Ebola may be mutating

[Peter1469]

Ebola may be mutating

Ebola is a very deadly disease, and that is its weakness- it burns itself out fast because it kills to many hosts.

That may be changing....

Only a day after the World Health Organization announced that an end was in sight for the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, scientists had less uplifting news: The virus may be mutating.


“The response to the EVD (Ebola virus disease) epidemic has now moved to a second phase, as the focus shifts from slowing transmission to ending the epidemic,” the WHO said in its latest report on the disease yesterday. There were 99 confirmed new cases last week, the lowest number since June.


But researchers at the Institut Pasteur, the French medical-research organization that first identified the outbreak in Guinea last March, said that they’re trying to determine whether the Ebola virus is becoming more contagious.

[Private Pickle]

Ebola may be mutating

Ebola is a very deadly disease, and that is its weakness- it burns itself out fast because it kills to many hosts.

That may be changing....

By "more contagious" they mean airborne.

[Peter1469]

By "more contagious" they mean airborne.

They have not admitted to that yet.

[Private Pickle]

They have not admitted to that yet.

Right.

[waltky]

‘Superspreaders’ spread Ebola...

‘Superspreaders’ passed on Ebola
Wed, Feb 15, 2017 - Most of the people infected with Ebola in the West Africa epidemic that began in 2014 got sick through contact with a small number of “superspreaders” with the disease, researchers said on Monday.

The study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows such “superspreaders” can be extremely dangerous when it comes to infectious disease outbreaks. The West African Ebola epidemic was the largest in history and killed more than 11,300 people, with many of the cases involving people infected while caring for a sick person or burying a body. “We now see the role of superspreaders as larger than initially suspected,” said coauthor Benjamin Dalziel, an assistant professor of population biology in the College of Science at Oregon State University. “It was the cases you didn’t see that really drove the epidemic, particularly people who died at home, without making it to a care center.”

At the time, researchers counted cases according to those seen in medical centers, but they later realized these were a small fraction of the total. “There wasn’t a lot of transmission once people reached hospitals and care centers,” Dalziel said. “In our analysis we were able to see a web of transmission that would often track back to a community-based superspreader,” he said. Researchers said 61 percent of those infected with the disease caught it from people accounting for just 3 percent of those who got sick.

The study included researchers from Princeton University, Oregon State University, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the Imperial College London and the US National Institutes of Health. If superspreading had been completely under control about two-thirds of Ebola cases could have been avoided, the report said. Superspreaders have also played a role in the epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, in 2003 and Middle East respiratory syndrome in 2012.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worl.../15/2003665042

[Peter1469]

That seems common with communicable diseases.

[waltky]

So. Sudan partially closes border due to ebola scare...

South Sudan State Partially Closes Border in Ebola Scare
May 23, 2017 - State authorities in South Sudan closed part of their border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo last week in an effort to prevent the spread of the deadly Ebola outbreak, declared by the World Health Organization in a remote, northern part of the DRC two weeks ago.

The WHO has confirmed that four people have died from the disease in the DRC. Lino Utu, deputy governor of Tambura state, said the movement of people and goods between the two countries at the border town of Ezo had been restricted until further notice. "We closed the border temporarily because of Ebola," Utu said. "We have been told it has been found in DR-Congo. If we leave the border open, it can trickle down to Tambura state." He said the area along the border with the DRC had been teeming with activity, "because it is where the people from the Democratic Republic of the Congo bring in their goods, and also the people from Tambura state bring in their goods. It's a big market."

A health worker sprays a colleague with disinfectant during a training session for Congolese health workers to deal with Ebola virus in Kinshasa

Uto said doctors have confirmed that Ebola can be found in bushmeat, so state officials have temporarily banned the sale of all bushmeat in the markets. "We cannot allow bushmeat to be sold any longer because people can easily contract Ebola from meat," Utu said. The minister of health was informed about Tambura's move to close the border at Ezo on Tuesday. Utu said international health workers, including those with the WHO, are partnering with local officials to educate the public about how Ebola is spread. "This is awareness that has been going on and on and on," he added. Utu is appealing to the WHO to send experts to Tambura to screen people for the deadly virus "and advise us in other areas as far as how Ebola is contracted and how we can prevent the spread of Ebola," he said, adding, "I really need them to come to us on the ground in Tambura state."

A woman sells monkey meat in a market in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo

Authorities in Gbudue state, which also runs along the DRC, have banned the sale of bushmeat in Yambio markets, but have kept border crossing points open. The Gbudue state minister for information, Gibson Bullen Wande, said wildlife officials are creating awareness about the dangers of eating bushmeat. He said state officials and nongovernmental organization health partners have trained and deployed health workers along the border to monitor movement of traders. "We have also left some medical workers along those areas to let them monitor," he said. Bullen said as far as he is concerned, it is the responsibility of the national government to decide whether to close the border between the two countries. On Tuesday, the state director of wildlife went on the air to warn people against eating bushmeat. "We are going to ban the sale of all bushmeat or any trading of the bushmeat [because] those are the things that people get Ebola from," Bullen said.


http://www.voanews.com/a/ebola-south...r/3867797.html

[waltky]

Congo Ebola not a global health emergency quite yet...

