EBOLA MAIN EBOLA DISCUSSION THREAD 1/1/2015 to 1/15/2015

[BREWER]

Posted for fair use and discussion.
http://www.thebigwobble.org/2015/01...4-and-what-we-might.html?utm_source=BP_recent


Monday, 5 January 2015
Ebola in numbers 2014 and what we might expect for 2015

"A group of children playing near a tree nesting site for infected bats is to blame for the worst Ebola outbreak in history, a study has suggested.
Published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, experts have said the most likely culprit for the Ebola outbreak, which has currently led to 7,904 deaths, are free-tailed bats – not fruit bats as had previously been believed.
Transmission occurs from bites and scratches, and contact with bodily fluids, tissue, and excrement. On 26 December 2013, Ebola was identified in Emile Ouamouno, a toddler from the remote Guinean village of Meliandou."
On March 14th 2014 what was thought to be a new disease was reported in district of Macenta in Guinea, killing 8 people with several others contaminated.
Symptoms "manifested by anal and nasal bleeding." Seemed at the time to resemble Lassa Fever.
By March 22nd it had spread from Guinea to Sierra Leone killing 59 people and the disease was announced as Ebola.

After a rapid fire increase in cases since March 2014 and an explosion of deaths, injecting fear all around the world the Ebola virus appeared to slow down in November and it tended to drop out of the spotlight, however in December the virus accelerated again and is once again causing panic among experts!



In a disturbing twist: Reports that Islamic State militants in Mosul have contracted Ebola swirled though Iraqi media sources last Wednesday reported here.
World Health Organization officials said they haven't confirmed the cases, but the organization has reached out to offer assistance.
Three outlets reported that Ebola showed up at a hospital in Mosul, a city 250 miles north of Baghdad that's been under ISIS control since June 2014.
The reports, however, have perpetuated mostly in pro-government and Kurdish media.
"We have no official notification from [the Iraqi government] that it is Ebola," Christy Feig, WHO's director of communications told Mashable.
Feig added that WHO is in the process of reaching out to government officials in Iraq to see if they need help investigating the cases, a task that could be a challenge, given the restrictions that would come with operating in ISIS-controlled territory.
It's unclear if any disease experts or doctors in Mosul are even able to test for the Ebola virus.
A Kurdish official, who was convinced the cases are Ebola, told the Kurdish media outlet Xendan that the militants' symptoms were similar to those of the Ebola virus.
However, Ebola symptoms -- nausea and vomiting, diarrhoea, bleeding and bruising -- are also similar to those associated with a number of other diseases, including malaria,
Lassa fever, yellow fever viruses and the Marburg virus.
If ISIS members have the virus a global pandemic has to be a possibility, it would be used as a biological weapon against the West and with little or no border control in Europe and an almost non existent border between the US and Mexico this scenario doesn't bare thinking about.


As we move on into 2015, Avian Flu, the deadly virus is on the rise.. killing humans, thousands of seals, hundreds of thousands of birds!
With the culling of hundreds of thousands of birds in the UK, Holland Germany and Italy in November and China Korea the US and Canada in December, the avian flu threat has not gone away, it is increasing and has experts worried who say it is not if, the virus will mutate and strike but rather, when!

Gary Walton

2014 Ebola outbreaks

Related

 

[BREWER]

Posted for fair use and discussion.
http://guerrillamerica.com/2014/09/intelligence-requirements-ebola/


Collection
Flashpoint
OSINT

Intelligence Requirements: Ebola

September 19, 2014 at
Samuel Culper III

A friend and I started talking about Ebola and intelligence requirements, so we have some intelligence requirements for everyone. Let’s crowdsource some OSINT gathering. I’ll give away a free course through the Culper Institute ($49-$99 value) and a Digital Subscription to Forward Observer Magazine ($24 value) to the Most Valuable Collector. To qualify, you must EMAIL ME your intelligence information [culper (at) hushmail dot com] in paragraph format. At the end of each paragraph, you must provide the source of the information along with which PIR/IR it answers. For instance:

1. The average death rate of Ebola in the past ten years is X%, from cases in Libera, Sierra Leone, etc. (Source: Wikipedia.org/ebolaxxxxxxx) (IR#2)

2. The airport with the greatest volume of flights from Ebola-affilicated nations is La Guardia Int’l Airport in New York. (FAA.gov/xxxxx) (PIR#1, IR#1)



Here’s your real world fire mission:



Primary Intelligence Requirements (PIR)

1. Where is Ebola likely to arrive in the US?

2. What will be the response of federal and state governments in the event of Ebola cases in the US?



Intelligence Requirements (IR)

1. What countries currently have confirmed Ebola cases?

2. How many Ebola cases have been reported?

3. What is the average death rate from Ebola in the past ten years?

4. What US airports have the highest volume of arrival flights from Ebola-afflicated countries?

5. What are the US imports from Ebola-afflicted countries?

6. What ports are the destination of those Ebola-afflicted countries’ exports?

7. What US areas have the highest populations of peoples from Ebola-afflicted countries?

8. What is the existing guidance from Center for Disease Control (CDC) to local, state and federal authorities?

9. What are the latest U.S.-based warnings from the CDC over a potential Ebola epidemic?

10. What are the existing plans from state authorities to mitigate the risk of an Ebola epidemic?

11. What are the existing plans from federal authorities to mitigate the risk of an Ebola epidemic?



Once we start collecting information, then we’ll set up the Virtual ACE and start triaging and analyzing the intelligence information. If you’d like to contribute to collection, analysis, or offer a freebie to give away to our best collectors, email me [culper (at) hushmail dot com].

