Contagion

Missionary Doctor Being Treated in Monrovia Hospital

wsj.com - by Betsy McKay - simusa.org - September 2, 2014

A third American missionary has been infected with Ebola while working in Liberia and is being treated in an isolation unit in the Monrovia hospital where he works.

The man, a doctor, was treating obstetrics patients, not Ebola patients. . .

. . . It isn't known how the doctor was infected, SIM USA said in a statement Tuesday.

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CLICK HERE - STATEMENT from SIM - SIM Missionary Doctor in Liberia Tests Positive for Ebola

An MSF staff member at the Ebola treatment center in Monrovia, Liberia.  Caroline Van Nespen/MSF

doctorswithoutborders.org - August 28, 2014

Statement from MSF Director of Operations Brice de le Vingne.

“The WHO road map is welcome, but it should not give a false sense of hope. A plan needs to be acted upon. Huge questions remain about who will implement the elements in the plan. Who has the correct training for the variety of tasks that are detailed? How long will it take to train organizations to set up and run an Ebola management center? How long before any new centers become operational? Who will undertake the vitally important health education, contact tracing, and safe burials in the affected communities?

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH - Reversion of advanced Ebola virus disease in nonhuman primates with ZMapp

washingtonpost.com - by Lenny Bernstein - August 29, 2014

The experimental drug pressed into emergency use in the West African Ebola epidemic cured a group of 18 monkeys of the deadly disease, including some who didn't receive the treatment until five days after they were injected with the virus, researchers reported Friday.

The finding, published online in the journal Nature, raises new hope for use of the cocktail of monoclonal antibodies, called ZMapp, against Ebola, which has no known cure or vaccine. . .

. . . "The highlight of these experimental results is undoubtedly ZMapp, which was able to reverse severe [Ebola] disease...leading to full recovery of all treated [non-human primates]" within 28 days after they were infected, the researchers wrote.

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abcnews.go.com - by Katie Moisse - August 28, 2014

U.S. scientists will begin testing an Ebola vaccine in humans next week, health officials announced today. But it could take 11 months to learn whether the vaccine is safe as the virus’ toll in West Africa continues to rise. . .

. . . The experimental vaccine, co-developed by the National Institutes of Health and GlaxoSmithKline, “performed extremely well in protecting nonhuman primates from Ebola infection,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the NIH’s infectious disease branch, said.