Ebola - no longer in the news

Certainly here in the UK, and I suspect the USA, Ebola went out of the news late last year.  Although the West African outbreak was the worst on record, it is sad that it soon became not newsworthy. It looks like the outbreak is now under control but it is a sad indictment of our society that when things go "off the radar" we hear little about them. It is a warning that what is considered "news" is filtered.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus_epidemic_in_West_Africa .

Ebola - out of the news?

Have you noticed that the deadly disease Ebola is no longer in the news? This started to cease to be newsworthy around Christmas last year.  I guess the BBC decided there were more important issues like Nigel Farage, he says with a great deal of sarcasm.

The disease is still present in some West African nations but others have reported no new cases in some time now. I think the world was late to "wake up" to the real dangers of this condition. Luckily, it managed to be contained in West Africa, in the main. It could have spread so easily to western nations and been a real public health catastrophe.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus_epidemic_in_West_Africa .

UK Ebola nurse no longer critical

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30783537 .

The good news today is that the nurse in the UK is slowly improving and is no longer described as "critical".  I do hope her recovery continues and she gets back to full health very soon.  She must have been very frightened but at the same time she knew her treatment in the UK would be better than she would have had in West Africa.

There are slight signs that the disease has peaked and an end to the West African outbreak may be in sight. It will be many months before we can be sure.

UK Ebola nurse latest

The last I heard, the UK nurse who became infected with Ebola in West Africa is likely to remain "critical" for some time. I do so hope that she fully recovers. That she is still alive must give us hope.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30732288 .

Ebola - UK nurse still critical

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30694638 .

The UK nurse who caught ebola whilst treating others in West Africa is still described as "critical". She is receiving experimental treatment, but the outcome is uncertain. We all hope she makes a full recovery.

UK Ebola nurse

The latest information is that Pauline Cafferkey,the UK nurse who was confirmed as having contracted Ebola whilst working in West Africa, is still critical but that here condition has "stabilised". I wish her well and so hope the experimental treatment she is receiving works. I guess we will soon know.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30657485 .

Ebola - case in the UK

So, a case of Ebola has been confirmed in a health worker returning from Sierra Leone. She is now in isolation. Let us hope she recovers and few others have been infected.

Ebola news

See http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2014/12/survivors-cope-with-new-ebola-after-effects-2014121573521561384.html .

Even the survivors of Ebola are facing new issues including blindness. Worrying. The ebola outbreak, mainly in West Africa, seems to have gone out of the headlines.

Al Jazeera - news from the Middle East

Occasionally, it is good to get news from totally different sources. One example is to see how Middle Eastern broadcaster Al Jazeera has covered Ebola in recent weeks.

See http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2014/11/deadline-curb-ebola-will-not-be-fully-met-2014112418512630314.html .

Sometimes Al Jazeera has news that we never hear about on the BBC.  For example I had no idea that Tripoli airport in Libya was recently attacked by unidentified jets. If the BBC covered this then I must have missed it.

Ebola latest

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-30072477 .

The press seems to have generally taken less interest in Ebola in the last week. This may just be because they have focussed on other more news worthy stories, or perhaps the number of new cases really is dropping off? The latter seems hopeful, but with treatments starting to appear we can hope. If Ebola spreads across the planet it could be hard to control.

Well done Nigeria

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-29685127 .

With no new cases in 6 weeks, Nigeria has declared itself Ebola free. Of course just one plane carrying an infected person could change that, but they do seem to be taking the risks very seriously. We just need to contain this Ebola outbreak before it spreads far and wide and becomes unstoppable.

Ebola and economies

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-29239604 .  The World Bank believes the current Ebola outbreak could ruin many West African economies. The Ebola outbreak is killing thousands. President Obama has warned of the dangers to the world from it and has offered more troops.

There are some vaccines being tested, but it is early days for these. The real danger is if it spreads to more populated nations when further spreads could be even harder to contain. Imagine Ebola on a tube train.

British Ebola patient recovering

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-29045908 . The British patient who contracted Ebola in West Africa is recovering having been treated with the experimental zmapp treatment. He is no longer infectious and has been discharged from the UK hospital where he was treated in isolation.

Surviving Ebola

It appears that the 2 US aid workers who contracted Ebola in West Africa have recovered following experimental treatment in the USA called ZMapp. It West Africa without experimental treatment, nearly half of those infected are likely to die, which is why we all hope it can be contained and beaten.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-28885753 .

Gettting Ebola under control

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-28807281 .

See álso: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/ .

The medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) which is working in West Africa believes the deadly Ebola virus will take 6 months to bring under control.  I hope it can be quicker as drugs to treat the condition seem a long way off still and this is a condition that could spread world-wide with modern transport means like planes and ships. Transmission between humans depends on a mingling of bodily fluids and this may help us. Infected people can be isolated to stop the disease spreading. West Africa is a place best avoided for now.

Ebola - spreading?

WHO officials are worried that the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa may not be contained and may spread further. Ebola kills more than half the people who develop it.

See http://www.latimes.com/world/africa/la-fg-guinea-ebola--20140801-story.html .