Related posts:

NBPP: Published Intelligence Requirements
Generating and Managing Intelligence Requirements
NBPP: Intelligence Requirements
Ukrainian Civil War and Intelligence Requirements



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Posted for fair use and discussion.
http://guerrillamerica.com/2014/09/exercise-stable-phantom-ebola-outbreak/

Exercise STABLE PHANTOM (Ebola Outbreak)

September 25, 2014 at
Samuel Culper III

Exercise STABLE PHANTOM is the name of our effort to come together as a community and practice intelligence collection and analysis with real-world implications. I’ve been running this blog for a number of years trying to catch everyone up to speed on all the different components of intelligence collection and analysis. We’ve barely scratched the surface!

It’s now time, however, to pull together and work on this intelligence exercise. If/when Ebola breaks out in the US, the work we’ve done in intelligence preparation will give us a leg up, hopefully, in knowing what to expect. I’ve started a new page – Exercise STABLE PHANTOM -for us to compile intelligence information, generate and answer Intelligence Requirements, and then begin the journey of providing the “So What?” behind the information. Having information is great, but we always want our intelligence to be actionable or predictive. Providing actionable or predictive intelligence to preppers and patriots regarding the potential for an Ebola outbreak is our mission.

Our exercise objectives are (1) to provide the most likely US regions or areas of potential outbreak; and (2) to estimate the response and efficacy of federal, state, and local in mitigating the effects of a potential Ebola outbreak.

Let’s focus on the process in this exercise. Once we get the process down, we’ll be able to look at other scenarios and problem types, and then you’ll be able to lead your own intelligence gathering missions in your various Areas of Operations. The goal is to let everyone get a chance to go out and collect Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) information, report it back in a format consumable by intelligence analysts so they can put it all together and start making some sense of exactly what it means, and exactly what it would or could look like. Forewarned is forearmed – that’s intelligence in a nutshell.

If you’d like to be on our team, our STABLE PHANTOM HQ is going to be hosted on Unseen (http://unseen.is). Registering for an account is safe and easy. Once you’re on Unseen, request contact with me at Guerrillamerica. Let me know if you want to be a collector or on the Analysis & Control Element (ACE) Team. You’ll receive instructions once you’re in that group. We’ll use these chatrooms as a place to coordinate ideas and information so we can provide an intelligence product to our various communities. This is a team effort, and I’m willing to use my time to facilitate it if you’re willing to pitch in. I might even record some special podcasts for all participants. We’ll also be giving out free intelligence courses through our online training academy to the Most Valuable Collectors and Analysts.

Related posts:

Intelligence Requirements: Ebola
EXERCISE POSEIDON COMPASS
POSEIDON COMPASS – 01 APR UPD
Practical Exercise: NBPP



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Posted for fair use and discussion.
http://guerrillamerica.com/2014/10/stable-phantom-ebola-notes-on-intelligence-analysis/

STABLE PHANTOM (Ebola): Notes on Intelligence Analysis

October 1, 2014 at
Samuel Culper III

(Admin: If you haven’t listened, check out our interview with Jim Rawles of Survival Blog/Patriots, on the Forward Observer Podcast. New shows each Tuesday.)

Well, I guess Ebola broke through to the States before we could push out an intelligence product. Still, the involvement that we’ve had has been very good; more information that I can keep up with, so I posted the most pertinent on the STABLE PHANTOM page.

The truth is that our work is just now beginning!

Intelligence analysis provides the “So what?” to information. We see something on the news – a murder, a robbery, an Ebola patient – and that information rarely provides an answer to the question, “So what?”. Intelligence should be, as often as possible, predictive or actionable. Why does this information matter? How is this information/event going to affect me?

The more I read about the Ebola patient from so-called “experts”, the more I see that the range of predictions are literally 360-degrees. I’ve read recently that some doctors are saying that there won’t be an Ebola epidemic in the States, I’ve read doctors that prescribe a better than average chance that there will be an epidemic, and still others are saying that, if not this year then next, we will see the beginning of an epidemic. All these outlets are providing the answer to the “So what?” question, but how can they report such a wide range of outcomes based on these “expert” judgments?

Source Reliability.

Consider for a moment that we treat each one of these experts as a source, independent from all the rest. As an intelligence analyst, I want to know how they know the things they know. What is their placement and access to expertise in epidemics or Ebola? I want to find the most credible source, who’s gone on the record stating things that were true or have come true, and then I’m going to treat that source much differently than I am any other sources. We’ve talked about source ratings on this blog before. Below you’ll find the Source Reliability Rating chart. (There is a different chart we use for content/information reliability.)

indexSo once I start receiving intelligence information, I’m going to have to check up on what these sources are saying according to the ground reality. The more in-line with what’s really going on, the higher the source will be rated; the less a source is reporting truthfully, the lower his grade will be. Learning Point: the grade “F” is for sources whose reliability cannot be judged. An “F” is not a failing grade, rather an unknown grade. “E” is actually the worst.

This doesn’t mean that our A sources are infallible, and it doesn’t mean that a D or E source will never report accurate information. Look at it as the A student who could score a C on a test, or the runt of the baseball team that could potentially hit a homerun, even if those things are less likely. We’re establishing a history of reporting, and that history determines how much weight we give to our sources.



A Range of Outcomes.

