Nigeria Confirms Doctor as 2nd Ebola Case

originally posted by: drwill

And whilst also mistakenly assuming that engineered sub-clade viruses are somehow protected from mutating further in the wild.

I was just wondering if filoviruses can recombine.

Excellent question. Quick search says yes:

Genetics-Based Classification of Filoviruses Calls for Expanded Sampling of Genomic Sequences

....The frequency with which both ssRNA+ and ssRNA− viruses recombine in nature remains to be shown but it may not be uncommon [51]

Recombination of retrotransposon and exogenous RNA virus results in nonretroviral cDNA integration.

Filoviruses are ancient and integrated into mammalian genomes

Current perspectives on the phylogeny of Filoviridae.

The way Sawyer was behaving it's likely more will test positive.

I read an account from a Nigerian woman, she mentioned a doctor's strike in Nigeria. She was concerned adequate care wouldn't be in place if locals needed it. She was also concerned about public transportation because so many use it.

I haven't heard anything else about the strike and wondered if its been resolved or had anything to do with the outbreak.

a reply to: Morningglory

ATS: Nigeria's Doctors Won’t Call Off Strike for Ebola


NOTE: This latest WHO report indicates Sawyer was NOT confirmed as having Ebola. ...and New York's Mt. Sinai hospital is testing someone who returned from West Africa last month.

As of 1 August 2014, the cumulative number of cases attributed to EVD in the four countries stands at 1 603 including 887 deaths. The distribution and classification of the cases are as follows: Guinea, 485 cases (340 confirmed, 133 probable, and 12 suspected) including 358 deaths; Liberia, 468 cases (129 confirmed, 234 probable, and 105 suspected) including 255 deaths; Nigeria, 4 cases (0 confirmed, 3 probable, 1 suspected) including 1 death; and Sierra Leone, 646 cases (540 confirmed, 46 probable, and 60 suspected) including 273 deaths.

Mount Sinai hospital in New York City said Monday it is treating a patient who visited the emergency room with Ebola-like symptoms. The man recently returned to the US from “a West African country where Ebola has been reported”, according to a local media report. The hospital said he arrived at the emergency department in the early morning hours on Monday complaining of a high fever and gastrointestinal problems; the symptoms mirror those of several possible illnesses.

“The patient has been placed in strict isolation and is undergoing medical screenings to determine the cause of his symptoms. All necessary steps are being taken to ensure the safety of all patients, visitors and staff,” the hospital said in a statement.

NY Doctor: 'Odds Are' Patient Doesn't Have Ebola

a reply to: drwill

Just tripped over this little gem. Interesting.

Experimental Ebola drug based on research discoveries from Canada’s national lab

The experimental Ebola drug given to two American aid workers is based on years of research done at Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg. ...

...Sources have told The Canadian Press that two of the three monoclonal antibodies in the drug were designed at the Winnipeg laboratory.

The work was done under the leadership of Dr. Gary Kobinger who heads the special pathogens research program at the national lab.

...The third monoclonal antibody in the product was developed by a U.S. government laboratory.

Rights to the Canadian-designed monoclonal antibodies have been acquired by a U.S. company called Leaf Biopharmaceutical of San Diego, California.

The company is partnered with Mapp Biopharmaceutical, also of San Diego, which makes the experimental therapy, called ZMapp.

a reply to: marg6043

More:

Experimental Ebola drug based on research discoveries from Canada’s national lab

The experimental Ebola drug given to two American aid workers is based on years of research done at Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg. ...

...Sources have told The Canadian Press that two of the three monoclonal antibodies in the drug were designed at the Winnipeg laboratory.

The work was done under the leadership of Dr. Gary Kobinger who heads the special pathogens research program at the national lab.

...The third monoclonal antibody in the product was developed by a U.S. government laboratory.

Rights to the Canadian-designed monoclonal antibodies have been acquired by a U.S. company called Leaf Biopharmaceutical of San Diego, California.

The company is partnered with Mapp Biopharmaceutical, also of San Diego, which makes the experimental therapy, called ZMapp.

Whoda thunk it?

a reply to: soficrow

Perhaps that is the reason that the vaccine TEK-ebola from the partners in Canada is been put on hold after receiving 148 million dollars from Monsanto and the DOD, because their partner in San Diego that made the serum ZMapp used for the two people in Atlanta is showing promising results.

originally posted by: butcherguy

originally posted by: drwill

And whilst also mistakenly assuming that engineered sub-clade viruses are somehow protected from mutating further in the wild.

I was just wondering if filoviruses can recombine.

I bet they can with government assistance.

Good chuckle. Thanks.

originally posted by: marg6043
a reply to: soficrow

Perhaps that is the reason that the vaccine TEK-ebola from the partners in Canada is been put on hold after receiving 148 million dollars from Monsanto and the DOD, because their partner in San Diego that made the serum ZMapp used for the two people in Atlanta is showing promising results.

