Quarantine, West Africa: EBOLA UPDATE

originally posted by: soficrow
a reply to: marg6043

There are trillions of dollars to be had by depopulating West Africa to clear the path for mining and "resource extraction" - but I'll give you that letting the virus "escape" means big bucks for Big Pharma. Guess they had to share the wealth. Or maybe the escape really was accidental. Either way, it's a big win.

Um.. what are you suggesting? That pharma is now into mining operations? O.o

How about.. this is a normal outbreak where it's been seen before in an area with not great sanitary practices, near animals (i.e. bats and the fruit they eat) that can easily spread it. That's the norm around here though.. blame government.. big pharma.. whatever. Because clearly there are not actual normal natural disasters, diseases, murders, mass killings, and so on. Everything on the planet is orchestrated.

Even though this disease has never been a big target for profit mongers.. it's not worth trying to make a profit off of. It kills too fast, and spreads in areas where people couldn't afford it anyway.

a reply to: jadedANDcynical

Agreed - this is NOT a new strain. It is a novel sub-clade, and sufficiently different to act and spread differently than previous ZEBOV outbreaks. ....A lot of resources are being used to distract and deflect scrutiny, and rationalize the differences. Doesn't make it so.

originally posted by: fleabit

originally posted by: soficrow
a reply to: marg6043

There are trillions of dollars to be had by depopulating West Africa to clear the path for mining and "resource extraction" - but I'll give you that letting the virus "escape" means big bucks for Big Pharma. Guess they had to share the wealth. Or maybe the escape really was accidental. Either way, it's a big win.

Um.. what are you suggesting? That pharma is now into mining operations? O.o

I'm saying Big Pharma will benefit as well as (Western) mining corporations who are known to be salivating over West Africa's various deposits. And Big Pharma just got a big boost - West Africans are scared and desperate, and demanding access to untested treatments - so the UN ruled it's okay to use them as test subjects:
U.N.: It's ethical to try untested Ebola medicines

...Funny how that all came together, isn't it?

How about.. this is a normal outbreak where it's been seen before in an area with not great sanitary practices, near animals (i.e. bats and the fruit they eat) that can easily spread it.

You are misinformed. This is NOT a normal Ebola outbreak (previous outbreaks have remained isolated and burned out quickly) - and there's NEVER been an Ebola outbreak in West Africa before.

True - Ebola has never been a big target for profit mongers. But now it is, thanks to this epidemic and professional use of the rumor-mill-on-steroids we call social networking. And just to be clear - this Ebola subclade does NOT "kill too fast," and is spreading in international hubs and urban areas. Most interesting, the UN just gave the okay to use Ebola victims in this epidemic as guinea pigs.


.....You need to get up to speed.

originally posted by: loam
a reply to: soficrow
Another interesting note is that Patient Zero is reported to be a 2 year old boy, which raises interesting questions about how the infection started. Hmmmm.

That came out back in April, along with the info that patients were blaming Kenema Hospital for making them sick - and along with the news that Sierra Leone was denying reports of Ebola in the area. Interesting that the epidemic was totally out of control before Sierra Leone owned up [also note - Sierra Leone now has the highest case and fatality rates].

No comment.

At Heart of Ebola Outbreak, a Village Frozen by Fear and Death

….“Our fear now is that closing these roads risks having more people die of malnutrition and even starvation than by Ebola,” Mr. Keili-Coomber said in an email message.

It's funny that you say they are using victims as "guinea pigs." Do you really think those who are likely to suffer a horrible death where their insides are liquified and they literally puke and bleed their guts out, would ever turn down such an offer? I wouldn't. I bet you wouldn't either. Who else is there to test it on? Keep in mind they did test on two Americans.. and of course, they were not guinea pigs.. they were greedy Americans getting the first doses of a cure. Funny how that works.

You are fearmongering.. it is not "spreading in international hubs." One or two cases is not spreading in a hub. It's still quite isolated in Western Africa. I do feel it will spread further, but be contained, I don't think there will be a worldwide pandemic, and I hope I am right.

