Personal Safety – Page 3

5 Facts About the Threat of Nigeria’s Boko Haram vs Ebola

Written on January 16, 2015. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, Government News, Personal Safety, World News.

The Boko Haram situation has received less attention from the media than the recent Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris due to Nigeria’s remote location and the inherent danger in working there, says Ricardo René Larémont, Binghamton University professor of political science and sociology. “This is essentially a no-go zone. There are very few journalists who can go there. Consequently, it is not going to get the attention that Paris would get....

CDC: Lab tech may have been exposed to Ebola.

Written on December 26, 2014. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, Health News, Personal Safety, Science News, USA News.

Experts say “We can’t afford these mistakes” By Steve Almasy, CNN — A lab tech from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be monitored for three weeks after possibly being exposed to the Ebola virus at one of the agency’s Atlanta labs, the CDC said Wednesday. The CDC said in a written statement that a small amount of material from an experiment was mistakenly transferred from one lab to another and it...

New ‘Bourbon Virus’ Blamed for Kansas Man’s Death

Written on December 22, 2014. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, Health News, Personal Safety, USA News.

The never-before-seen virus was named for Bourbon County, Kansas, where its only known victim lived. The man got sick over the summer and died, and it’s taken six months for doctors at the University of Kansas Hospital as well as state and national epidemiologists to solve the mystery of his death. “Its genome is similar to viruses that have been found in eastern Europe, Africa and Asia, but no virus like that has ever been identified...

World Health Organization say recorded Ebola deaths top 7,000

Written on December 22, 2014. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, Health News, Personal Safety, Travel, World News.

(Time-CONAKRY, Guinea) — The worst Ebola outbreak on record has now killed more than 7,000 people, with many of the latest deaths reported in Sierra Leone, the World Health Organization said as United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon continued his tour of Ebola-affected countries in West Africa on Saturday. The three countries hit hardest by Ebola have now recorded 7,373 deaths, up from 6,900 on Wednesday, according to WHO figures posted online...

Officials threaten arrest over unsafe Ebola burial practices

Written on December 22, 2014. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, Government News, Health News, Personal Safety.

(VOA News) With Ebola having killed more than 2,000 people in Sierra Leone, and unsafe burial practices possibly being responsible for up to 70 percent of new infections, officials said they are resorting to increasingly desperate measures to clamp down on traditional burials in the country. Officials have even threatened to jail people – once it’s clear they have not caught the disease – who prepare the corpses of their loved...

Over 1,000 Americans infected with plague in the last 100 years

Written on December 20, 2014. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, Health News, Personal Safety, USA News.

Fleas that bites rodents infected with the bacteria that cause the plague can transmit the disease to people. People may think of the plague as a disease from centuries past, but more than 1,000 people in the United States have become infected with plague in the last 100 years, according to a new study. The researchers examined cases of plague in the United States from 1900 to 2012. During that time period, there were 1,006 cases of plague, in...

2 Ebola Patients = 3,000 Pounds of Medical Waste

Written on December 18, 2014. Posted in Breaking News, Health News, Personal Safety, USA News.

By Dr. Sanjay Gupta – Ebola was a practice run. We may see more cases in this country, but we know now that our public health system can contain it. SARS was also a practice run. So was bird flu. None turned into the pandemic we feared. But health experts agree that one day we will be confronted with a dangerous infectious disease that we cannot contain. Are we ready for it? Jay Varkey, MD, is a specialist in infectious diseases at Emory...

Ebola concern cancels Christmas and New Year’s gatherings in Sierra Leone

Written on December 13, 2014. Posted in Breaking News, Health News, Personal Safety, Travel, World News.

Christmas and New Year gatherings have been banned by the government throughout Sierra Leone for fear the Ebola virus will be spread to rural villages as people go home to celebrate. The edict, which will be enforced by the army, means those who live in the capital, Freetown, will be barred from travelling to join their extended families. The city’s residents account for a third of the country’s population. A “lock-down” is reported to also be...

Johns Hopkins-Jhpiego Win US Award for Improved Protective Suit to Combat Ebola

Written on December 13, 2014. Posted in Business News, Health News, Personal Safety, World News.

An advanced protective suit for healthcare workers who treat Ebola patients, devised by a Johns Hopkins team, has been selected as a winning design in a global competition aimed at quickly getting new tools into the field to combat Ebola, this deadly disease. The Johns Hopkins prototype suit was developed in partnership with Jhpiego, an international health non-profit and university affiliate, and designed to provide improved protection to keep...

Airport screenings haven’t turned up any Ebola patients

Written on December 10, 2014. Posted in Breaking News, Health News, Personal Safety, Travel.

Airport screenings of travelers from West Africa haven’t turned up anyone with Ebola, health officials announced Tuesday. U.S. officials screened nearly 2,000 travelers for Ebola symptoms over 31 days in October and November, according to a report Tuesday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Only seven travelers with symptoms were referred to the CDC for medical exams, and none had the disease, the report says. Although two...