When I heard that the first patient was in Dallas, Texas, I was really proud of our team of collectors and analysts. First, our team developed excellent Intelligence Requirements. We wanted to know where the post likely points of entry to the US were, and we nailed them. We had Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and a small number of other airports as an answer to one of our PIRs. (LEARNING POINT: We missed the opportunity to add European waypoints to our flight path. Although the patient did travel from Liberia, he transited Belgium as a stop-over and entered the US through Washington Dulles in D.C. That’s a good “lesson learned”.) We came to that conclusion based on the logic that these handful of airports have flights to western African nations that are most likely to harbor Ebola patients, or where travelers would come into contact with Ebola. Now, I haven’t seen anything that says the Ebola patient traveled through DFW – for all I know he jumped the border at Brownsville – but it’s a fair assumption to make at this point. (UPDATE: He entered the US through Dulles and arrived at his final destination of DFW). I did, however, see some speculations that the guy had traveled to Liberia – a country that made our list of Ebola-affected countries.

Rarely will intelligence ever be able to point to one specific outcome. In most cases, that’s a fool’s errand. So what we do instead is select the most likely range of outcomes. In this instance, even though we didn’t publish them, Dallas made our list of the most likely places that Ebola would be introduced into the States, behind Georgia (ATL and the Savannah port), and just ahead of Newark, NJ. Those were our top three Most Likely Courses of Action (MLCOA).

One of our sources provided the following:

… DFW [is] the most likely [place of introduction] because flight costs are less to these ports of entry (lower landing fees = more use by 3rd world airlines)…

Although we didn’t get them published in time, major kudos to the team of collectors and analysts who gathered this OSINT information and tried to answer the “So what?”. Remember, when working your own intelligence problems, identify a suitable range of outcomes. Predicting the future is a hell of a way to make a living. Over a 20 year study of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) – completed by intelligence analysts who get paid to think – analysis with the words, “will” or “has” were accurate only 57% of the time. That’s a professional track record. Your mileage may vary, and will likely fall far short of that 57% when faced with the same complex, severely random or indeterminate problem sets.

Next Steps.

Our work is far from over! We still need a team of dedicated collectors and analysts to perform “the work of a nation”. Possible next steps include:

– Battle tracking a potential Ebola epidemic

– Keeping track of the ranges (time and distance) of the epidemic as reported by the experts

– Identifying the threat of an Ebola epidemic to the nation

– Identifying and monitoring indicators of instability due to Ebola or any follow-on effects

So if you’d like to try your hand at being an intelligence analyst, let’s start back with Phase One of the Intelligence Cycle: Planning, Direction and Requirements. Post your Intelligence Requirements below and I’ll work on updating our STABLE PHANTOM page to reflect the changing “battlespace”.

In the meantime, I’ll be reaching out to our Most Valuable Collectors and Analysts and providing them with their rewards for pitching in.

There’s still time to play the game, so consider this Round Two. I’ll be providing a free intelligence course to the Most Valuable Collector and Analyst of this round, as well.

Related posts:

Exercise STABLE PHANTOM (Ebola Outbreak)
Intelligence Requirements: Ebola
Human Intelligence Workshop & Course Schedule
Movies, Doctrine & Intelligence Analysis

 

[bw]

Let’s crowdsource some OSINT gathering. I’ll give away a free course through the Culper Institute ($49-$99 value) and a Digital Subscription to Forward Observer Magazine ($24 value) to the Most Valuable Collector. To qualify, you must EMAIL ME your intelligence information [culper (at) hushmail dot com] in paragraph format.

...

Here’s your real world fire mission:


Primary Intelligence Requirements (PIR)

1. Where is Ebola likely to arrive in the US?

2. What will be the response of federal and state governments in the event of Ebola cases in the US?

Is this guy for real? Does he not get out much?

 

[BREWER]

Is this guy for real? Does he not get out much?

Greetings, bw: these articles are from last Sept/Oct. I thought that his approach was interesting. The darth of current articles on Ebola is making any reporting difficult to say the least. Please bare with it. Take care. BREWER

 

[BREWER]

Posted for fair use and discussion.
http://www.voanews.com/content/sier...and-extended-anti-ebola-measures/2585770.html

Sierra Leone Announces New and Extended Anti-Ebola Measures

James Butty January 5, 2015

Sierra Leone Sunday introduced new Ebola screening measures at the Freetown International Airport after two workers apparently contracted the virus.

Government spokesman Abdulai Bayraytay said the measures are intended to reassure the public.

“We just had a case few days ago wherein a worker at the airport, who is attached to the restaurant, got infected with confirmed Ebola. That was a red flag for us recognizing that, since the outbreak of the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone, we have not exported any patient out of our airports who had confirmed to be Ebola positive based on the symptoms,” he said.

Bayraytay said that although the round-the-clock cleaning measures are specifically targeting airport workers, passengers arriving and departing will also be subjected to the same surveillance measures.

“We want to make sure that our airports continue to respect the standard operating procedures for enhanced cleaning of all airport staff and passengers. So, these are all other measures we are implementing to reassure the public that both the workers and passengers are not at risk following this one incident,” he said.

He said a five-day Ebola lockdown in the northern region, which was officially to have ended January 1, had to be extended because it was yielding positive results in terms of helping to control the spread of the virus.

“The president had encouraged people in the respective districts in the northern region to bring in measures that they think will go a long way toward the mitigation of the spread of the virus. And, so far, we have seen a lot of dividend. Imagine yesterday (Saturday), we reported for the whole country 37 confirmed cases, and today (Sunday), it is 30,” Bayraytay said.

According to the UN, Sierra Leone has overtaken Liberia as the country worst hit by the Ebola virus, with 2,758 confirmed deaths out of 9,446 cases.

