Ebola

Infections from the Ebola epidemic in Liberia and Sierra Leone could soar to 1.4 million cases by mid-January unless the global community mounts a rapid response to the West African crisis, according to new estimates released Tuesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This projection is based on a new CDC model that assumes people are being infected with Ebola at a geometrically increasing rate, and that there are 2.5 times more cases than are being reported. source: http://www.doctorslounge.com/index.php/news/hd/49775

Ebola maps: http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/maps/en/

Ebola panic spreads In West Africa... The Red Cross in Guinea said it had been forced to suspend operations after staff there were threatened by a knife-wielding gang in the southern town of Gueckedou. In Macenta, in southeastern Guinea, an angry mob attacked an MSF clinic, accusing the aidworkers of bringing in Ebola. "We've suspended operations for safety reasons," a Red Cross official in West Africa told Reuters, asking not to be named. "I imagine this won't be the last time this happens..." "There are a lot of myths, some think the government has planted it in opposition areas; others believe the disease is a punishment, or a result of witchcraft. "Some families believe that when their loved one goes into the ambulance they will be given an injection to kill them..." "People are scared of the survivors so those rare few who do recover from the disease are stigmatised..." Fieldworkers from MSF and the Red Cross, who have been threatened and attacked, report that villagers often refuse to believe that Ebola exists, because all information is gleaned from local leaders and witchdoctors, who have had no proper briefing from government on the disease... The current epidemic is already the worst in history, with 467 people dead and almost 300 other suspected or confirmed cases. And no cure exists. Health workers that are able to treat victims can only attempt to keep the victims comfortable and their temperatures down - and they must dress from head-to-toe in protective suits... "Some villages have refused to allow anyone in - including Ministry of Health officials. In one tragic case a family brought three bodies home that had been prepared for burial by the Ministry of Health. They opened one of the body bags to check no body parts had been removed: all the family now have Ebola." More often, misinformation is spreading faster than the health workers can counter it. Text messages have circulated in Guinea, according to Reuters, which claimed Senegalese researchers had found the cure for Ebola - a mixture of hot chocolate, Nescafe, milk, sugar and raw onions taken once a day for three days... In Kenema, Sierra Leone, rioting broke out as relatives attempted to force their way into an ambulance to retrieve a victim's body, to give him the traditional burial. Though Western aid organisations and governments want to convince the afflicted populations that witch doctors and traditional healers are not the answer to the epidemic, the reality is that Western medicine has no cure either. source: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/07/04/ebola-outbreak_n_5558170.html

A man has died of ebola in Lagos, the first confirmed case of the highly contagious and deadly virus in Africa's most populous metropolis. source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/25/first-case-ebola-lagos-nigeria?CMP=twt_gu

The hysteria caused by the spread of Ebola has led also to the spread of rumor and conspiracy theories. Angry crowds have accused foreigners of bringing the virus in their midst: In April, the threat of violence forced MSF to evacuate all its staff from a treatment center in Guinea. In Sierra Leone, which has the largest number of Ebola cases at present, thousands protested over the weekend outside the country's main Ebola treatment facility in the eastern city of Kenema. Police had to disperse the crowd with tear gas and a 9-year-old was injured in the leg by a police bullet, Reuters reports. The demonstration was sparked, the news agency claims, by a rumor spread in a nearby market that the disease was a ruse used to justify "cannibalistic rituals" being carried out in the hospital. source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/07/28/this-is-the-worst-ebola-outbreak-in-history-heres-why-you-should-be-worried/

In Liberia, parts of the medical system have effectively collapsed. Some hospitals and clinics have been abandoned, while others have become choked with Ebola patients. The hospitals of Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, are full of Ebola patients and are turning away new patients, including women in childbirth. American Ebola experts in Monrovia are hearing reports that infected bodies are being left in the streets; the outbreak is beginning to assume a medieval character. source: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/08/11/outbreak

