Showing posts with label Ebola-Reston virus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ebola-Reston virus. Show all posts

PostHeaderIcon St. Agnes Academy of Legazpi temporarily closes vs. H1N1 influenza

7/26/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post


After 5 of its students tested positive for the H1N1 virus, St. Agnes Academy in Legazpi City stopped operations to contain the spread of the disease. Classes ceased in the elementary and high school levels and are expected to resume on August 2, 2009. Of the five ill students, 2 have recovered and 3 continue to get medical treatment.

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda ordered local health officers to work hand in hand with school authorities as they monitor and try to curtail the spread of the disease.

In the world front, pharmaceuticals are rushing the production of the H1N1 vaccine in anticipation of a possible disease resurgence when the winter season arrives. At least `160 million vaccines are being rushed in United States. According to experts, up to about 40% of Americans may get ill from the swine flu. Yet, so far it behaves in a benign fashion similar to the seasonal flu. According to reports, there are increasing number of viral resistance to treatment which needs close monitoring.

The H1N1 flu has the potential to infect the elderly, the sick, those who are immunocompromised, and the very young. Deaths from these susceptible groups have been reported. (Photo Credit: AP/ Gregory Bull) =0=

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PostHeaderIcon The march of the pig virus

4/28/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post


Across the borders of Mexico the fast-moving virus has proven its efficiency of causing alarm across the globe. The World Health Organization (WHO) raised its level of vigilance to level 4 indicating that the disease is highly transmissible among human beings.

The United States declared a public health emergency to coordinate the Department of Homeland Security’s response to the changing health threat. Russia, Hong Kong and Taiwan said they would isolate travelers showing symptoms of the virus. Europe urged people to forgo non-essential travel especially in the disease epicenter.

CDC recommendations on Prevention

1. Wash your hands regularly with soap and water, especially after coughing or sneezing. Or use an alcohol-based hand cleaner.
2. Avoid close contact with sick people.
3. Avoid touching your mouth, nose, or eyes.



With the uncertainty of where the march of the disease will go, countries like the Philippines banned the import of pork from Mexico and the United States. Asian countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines started active screening of with flu-like symptoms travelers in their respective airports.

To date, there are at least 6 countries with the pig flu infection----Mexico, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Spain, and Israel. It is likely more places will confirm swine infections. There are about 2,000 downed by the illness with about 150 deaths. From extrapolations from past pandemics, in a worst case scenario, a large-scale illness can overwhelm care-givers and hospitals and cause the death of 2% of those affected, perhaps 2 million in USA alone.

The spread of the flu had negatively affected business and the economy. The world market fell yesterday amid threats of a pandemic and instability of the financial markets. Mexico had so far the most number of flu victims and it suffered the aftermaths of a faltering economy, drug wars, and a recent earthquake. Its major dollar earner, the tourism industry, slowed for lack of visitors.



There are those who ask why the US-Mexican border has not been closed---the disease adding to the problem of illegal aliens in the United States taxing the healthcare system. The active surveillance of suspected carriers seen in Asia is absent in America. The Obama government has no plan to halt school, ban large gatherings in public places considered mixbowls of infection.

Top level positions in the CDC and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) still need people to decide on encompassing health decisions especially if the situation deteriorates. With the illness out of the box people criticized Mexico for not doing enough in controlling the disease at the onset. (Photo Credit: National Terror Alert; AFP/ Luis Acosta; AFP/ Null; Reuters/ Chaiwat Subprasom/ Thailand Animals Health) =0=



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PostHeaderIcon The Ebola-Reston virus scare in the Philippines

3/02/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post


Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever

There was panic and alarm when Ebola virus first emerged as a fatal bleeding disease in Congo (Zaire) in 1978. Similar outbreaks in neighboring countries in Africa occured. Transmitted mainly by body fluids, the acute infection (aka Ebola hemorrhagic fever, EHF) of the Filoviridae family of RNA viruses presented like a typical viral infection--- fever, headache, joint and muscle pain, sore throat, and weakness after an incubation of 2 to 21 days. Some manifested with a skin rash, conjunctival injection, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain, internal and external bleeding.

There were those who survived and spontaneously recovered, but many with severe infections showed signs of hemorrhage, fluid loss, shock, and eventual death. EHF is feared because it is highly transmissible and carries a high mortality rate.

Reported cases of EHF have been zoonotic infections (animal borne.) A potential agent of bioterrorism, Ebola can present as a nosocomial infection, a disease contracted in hospitals and medical facilities during an outbreak. The exact origin, location, and natural habitat (known as the "natural reservoir") of Ebola virus aren't fully known. This makes containment of the infection difficult.

