in the area were the Norwegian woman was infected.

*****

Husband of Spanish nurse who contracted Ebola is among FOUR in hospital as it is revealed she complained of symptoms a week ago but was ignored

.............."It's also since emerged that a week before she tested positive for Ebola she had contacted health workers to complain of a fever and fatigue, telling them she had helped treat two priests who contracted Ebola in Africa and were repatriated to Spain.

But it wasn't until she went to her local hospital on Monday that she was finally admitted and tested for the virus. "......."But last night staff at the Carlos III hospital where she worked claimed the protective suits they were given were not good enough.
Unnamed sources told Spanish daily El Pais the suits did not meet World Health Organisation standards.
They said the suits they were issued with were permeable and lacked breathing apparatus."...."Dr Ben Neuman, Lecturer in Virology, University of Reading, said: 'Nurses face a problem in that a person who is sick with Ebola can make quite a lot of highly infectious waste, as the patient loses fluid through diarrhoea and vomiting. Those bodily fluids can contain millions of Ebola viruses, and it only takes one to transfer the infection.

'The protective suits that Ebola workers wear provide excellent protection, but there is a danger when it is time to take the suit off. It is also possible that a tiny amount of Ebola-containing liquid splashed on the protective garments, and then was transferred to her skin while removing the protective clothing.

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Estimating the Future Number of Cases in the Ebola Epidemic — Liberia and Sierra Leone, 2014–2015

(charts illustrate the numbers soar through the roof)

**for a disease that is characterized as 'difficult to catch', and 'not likely to spread'
Prof Jonathan Ball, Professor of Molecular Virology at the University of Nottingham, said: 'If appropriate containment measures were adopted this really should not have happened.

'It will be crucial to find out what went wrong in this case so necessary measures can be taken to ensure it doesn't happen again.

'As the African outbreak perfectly illustrates, healthcare workers put their life on the line, so everything should be done to ensure that risks are minimised as much as possible.

'As for the suggestion of screening people as they arrive at airports, this would only work if people were already showing symptoms.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2783332/Husband-Spanish-nurse-contracted-Ebola-quarantine-health-authorities-admit-DON-T-KNOW-contracted-virus.html#ixzz3FT31Tbry
Professor Alessandro Vespignani of Northeastern University in Boston, who led the research, said:"...'Air traffic is the driver."..."


Do Healthcare Workers treating Ebola patients demand Level 4 protection? 

From what I understand this was adapted from WHO/UN recommendations, so that could be why the nurse in Spain was not fully protected.

CDC Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations

Question...How many hospitals are equipped with level 4 suits?

*****************
From a commenter who listens to Spanish radio, and has information to offer on the Spanish nurse:

Livius

I listen to Spanish radio, and this morning they said that person in question was a nurse’s aide, actually, and not a nurse. She only entered the room of the missionary twice, once just to check on him - and once after he had died, when she had to help clean out the room (remove the sheets, etc.). So probably during that process, she came into contact with soiled bedding or some other article.

She seems to have been suited up appropriately, and right now, although she says she followed all the procedures, didn’t have a torn glove or anything like that, they believe that she must have slipped up somewhere along the line and touched something contaminated.

The other people in the hospital now are her husband, one of her coworkers, and someone who arrived from Africa; none of them have been diagnosed with ebola yet, although I think the coworker has a fever. The other two are in isolation because of close contact with her or, in the case of the African, with somebody else who had ebola.

I don’t think it’s airborne, but it does seem as if it might be easier to get than people think. I wonder also if there are different strains of it, some more aggressive than others?


Livius

Oh, by the way, when the nurse’s aide felt sick, she went and sat in the urgent care clinic of her local general hospital (not the bigger hospital that she worked at) for 4 hours - surrounded by other patients, having her temperature taken, etc. - until finally she mentioned to the medical staff that she had been in contact with an ebola patient.

She was immediately put in isolation and then sent back to the other hospital, but nobody understands why she didn’t go there right off, as soon as she felt even slightly sick. Instead, she went out and exposed large numbers of people and health care professionals to the disease.

I heard an interview with the nurses, and they’re pretty nervous, understandably.

Ah, human stupidity. The most effective vector...

UPDATE ---

US Political responses thus far:

Oct. 2, 2014: Ted Cruz Asks FAA About Ebola Flight Ban

10/3/2014 Bobby Jindal: Ban travel from Ebola nations

October 6, 2014: Leading Republicans press for limits on travel to prevent spread of Ebola

10/3/2014: US faces flight ban calls over Ebola

"High quality global journalism requires investment.

Senator Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican, has said a flight ban should be considered, and Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, slammed the White House’s “unclear approach” and called for airports to take every precaution.


vs.

Senate Dem Draws a Blank When Asked about Obama’s Ebola Policy

"While United and Delta airlines are the only US-based operators serving Africa, heightened Ebola vigilance would require a broad net, covering travellers on other non-stop flights from the continent and those who connect via European carriers in hubs such as London and Paris. Fliers at risk would then need to be scrutinised for any history of exposure to the disease."

Bloomberg 10/06/2014: Why Politicians Should Stop Pushing for an Ebola Travel Ban 

DallasNews 10/06/2014: White House sees low risk of US Ebola outbreak, no need for travel ban

Sydney Morning Herald, 10/07/2014: How the world let Ebola spread

FirstPost.com 10/07/2014: Fight against Ebola a top national security priority, says Barack Obama

Cache of Bloomberg article, high lighted at Drudge in red ink:

Several Dozen U.S. Troops to Have Contact Testing Ebola 
By David Lerman Oct 7, 2014 12:31 PM ET
A few dozen U.S. troops will have direct exposure to potential Ebola patients by running testing labs in Liberia, the head of U.S. Africa Command said for the first time today.

