Category: Ebola

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Ebola ISIS

ISIS Fighters Showing Up in Hospitals with Ebola Symptoms

 

Reports coming in from various news agencies in the Middle East say that numerous members of the terrorist group The Islamic State, also known as ISIS, are showing up at area hospitals with ebola-like symptoms. The World Health Organization (WHO) is investigating.

According to three media outlets an undisclosed number of militants displaying signs of the disease attended a hospital in the ISIS-held city of Mosul,  250 miles north of Baghdad.

While the reports, from Kurdish and pro-Iraqi sources, remain unconfirmed, WHO spokesman Christy Feig said the group are trying to reach out to officials in ISIS-held areas to offer help.

UN workers are currently banned from entering ISIS-controlled areas in both Iraq and Syria so it is unlikely an operation in the region could be carried out.

Ms Feig told Mashable: ‘We have no official notification from [the Iraqi government] that it is Ebola.’

Mosul has been under control of ISIS since June 2014 and over the past few weeks militants have reportedly executed more than a dozen doctors for refusing to treat injured fighters.

According to a report in Iraq’s pro-government newspaper, al Sabaah, the disease was brought to Mosul by ‘terrorists’ arriving ‘from several countries’ and Africa.

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Ebola

PolitiFact’s 2014 Lie Of The Year – Politicians’ Claim about Ebola

And by “politicians” I mean Republicans. We heard all their falsehoods about Ebola as they set out to intentionally lie to their base to win the midterm elections. And the easily led sheep in their base drank it all in.

A recap.

Thomas Eric Duncan left Monrovia, Liberia, on Sept. 19, for Dallas. Eleven days later, doctors diagnosed Duncan with Ebola.

Eight days after that, he was dead.

Duncan’s case is just one of two Ebola-related fatalities in the United States, and since Duncan traveled to Dallas,
more Americans — at least nine, and likely many more — have died from the flu.

Yet fear of the disease stretched to every corner of America this fall, stoked by exaggerated claims from politicians and pundits. They said Ebola was easy to catch, that illegal immigrants may be carrying the virus across the southern border, that it was all part of a government or corporate conspiracy.

The claims — all wrong — distorted the debate about a serious public health issue. Together, they earn our Lie of the Year for 2014.

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Christmas Ebola

Announcement – There Will Be No Christmas Celebration in Ebola-Striken Sierra Leone

That was the announcement from the head of the government’s Ebola response unit. There will be “no Christmas and New Year celebrations this year,” Palo Conteh said in the capital of Freetown, according to AFP.

“We will ensure that everybody remains at home to reflect on Ebola,” he said. “Military personnel will be on the streets at Christmas and the New Year to stop any street celebrations.”

The majority of Sierra Leone’s population is Muslim, but Christians make up 10% of its people, according to the CIA World Factbook.

More than 6,500 have died and another 18,100 have been infected with Ebola in West Africa — mainly in the nations of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea — since the outbreak began nearly a year ago.

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Ebola

India Authorities Found Man with Ebola In His Semen

The 26 year old man of Indian descent was recently infected with the Ebola disease in Liberia, but was treated ‘cured’ and released on September 30th after he was given a clean bill of health. He traveled to New Delhi on November 10th showing no physical signs of the disease but was stopped and checked at the airport. After his semen tested positive,  he was immediately isolated.

Not sure how the fluids were collected.

Health officials in India released a statement saying, “currently, this person is not having any symptoms of the disease. However, he would be kept under isolation in the special health facility of (the) Delhi Airport Health Organization, till such time his body fluids test negative and he is found medically fit to be discharged.”

Still not sure how the fluids are being collected.

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Ebola

A Second Ebola Patient Has Died in The United States

A surgeon who contracted Ebola in his native Sierra Leone received aggressive treatment at a Nebraska hospital over the weekend but died Monday morning.

Dr. Martin Salia’s death is a reminder of how deadly the Ebola virus is and how important it is to receive treatment early, said Dr. Jeff Gold, chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

“In the very advanced stages, even the modern techniques we have at our disposal are not enough to help these patients once they reach a critical threshold,” Gold said at a news conference.

Salia, 44, was diagnosed with the virus Nov. 6. By the time he arrived at the Omaha hospital on Saturday, he was in extremely critical condition with no kidney function and severe respiratory problems.

He was placed on kidney dialysis and a ventilator, and was given several medications to support his organ systems, the hospital said in a statement. He was given the experimental Ebola drug ZMapp on Saturday and received a plasma transfusion from an Ebola survivor – a treatment that is believed to provide antibodies to fight the virus.

“We used every possible treatment available to give Dr. Salia every possible opportunity for survival,” said Dr. Phil Smith, medical director of the biocontainment unit. “As we have learned, early treatment with these patients is essential. In Dr. Salia’s case, his disease was already extremely advanced by the time he came here for treatment.”

Two other Ebola patients have been successfully treated at the Omaha hospital. Of 10 people to be treated for the disease in the United States, all but two have recovered. Thomas Eric Duncan, of Liberia, died at a Dallas hospital in October.