 

[BREWER]

Posted for fair use and discussion.
http://www.independent.ie/world-new...-has-spared-not-a-single-mother-30880478.html

Village where Ebola has spared not a single mother
Disease has devastated the lives of all of the children in Joeblow, Liberia, a situation that is forcing them to leave childhood behind
Sarah Knapton

Published 04/01/2015 | 02:30

01 of 2

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A foreign healthcare worker waits for newly admitted Ebola patients at the British-run Save the Children Kerry Town Ebola treatment centre outside Freetown, Sierra Leone (REUTERS/Baz Ratner)
A foreign healthcare worker waits for newly admitted Ebola patients at the British-run Save the Children Kerry Town Ebola treatment centre outside Freetown, Sierra Leone (REUTERS/Baz Ratner)

For 11-year-old Montgomery Philip, childhood is over. Six months ago he would have been playing football with his schoolmates, but now his job is to care for his 10-month-old baby brother Jenkie.

The pair are both victims of Ebola. Not because they caught the disease, but because they live in Joeblow, Liberia, where the devastating outbreak has killed every mother in the village.

The women died because social convention decrees it is the women who tend to the sick and bury the dead. When a man brought Ebola to the village and passed it on to his wife, it was 14 mothers who cared for her and eventually laid out her body.

One by one they caught the disease and died, leaving a total of 15 children orphaned and devoid of hope.

Chloe Brett (28) from Norwich in England, has been working with the British charity Street Child to try to find homes for the children left behind in the aftermath of the outbreak. She is just one of the many volunteers from Ireland and Britain who are trying to help in any way they can.

"Seeing Montgomery struggle to change the baby's nappy without any guidance is something that made me realise just how devastating this disease can be on those left behind," she said. "He was a helpless 11-year-old having to become a man well before his time.

"Although it feels like Liberia is coming out of the end of the crisis, it is now dealing with the aftermath, and what it has left behind is huge groups of children who are on their own.

"When we visited Joeblow, it seemed normal at first, with children in the street, men, a couple of old women. But then we realised there were no other women anywhere.

"We talked to a man who had survived Ebola and he told us what had happened.

"All of the women had caught the disease. It's now a village of no mothers and very confused children with blank looks on their faces."

Nearly 7,000 people have died from Ebola and more than 18,000 have caught the disease, mainly in West Africa. Liberia has been hit the hardest, with 3,290 deaths so far compared with 2,085 in Sierra Leone and 1,525 in Guinea.

Street Child has been working in Liberia to find homes for orphaned children over the past five years, but the Ebola crisis has made the situation far worse.

The charity estimates that the disease has left 30,000 orphans in West Africa. So far, it has helped 8,000 find new homes with relations or neighbours. Many children are being looked after in two shelters in the country's capital, Monrovia.

Children with sick parents also need to be quarantined for 21 days to make sure they have not contracted the illness.

The orphans are placed in groups of three, but if a child starts to show symptoms of Ebola, they are isolated immediately - a terrifying prospect for a youngster who has just lost their parents.

According to Unicef, just 800 children have been resettled in Liberia to date.

"The future for these children is bleak if they do not find new homes," added Ms Brett, who is the Liberia programme director at Street Child.

"I saw Montgomery carrying his 10-month-old brother - that is life for him now. He won't be able to go back to school if he is looking after his brother.

"All the children wear rags because all their clothes and possessions have had to be burnt as a precaution because of the disease.

"We try to find relatives or neighbours to take the children in, but the community is scared. We went to one slum where every home had been affected. Every door that we knocked on, we found more children who needed homes."

Ms Brett has come across households in the back streets of Monrovia where children have been sleeping with the dead body of their father for three days. Neighbours had turned away the youngsters, fearing they could be infected.

Many simply cannot afford to feed another mouth. Ebola has caused the price of rice to increase by at least 20pc in Monrovia, and in some locations it has almost doubled.

Tom Dannatt, Street Child's chief executive, said: "Thirty- thousand children in West Africa will have spent this Christmas mourning the loss of a mother or father as a result of Ebola.

"These children need our immediate help. Street Child has reached out to more than 8,000 children orphaned by Ebola, providing humanitarian aid packs, rehousing them with surviving family members and providing support to enable them to feed extra hungry mouths. But there are so many more in need of urgent support."

He added: "I have no doubt that aid from larger organisations is coming, but there is an immediate need which we at Street Child can meet right now. We just need the financial support.

"On my last trip to Sierra Leone in November, when I spent time with Street Child teams visiting some of the hardest-hit communities, I learnt three things.

"First, we know about Western aid and medical Ebola heroes, but the heroism of so many Sierra Leoneans at community level is inspiring and under-reported. We should invest more in these people.

"Secondly, the medical and military effort is impressive, but the pure humanitarian aid response appears to have hardly begun. Thirdly, not enough Sierra Leoneans know 'enough' about Ebola, especially in the most rural and poorest places."

To sponsor a child in Sierra Leone, see street-child.co.uk/ebolaresponse

Telegraph.co.uk

 

[DHR43]

Greetings, bw: these articles are from last Sept/Oct. I thought that his approach was interesting. The darth of current articles on Ebola is making any reporting difficult to say the least. Please bare with it. Take care. BREWER

Seems to me that the statement, "The dearth of current articles on Ebola is making any reporting difficult to say the least", is close to what is called "a self-sealing argument".

By that I mean, the dearth of articles can be used to prove 1) there's a BIG epidemic and they are keeping the story under wraps and the fact that they are keeping the story under wraps MEANS there's a BIG epidemic OR 2) there's no epidemic and there's no story and this makes reporting rather difficult since there's nothing to report and this MEANS there's no epidemic.

I go with 2).

 

[BREWER]

Seems to me that the statement, "The dearth of current articles on Ebola is making any reporting difficult to say the least", is close to what is called "a self-sealing argument".

By that I mean, the dearth of articles can be used to prove 1) there's a BIG epidemic and they are keeping the story under wraps and the fact that they are keeping the story under wraps MEANS there's a BIG epidemic OR 2) there's no epidemic and there's no story and this makes reporting rather difficult since there's nothing to report and this MEANS there's no epidemic.