While most of the 4,000 troops authorized to deploy to the west African country won’t have direct contact with victims of the virus -- as Pentagon officials have previously emphasized -- three or four specially trained personnel will run each of as many as seven testing labs, Army General David Rodriguez said at a Pentagon news conference.

“They are specifically trained to do that,” Rodriguez said of the lab personnel, which he called a “specialty element” of the larger force. .

Lab personnel will wear full protective gear, he said.

Three labs already have been set up in the country to respond to the epidemic and the military has received a request for four more, Rodriguez said.

Most of the troops in Liberia will focus on logistics, training and engineering support and won’t have direct contact with potential Ebola victims, he said. Troops are helping to build treatment centers.

The U.S. mission in Liberia, which may last for about a year, is likely to cost about $750 million for the next six months, he said. "


Politico 10/07/2014: DOD Ebola fight could last a year or more

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/ebola-us-troops-111668.html#ixzz3FTzDX25G


Madrid to kill dog of nursing aide who got Ebola


From AOW....Take note of this, which appeared at the WaPo a few hours ago:
The nurse became infected at Madrid's Carlos III hospital while treating Manuel Garcia Viejo, a priest who contracted the virus in West Africa. The woman, a "sanitary technician," entered Garcia Viejo's room only twice, according to Spanish officials.

In one case, she entered the room to change his diaper; another time, after he had died, she entered to collect his belongings, according to Mercedes Vinuesa Sebastian, Spain's public health director. Both times, the nurse wore personal protective equipment.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

WHO: Ebola spread 'unavoidable' in Europe due to extensive travel
Published time: October 07, 2014 14:04
Edited time: October 07, 2014 15:33
Get short URL

Anonymous said...

UKDailyMail 10/7/2014: Epidemiologist says US must stop all flights from Ebola-stricken West Africa to prevent more outbreaks in America
David Dausey, a Yale-educated disease researcher, has argued that the bungled handling of the Thomas Eric Duncan case proves the US must close its borders to keep Ebola out of the country
He is one of the first experts to advocate the closing of borders
The CDC maintains that blocking flights from West Africa would make the Ebola outbreak there worse by hurting the local economy





Anonymous said...

Oct. 7, 2014: ABCNews:
Coast Guard Issues New Protocols to Prevent Ebola
via AP
One U.S. Coast Guard sector says it will contact ships that have recently been to Ebola-affected countries to ask whether passengers have symptoms of the virus before they are allowed into port.

It issued a bulletin to the maritime community in Long Island Sound, which includes parts of New York and Connecticut, on Monday. The bulletin describes protocols being put into place due to Ebola. It did not immediately say whether the protocols were being used nationwide.

The Coast Guard says the policy applies to vessels have been to an affected country within its last five ports of call.

The Obama administration is considering whether to institute extra screening at airports to check passengers coming from Ebola-stricken countries. It has said it won't shut down flights from those countries.

Anonymous said...

The above USNavy ebola notice was issued in August:

This bulletin was issued August 7th, 2014.

http://www.uscg.mil/msib/

http://www.uscg.mil/msib/docs/012_14_8-7-2014.pdf

Anonymous said...

Anxiety amongst airline employees is evident too:

Fear of Ebola sky-high among Air France workers


Airline investors spooked by Ebola: International Air Transport Association report


Ebola is on the move, and that doesn't bode well for transportation companies such as airlines.


United States experts unsure about viability of plans for Ebola screening for airline passengers
"While United and Delta airlines are the only US-based operators serving Africa, heightened Ebola vigilance would require a broad net, covering travellers on other non-stop flights from the continent and those who connect via European carriers in hubs such as London and Paris. Fliers at risk would then need to be scrutinised for any history of exposure to the disease."


Bloomberg 10/06/2014: Why Politicians Should Stop Pushing for an Ebola Travel Ban

DallasNews 10/06/2014: White House sees low risk of US Ebola outbreak, no need for travel ban

Sydney Morning Herald, 10/07/2014: How the world let Ebola spread

FirstPost.com 10/07/2014: Fight against Ebola a top national security priority, says Barack Obama

Anonymous said...

Cache of Bloomberg article, high lighted at Drudge in red ink:

Several Dozen U.S. Troops to Have Contact Testing Ebola
By David Lerman Oct 7, 2014 12:31 PM ET
A few dozen U.S. troops will have direct exposure to potential Ebola patients by running testing labs in Liberia, the head of U.S. Africa Command said for the first time today.

While most of the 4,000 troops authorized to deploy to the west African country won’t have direct contact with victims of the virus -- as Pentagon officials have previously emphasized -- three or four specially trained personnel will run each of as many as seven testing labs, Army General David Rodriguez said at a Pentagon news conference.

“They are specifically trained to do that,” Rodriguez said of the lab personnel, which he called a “specialty element” of the larger force. .

Lab personnel will wear full protective gear, he said.

Three labs already have been set up in the country to respond to the epidemic and the military has received a request for four more, Rodriguez said.

Most of the troops in Liberia will focus on logistics, training and engineering support and won’t have direct contact with potential Ebola victims, he said. Troops are helping to build treatment centers.

The U.S. mission in Liberia, which may last for about a year, is likely to cost about $750 million for the next six months, he said. "

Anonymous said...

Politico 10/07/2014: DOD Ebola fight could last a year or more

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/ebola-us-troops-111668.html#ixzz3FTzDX25G

Anonymous said...

Nebraska Medical Center Ebola patient to receive different experimental drug

Always On Watch said...

YE, GODS!

The genie is out of the bottle!