As far as being a "normal outbreak," there is far, FAR too small a sampling of "outbreaks" for anyone to determine what a "normal" outbreak is.

originally posted by: fleabit
It's funny that you say they are using victims as "guinea pigs." Do you really think those who are likely to suffer a horrible death where their insides are liquified and they literally puke and bleed their guts out, would ever turn down such an offer? I wouldn't. I bet you wouldn't either. Who else is there to test it on?

Remember the epidemic started in Kenema - where the boyz from Fort Dettrick were 'researching' along with the corporations who are now offering their treatments. Same consortium also was researching Ebola in Nigeria, and with the University of Lagos in Lagos (wait for it - Nigeria already announced Ebola is a "health emergency" and any day now, will say it's out of control and blame it all on Sawyer).

....The International Food Policy Research Institute published a report in 2013, finding that in Sierra Leone (the epicenter of the outbreak), climate change has resulted in “seasonal droughts, strong winds, thunderstorms, landslides, heat waves, floods, and changed rainfall patterns.”

originally posted by: fleabit
Keep in mind they did test on two Americans.. and of course, they were not guinea pigs.. they were greedy Americans getting the first doses of a cure. Funny how that works.

Yep - it's called crowd sorcery - a whole new game in marketing and population manipulation.

originally posted by: fleabit
You are fearmongering.. it is not "spreading in international hubs." One or two cases is not spreading in a hub. It's still quite isolated in Western Africa.

Erm. Flipping out over 2 Americans bringing Ebola to the US is fearmongering. Not my style. But - Lagos is an international hub, and as the WHO finally admits, reported cases are barely the tip of the iceberg.

Ebola Epidemic Most Likely Much Larger Than Reported, W.H.O. Says

West Africa’s deadly Ebola epidemic is probably much worse than the world realizes, with health centers on the front lines warning that the actual numbers of deaths and illnesses are significantly higher than the official estimates, the World Health Organization said.

So far, 2,127 cases of the disease and 1,145 deaths have been reported in four nations — Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone — the W.H.O announced Friday. But the organization has also warned that the actual number is almost certainly higher, perhaps by a very considerable margin.

“Staff at the outbreak sites see evidence that the numbers of reported cases and deaths vastly underestimate the magnitude of the outbreak,” the group said in a statement on Thursday.

…..Many deaths have occurred within local communities, not at health centers, and the known deaths are “likely the tip of the iceberg,” Dr. Liu said. “We are still having increasing numbers in most of the sites where we work.”

originally posted by: fleabit
As far as being a "normal outbreak," there is far, FAR too small a sampling of "outbreaks" for anyone to determine what a "normal" outbreak is.

Sure. Sounds good. Go with that story.

Doctors Without Borders just opened Liberia's biggest treatment center, and hopes are high. Check out the waiting room and one of the treatment rooms (pics below).

Doctors Without Borders Opens Biggest Ebola Treatment Center In Liberia

...The treatment facility can initially admit 120 patients, but will be able to care for up to 400 patients when it becomes fully functional with adequate manpower. In its rainy opening on Sunday, the new facility already admitted nine patients.

In case you don't know - here's how quarantine works in real life. [Remember: There are nowhere near enough hospitals, clinics or treatment centers to deal with Ebola in West Africa - or anywhere else for that matter.]

Liberia declares curfew and orders quarantine of 50,000 slum dwellers

Soldiers Seal Off Liberian Slum to Halt Ebola Spread

Security forces deployed Wednesday to enforce a quarantine around a slum in the Liberian capital, stepping up the government's fight to stop the spread of Ebola and unnerving residents.

….On Wednesday, armed soldiers and riot police began blocking anyone from entering or leaving the neighborhood. A resident saw a coast guard boat patrolling waters around the area.

…."Prices of things have been doubled here," he said.

As the world waits with bated breath for their local test results (in California, Ireland, Scotland, Spain and elsewhere): The West Point Quarantine Nightmare Gets Worse….

….“If the quarantine continues much longer the world may have its solution, but we will starve. … Here in Kikwit, we know the link between hunger and disease.”

West Point knows that link as well. The cost of food in the slum has skyrocketed, the New York Times reported. Before, a cup of rice cost around 30 cents — but now, it’s about 90 cents. This, in a country where most live on less than $1.25 per day, according to USAID.

“We live here,” one resident told Front Page Africa. But “since this morning our children have not eaten yet. Is it because of Ebola [the president] must kill us? We are tired with this thing. It is worse now.”