Salia was on day 13 of his illness when he arrived in Omaha, Smith said. The hospital’s two surviving Ebola patients arrived on day six and day eight of their illnesses.

Salia’s wife, Isatu Salia, said Monday that she and her family were grateful for the efforts made by her husband’s medical team.

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Ebola

Settlement Reached in Eric Duncan’s Ebola Death

The Dallas hospital that sent Eric Duncan home when he tried getting help from his Ebola symptoms, has reached a settlement with Duncan’s family, according to the family’s lawyer.

According to their attorneys, a resolution has been “reached on behalf of the children and parents of the deceased with Texas Health Resources and all related entities.”  The resolution includes a financial settlement and a charitable contribution. No further monetary details were disclosed.

Duncan returned from his native Liberia to Texas on September 20 and came to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas 5 days later complaining of stomach pains, dizziness, nausea and headaches. He had a temperature of 103 degrees.

During Duncan’s five hour stay, he informed health workers that he had recently been to Liberia, but the attending physician was not told. Duncan was released from the hospital later that day only to return September 30 in an ambulance — officially the first person to be diagnosed in the United States with Ebola.

The hospital would later receive a lot of criticism on their initial decision to send him home.  Although two nurses at the hospital were later infected, Duncan was the only one to die of the disease.

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Ebola New York

There are No Ebola Victims in America – Doctor Spencer Released from Hospital

With his release from Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, the United States is currently Ebola free! Dr. Craig Spencer spent 19 days at New York’s Bellevue Hospital, and he is now cured from the disease.

Republicans who used the disease as a fear mechanism to win control of Congress must now look for another way to keep their base afraid!

In a press conference this morning, New York’s mayor Bill DeBlasio thanked the doctor for his tremendous sacrifice and his willingness to put his life in danger to treat the disease at its source. Mr. DeBlasio said that we thank our military when they put their uniform on to protect us, so we should do the same when doctors put on a different uniform to fight diseases at the source, ultimately helping the US.

I said throughout this crisis we honor our men and women in uniform when they go overseas to protect us, Doctor Spencer was wearing a different uniform with the same exact mission – to help people everywhere and to protect people here.

The mayor also asked that the truth be told about Ebola, a clear hit at Republicans and the entire crew at Fox News.

Let’s just spread truth and honest information about Ebola. Let’s get rid of the misinformation. Let’s spread the truth that this is a very hard disease to contact [SIC].

For his part, the 33 year old doctor spoke about the importance of following the protocol for controlling Ebola, and he credits that protocol for his survival. Doctor Spencer also spoke about his 5 weeks working in West Africa.

“During this time, I cried as I held children who were not strong enough to survive the virus,” he said. “But I also experienced immense joy when patients I treated were cured, and invited me into their family as a brother upon discharge.”

He went on to say that when he was diagnosed with Ebola, “many of these same patients called my personal cell phone from Guinea to wish me well and ask if there was anyway that they could contribute to my care.”

The doctor then urged all to remember the doctors and nurses in Guinea, who watch their friends and families die from Ebola as they do all they can to treat other Ebola victims in their communities. “They are the true heroes that we are not talking about,” the Doctor said.

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Ebola

Kaci Hickox Will Continue Her Advocacy For Nurses Returning from Ebola Countries

She returned from West Africa 21 days ago where she treated Ebola victims,  but when she landed on U.S soil, Kaci Hickox was greeted with a tent with no heat or plumbing where she was expected to stay for 21 days, compliments of Chris Christie and Andrew Cuomo.

Kaci loudly opposed her inhumane and unnecessary isolation, even writing articles about her isolation. After telling the world about her tent accommodations, Kaci was allowed to travel to her home in Maryland where she remained monitored and under surveillance.

On Tuesday, Hickox will no longer require daily monitoring for Ebola symptoms, and said she looks forward to stepping out her front door “like normal people.”

But the Texas native said she won’t back away from the debate over treatment of health care workers.

“In the past, a quarantine was something that was considered very extreme. I’m concerned about how lightly we’re taking this concept today,” said Hickox, who defied state-ordered quarantine attempts in New Jersey and Maine. “I’m concerned that the wrong people are leading the debate and making the decisions.”

She said the U.S. needs a public education campaign to better explain the virus that has killed nearly 5,000 in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. However, Hickox said she wouldn’t let her experience prevent her from returning to West Africa.

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Ebola Politics

With The Elections Over, Ebola is No Longer Fearful for the Fox News Fearmongers

Last week Ebola was coming for you and the Obama administration and the Democrats were leading it straight to your doorstep. This week however, Ebola is no longer an issue worthy of our time or money and the funding the president requested to help fight the disease is pointless and unnecessary.

What changed? There was an election on Tuesday so Fox News and the Republican party needed to keep the American people scared in the hopes that they will vote Republicans into power. Well, it worked, so now, after the election, Fox is now downplaying the Ebola threat.

