Disasters

CDC Warns Funeral Homes in U.S. to Prepare For Ebola Victims

The Centers for Disease Control is advising funeral homes in the United States on how to handle the remains of Ebola victims, although officials are keen to stress that the development is not a cause for alarm. A three page list of recommendations instructs funeral workers to wear protective gear while handling Ebola victims, as well as warning them not to carry out autopsies or to embalm corpses. “If the outbreak of the potentially deadly virus is in West Africa, why are funeral homes in America being given guidelines?

World wildlife populations cut in half over the past 40 years – report

The global loss of species is even worse than previously thought, the London Zoological Society (ZSL) says in its new Living Planet Index. The report suggests populations have halved in 40 years, as new methodology gives more alarming results than in a report two years ago. The report says populations of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish have declined by an average of 52%.

New mosquito-borne illness spreading across Latin America – victims describe disease as ’10 days of near unbearable pain’

An excruciating mosquito-borne illness that arrived less than a year ago in the Americas is raging across the region, leaping from the Caribbean to the Central and South American mainland, and infecting more than 1 million people. Some cases already have emerged in the United States. While the disease, called Chikungunya, usually is not fatal, the epidemic has overwhelmed hospitals, cut economic productivity and caused its sufferers days of pain and misery.

82 percent of Ebola patients are being turned away from hospitals to die at home, spreading infections to family members

A lack of available hospital beds in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the three countries at the epicenter of the worst Ebola outbreak in history, is leaving many families with nowhere to take their sick and dying. More than 80 percent of Ebola patients, in fact, are being turned away from hospitals and sent back home, where they continue to spread the disease to family members, friends and others in the community. A major shortage of beds and healthcare workers throughout the region has created an every-man-for-himself situation in which infected folks are having to basically fend for themselves.

Daily household water allocation could be the next California drought strategy

As California’s severe drought moves into a fourth year, state and local water agencies are working on something called “allocation-based rate structures,” a kind of precursor to water rationing that’s all the rage in Sacramento and in some areas such as Santa Cruz, Irvine and Santa Monica. Here’s how it works: Your local water company, special district or city assigns you and your household a number in gallons — a daily water allocation.

The Pure Hell At The Heart Of The Ebola Pandemic In Africa Could Soon Be Coming To America

Did you know that the number of Ebola cases in Liberia and Sierra Leone is approximately doubling every 20 days? People are dropping dead in the streets, large numbers of bodies are being dumped into the rivers, and gravediggers can hardly keep up with the the number of corpses that are being delivered to the cemeteries. As you read this, life is pure hell in many areas of West Africa, and now the CDC is warning that things may get far, far worse in the very near future.

CDC warns universities to prepare for Ebola pandemic

American colleges and universities are now on high alert and are being instructed to take extra precautions against the potential spread of incoming Ebola. Students traveling abroad to Ebola-stricken countries like Liberia, Guinea, Nigeria or Sierra Leone run the risk of bringing the virus back to US campuses. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is now urging all US colleges to implement additional safety measures to prevent accidental spread of Ebola.

Sierra Leone’s Ebola shutdown uncovers 92 dead in capital, 56 new cases reported

Sierra Leone wrapped up its 72-hour shutdown on Sunday, with authorities reporting that the action aimed at containing the Ebola epidemic had uncovered up to 70 dead bodies in and around the capital. Most of the West African country’s six million people were confined to their homes for a third straight day, with only essential workers such as health professionals and security forces exempt. Almost 30,000 volunteers have been going door-to-door to educate locals and hand out soap, in an exercise that was expected to lead to scores more patients and bodies being discovered in homes.

California Or Ethiopia? ‘Families Dream Every Night About Water’

It’s worst and getting worst-er. Hundreds of domestic wells in California’s drought-parched Central Valley farming region have run dry, according to AP, leaving many residents to rely on donated bottles of drinking water to get by. With government set to regulate deeper drilling, hope is plunging that a solution to California’s drought will come anytime soon as groundwater levels plunge.

Soldiers Train to Shoot Zombies During Ebola-Like Emergency

With real newscasts mixed in with scenes from 12 Monkeys, V For Vendetta and Planet of The Apes, this latest report illustrates how virus pandemics like Ebola are created and controlled by governments. Video has surfaced showing army troops training to kill waves of zombies during a viral pandemic in the backdrop of a third-world country. (Read the rest of the story here…)

Venezuela on alert over mysterious, deadly disease – 10 dead already

The deaths of 10 people in the past week of a mysterious disease in several cities in Venezuela, including the capital of Caracas, have caused panic within the population and has prompted doctors to sound the alarm. A government spokesman minimized the warnings and described efforts to notify the public of a disease that has killed four adults and four children as a “campaign of disinformation and terrorism.” Despite the government’s indifference, the country’s doctors insist there is plenty of reason for concern about a highly dangerous and contagious disease of unknown origin.

Exponential: Ebola Cases Now Double Every 3 Weeks; CDC Warns As Many As Half A Million May Be Infected Soon

Since the start of the outbreak, the Ebola virus has infected 5,357 people, killing 2,630, according to the WHO; and as The UN explains, the outbreak is the largest the world has ever seen with the number of cases is doubling every three weeks. As Sierra Leone instigates a 3-day nationwide shutdown to contain the deadly virus, the UN Secretary-General explains “Ebola matters to us all,” as we noted previously the odds of the infection coming to America is around 18% by year-end. The CDC, however, hot on the heels of the UN’s proclamation that “the gravity and scale of the situation now require an unprecedented level of international action,” has warned that unless government intervention is increased significantly, 550,000 people could be infected by the end of January.

Ship from Liberia with Sick Passengers Docks in Louisiana…But Don’t Worry

When a ship from an Ebola-plagued nation docks on American shores with a crew full of sick passengers, by all means, we should bring them into the country and treat them. But don’t worry – the CDC figured it was probably fine. According to a release from the CDC, the ship was reported to have traveled to a port in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and others in Africa.

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