Plans were underway to bring the two American aid workers — Nancy Writebol and Dr. Kent Brantly — back to the U.S. A small private jet based in Atlanta has been dispatched to Liberia. Officials said the jet was outfitted with a special, portable tent designed for transporting patients with highly infectious diseases.
While health officials say the virus is transmitted only through direct contact with bodily fluids, many sick patients have refused to go to isolation centers and have infected family members and other caregivers.
The fatality rate has been about 60 percent, and the scenes of patients bleeding from the eyes, mouth and ears has led many relatives to keep their sick family members at home instead. Sierra Leone is now sending teams door-to-door in search of Ebola patients and others who have been exposed to the disease.
Chan emphasized Friday that the general public “is not at high risk of infection,” but also said the Ebola virus should not be allowed to circulate widely.
“Constant mutation and adaptation are the survival mechanisms of viruses and other microbes,” she said. “We must not give this virus opportunities to deliver more surprises.”
Randy Schoepp, chief of diagnostics at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, which is running the only lab in Liberia testing Ebola samples, said: “The virus is getting to large, dense, city areas. We’re now getting samples (to test) from all over.”
But he said he thinks “we’re only seeing a small portion of the cases out there,” partly because many drivers are scared to transport vials of blood that may contain Ebola to the lab.
Other countries are taking precautions to prevent the spread of Ebola.
The African Union mission in Somalia canceled a planned troop rotation by Sierra Leonean forces in an effort to prevent Ebola from crossing into the Horn of Africa country, the military said.
Seychelles forfeited an African Cup qualifying game and withdrew from the competition Thursday rather than allow Sierra Leone’s soccer team to travel to the Indian Ocean island. And a cyclist from Sierra Leone competed in the Commonwealth Games after testing negative for Ebola.
Nigeria’s minister of health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, said Thursday the government has located 10 more people who had primary contact with the man who flew to Lagos, and died there because of Ebola. The government is tracking down the remaining people who had contact with him, he said. As of Friday, 69 people are under surveillance and two are quarantined, Chukwu said.
President Barack Obama said the United States is taking precautions for next week’s U.S.-African summit in Washington. Administration officials said the leaders of Liberia and Sierra Leone had canceled their trip to Washington for the gathering of African leaders.
Meanwhile, families in the United States expect to be reunited as early as this weekend with some of the more than 300 Peace Corps volunteers evacuated from West Africa as a precaution.
“We did really have faith in the Peace Corps that if things would become dangerous they would do what they’re now doing,” said Mirna Jope of Carmichael, California, whose 25-year-old son called home Thursday after learning he would be leaving Sierra Leone.
Special: 9 Signs Your Immune System Is Dysfunctional
A Peace Corps spokeswoman said the organization is working to bring the volunteers home as quickly as possible. The group’s medical officers are assessing volunteers before their departure as a precaution. The organization is advising them to monitor their health, including checking their temperature twice daily per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. The medical officers will check with returning volunteers and be on call if they experience symptoms or have concerns.
Two workers who have been exposed to the virus still were being monitored.
“The two Peace Corps volunteers who have had contact with an individual who later died of the virus are not symptomatic and are currently isolated and under observation,” said spokeswoman Shira Kramer. “When they receive medical clearance for return to the U.S., we will work with them to travel safely back.”
A secret antibody serum developed in California may have saved the lives of the 2 infected healthcare workers. But critics wonder why Kent and Writebol received special treatment and why the same serum wasn’t made available to the 800 people of color who died in West Africa.
The secret serum was never tested on humans before. It had previously been tested only on rats and monkeys.
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has killed over 800 people since March.
Source: Newsmax/Sandrarose.com
