ebola outbreak

New Ebola Study Points to Potential Drug Target

Written on April 9, 2015. Posted in Featured, Health News, Science News.

Opening the door to potential treatments for the deadly Ebola virus, scientists have found that a protein made by the virus plays a role similar to that of a coat-check attendant. The protein removes a protective coat from the virus’s genetic material, exposing the viral genome so that it can be copied, and then returns the coat, according to a new study led by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The research, in...

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...

WHO Taps UAB Graduate to Evaluate Global Ebola Response

Written on March 18, 2015. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, World News.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham graduate who led successful Ebola containment efforts in Nigeria has now been tapped to serve as an international expert on the disease. Faisal Shuaib, M.D., Dr.P.H., head of the National Ebola Emergency Operations Center in Nigeria and a 2010 graduate of the UAB School of Public Health’s Dr.P.H. in International Health program, has been appointed to a six-person independent expert committee to evaluate the...

Fujifilm’s Flu Drug Turned Ebola Drug Avigan Proven Effective

Written on March 2, 2015. Posted in Breaking News, Business News, Featured, Government News, Health News, World News.

Fujifilm Holdings Corp.’s drug Avigan, which has shown signs of efficacy against the Ebola virus, has drawn interest from about 20 countries and the company stands ready for large orders, its chief executive said. “We can provide as much as we are asked for,” said Shigetaka Komori in an interview Friday. The company has enough of the drug’s basic ingredient on hand to manufacture pills for 300,000 people and will ramp up production if necessary,...

The Course of Ebola Virus Disease

Written on February 24, 2015. Posted in Health News, Opinion News, Personal Safety, Science News.

When a glycoprotein in the Ebola virus envelope binds to a receptor on an antigen-presenting cell, the activated cell goes right to a lymph node and “presents” the antigen (the virus) to cells in the immune system. Thus, like the AIDS virus, Ebola begins by attacking the body’s defenders. Then as it spreads through the body, it also attacks endothelial cells (the lining of blood vessels), liver cells, and many other cells. Cells that are most seriously...

How Can You Protect Yourself & Your Family from Ebola Virus?

Written on February 20, 2015. Posted in Blogs & Links, Featured, Opinion News, Personal Safety.

By now, it should be obvious that we cannot rely on this administration to keep Ebola out of our country. It has been unwilling to restrict air travelers from entering or to secure the open land border. The CDC is simply offering lame rationales to support administration policy. Its advice on infection control is inconsistent. Also it is based on categorical assertions that are unproved or demonstrably false. Hospitals are unprepared even by CDC...

Containing The Ebola Epidemic – Or Not

Written on February 18, 2015. Posted in Featured, Opinion News, Personal Safety.

Standard public health measures for dealing with infectious disease epidemics have long been known. The mainstays are quarantine and contact tracing. These are obviously easier and more effective when there are very few cases. Apparently, neither hospitals nor individuals have adhered to CDC guidelines. Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas discharged the index Ebola patient despite his travel history. Allegedly, the patient was not entirely honest...

Where Did The Ebola Virus Come From?

Written on February 16, 2015. Posted in Blogs & Links, Featured, Personal Safety, Science News.

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 beings. This has frequently occurred in Africa,...

13 Crucial Things You Need to Know About Ebola Virus

Written on February 12, 2015. Posted in Featured, Health News, World News.

As a deadly Ebola epidemic spreads across western Africa, world leaders are scrambling to find solutions. Here’s what you need to know about the disease and the havoc it is wreaking: 1. Ebola is primarily ravaging the West African nations of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Senegal. Authorities in these nations have scrambled to contain the disease. In Sierra Leone, the government quarantined a third of the entire population — about...

Ebola Care Centers in Liberia nearly empty as Outbreak fades

Written on January 23, 2015. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, Government News, Health News, Treatments, World News.

Liberia, once the epicenter of West Africa’s deadly Ebola epidemic, has just five remaining confirmed cases of the disease, a senior health official said on Friday, highlighting the country’s success in halting new infections. “We have five confirmed Ebola cases in Liberia as of today,” said Deputy Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah, who heads Liberia’s Ebola taskforce. “It means that we are going down to zero,...

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