Q: Could this is happen in America?

….Would it just be wrong in America? Or is it wrong in Africa too?

In Liberia a teenage boy died after being shot by security forces in a slum community that was blockaded this week to stop the spread of Ebola, a Liberia government spokesman said Friday.

Some residents of Liberia's West Point say Ebola-related restrictions are becoming unbearable.

….Resident Jatu Harris, a fish marketer, said the restrictions are affecting the community's way of life as marketers are unable to sell products.

"We are not selling in peace and we are not even getting back the money we spent to purchase our goods. We cannot go outside; nobody is coming in; we're just here... If you want to go out of the community to visit your family, the security will say if you leave you will not be allowed to come back," Harris said.

She said the government on Thursday delivered rice for the first time since the quarantine began, but it was not enough for the community.

In addition, she said the rice was "rotten", and that only the strong were able to get their ration.

"They said they brought 300 bags of rice for us today. But we have six zones in West Point and the food cannot serve everybody. And if you are not strong, you will not be able to get in line to get your ration. So most didn't get [any], and the rice was very rotten," Harris said.

Archie Ponpon is a member of Respect Incorporated, a local NGO headquartered in West Point. He told VOA the quarantine violates the residents' constitutional right of freedom of movement.

"The Ebola situation is disturbing. The rights of people are being violated in terms of their movement. The army is entering into people's homes forcing them to go indoors before the start of the curfew. There is nowhere for people to sell," he said.

Ponpon also said there is a shortage of drugs and medical services since everyone in the community has been quarantined.

.....Interesting security would let people leave, dontcha think? Given the quarantine is supposed to "contain" the virus. Go figure.

Q: Could it happen here?

....What if it did?

Sierra Leone Makes Hiding Ebola Patients Illegal

Sierra Leone voted to pass a new amendment to its health act, imposing possible jail time for anyone caught hiding an Ebola patient, a practice the World Health Organization believes has contributed to a major underestimation of the current outbreak.

The new law, an update to the country's 1960 Public Health Act, was passed on Friday and imposes prison terms of up to two years for violators, said lawmaker Ansumana Jaiah Kaikai.

.

a reply to: soficrow

If it did happen, how would it be handled?

During the H1n1 scare of a few years ago, we know that law enforcement officials in several states practiced a DUI roadblock kind of scenario in several states in which they were equipped with mock vaccine testing equipment to tell whether someone, or not, had been given the new vaccine against the virus. The roadblock consisted a large van for processing, a couple of buses and chase cars on the flanks to run down people who tried to avoid the checkpoint. According to my well-placed sources in Colorado, this was rehearsed over and over. These law enforcement officers were told that their families would be collected by DHS and protected in isolation against the spread of the pathogen and any resulting rioting. A highly decorated State Trooper from Kansas, Greg Evensen (Ret.), stated on my show that these families would be not held for safekeeping, they were to be held hostage to force the law enforcement officials to do the bidding of the powers that be.

The Ebola Crisis Just Went From Bad to Worse

Nah, that'd never happen here because it's so hard to catch.

Besides, any outbreak sill be small and eady to contain; before they said that, they said there was no chance of an outbreak.

Wonder what they'll say next...

a reply to: jadedANDcynical

People really need to look at what's happening in West Africa as if it were happening here. But just to clarify - your link is 10 days old and Abdulqudir was one of Sawyer's primary contacts (not secondary) who was supposedly quarantined immediately after Sawyer's diagnosis. In comparison, the recent cases announced are secondary contacts - much more scary. ....Not that I believe much news coming out of West Africa. It's all cover-ups and blame-laying.

The Economic Community of West African States [ECOWAS] has announced the death of one of its staff, Jatto Abdulqudir, of the dreaded Ebola virus.

“The ECOWAS Commission announces with deep regret the passing of a staff member of its Lagos Liaison Office, Mr. Jatto Asihu Abdulqudir, aged 36.

“Mr. Abdulqudir, a Protocol Assistant, was among those who assisted the Liberian delegate to a regional meeting Mr. Patrick Sawyer, who died from the Ebola Virus Disease at a Lagos hospital on 25th July 2014.

