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Read more about U.S. Ebola fighters head to Africa, but will the military and civilian effort be enough?
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Mobile-phone records are an invaluable tool to combat Ebola. They should be made available to researchers

Sun, 2014-10-26 12:21 — mike kraft

THE ECONOMIST Oct. 25, 2014

With at least 4,500 people dead, public-health authorities in west Africa and worldwide are struggling to contain Ebola. Borders have been closed, air passengers screened, schools suspended. But a promising tool for epidemiologists lies unused: mobile cell phone data.

When people make mobile-phone calls, the network generates a call data record (CDR) containing such information as the phone numbers of the caller and receiver, the time of the call and the tower that handled it—which gives a rough indication of the device’s location. This information provides researchers with an insight into mobility patterns...

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Technology

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French scientists roll out rapid diagnostic test for Ebola

Sat, 2014-10-25 18:17 — mike kraft

FIERCE DIAGNOSTICS Oct. 23, 2014

By Emily Wasserman

French scientists are developing a diagnostic tool that works similar to a home pregnancy test and can quickly identify the virus through a tiny fluid sample.

CEA's Ebola testing kit uses strips to rapidly identify the presence of the virus in fluid samples.--Courtesy of France's Atomic Energy Commission

France's Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) is teaming up with European pharma company Vedalab to roll out a user-friendly testing system than could diagnose Ebola in less than 15 minutes, the agency said in a statement. The kit, dubbed "Ebola eZYSCREEN," includes a hand-held device that reads small samples of blood, plasma or urine to detect the virus, and shows results in stripes through a window on the tool.

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http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/article/msf-protocols-staff-returning-ebola-affected-countries

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MSF Protocols for Staff Returning from Ebola-Affected Countries

Fri, 2014-10-24 17:30 — mike kraft

DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS/MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERE OCT. 23, 2014

Doctors without Borders (MSF) describes its specific guidelines and protocols for staff members returning from Ebola assignments. The guidlines were posted following the hospitalization of Dr. Craig Smith, one of its workers, in New York City yesterday.

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U.S. considering quarantine for returning Ebola health workers: CDC

Fri, 2014-10-24 16:34 — mike kraft

REUTERS OCT. 24, 2014

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is considering quarantining healthcare workers returning to the United States from the Ebola hot zone of West Africa, after a New York doctor who treated Ebola patients there tested positive for the virus.

Tom Skinner, a spokesman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told Reuters on Friday that quarantine is among a number of options being discussed by officials from across the administration.

Staff of the emergency medical services in France (SAMU) wear Ebola virus protection outfits during a press presentation at the Necker Hospital in Paris, October 24, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Philippe Wojazer

"There are a number of options being discussed pertaining to the monitoring and mobility of healthcare workers who are returning to the United States from affected countries," Skinner said.

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Transportation

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WHO says Ebola vaccine plans accelerating as trials advance

Fri, 2014-10-24 13:23 — mike kraft

WHO ANNOUNCES EBOLA VACCINE TRIALS WILL BE SPEEDED UP TO DECEMBER.
THREE RELATED STORIES. (Scroll down)

REUTERS OCT. 24

By Stephanie Nebehay and Kate Kelland

GENEVA/LONDON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Trials of Ebola vaccines could begin in West Africa in December, a month earlier than expected, and hundreds of thousands of doses should be available for use by the middle of next year, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

Vaccines are being developed and made ready in record time by drugmakers working with regulators, the U.N. health agency said, but questions remain about their safety and efficacy which can only be settled by full clinical trials.

"Vaccine is not a magic bullet, but when ready they may be a good part of the effort to turn the tide against the epidemic," senior WHO official Marie-Paule Kieny told a news briefing after a meeting in Geneva of industry executives, global health experts, drug regulators and funders.

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Structural Adaptivity, Rebalancing by Watersheds - Part II

Thu, 2014-10-23 19:32 — WDS1200-Columbus

Here is the second part of my Rebalancing by Watersheds Exercise. I presented the background work recently in my Part I post. Part II contains a Concept Plan Map and a discussion of the more particular information and data that led me to the Plan.

Both Parts I and Part II are only a condensed version of the full text I prepared. Within the portions I left out for this version is a considerable amount of technical information that some readers may want to see. I will provide more of it upon request.

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Microsoft co-founder Allen to give $100M to fight Ebola

Thu, 2014-10-23 17:48 — mike kraft

USA TODAY Oct. 23, 014
Bt Brett Melino

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen says he will pledge at least $100 million to help fight the spread of Ebola.

In a statement released through his personal website on Thursday, Allen says the funding will go to the State Department to develop medevac containment units to evacuate health professionals from West Africa.

Allen is also working with the University of Massachusetts Medical School to donate funds to offer training, medical workers and equipment in Liberia, one of the nations hardest hit by the Ebola epidemic....

Allen is not the first prominent tech name to lend their fortunes toward the Ebola crisis. Last week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, gave $25 million to the CDC Foundation. Last month, fellow Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates donated $50 million through his foundation to battle Ebola.

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WHO statement on the third meeting of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee regarding the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa

Thu, 2014-10-23 16:04 — mike kraft

WHO GENEVA Oct. 23, 2014

The WHO Ebola Emergency Committee statement issued today, following its meetings this week, said exit screening in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone remains critical for reducing the exportation of Ebola cases.

The statement said "States should maintain and reinforce high-quality exit screening of all persons at international airports, seaport, and major land crossings, for unexplained febrile illness consistent with potential Ebola infection. The exit screening should consist of, at a minimum, a questionnaire, a temperature measurement and, if fever is discovered, an assessment of the risk that the fever is caused by Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). States should collect data from their exit screening processes, monitor their results, and share these with WHO on a regular basis and in a timely fashion. This will increase public confidence and provide important information to other States."

The report also encouraged States that have recently introduced entry screening measures to should share their experiences and lessons learned.

...The Committee reiterated its recommendation that there should be no general ban on international travel or trade.

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Disease

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