Global Health

The World Health Organization has declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa to be an international public health emergency that requires an extraordinary response to stop its spread.

It is the largest and longest outbreak ever recorded of Ebola, which has a death rate of about 50 per cent and has so far killed at least 932 people.

"Countries affected to date simply do not have the capacity to manage an outbreak of this size and complexity on their own," WHO chief, Dr. Margaret Chan, said at a news conference in Geneva. "I urge the international community to provide this support on the most urgent basis possible."

In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have already elevated their Ebola response to the highest level and have recommended against travelling to West Africa. On Thursday, CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden told a Congressional hearing that the current outbreak is set to sicken more people than all previous outbreaks of the disease combined.

c-span.org - August 7, 2014

The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations held a hearing titled, “Combating the Ebola Threat.”

ZMapp TM is the result of a collaboration between Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc. and LeafBio (San Diego, CA), Defyrus Inc. (Toronto, Canada), the U.S. government and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).

ZMapp TM is composed of three “humanized” monoclonal antibodies manufactured in plants, specifically Nicotiana.  It is an optimized cocktail combining the best components of MB-­‐003 (Mapp) and ZMAb (Defyrus/PHAC).

ZMapp TM was first identified as a drug candidate in January 2014 and has not yet been evaluated for safety in humans.  As such very little of the drug is currently available.  

Any decision to use an experimental drug in a patient would be a decision made by the treating physician under the regulatory guidelines of the FDA.

Mapp and its partners are cooperating with appropriate government agencies to increase production as quickly as possible.

CLICK HERE - ZMapp - Information Sheet (1 page .PDF file)

http://www.mappbio.com/

Where is the Outbreak?

Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

nytimes.com - by Joe Burgess, Denise Grady, Josh Keller, Heather Murphy and Sergio Peçanha - August 6, 2014

What are the chances of getting Ebola in the United States?

Two American aid workers infected with the Ebola virus while working in West Africa are being treated at a hospital in Atlanta, in a containment unit for patients with dangerous infectious diseases. But the risk that anyone will contract Ebola in the United States is extremely small, experts say.

Doctors across the country are being reminded to ask for the travel history of anybody who comes in with a fever.

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