??? Not sure what you mean. The Winnipeg Lab worked on ZMAP - and licensed (key bits) to BioLeaf. Monsanto and the DOD are working with Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation on a vaccine - don't think Tekmira is from Canada. Not aware it's associated with the government lab in Winnipeg. ....Link?

a reply to: soficrow
3 monoclonal antibodies.
Little Ninjas!

a reply to: marg6043



Just saw this - shows a Canadian company's involvement. ...Wonder how Canadians feel about their tax dollars for research funding start-ups.

Meet the Tiny Company Behind the Experimental Antibodies for Ebola


The companies manufacturing an experimental drug treating two American Ebola patients aren't among the largest multinational pharmaceuticals in the world. In fact, leading the effort is a small nine-employee firm in San Diego.

Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc., founded in 2003, says on its website that it develops "novel pharmaceuticals for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, focusing on unmet needs in global health and biodefense."

Mapp's commercialization arm is LeafBio Inc., which has no employees and just two owners, Mapp President Larry Zeitlin tells ABC News.

Mapp, along with LeafBio and Defyrus Inc. in Toronto, Canada, collaborated to create the trademarked ZMapp.

Still no news of other victims - expect Nigeria to keep a tight lid until they can definitely point the finger elsewhere.

Now Nigeria's reporting 9 cases. Just the tip of the iceberg, imho, and not Sawyer's doing. Waiting to hear Ebola's out of control in Nigeria. ...Remember - the US Bio-War Research was researching Ebola out of Nigeria's Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital.

Geneva: The death toll from West Africa’s Ebola outbreak has risen to 932 after 45 patients died from 2 August to 4 August, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement. The number of suspected, probable or confirmed cases rose by 108 over the same period to a total of 1,711. Most of the new cases were in Liberia while the number of cases in Nigeria climbed from 4 to 9, including one previous death.

About the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Consortium

The Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Consortium was established in 2010 as a result of several multi-year grants and contracts awarded to Tulane University by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), …..The Consortium is a collaboration between …..the Kenema Government Hospital (Sierra Leone), the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (Nigeria) and various other partners in West Africa. More information is available at www.vhfc.org .

a reply to: soficrow
The situation definitely isn't improving.

We have been told repeatedly how easy this disease is to control, yet this one seems to be worse than any outbreak before it.

There is certainly enough information out there to let people know that it is going on, why is it worse?
Your postulations about multiple starting points seem to fit.

Not clear on how they can follow people who are suspected of infection? Under surveillance that is?

a reply to: butcherguy

Your postulations about multiple starting points seem to fit.

No a postulation - straight from the horse's mouth. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) was on location by January-February - by March they were screaming "epidemic" and begging for help. First reported on ATS here:

Ebola Epidemic Could Become Global Crisis

ETA: There are maps but can't take more time to look for them. Posted April 1:

MSF has warned they face an uphill task because the infections are scattered across several locations, most worryingly in Guinea's densely populated capital Conakry. It blasted governments and international public health organizations for not doing enough to tackle it.

From the OP:

Ebola, one of the world's most deadly viruses, has spread from a remote forested corner of southern Guinea to the country's seaside capital...

...Health officials warn that the arrival of Ebola in this sprawling city of some 2 million people with an international airport could spell disaster.

Posted March 31:

Eleven deaths in towns in northern Sierra Leone and Liberia, which shares borders with southeastern Guinea where the outbreak was first reported, are suspected to be linked to Ebola.

WHO said that as of March 29, seven clinical samples from adult patients from Foya district in Liberia were tested.

"Two of those samples have tested positive for the ebolavirus," the global health organization said in the statement on its website on Sunday, confirming for the first time the cases in country.

"There have been 2 deaths among the suspected cases; a 35 year old woman who died on 21 March tested positive for ebolavirus while a male patient who died on 27 March tested negative," it said.

The latest outbreak is unusual. It seems to be spreading faster and farther than normal.

As rare as an Ebola outbreak is, when it does occur, the cases are typically contained in the jungle or rural region. The latest outbreak, which has spread to Guinea’s capital and may have crossed the border into at least one of its neighboring countries. This suggests that it is spreading because of human contact, or the movement of dead bodies that are infected with the virus...

Fyi - Damage control from April 1:

Nigerian Government Refutes Ebola Outbreak Claims

At a news conference in Abuja, the Minister of State for Health, Dr Khaliru Alhassan, said “most Nigerians mistake Dengue fever, which is also transmitted by mosquitoes in urban and semi urban areas, for Ebola disease.

He dismissed media report that there was an outbreak of the disease, saying that laboratory investigations revealed that it is not Ebola. ....