The first 4 of the 5 subtypes of Ebola is known to cause disease in humans: Ebola-Zaire, Ebola-Sudan, Ebola-Ivory Coast and Ebola-Bundibugyo. The virulence and lethality of these viral strains are suggested by World Health Organizations's (WHO) containment recommendations below. EHF has no known vaccine nor specific cure.



WHO's containment of Ebola

•Suspected cases should be isolated from other patients and strict barrier nursing techniques implemented.
•Tracing and following up people who may have been exposed to Ebola through close contact with patients are essential.
•All hospital staff should be briefed on the nature of the disease and its transmission routes. Particular emphasis should be placed on ensuring that invasive procedures such as the placing of intravenous lines and the handling of blood, secretions, catheters and suction devices are carried out under strict barrier nursing conditions (biohazard.) Hospital staff should have individual gowns, gloves, masks and goggles. Non-disposable protective equipment must not be reused unless they have been properly disinfected.
•Infection may also spread through contact with the soiled clothing or bed linens from a patient with Ebola. Disinfection is therefore required before handling these items.
•Communities affected by Ebola should make efforts to ensure that the population is well informed, both about the nature of the disease itself and about necessary outbreak containment measures, including burial of the deceased. People who have died from Ebola should be promptly and safely buried. --- World Health Organization (WHO)

WHO's therapy and treatment of Ebola

• Severe cases require intensive supportive care, as patients are frequently dehydrated and in need of intravenous fluids or oral rehydration with solutions containing electrolytes.
• No specific treatment or vaccine is yet available for Ebola haemorrhagic fever. Several potential vaccines are being tested but it could be several years before any is available. A new drug therapy has shown some promise in laboratory studies and is currently being evaluated. But this too will take several years.
• Experimental studies using hyper-immune sera on animals have shown no protection against the disease. ---World Health Organization (WHO)



Ebola Reston virus in the Philippines

"In 1989, Reston, an Ebola virus subtype, was isolated in quarantined laboratory cynomolgus monkeys (Macacca fascicularis) in Reston, Virginia, USA. From 1989 to 1996, several outbreaks caused by the Ebola Reston subtype occurred in monkeys imported from the Philippines to the USA (Reston in Virginia, Alice in Texas and Pennsylvania) and to Italy. Investigations traced the source of all Ebola Reston outbreaks to one export facility near Manila in the Philippines, but the mode of contamination of this facility was not determined. Several monkeys died, and at least four people were infected, although none of them suffered clinical illness."---World Health Organization (WHO)

The Ebola-Reston (ERV,) the fifth subtype of the virus was first found in Philippine monkeys. It has caused disease in primates, but not in humans. Mainly because this that local health authorities seem to be “in control” over the simmering Ebola outbreak that has infected pigs in Pandi, Bulacan.

To make sure the ERV doesn't spread to the general population, the Philippine government in coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO) is on the process of slaughtering 6,000 infected pigs. So far no person has been reported to have fallen ill of the disease, but there are 6 farm workers and butchers who turned positive for Ebola antibodies. This is surely a cause of concern.

In spite the Department of Health's (DOH) effort to contain the disease, nobody knows the extent ERV has spread in the country at this time. It is unclear which other animal species harbor the disease agent and need isolation or killing. Philippine health authorities can only speak of what they know---that a number of pigs and some individuals were proven to be positive for antibodies--- which means they encountered the virus without suffering signs of illness.

With the potential to mutate and acquire virulence, Ebola-Reston can be transmitted to susceptible hosts and become infective to more animals and humans. Though ERV doesn’t cause disease in healthy individuals, it’s unclear what happens if the virus infects people with weak immunity or those sick of debilitating illnesses. That’s why to avoid epidemics, isolation or euthanasia of infected animals (like in the Avian Flu infection) are high in the list of priorities.

Awareness of the disease is enhanced through step-up public health education. Cleanliness is important. There is heightened watch over the sale of “double-dead” meat that may carry the disease agent. As a precaution, testing for ERV is expanded and export of porcine meat to other countries has been halted.

The strategies to combat ERV is complex and tedious. Despite DOH’s monitoring and vigilance, medical workers have to deal with the challenges of a serious health threat whose outcome is just starting to unravel. The danger of Ebola doesn't only rest on the Philippines, but on the entire world as well. It's a global effort that this disease is nipped on the bud. (Photo Credit: [][][][][]/ www.bio.davidson.edu /KeeAun)=0=

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