Before the November 4th midterm elections, Ebola and ISIS practically shared office space in the Fox News building. The two issues were talked about so much by Fox News hosts, that they could have collected a paycheck from Rupert Murdoch. After the November 4th midterm election, however, where fear of Ebola and ISIS caused the American people to vote Republicans in control of the U.S Congress, President Obama made a request to House Speaker John Boehner asking for more money to help fight the Ebola outbreak in Africa. Fox News is now asking if the Ebola crisis is “worthy of all theat money being shipped overseas!”

Fox’s Peter Johnson, Jr.:  Is The Ebola Crisis “Worthy Of All That Money Being Shipped Overseas?” During the November 7 episode of Fox News’ Fox & Friends, Fox contributor Peter Johnson, Jr. hosted an interview with Betsy McCaughey in which they criticized President Obama’s request for emergency funds to fight Ebola:

JOHNSON: President Obama asking congress for $6.2 billion in emergency funds to help fight Ebola in West Africa. But is this crisis worthy of all that money being shipped overseas? Would it be better spent on deadly diseases threatening Americans right here at home right now?

[…]

MCCAUGHEY: It’s totally out of proportion, Peter. Five thousand people have died from Ebola. No Americans. Three hundred and sixty thousand Americans die from cancer every year. The president wants to spend a hundred times as much, per Ebola victim, as per cancer victim. That tells you what’s going on here. [Fox News Channel, Fox & Friends.

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Ebola Texas

The “Ebola Outbreak” in Texas Is Officially Over – Republicans Still Have ISIS

Republicans used the so-called “Ebola Outbreak”to create all sorts of scare scenarios trying to convince the American people that we should be scared, we should be afraid because President Obama and the Democrats were asleep at the wheel. Ads popped up all over the country warning Americans that if we did not vote for Republicans, then Ebola or ISIS, or Ebola and ISIS were going to snatch us out of bed and infect, then behead us all.

And of course, in the “Home of the Brave,” scared Americans believed the tall tales of the Republican party and voted them into power.

Well, according to NBC News, the so-called “Ebola Outbreak” in Texas is over!

As of midnight Friday, it was 21 days since anyone got Ebola or was in contact with someone who got Ebola.

“God willing, we are going to be Ebola-free Friday midnight,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, the elected official who oversaw the county’s response to its three-person outbreak, before the deadline passed.

It started when Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian citizen planning to settle in the United States, became sick and was at first mistakenly sent home from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. He returned two days later by ambulance and was diagnosed with Ebola.

Officials had to track as many as 50 people who may have been in contact with Duncan. But the real scare came when two nurses, Nina Pham and Amber Vinson, became infected while caring for him. Vinson had traveled to Ohio to make wedding plans and, even though she wasn’t diagnosed until she came back to Dallas, her travels set off waves of anxiety.

But don’t worry Americans, although reports say that ISIS is retreating, they’re still around… somewhere. So Be afraid! Be very afraid!

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Ebola Politics

New Poll – President’s Approval Ratings Go Up

In spite of all the scare-tactics by the Republicans and the misleading stories in the news media, a majority of Americans approve of the president’s handling of the so-called “Ebola Outbreak.”

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows Americans approve of Obama’s handling of the situation, 49 percent to 41 percent. His approval rating is up eight points from just two weeks ago, mostly thanks to people moving from “undecided” column into the more favorable one.

Obama still doesn’t have majority support on the issue, but it’s his highest approval rating on any given issue since he hit 50 percent on combating the Islamic State last month. Prior to that, he hadn’t hit 50 percent — or even 49 percent — on an issue since January.

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Ebola

Jon Stewart Asks – Why Is Chris Christie Such “A Dick About Everything?” – Video

Jon Stewart said it, not me? But as usual, Stewart hits the nail directly on the head!

In his latest broadcast, Stewart began by giving Texas its props. “You did a great job handling your Ebola,” Stewart said about Texas. He then took on the so-called “Ebola-outbreak” and spoke more specifically about the utter panic the governors of New York and New Jersey put in place to deal with the “outbreak,” – a 21 days lock-down of anyone who went to Africa to help fight the disease!

In his segment, Stewart spoke about a nurse who just returned home and was immediately placed in this lockdown. She was placed in a tent with no heat, now hot water and no functioning toilet. Essentially being held captive in New Jersey, payback for her good deeds overseas.

In one of the clips Stewart showed, the nurse expressed her frustrations with the situation, saying that Chris Christie is no doctor and did not even see her personally, so the basis for him keeping her captive was uncalled for. Stewart then played a clip showing Christie’s response with him saying that the woman will understand once she settles down and reflect on the situation. Stewart agreed with the woman, then added “why does Chris Christie have to be a dick about everything?”

The segment went on with Stewart questioning if this nation is still the Home of the Brave, considering all the fear Americans are expressing over a couple of cases of Ebola! He then implied that we are probably still a brave nation, “unless you have a fever.”

Watch.

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