Breaking News – Page 2

The next Ebola?

Written on April 28, 2015. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, Health News, Opinion News, Science News.

Since the first outbreaks of Ebola virus disease in 1976, there have been numerous other outbreaks in humans across Africa with fatality rates ranging from 50% to 90%. Humans can become infected with the Ebola virus after direct contact with blood or bodily fluids from an infected person or animal. The virus also infects and kills other primates, though fruit bats are suspected to be the most likely carriers of the virus in the wild. In the countries...

Where did the Ebola Virus come from?

Written on April 27, 2015. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, Health News.

WHERE DID THE EBOLA VIRUS COME FROM? Ebola is one of about 177 pathogens that are considered to be newly emerging diseases. These diseases are generally zoonotic diseases. Animal diseases that have jumped species. A familiar example of a zoonotic disease is measles, which is derived from dog distemper. For the past thirty years, forty-one previously unrecognized human infectious diseases have jumped from their normal animal hosts to human...

Ebola closed schools reopen across West Africa

Written on April 27, 2015. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, Government News, World News.

Almost 2 million children in Sierra Leone have returned to school after an eight month break due to Ebola. The Government of Sierra Leone and UNICEF along with other partners are working to ensure that children are safe through teacher training, hand-washing and regular temperature checks. Similar safety standards are in place in Liberia and Guinea, where schools reopened in January and February. In Guinea, more than 1.3 million children have returned...

Ebola Outbreak Leads To Thousands of Malaria Deaths

Written on April 24, 2015. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, Health News, Travel, World News.

According to new research, nearly 11,000 extra malaria deaths may have occurred last year due to the disruption of healthcare services in West Africa currently experiencing widespread Ebola virus outbreaks. A further 3,900 deaths may have resulted from interruptions in the delivery of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITN), according to outbreak modelling data published in The Lancet on the eve of World Malaria Day. This suggested the haemorrhagic...

5.3M Hens to Be Killed to Slow Bird Flu Outbreak

Written on April 21, 2015. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, Health News, Personal Safety, USA News.

In an effort to stop an outbreak of bird flu that could devastate Iowa’s poultry population, state health officials announced they will destroy up to 5.3 million hens to keep the virus from spreading. The fast-moving virus was confirmed on Monday at a chicken laying facility in Osceola County, Iowa. The birds compromise nearly 10 percent of Iowa’s egg-laying poultry population, according to the Associated Press. However, officials are...

New Ebola Study Uncovers Potential Drug Target

Written on April 10, 2015. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, Science News.

Every bit of news about a possible therapy is cause for excitement when it comes to Ebola, the deadly viral haemorrhagic fever that is still ravaging West Africa. Scientists at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute have hit on a candidate. In a new study in the journal Science, they suggest that tetrandrine, a compound found naturally in Stephania tetrandra, a climbing plant and component of traditional Chinese medicines, could effectively fight...

10 New Ebola Cases Discovered During Sierra Leone’s Lockdown

Written on April 1, 2015. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, World News.

Ten new cases of Ebola infections were discovered during Sierra Leone’s nationwide three-day lockdown, but officials claim that the West African nation has reached the “tail end” of the epidemic. Alfred Palo Conteh, head of the country’s Ebola response, said today that during last weekend’s lockdown hundreds of sick people were identified during the door-to-door operation which was also aimed at reminding people how...

3 Day Lockdown Ordered in Sierra Leone to End Ebola Outbreak

Written on March 27, 2015. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, World News.

The entire population of about six million people of Sierra Leone have been ordered to stay at home as a three-day lockdown went into effect Friday morning at 6 a.m. (0600 GMT). Authorities are using lockdown as a final push to end the Ebola outbreak and curb any further infections. Sierra Leone was the worst affected country with the highest number of Ebola infections. Except for two hours on Friday for Muslim prayers and five hours on Sunday...

Did Liberian Ebola Survivor Infect His Girlfriend?

Written on March 25, 2015. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, World News.

MONROVIA, Liberia — A 44-year old woman who tested positive for the Ebola virus on March 20th may have contracted the disease through sexual intercourse with her boyfriend who is a recent Ebola survivor. The man is ”cured” of Ebola, but health officials said that it may be a possible explanation for how she became the country’s first confirmed case in weeks. Ebola is typically transmitted through contact with the blood,...

Santa Barbara Woman in LA-Area Hospital is Negative for Ebola

Written on March 23, 2015. Posted in Breaking News, Featured.

Monday morning public health officials said that a Santa Barbara County resident who was being monitored since returning from a country experiencing the Ebola epidemic tested negative for the virus at a Los Angeles area hospital. Santa Barbara County Public Health officials said the woman was isolated after she developed a fever and signs of illness on Sunday evening. The patient was initially monitored at home and it was during that monitoring...