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pheasant
Admin Group Joined: May 20 2006 Location: Florida Status: Offline Points: 9851 |
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Posted: September 12 2014 at 4:21pm |
Inability to contain Ebola sparks fears of virus going airborne
Published September 12, 2014 FoxNews.com A banner reading 'Ebola is real, Protect yourself and your family', warns people of the Ebola virus in Monrovia, Liberia, Saturday Aug. 2, 2014. An Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 700 people in West Africa is moving faster than efforts to control the disease, the head of the World Health Organization warned, as presidents from the affected countries met Friday in Guinea's capital. (AP Photo/Abbas Dulleh) The World Health Organization's (WHO) recent prediction that the Ebola epidemic in West Africa could afflict more than 20,000 people before it’s brought under control is sparking fear among some about what may happen if the virus goes airborne. “The [estimate of 20,000] assumes full international backing for an intervention to control the deadly outbreak,” econometrics research assistant Francis Smart told WND.com. “Failure to support the WHO’s plan presumably would cause the disease to spread in a similar manner as it already has,” Smart said. The WHO projects six months will be the minimum amount of time needed to contain the epidemic. However, Canadian researchers say the strain of Ebola afflicting West Africa can be transmitted between humans by breathing, opening up the possibility of the virus going airborne. Suspected cases of airborne infection have already been reported in monkeys in laboratories. “The possibility of it becoming airborne could result in a global spread of the disease resulting in [an] unprecedented number of deaths world-wide -- it is more than prudent to heavily invest in controlling the number of new patients infected by this disease,” Smart told WND.com. Smart’s predictions come on the heels of a warning from the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who said the outbreak was “spiraling out of control.” “Guinea did show that with action, they brought it partially under control. But unfortunately it is back on the increase now,” CDC's Dr. Thomas Kenyon said. “It’s not under control anymore,” adding the window of opportunity for controlling it was closing. Kenyon also warned that the longer the outbreak went uncontained, the greater the possibility the virus could mutate. Ebola has killed about 2,300 people with no sign of slowing six months after the outbreak began. The disease is taking a particularly heavy toll on health care workers, whose jobs put them at high risk because Ebola is only transmitted through contact with the bodily fluids of people showing symptoms or dead bodies. More than 135 health workers have died in the outbreak so far, exacerbating shortages of doctors and nurses in countries that already had too few medical workers to begin with. Sierra Leone and Liberia have been especially hard hit, and officials have warned that both countries could see a surge in cases soon. Sierra Leone is expecting to uncover potentially hundreds of new cases when volunteers go house to house looking for the sick during a three-day lockdown later this month. The WHO has said Liberia could see many thousands of new cases in the coming weeks. "We are at war with an enemy that we don't see," Liberian Finance Minister Amara Konneh told reporters. "And we have to win the war." But he said Liberia would be dependent on international assistance to do so. The U.N. has said at least $600 million is needed to fight Ebola in West Africa, and already several pledges have come in. The United States has spent $100 million so far, with more promised, and Britain has given $40 million. Click here for more from WND.com http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/09/12/inability-to-contain-ebola-sparks-fears-virus-going-airborne/ THIS>>>>>> "However, Canadian researchers say the strain of Ebola afflicting West Africa can be transmitted between humans by breathing, opening up the possibility of the virus going airborne. Suspected cases of airborne infection have already been reported in monkeys in laboratories." What am i missing here, i thought the Canadian study was on reston?? |
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The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself......FDR
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pheasant
Admin Group Joined: May 20 2006 Location: Florida Status: Offline Points: 9851 |
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Here is another one,