I go with 2).

No worries, Mate. I go with #1. That's what makes a horse race. Nothing would make me, and everyone else who goes with #1, happy as hell.
Take care BREWER

 

[BREWER]

H/t Night Driver

ETA: Ebola has not gone away, just the MSM [Main Stream Media] reporting of it. Ask yourself what would happen to your business if an acutely infected Ebola was traced to your small business location or fell ill and had to be carried out by medics in full 'suits' and then decontamination 'crews' enter your business with full Media coverage and cameras and interviews all broadcast on your local news and national news for the next several days/weeks?

Posted for fair use and discussion.
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/local-n...?autoplay=true

Akron Bridal shop, Coming Attractions, closing down in May, unable to recover from Ebola stigma
Bob Jones
4:29 PM, Jan 7, 2015
42 mins ago
Bridal Shop Closing
WEWS

AKRON, Ohio - An Akron bridal shop, unable to rebound from the stigma created by an Ebola scare, is closing its doors in May after 30 years in business.

In a letter to customers, Anna Younker, owner of Coming Attractions Bridal and Formal, said the recent events were devastating to her business.

"Despite our best efforts, we simply have been unable to recover," the letter reads.

During an interview at the store, Younker indicated she has lost more than $100,000 since Amber Vinson, a Dallas nurse, tested positive for the Ebola virus a few days after she visited the store to plan for her upcoming wedding.

"I wish that now she knew better not to travel. The impact its had on me is huge," Younker said. "Never in a million years did I expect something like this to cause our business to have to close."

Younker, who has operated the business for two decades, has lost many customers because of the negative perception of the store. She said others continue to refer to it as the "Ebola store" and fear coming inside the building on Tallmadge Avenue to shop for gowns.

"It's very upsetting because there's nothing I can do."

Vinson, a graduate of Firestone High School, was treated for the virus in a Texas hospital and has recovered.

Last November, Younker was insulted after she received a letter from a Dallas attorney requesting a refund on behalf of Vinson's bridesmaids.

Younker ignored the request and said the bridesmaids apparently took their business elsewhere because they called to ask for their measurements.

"If she can't support us, what kind of message are you sending to everybody else? Maybe she didn't want to be associated with the "Ebola store" either," Younker said.

Four other employees of the store will lose their jobs when the store closes, including Kayla Litz, a 33-year-old associate.

Litz is pregnant and dealt with a nerve-racking 21-day forced quarantine because she came into direct contact with Vinson.

"I was in my first trimester of pregnancy at that point and I was sick-- nausea, vomiting and tired-- which are some symptoms of Ebola," Litz said.

Litz was monitored daily by the health department and didn't test positive for the virus.

She's sad the business is closing, but understands the owner's decision.

"The repercussions were endless for her financially," Litz said.

Younker said all orders received through January 31 will be finished and delivered.

She said concerned customers should call the store or leave a message on Coming Attraction's Facebook page.

The store is currently liquidating dresses and offering 50 to 80 percent off the gowns until the closure in May.

 

[Plain Jane]

http://www.thelocal.se/20150107/swedish-nurse-back-in-hospital

A Swedish nurse declared healthy after an Ebola scare earlier this week is back in hospital.
• Swedish nurse leaves hospital after Ebola scare (07 Jan 15)
• Sweden steps up Ebola financial aid (30 Nov 14)
• 'There's no risk of Ebola spreading in Europe' (12 Nov 14)
The woman, who was flown home from Sierra Leone on Sunday, was admitted to Skåne University Hospital and tested for the virus on Monday.

But after initially being told she did not have Ebola, she is now back under medical supervision at another hospital in the region as doctors carry out further tests.

"She has exhibited symptoms that could indicate Ebola, but it is not certain that it is [Ebola]," Sara Frostberg Lowery at Region Skåne's press office told the TT news agency.

"She has been transferred to the University Hospital in Malmö and after an assessment she will be transported to another medical centre in Linköping," she added.

There have been a handful of Ebola scares in Sweden since the virus started to spread rapidly in west Africa last year, but no Swedes have contracted it.

The World Health Organization reports that the disease has claimed 7,500 lives so far - the vast majority in western Africa.

Sweden has donated 550 million kronor ($69 million) in the fight a against Ebola.

 

[DHR43]

http://www.thelocal.se/20150107/swedish-nurse-back-in-hospital

A Swedish nurse declared healthy after an Ebola scare earlier this week is back in hospital.
• Swedish nurse leaves hospital after Ebola scare (07 Jan 15)
• Sweden steps up Ebola financial aid (30 Nov 14)
• 'There's no risk of Ebola spreading in Europe' (12 Nov 14)
The woman, who was flown home from Sierra Leone on Sunday, was admitted to Skåne University Hospital and tested for the virus on Monday.

But after initially being told she did not have Ebola, she is now back under medical supervision at another hospital in the region as doctors carry out further tests.

"She has exhibited symptoms that could indicate Ebola, but it is not certain that it is [Ebola]," Sara Frostberg Lowery at Region Skåne's press office told the TT news agency.

"She has been transferred to the University Hospital in Malmö and after an assessment she will be transported to another medical centre in Linköping," she added.

There have been a handful of Ebola scares in Sweden since the virus started to spread rapidly in west Africa last year, but no Swedes have contracted it.

The World Health Organization reports that the disease has claimed 7,500 lives so far - the vast majority in western Africa.

Sweden has donated 550 million kronor ($69 million) in the fight a against Ebola.

Read the article again. Look for content, facts, meaning, interpretation.

Nothing.

