Tag: illness
Man Dies Of Ebola In Texas, U.S. Steps Up Airport Screening

Man Dies Of Ebola In Texas, U.S. Steps Up Airport Screening

Washington — A Liberian man who was the first person diagnosed with Ebola outside of West Africa died in a Texas hospital Wednesday, as Washington stepped up airport screening against the deadly virus.

Thomas Eric Duncan died in a Dallas hospital 10 days after he was admitted and despite receiving an experimental drug to fight off the illness, which causes vomiting, diarrhea and often fatal bleeding.

“Mr. Duncan succumbed to an insidious disease, Ebola. He fought courageously in this battle,” said a statement from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas.

Duncan is believed to have been infected with Ebola before he left Liberia and boarded a plane to visit family in Texas.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said there was “zero risk” that he had infected any fellow travelers because he was not symptomatic until days after the flight.

Duncan’s case however raised global fears, leading to a spike of suspected Ebola cases and forcing governments to consider stronger methods of keeping the virus at bay.

The world’s largest outbreak of Ebola has killed more than 3,400 people in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal since the beginning of the year.

Hours after Duncan died, the White House announced that stricter airport screenings would be implemented at five major U.S. airports.

The measures will include sending extra CDC staff to select airports and taking the temperatures of people arriving from Ebola-hit nations.

The “vast majority of people” coming from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone — the three countries hit hardest by the epidemic — will be screened, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.

The airports implementing the measures are John F. Kennedy International in New York, Washington Dulles International, Chicago O’Hare International, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International and Newark Liberty International in New Jersey.

– Spanish fears mount –

In Spain, five people were isolated and dozens more monitored after a nurse in Madrid apparently caught Ebola while treating two elderly missionaries who died of the disease.

The nurse, Teresa Romero, is the first person to contract Ebola outside West Africa.

One of the doctors treating her said she may have caught the deadly virus after touching her face with an infected glove.

“It seems like it was the gloves. The gloves touched the face,” doctor German Ramirez told reporters outside the hospital.

Ebola is transmitted by close contact with the bodily fluids of a person who is showing symptoms of infection such as fever, aches, vomiting and diarrhea, or who has recently died of the infection, experts say.

As Spain scrambled to identify people who came into contact with Romero, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy called for calm and promised “transparency” over the scare, which has sparked fierce criticism of Spanish safeguards.

The World Health Organization also moved to calm fears of wider contagion in Europe.

Regional director, Zsuzsanna Jakab, said sporadic cases in Europe were “unavoidable” but the risk of a full outbreak were “extremely low.”

– U.S. urges broader response –

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said more countries must step up the fight against Ebola.

“The fact is more countries can and must step up,” Kerry told reporters after talks with his British counterpart Philip Hammond, warning there were “still not enough countries to make the difference.”

Kerry showed a series of slides showing efforts by individual nations, and highlighting how small countries had in some ways done more per capita than their larger counterparts.

“I’m here this morning to make an urgent plea to countries in the world to step up even further. While we are making progress, we are not where we can say that we need to be,” he said.

Britain unveiled plans to send 750 military personnel as well as a medical ship and three helicopters to Sierra Leone.

“If we get ahead of it, if we rise to the challenge, we can contain it and beat it. We know how to do this,” Hammond said.

MCT Photo/Rodger Mallison/Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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Liberia Says Escaped Ebola Patients Returned To Quarantine

Liberia Says Escaped Ebola Patients Returned To Quarantine

By Terence Sesay and Kristin Palitza, dpa

MONROVIA, Liberia — All 37 Ebola patients who fled an isolation ward in Liberia have been returned to a clinic, Information Minister Lewis Brown said on Tuesday.

Residents of the West Point slum near the capital, Monrovia, broke into a quarantine center on Saturday and freed the patients who were suspected of being infected with the virus.

The patients were transferred to a newly established Ebola treatment center at the John F. Kennedy Hospital in Monrovia, Brown said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said the number of deaths from Ebola has risen to 1,229 in West Africa.

It said 2,240 suspected or confirmed cases had been reported in the region.

Between Aug. 14 and 16, 113 new suspected and confirmed Ebola cases as well as 84 deaths were reported from Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, according to the WHO.

The new figures were released a day after the WHO voiced opposition to Ebola-related travel and trade bans.

The risk of getting infected with Ebola during travel was “low,” it said.

The current outbreak is caused by the most lethal strain in the family of Ebola viruses.

Ebola causes massive hemorrhages and has a fatality rate of up to 90 percent. It is transmitted through contact with blood and other body fluids.

AFP Photo/Carl de Souza

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‘Spice’ Overdoses Prompt State Of Emergency In N.H.

‘Spice’ Overdoses Prompt State Of Emergency In N.H.

By Ryan Parker, Los Angeles Times

New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan declared a state of emergency Thursday after more than 40 people overdosed on synthetic cannabinoid, also known as “spice.”

At least 41 people in Manchester suffered “serious medical reactions,” and at least 20 of those were hospitalized, according to a statement from Hassan’s office.

Three people in Concord became seriously ill from spice in the previous 24 hours, according to the release. There have been no deaths.

The spice product targeted for making people the sickest is called “Smacked!” according to officials.

Spice, usually sold at gas stations, is supposed to be used as incense, but people also smoke it to get high.

“These products pose a serious threat to public health, especially to young people, and it is our responsibility to do whatever we can to combat the recent rash of overdoses,” Hassan said in the statement.

The governor said she declared the emergency in consultation with the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, public health officials and the attorney general’s office.

The state of emergency allows authorities to investigate, quarantine, and require the destruction of targeted spice brands.

Medical officials will work with authorities to quarantine specifically the bubblegum flavor of “Smacked!” brands, according to the release.

Photo: Roger H. Goun via Flickr

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