WHO: Congo Ebola not a global health emergency
May 19, 2018 -- Two more cases of Ebola have been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo city of Mbandaka, bringing the total to three.

Despite more breakouts, The World Health Organization on Friday said the crisis being labeled an international health emergency is not warranted. The new cases of Ebola in the Congo take the number of suspected infections to 43, according to the health minister. Outbreaks were previously reported in remote areas.

Despite new cases of Ebola reported in a Congo city of 1.2 million, the World Health Organization on Friday said the crisis being labeled an international health emergency is not warranted.

Friday's meeting was called because Mbandaka is a sprawling city of 1.2 million people, and also because the city sits on the banks of the Congo River and is a major trade thoroughfare. Nine neighboring countries, including Congo-Brazzaville and Central African Republic, have been advised they are at high risk of spread for the disease, according to a WHO statement.

Officials in the meeting concluded because the response government and health officials has been rapid and comprehensive, conditions were not met for an international health emergency. "Interventions underway provide strong reason to believe that the outbreak can be brought under control," according to the statement, To reinforce health services, the country is receiving international aid and on Sunday, vaccinations will begin.

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-N...l&utm_medium=4

See also:

Congo reports one new Ebola death, prepares for vaccinations
May 20, 2018 -- The Democratic Republic of Congo's health ministry announced a new death in the Ebola outbreak Sunday, as the city of Mbandaka prepares to administer vaccinations.

A total of 26 people have died in Congo's Equateur province since the outbreak began and four new cases of Ebola virus have been confirmed by the country's health ministry. There have been 46 total cases of the hemorrhagic fever reported, including 21 confirmed cases of Ebola, 21 probable cases and four suspected cases.

Health authorities plan to begin administering vaccines in Mbandaka, which is home to 1.2 million people, on Monday in an attempt to "ringfence" the outbreak and keep it from spreading. About 4,000 doses of the vaccine have been delivered to the country and officials said more are expected to arrive.

Visitors are screened for the Ebola virus at the Economic Community of West African States Parliament secretariat in Abuja, Nigeria. A total of 26 people have died from the virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo,as health organizations prepare to administer vaccines on Monday.

Congo Minister of Health Oly Ilunga said the vaccines would initially target a group of about 600 people, including "the health staff, the contacts of the sick and the contacts of the contacts."

The World Health Organization on Friday advised nine neighboring countries, including Congo-Brazzaville and Central African Republic, they are at high risk of spread for the disease. The WHO also determined the outbreak shouldn't be considered an international health emergency.

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-N...l&utm_medium=1

[Peter1469]

This city does have what looks like a regional airport. It Ebola continues to spread in the city (of 1.2M) it makes it more likely that an infected person travels by air.

Congo Ebola not a global health emergency quite yet...

WHO: Congo Ebola not a global health emergency
May 19, 2018 -- Two more cases of Ebola have been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo city of Mbandaka, bringing the total to three.


See also:

Congo reports one new Ebola death, prepares for vaccinations
May 20, 2018 -- The Democratic Republic of Congo's health ministry announced a new death in the Ebola outbreak Sunday, as the city of Mbandaka prepares to administer vaccinations.

[Peter1469]

The US is going to send $8M to help out with the outbreak- along with CDC personnel and assets.

The United States has pledged to provide $8 million to support the global response to the growing Ebola outbreak in Congo, officials said Tuesday. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced a $7 million commitment Tuesday at the World Health Assembly in Geneva that added to an initial $1 million pledge last week.The outbreak, the most serious since the 2014 West Africa epidemic that killed more than 11,000 people, does not yet meet the criteria to be declared an international public health emergency, the World Health Organization said Friday. But in a statement, the WHO said that “a vigorous response” from the international community is needed to prevent a sharp escalation in the outbreak.


The discovery of at least one case in Mbandaka, a densely populated port city on the eastern bank of the Congo River, has raised concerns about the potential for rapid spread of the disease, which had previously been limited to a remote area in the rain forest of Congo’s Equateur province. As of late Friday, the Congolese health ministry reported four confirmed cases in the Mbandaka area.


At the World Health Assembly in Geneva on Tuesday, WHO officials said that there are 51 confirmed or probable cases of Ebola in the outbreak, and that 27 of those people have died. Hundreds of people have been in contact with infected people and are being monitored, and they are candidates for the first round of an experimental vaccination campaign that began Monday.


WHO officials estimate that outbreak-control efforts will cost $26 million over the next three months. As of Friday, the WHO had received commitments for about $9 million.


“So we are about 17 million short,” Peter Salama, the WHO’s lead official in charge of epidemic response, said at a news conference in Geneva on Friday. That may sound like a considerable amount, he said, but not compared with the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, which cost between $3 billion and $4 billion. “So this is a relatively small investment to stamp out a small outbreak quickly, for a major gain in lives saved, but also in dollars saved,” he said.