Once the public figures out the Ebola 'tests' are inaccurate (assuming the authorities even give a test, of any sort, which is doubtful), and that the results CANNOT be trusted, and that nearly ALL people who are thought to have Ebola don't......Well, the public won't ever figure that out.

Sorry for the diversion. Back to the scare. Oh, and $60MM donated from taxpayers for nothing.

 

[BREWER]

Posted for fair use and discussion.
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/eb...-kills-nearly-500-health-care-workers-n281801

Ebola Kills Nearly 500 Health Care Workers

The Ebola virus has infected more than 800 health care workers, killing nearly 500 of them, according to the latest numbers released by the World Health Organization Wednesday.

The epidemic continues to spread across Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, and it's now sickened more than 20,000 and killed more than 8,000 people, WHO says. Although clinics have been set up in all three countries, the epidemic is not yet under control.

Funerals and burials are still a major source of disease transmission. Despite efforts to educate people about this and to deploy safe burial teams, it's clear that people are still becoming infected by this route, WHO says.

The new numbers on health care workers show that doctors, nurses and other people working at Ebola treatment centers are among those at highest risk. "A total of 838 health-care workers are known to have been infected with Ebola virus disease up to the end of 4 January 2015, 495 of whom have died," WHO said in a statement.

"The marked increase from the total of 678 health-care worker infections reported last week is due to additional cases reported from Sierra Leone that have occurred since the onset of the epidemic. These are not infections that have occurred between the two most recent reporting periods."

 

[BREWER]

Posted for fair use and discussion.
http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpr...-8220-no-end-in-sight-for-outbreak-in-africa/

Ebola death toll reaches 8,220 – no end in sight for outbreak in Africa
Posted on January 7, 2015 by The Extinction Protocol

January 2015 – AFRICA – The death toll from the current Ebola outbreak has reached 8,220. As many as 20,712 are infected, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement on Tuesday. These cases were reported from Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. In line with statistics, the maximum number of Ebola-related deaths and cases has been registered in Liberia – 3,496 cumulative deaths and 8,157 cumulative cases. Liberia is followed by Sierra Leone (2,943 deaths and 9,780 cases) and Guinea (1,781 deaths and 2,775 cases). The number of Ebola deaths in these three countries rose by 56 and the number of cases rose by 67 since January 5. Separate cases have also been registered in Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Spain, Britain and the United States. In most of these countries the number of Ebola-related cases does not exceed ten, with the only exception of Nigeria, where 20 people are infected by Ebola virus and eight have died.

The World Health Organization describes Ebola virus disease (formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever) as “a severe, often fatal illness, with a case fatality rate of up to 90%.” Symptoms include sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding. The infection is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, body fluids and tissues of infected animals or people. People are infectious as long as their blood and secretions contain the virus. The incubation period is 2 to 21 days. There is no known cure or vaccine for the disease. The only treatment offered is “supportive intensive care.” –Itar TASS

 

[BREWER]

Posted for fair use and discussion.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ebola-death-toll-rises-in-west-africa-while-us-interest-wanes/

Ebola death toll rises in West Africa while Americans' interest wanes

Jessica Firger January 8, 2015

Although it's largely dropped out of the headlines in this country, the Ebola outbreak continues to ravage West Africa. At least 8,235 people have died and more than 20,700 have fallen ill since the outbreak first began last year, according to the latest World Health Organization figures released Jan. 4. Six out of 10 patients currently hospitalized with the virus will die, and a huge number of victims still aren't receiving medical care, which has allowed this public health crisis to continue to escalate at an alarming pace.

Yet many Americans may be under the impression that the Ebola crisis is winding down. People have short attention spans and the news cycle is fickle, both of which have contributed to the illusion that Ebola is no longer the worry it once was. However, a look at data from Google Trends and the World Health Organization reinforces a simple, and some might say disheartening, reality of human behavior: Most of us aren't that interested in a crisis until it hits very close to home.

"The attention has really diverted away from the epidemic; people aren't seeing it as a threat in the U.S. anymore," Dana March, an assistant professor in epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, told CBS News. "I think largely the human impulse is to say we're worried because it could reach our shores."

This chart tells the story: Google data shows U.S. interest peaked when several people here got sick, and then dropped off again, even as the outbreak continued to spiral out of control overseas.

"I think the media certainly plays a role but the relationship is a bit complicated," said March. "When this kind of public health threat isn't at our immediate doorstep, it's not the news that sells."

However, when Ebola did knock on America's door, the desire for information surged.

In August, when the Ebola death count was still in the hundreds in West Africa, the first Americans infected, health care workers Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, were flown to the U.S. for treatment. At that point Google saw a notable spike in Ebola-related search terms in the U.S.

Then at the end of September, Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian man visiting Dallas, was diagnosed with Ebola and subsequently infected two nurses. Among Texas residents, interest in Ebola was virtually nonexistent before Duncan's diagnosis, according to data from Google Trends, but it skyrocketed as people sought information on this suddenly imminent threat.

Google searches on Ebola hit their peak in late October when Dr. Craig Spencer, a Doctors Without Borders volunteer, was admitted to the hospital in New York City a few days after his return from Sierra Leone. Spencer received widespread criticism when it became known that he'd visited public places including a park, restaurant, subways and a bowling alley. Searches for "Ebola symptoms" reached an all-time high, indicating the public's fear of catching the disease. But no one else got sick, and the panic soon abated.

Now, even as the death toll in West Africa rises steadily towards the 10,000 mark, the frequency of Google searches on Ebola in the U.S. have leveled off to numbers similar to July, when the outbreak was barely on the public's radar.

March says breaking news that hits close to home can be a teachable moment when it comes to public health issues, because it's those points when people sit up and pay attention. She says this also why it's critical there be access to accurate information, such as how the virus is -- and isn't -- transmitted.

