Disasters

Ebola: Liberia deaths ‘far higher than reported’ as officials downplay epidemic

The true death toll from the Ebola epidemic is being masked by chaotic data collection and people’s reluctance to admit that their loved ones had the virus, according to one of west Africa’s most celebrated film-makers. Sorious Samura, who has just returned from making a documentary on the crisis in Liberia, said it is very clear on the ground that the true number of dead is far higher than the official figures being reported by the World Health Organisation. Liberia accounts for more than half of all the official Ebola deaths, with a total of 2,458.

Warning: A Massive Government Solicitation Could Cause a Shortage of Protective Clothing, Gloves, Masks

The National Institute of Health has placed a massive order for protective clothing and supplies that could make it impossible for you to procure your own gear. And by massive, I mean a year’s supply for employees of facilities across the country, replenished throughout the year no matter what happens, and taking priority over any personal orders. Here’s some of the text of the solicitation, entitled “EMERGENCY DISASTER EVENT PREPARATION FOR PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE)”.

When Should I Go Into a Full Pandemic Lockdown Mode And Self Quarantine?

Gross mismanagement of the Ebola crisis by CDC and health officials around the country has left many Americans wondering what steps they need to take to prevent getting infected. Some of the key questions facing concerned citizens revolve around the concepts of self quarantine and social distancing. When do you make the call to bug in or bug out?

Nurses Union: Ebola Patient Left In Open Area Of ER For Hours

A Liberian Ebola patient was left in an open area of a Dallas emergency room for hours, and nurses treating him worked without proper protective gear and faced constantly changing protocols, according to a statement released by the nation’s largest nurses’ union. Among those nurses was Nina Pham, 26, who has been hospitalized since Friday after catching Ebola while caring for Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person diagnosed with the virus in the U.S.

Dallas Nurse With Ebola Traveled By Air The Day Before Her Symptoms Surfaced

The CDC has announced that the second healthcare worker diagnosed with Ebola — now identified as Amber Joy Vinson of Dallas — traveled by air Oct. 13, the day before she first reported symptoms. The CDC is now reaching out to all passengers who flew on Frontier Airlines flight 1143 Cleveland to Dallas/Fort Worth.

Nurses at Texas hospital: ‘There were no protocols’ about Ebola

“The guidelines were constantly changing” and “there were no protocols” at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas as the hospital treated a patient with Ebola, the president of National Nurses United told reporters Tuesday. Protective gear nurses wore at first left their necks exposed, union co-president Deborah Burger said, citing information she said came from nurses at the hospital. Union officials declined to specify how many nurses they had spoken with.

Nurses Blast Hospitals Over Ebola Safety

A national nurses union said during a hastily-scheduled press conference Tuesday evening that hospitals are dropping the ball on safety for nurses caring for Ebola patients. RoseAnn DeMoro, director of National Nurses United, which has been critical of hospitals’ response to the Ebola crisis, said safety protocols recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have not been followed by the Dallas hospital where Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, died last week. “Our nurses are not protected, they’re not prepared to handle Ebola or any other pandemics,” DeMoro said.

Ebola Cases Could Zoom to 10,000 a Week, WHO Warns

The Ebola epidemic could get dramatically worse with the rate of infection soaring to 10,000 new cases every week unless drastic measures are not taken within the next two months, the World Health Organization said today. That staggering figure is approximately 10 times higher than the current rate of infection, but WHO Assistant Director General Dr. Bruce Aylward said that it could easily get that dramatic if steps are not taken now.

Uganda: two new suspected Marburg cases put in isolation – second outbreak forming?

Two new suspect cases of Marburg have been put in isolation at the national referral hospital Mulago. They did not have any contact with the health worker who died of Marburg on September 28th, which could suggest a 2nd outbreak may be festering. Three other suspected cases are in isolation camps in Ibanda and Entebbe and preliminary tests on them have so far turned out negative.

Earthquake Forecast: 4 California Faults Are Ready to Rupture

With several faults slicing through the San Francisco Bay Area, forecasting the next deadly earthquake becomes a question of when and where, not if. Now researchers propose that four faults have built up enough seismic strain (stored energy) to unleash destructive earthquakes, according to a study published today (Oct. 13) in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America.

EBOLA CAMPS? Fox Analyst Calls For Quarantine Camps In Every City

Fox News, always ahead of the curve on panicking the general public into giving up all their rights, aired programming Monday during which an analyst openly called for quarantine camps to be set up all over the country to house those with Ebola like symptoms. Fox contributor and former actress Stacey Dash called for the federal government to establish emergency centers to hold Americans in isolation, despite the fact that there have only been two confirmed cases of the ebola virus in the US. “I think they should set up special centers for just Ebola in each state,” Dash said.

Dallas Nurse: Is Ebola Airborne Now?

A three year nurse at Dallas Presbyterian Hospital told a local television station she fears Ebola may be airborne. “We are wondering if it really is contact in airborne or contact in a breach of protocol,” she said. “We really don’t know.

Only These 4 Hospitals Are Truly Equipped To Treat Ebola

There’s a lot of head scratching going on about what the healthcare worker that contracted Ebola from Patient Zero in Dallas did wrong. Did she take off the protective gear improperly? Did the gear touch something?

+ More