Liberians have blocked major roads across the capital of the Ebola-hit west African nation to protest against dead bodies being left for days in houses and abandoned in the streets. source: http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/anger-rising-in-ebola-hit-liberia-6046649

Panic among local communities, which have attacked health workers and threatened to burn down isolation wards, prompted Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea to impose tough measures last week, including the closure of schools and the quarantine of the remote forest region hardest hit by the disease... A Reuters witness in the Liberian capital Monrovia said several clinics were spontaneously closing their doors as doctors were too afraid to treat patients. More than 60 doctors have already died of Ebola, hampering efforts to control the outbreak. Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), which normally spearheads the fight against Ebola, has only a small team in Liberia and says it does not have the capacity to increase it. Health workers say they are overwhelmed by the number of cases, a scenario exacerbated by the departure of some international staff following the infection of two U.S. staff of the Samaritan's Purse charity in Liberia. source: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/troops-deploy-sierra-leone-liberia-try-stop-ebola-143923199.html

Liberian officials fear Ebola could soon spread through the capital’s largest slum after residents raided a quarantine center for suspected patients and took items including blood-stained sheets and mattresses. The violence in the West Point slum occurred late Saturday and was led by residents angry that patients were brought to the holding center from other parts of Monrovia... West Point residents went on a “looting spree,” stealing items from the clinic that were likely infected... The residents took medical equipment and mattresses and sheets that had blood stains... Some of the looted items were visibly stained with blood, vomit and excrement. source: http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20140817/NEWS04/140819483

Heavy rioting is taking place in Monrovia as Liberian army troops and residents in the slum district of West Point clash, less than 24 hours after President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf announced a 9pm to 6am curfew and other stringent measures to contain the deadly Ebola outbreak... West Point is a slum community infested with hard core criminals and drugs users. source: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/167040-rioting-in-liberia-as-authorities-enforce-quarantine-to-check-ebola.html

The number of Ebola cases could start doubling every three weeks in West Africa, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. source: http://www.health24.com/Medical/infectious-diseases/Ebola/Ebola-cases-could- double-every-three-weeks-20140917

Nine members of a team trying to raise awareness about Ebola have been killed by villagers using machetes and clubs in Guinea, officials say. Some of the bodies - of health workers, local officials and journalists - were found in a septic tank in a village school near the city of Nzerekore. Correspondents say many villagers are suspicious of official attempts to combat the disease... BBC's Makeme Bamba in Guinea's capital, Conakry, says many villagers accuse the health workers of spreading the disease. Others still do not believe that the disease exists. source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29256443

The Guinean government said Thursday that eight delegation members had been killed, including several journalists, news agencies reported. There also were reports that 21 people had been injured... A local police officer, Richard Haba, said the villagers believed that Ebola “is nothing more than an invention of white people to kill black people.” source: http://www.latimes.com/world/africa/la-fg-attack-ebola-guinea-outreach-20140918-story.html

The number of Ebola cases in West Africa has been doubling about every three weeks. There is little evidence so far that the epidemic is losing momentum... Without immediate, concerted, bold action, the Ebola virus could become a global calamity on the scale of HIV. source: www.washingtonpost.com/3cad9e76-4fb2-11e4-8c24-487e92bc997b_story.html

Many countries and airlines banned travel to Guinea, Liberia, and Nigeria due to Ebola endemic. None of these countries are Western countries. details: https://www.internationalsos.com/ebola/index.cfm?content_id=435&language_id=ENG

Ebola is a 'plague' sent to punish ungodly Africans and sinners who have angered God and their ancestors, according to a government witch-doctor... Witch-doctors and preachers are increasingly being blamed for preventing ordinary Africans from complying with crucial hygiene methods... Unicef accuses these community leaders of being highly irresponsible - and claims by healers that they can make a direct 'cell phone call' to ancestors to drive away Ebola are making it worse. source: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2832986/