"Incorrect information is fueled by fear," March points out. "It's a time that perhaps comes too late and when people are going to listen. But unfortunately, they don't always listen to evidence-based information, and it just gets more complicated at that point because people are afraid. Fear around Ebola is far more viral than Ebola itself."

 

[BREWER]

Posted for fair use and discussion.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/technology/ebola-blood-testing-kit-fits-4946895

Ebola blood testing kit fits in a suitcase and detects the virus 10 TIMES faster

Jan 09, 2015 Jasper Hamill

German scientists have designed a super-efficient ebola testing kit which is so small it could be carried as hand luggage on an airline.

The life-saving suitcase can detect traces of the deadly virus in just 15 minutes - which is almost 10 times faster than the current testing kit.

It was designed by scientists at the German Primate Centre in Goettingen and is intended to be used by doctors battling the disease in rural areas of Africa.

The suitcase works away from the mod-cons of a traditional testing lab, allowing a speedy diagnosis of the diease.

Currently, blood samples must be transported over long distances to testing labs.

With a death rate of up to 90% and quick treatment critical to chances of survival, any delay is likely to be lethal.

Five of the suitcases are now being sent to Guinea, where the current outbreak is thought to have started.

"The early detection of Ebola infected patients will lead to a more effective virus control since medical staff can identify and isolate confirmed Ebola cases more rapidly," said Dr. Christiane Stahl-Hennig, head of the unit of infection models at the German Primate Centre.

 

[BREWER]

Posted for fair use and discussion.
http://www.voanews.com/content/phase-3-trials-of-ebola-vaccine-set-to-begin/2592103.html

Phase-3 Trials of Ebola Vaccines Set to Begin
Lisa Schlein

FILE - A researcher holds a vial of an experimental Ebola vaccine in Oxford, England.
January 09, 2015 12:32 PM
GENEVA—

The World Health Organization reports phase-3 trials of possible Ebola vaccines are set to begin at the end of January and early February in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Experts who attended a high-level WHO meeting on Thursday reviewed data from clinical trials on three potential vaccines and agreed they were safe and could proceed to the next phase.

Manufacturers have been fast-tracking the development of Ebola vaccines for the past several months. And the speed and urgency with which scientists have responded to this critical need appears to be paying off.

WHO Assistant Director-General Marie-Paule Kieny says two vaccines developed by Merck and GlaxoSmithKline have undergone the first phase of clinical testing, which looks at the safety of the vaccines and the immune response against the Ebola virus.

She says both vaccines have proven acceptably safe, so trials for these two vaccines will begin in a few weeks to test their effectiveness.

“The phase-3 trials of the two lead vaccines — the third phase of testing means giving vaccines to healthy volunteers in the area where the virus is being transmitted and this is to actually test whether they work. And, we have already been informed of plans of a third manufacturer, Johnson and Johnson, to also engage to efficacy testing," said Kieny.

According to the latest WHO figures, the Ebola epidemic so far has claimed 8,259 lives and infected 20,972 people in the three heavily-affected West African countries.

The chair of the high-level meeting and professor at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, Helen Rees, says unprecedented and remarkable progress is being made in the development of an Ebola vaccine. While this is encouraging, she says the epidemic is far from over.

“Clearly, what we want to do is eradicate this virus. We do not want to have pockets of virus continuing and continuing. But, for this reason, it is very urgent that we get into the field very quickly to do these clinical trials because if there are very, very, very few cases of Ebola, as I am sure you understand, it is going to be very difficult to test whether the vaccines work or not. So we recognize that we are going to push speed, but without compromising on quality," said Rees.

The WHO experts estimate it will take about six months for results from the phase-3 trials to be known. They say the production of vaccines will go on while the trials are underway. They say they expect to have a huge stock of millions of doses of vaccine available by mid-year.

In another bit of good news, they say the board of GAVI, a global health partnership that provides vaccines to poor countries, has approved funding for Ebola vaccines and for strengthening the fragile health systems in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Related Articles

Video Governments, Competitors Cooperate to Produce Ebola Vaccine
IMF Prepares New Aid in Ebola’s Wake
Sierra Leone President to Visit Areas Hard-Hit by Ebola Friday

 

[jed turtle]

Thanks Brewer for your steady focus on this!

 

[tanstaafl]

The casualty numbers may be highly suspect (even the WHO admits they're probably undercounting by at least a factor of four), but I still want to add the official WHO death toll to my notes with a date attached. So thanks for those folks who post articles with the latest numbers (in this case, 8,259 deaths in an article dated 01/09/2015)!

 

[Dex]

I've always said that the terrorists will intentionally contract Ebola and then stroll over the Mexico border to spread their ooze all over America.

The lamestream media put the old kibosh on the subject before Thanksgiving by order of the retail giants and the mega corporations that are the real power behind the throne.

Now that the season is over, the story might come up again. Maybe it's true what some are saying, there is no more Ebola threat in the US and THAT is why they aren't covering it. I sincerely hope they are right but my gut tells me the opposite is true and that is probably out of control in the US. The victims are probably being rolled into the flu statistics along with the associated fatality numbers.

I don't see how it could be possible for it to not already be becoming an epidemic in the US and TPTB are intentionally keeping it under wraps for as long as they possibly can...until it becomes the proverbial elephant in the living room and by then it will be too late to do anything about it to prevent massive numbers of related deaths in the US.

 

[bw]

The consistent pattern has been a doubling about every three weeks. If it's loose in the US, in four or five doublings it will be obvious.

 

[Oreally]

late spring.