“Mr. Abdulqudir had been under quarantine following that sad incident.

a reply to: soficrow

Your response confuse me for a moment until I went back and reread the article. I am aware that Sawyer's traveling companion is one of the primary cases.

As are his two nurses and two doctors the secondary case I've been referring to is a pregnant woman wgo was treated by Sawyer's nurse(s); potentially before the nurse was symptomatic.

The aspect of that article I was using to highlight my case in this particular thread was what the United States response could look like if an outbreak were to occur here.

a reply to: jadedANDcynical

...what the United States response could look like if an outbreak were to occur here.

Especially if people are panicked, fearful and mis- and uninformed. I'd say we can expect the same armed guards, shooting, lack of food and water in quarantine zones....

...You should check out some of the old threads here on quarantine, FEMA etc, back around 2005.

UPDATE

VIDEOS. Ebola Outbreak: Life Inside the Hot Zone

The worst-ever Ebola outbreak continues to spread in West Africa, where more than 3,000 people have contracted the virus –- a number projected to swell to 20,000 in the coming months.

The numbers are staggering: 1,552 people are dead, and more than 1 million quarantined with limited access to food and medical supplies. But even more shocking are the scenes from inside the hot zone, where hopes are low and fears are high.

THE GOOD NEWS

Liberia to lift cordon around slum neighborhood

Liberia says it will open up a slum in its capital where thousands of people were barricaded to contain the spread of Ebola.

.....The slum of 50,000 people in Liberia's capital was sealed off more than a week ago, sparking unrest and leaving many without access to food or safe water.

File Under Consequence of quarantine....

Monrovia - For the second time this week, another Ebola patient escaped an Ebola Isolation center in Liberia in search of Food. On Monday, a patient suffering from the deadly virus left quarantine in Monrovia to search for food at a local market ….

On Thursday, eyewitnesses told FrontPageAfrica that a second man left the Cholera Ebola treatment facility on 20th Street but collapsed shortly after he left the fence. "He came outside to look for food to eat, but nobody wanted to serve him. We were all afraid, afraid that we would become infected, a bystander told an FPA reporter Thursday. "When he went across the road, he dropped and died, the eyewitness said.

People still "believe" in quarantine even when the evidence shows it doesn't work. ....Liberia's mass quarantine made the epidemic worse and triggered the current exponential spread. So Sierra Leone just instituted another quarantine this weekend, against experts' advice.

Ebola Outbreak: 6,800 New Cases Predicted This Month

New Ebola cases could reach 6,800 in West Africa by the end of the month, according to a recent study.

Researchers from Arizona State and Harvard universities discovered through modeling analysis that the rate of rise in cases significantly increased last month in Liberia and Guinea, around the time that a mass quarantine was put in place. This finding indicates that the mass quarantine may have made the outbreak worse than it would have been otherwise.

T emporal Variations in the Effective Reproduction Number of the 2014 West Africa Ebola Outbreak

……If effective control measures are not put in place, and the current rate of exponential rise of new cases continues, we predict 4400 new Ebola cases in West Africa during the last half of the month of September, with an upper 95% confidence level of 6800 new cases.

…..The temporal patterns we observe may thus partly be due to variations in surveillance during the outbreak, under-reporting, and/or reporting delays. In addition, serial passage of the disease as the outbreak progresses may be leading to increased pathogenicity, and a subsequent increasingly larger rate of increase in case counts . However, it also must be considered that otherwise well intentioned attempts at intervention may in fact be making the situation worse, at least in some regions….

…….Our analysis indicates that the spread of the disease to densely populated cities, and/or the imposition of cordons sanitaire (quarantine) in West Africa may have accelerated the spread of the disease in some regions.

a reply to: fleabit

When was the last time that big pharma has done anything for the well being of poor nations and not for pocketing money and making profits.

We the tax payer had paid millions already in research for an ebola vaccine since 2003, but while poor people in Africa keep dying none of those research centers run by the big pharma are in any hurry to get a vaccine

Now that "Americans" has gotten infected and is been a wave of propaganda to benefit profiting, various vaccines are in the making with one already been tested this month, by guess who, Glaxosmith.

Nothing is done by the great big pharma that will not bring something to the fat pockets of the profiteers.

Scare the populations globally with a pandemic and they will be begging for a cure.