‘It doesn’t make sense’: Concerns over enlisting DOD in Ebola response By Lucas Tomlinson Published September 12, 2014 FoxNews.com 4 Liberia Ebola_Cawl.jpg Sept. 10, 2014: Health workers load the body of a woman they suspect died from the Ebola virus onto a truck in Monrovia, Liberia. (AP) The Obama administration’s decision to enlist the Defense Department in responding to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is raising concerns that the task is pulling the already-stretched military away from other missions, including vital counterterrorism operations. “We don’t need to be taking planners away from the CT [counterterrorism] mission, and that is what is going on,” a Defense Department source told Fox News. ADVERTISEMENT USAID and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are already involved, but President Obama said in an interview last weekend that the U.S. military is being brought in to help stanch the deadly epidemic. Obama said the military could help set up isolation units and provide security for health workers, among other tasks. But the decision comes as the military is already engaged in counterterrorism operations in Africa, and as the president expands the campaign in the Middle East against the Islamic State. The Defense source said the White House is behind the move to involve the Defense Department, and a meeting of key leaders was set up for Friday afternoon at the White House. White House spokesman Josh Earnest announced that Obama will visit the CDC in Atlanta on Tuesday to receive a briefing on Ebola and thank scientists for their effort combating the disease. But the Defense source said that military leaders were “cornered” by the White House with the response mission, and that USAID and CDC are “begging” for military help when they should be the “lead.” The source said the government is turning to DOD because the NGOs that agencies typically work with on the ground have fled. A USAID official denies the agency has asked DoD to “take the lead” with Ebola. “It’s an interagency response, we all have a role to play.” With the military stretched as it is, the source said, “Africa Command has Libya, LRA (in Uganda), Somalia, Nigeria to worry about.” But the source said Africa Command, or AFRICOM, has been furiously preparing its plans all the same. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon, R-Calif., at an American Enterprise Institute address on Thursday, also raised concerns about the military being tapped for this mission. “We keep asking our military to do more and more. The other day I saw that they’re going to be asked to go help solve the Ebola crisis,” McKeon said. “And at the same time we’re saying go do this, and then taking away their resources with the other hand – it doesn’t make sense.” The Washington Post reported that Laurie Garrett, a health expert with the Council on Foreign Relations, echoed that point, saying “the cavalry is not going to ride to the rescue.” According to the Post, Defense Department spending has decreased 21 percent since 2010. But as part of the first steps in tackling the Ebola crisis, the Pentagon is sending health workers in Liberia a “25-bed facility,” according to Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby. USAID has not yet responded to a request for comment on how the departure of NGOs has hurt the response effort. The efforts come amid dire warnings about the possibility that Ebola could spread, mutate or both. Obama defended the decision to bring in the military in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” calling it a “national security priority.” “If we don't make that effort now, and this spreads not just through Africa, but other parts of the world, there's the prospect then that the virus mutates, it becomes more easily transmittable, and then it could be a serious danger to the United States,” he said. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, also wrote in The New York Times that a possibility experts are reluctant to acknowledge publicly is that “an Ebola virus could mutate to become transmissible through the air.” It is currently only transmitted by contact with bodily fluids. The other U.S. lead agencies are also expanding their role in Africa. USAID announced earlier this week that U.S. funding will be used to transport 100 health workers to the region, part of the United States’ $100 million response to date. “The U.S. is committed to supporting the African Union's response to the urgent needs across West Africa as a result of this vicious disease. We can and will stop this epidemic, but it will take a coordinated effort by the entire global community,” USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah said in a statement. The White House is also seeking another $88 million from Congress for the CDC’s efforts, according to a senior administration official. FoxNews.com’s Judson Berger contributed to this report http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/09/12/it-doesnt-make-sense-concerns-over-tasking-dod-with-ebola-mission-amid/ This is what i thought was most telling in this story>>> "Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, also wrote in The New York Times that a possibility experts are reluctant to acknowledge publicly is that “an Ebola virus could mutate to become transmissible through the air.” It is currently only transmitted by contact with bodily fluids." |
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The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself......FDR
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Technophobe
Assistant Admin Joined: January 16 2014 Location: Scotland Status: Offline Points: 88450 |
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Fox news did the usual. The airborne thing is a misunderstanding of droplet infection. The "airborne" in the lab was ebola reston (not a human version) and it was not actually airborne. If some scientists can not understand the difference, what chance an alarmist news channel?
The rest of both your reports are terrifying. |
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How do you tell if a politician is lying?
His lips or pen are moving. |
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