 

[Oreally]

the countries over there are starting to break down:

UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) External Situation Report, 9 January 2015

- Guinea is facing a fuel shortage which is impacting the Ebola response. The UNMEER Field Crisis Manager for Macenta reported that on 8 January the Guinea Red Cross was unable to transport a suspected case to the Ebola Treatment Centre (ETC) due to the fuel shortage. Reports indicate that local authorities have been working on to support the French Red Cross at the ETC. In addition the UNMEER Field Crisis Manager for N'zérékoré, Lola and Yomou has reported that fuel supplies are down to 5,000 liters (10 days of supply) at the Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) and that radio stations which broadcast sensitization messages have not been working for 4 days.

- The planned launch of the campaign “Zero Ebola in 60 days” (refer to Sitrep of 5 January) which was to be held in Forécariah prefecture, Guinea on 10 January has been put on hold due to the continuing resistance of the communities to EVD response in that area. According to WHO, on 6 January, there were 31 sub-prefectures in the country where EVD response efforts were facing community resistance.

https://ebolaresponse.un.org/resources

(i can't make the link work . . . the document is there is you want it- )

 

[bw]

late spring.

My sister's coming to visit in the spring. I told her when the time gets closer she'll have to evaluate the risks. She thinks I'm daft, but in a likeable way.

 

[Oreally]

My sister's coming to visit in the spring. I told her when the time gets closer she'll have to evaluate the risks. She thinks I'm daft, but in a likeable way.

what i mean is it will be in late spring that the msm will be unable to keep it out of the public consciousness. i don't think things are going to start breaking down here until fall.

let her visit. just be aware. we are going to need lots of joy and good feelings going forward.

 

[bw]

what i mean is it will be in late spring that the msm will be unable to keep it out of the public consciousness. i don't think things are going to start breaking down here until fall.

let her visit. just be aware. we are going to need lots of joy and good feelings going forward.

Yes, breaking down is out there a ways. But the riskiest behavior you can indulge in on the way to there is spending time in crowds. Traveling by air is like being a human sponge sitting with other sponges, and in two or three hops you're maybe three degrees of separation from every Ebola victim in the country.

We'll see. It promises to be an interesting year.

 

[BREWER]

Posted for fair use and discussion. H/t Possible Impact
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-...d-home-after-return-west-africa-hazmat-called

US Soldier's Body Found Outside Fort Hood Home After Return From West Africa, Hazmat Called
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/13/2015 14:27 -0500

Fort Hood officials and Hazmat crews are on site in Killeen after a US soldier, who recently returned from West Africa, was found dead outside his home. So far there are no answers as to why the soldier was not in quarantine and no known cause of death...



Body being taken from home pic.twitter.com/h5EYapIqMW

— Grant Hermes (@GrantHermesTV) January 13, 2015

Second photo pic.twitter.com/maOXXliVdk

— Grant Hermes (@GrantHermesTV) January 13, 2015

Statement from KPD: Victim had recently returned from w. Africa. Cause of death unknown. Body taken to Dallas for autopsy.

— Grant Hermes (@GrantHermesTV) January 13, 2015

As WFAA reports,

Killeen police and Fort Hood military police currently have a home blocked off on the 3300 block of Cantebrian Drive where a man was found dead in a yard Tuesday morning.



Fort Hood officials confirm the man is a soldier who recently returned from a deployment to West Africa. Officials say there are no indications the soldier had Ebola, however medical personnel at Carl R. Darnall Medical Center are running tests as a precaution to make sure there is no threat to the community.



Troops returning from West Africa must undergo a 21-day monitoring period at a controlled monitoring site on post. Officials say this soldier was granted an emergency leave - not medical related - and was under self-monitoring where he had to check in with officials twice a day.

 

[Doomer Doug]

Brewer, the ongoing, multiple impacts of Ebola in West Africa continue. People are dying from hunger etc as the economic life grinds to a halt.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ebola-...el-sierra-leone-s-economic-freefall-1.2896919

 

[It'sJustMe]

Fair use:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hazmat-team-responds-to-texas-soldier-found-dead-in-yard/

Ebola tests negative for Texas soldier found dead in yard



Last Updated Jan 13, 2015 11:26 PM EST

KILLEEN, Texas -- Officials are investigating the death of a Fort Hood soldier who was found outside an off-base apartment after he returned from deployment in West Africa.

A Fort Hood statement says two tests on the 24-year-old soldier Tuesday showed no signs of Ebola, and that there is "no evidence of a public health threat."

Killeen police, a hazmat team and several ambulances responded to the soldier's home Tuesday morning after a report came in of a man's body being found outside, reports CBS affiliate KWTX in Waco.

A neighbor told KWTX that he saw the body at about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.

 

[BREWER]

Fair use:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hazmat-team-responds-to-texas-soldier-found-dead-in-yard/

Ebola tests negative for Texas soldier found dead in yard



Last Updated Jan 13, 2015 11:26 PM EST

KILLEEN, Texas -- Officials are investigating the death of a Fort Hood soldier who was found outside an off-base apartment after he returned from deployment in West Africa.

A Fort Hood statement says two tests on the 24-year-old soldier Tuesday showed no signs of Ebola, and that there is "no evidence of a public health threat."

Killeen police, a hazmat team and several ambulances responded to the soldier's home Tuesday morning after a report came in of a man's body being found outside, reports CBS affiliate KWTX in Waco.

A neighbor told KWTX that he saw the body at about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Greetings, It'sJustMe: Thank you for the update. I've been wondering about when the Nobola diagnosis would be issued.

We have a new thread over here:http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...BOLA-DISCUSSION-THREAD-1-15-2015-to-1-31-2015

I'll re-post your article over ther, too. Thanks again for you effort. Take care. BREWER