Podcasts about west africa ebola

Two countries in Africa, on opposite sides of the continent–Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania, have been battling Marburg Virus Disease outbreaks since February and March, respectively. Marburg has had a fatality rate as high as 88%, but with lessons learned from prior outbreaks and epidemics, those rates are dropping. My guest today says “Without question, lives are being saved today in Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania and neighboring countries, thanks to lessons we learned during the Ebola outbreak in Western Africa during the 2015-16 epidemic.” Today we look at Marburg virus and techniques employed that have prevented the spread of the disease and saved lives. Joining me today is Gene Olinger, PhD, Dr Olinger is the Chief Science Advisor for MRIGlobal.  Watch the video version at Outbreak News TV

Conducting vaccine, drug, and biologics R&D during disease outbreaks can be a drag. Sponsors will struggle to deliver new products against global health biothreats unless they leverage lessons learned during previous studies to influence clinical research development plans during future outbreaks. In this Episode #03, I will explain how lessons learned during the 2014-15 West Africa Ebola virus outbreak can supercharge R&D during future outbreaks and deliver life-saving clinical products to patients and families faster. **** Hi, I'm Dr. Amos Ndhere! I am a medical doctor, Clinical Investigator, and Regulatory Affairs Specialist. My goal is simple: Help Pharma industry leaders to gain a sound understanding of key trends, top strategies, and tools to conduct R&D in emerging markets and deliver life-changing treatments to patients faster. Do you want to safely deliver your clinical trial in sub-Saharan Africa? Let's talk: https://lnkd.in/g_H5UfqD... **** Please like, share and give me a 5-star, that'd be appreciated!

Can the public health solution to drug overdoses follow the public health model for COVID?Can we do contact tracing for overdoses like we do for infectious diseases? Dr. Tom Frieden, former CDC director say yes. Dr. Tom Frieden is a physician trained in internal medicine, infectious diseases, public health, and epidemiology. He is former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and former commissioner of the New York City Health Department. Dr. Frieden is currently President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives. Dr. Frieden began his public health career in New York City confronting the largest outbreak of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis to occur in the US. He was then assigned to India, on loan from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he helped scale up a program for effective tuberculosis diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring.  Asked to return to New York City to become Mayor Mike Bloomberg's Health Commissioner, he directed efforts to reduce smoking and other leading causes of death that increased life expectancy by 3 years. As Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Frieden oversaw the work that helped end the 2014 West Africa Ebola epidemic. He now leads Resolve to Save Lives, an initiative of the global health organization Vital Strategies, that works with countries to prevent 100 million deaths and to make the world safer from epidemics. During the Covid pandemic, Dr. Frieden has overseen an expansion of Resolve to Save Lives activities including policy and program innovations in the United States, counsel to multilateral institutions, and support for rapid response, health care worker safety, and data-driven decision-making in more than 20 countries. Dr. Frieden is also Senior Fellow for Global Health at the Council on Foreign Relations. Asleep at the Switch - Dr. Frieden publication on applying public health strategies to non communicable diseases The Health Impact Pyramid - Dr. Frieden publication

In June 2014, cases of Ebola were reported in Guinea and the disease began to rapidly spread across the border to Liberia and Sierra Leone. More than 28,000 people became ill with the disease and over 11,000 died. The 2014 outbreak was the first Ebola outbreak in West Africa. According to the World Health Organization, it first appeared in two simultaneous outbreaks in 1976 in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The outbreak in DRC happened in a village near the Ebola River and that's where the illness gets its name. The early symptoms of an Ebola infection include fever, headache, muscle aches and sore throat, according to the World Health Organization. It can be difficult to distinguish between Ebola and the symptoms of malaria, typhoid fever or cholera. Only in later stages do people with Ebola begin bleeding both internally and externally, often through the nose and ears. Dr. Brantly is originally from U.S. but he had arrived in Monrovia, Liberia in October 2013 and he was working at the ELWA hospital at the time of the Ebola outbreak. He had been treating patients with Ebola for several weeks and on July 23, 2014, he woke up feeling ill. He would eventually be given the officially diagnosis; he was ill with Ebola and the U.S. doctor was transported to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. On this episode, Erica Vella speaks Dr. Brantly who shares his experience and she speaks with other with health-care workers who were on the front lines, battling Ebola. She finds out where it came from, why it spread so quickly and how the 2014 outbreak impacted communities in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. — with Files from the Associated Press. Contact: Email: erica.vella@globalnews.ca See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Ali S. Khan is a former Assistant Surgeon General and current Dean of the https://www.unmc.edu/publichealth/ (College of Public Health) at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). Dr. Khan shares his family's journey from the Himalayan foothills in Kashmir to Brooklyn, NY and the beginnings of his passion for medicine and infectious diseases. We talk about bioterrorism, our failed response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the role for politicians and public health officials, and why Omaha and UNMC are the place to be! Dr. Khan's professional career has focused on health security, global health, and emerging infectious diseases. He was a disease detective at https://www.cdc.gov/ (CDC) – the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – and one of the main architects of CDC's public health bioterrorism preparedness program. As Dean of the UNMC College of Public Health, his focus is on health system and community based health transformations. In 2015 he supported response activities for the West Africa Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone as a World Health Organization (WHO) consultant. Dr. Khan is the author of The Next Pandemic: On the Front Lines Against Humankind's Gravest Dangers.Disease detective at CDC. This program is supported, in part, by the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce. Learn more at https://www.omahachamber.org/ (omahachamber.org)

In this episode, I chat with Dr. Sarah McCool, who is a Clinical Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Programs at the School of Public Health at Georgia State University. In this podcast, Dr. McCool discusses various projects she has completed, causes she is passionate about, her extensive background and experience, and much more! Dr. McCool has worked in global health in various capacities since 2010. She most recently worked to support a United States Agency for International Development (USAID)- funded child protection/anti-trafficking project in Haiti. She has worked extensively in the area of tuberculosis surveillance and prevention in Asia. She completed a USAID Research & Development fellowship in Indonesia and consulted for a Fortune 500 company on methods for reducing tuberculosis incidence among garment factory workers in South Asia. Dr. McCool was previously the Executive Director of a Haiti-based NGO that provides primary care to the rural southwest population. She has lived in Singapore, Indonesia and Haiti and has studied and learned—to varying degrees—French, Haitian Creole, Bahasa Indonesia and BCS (Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian) as a U.S. Department of State Critical Languages Scholar. She continues to work with the Good Birth Network, a global network of birthing homes in more than 30 countries. She also initiated and currently facilitates the partnership between Georgia State University and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Her research interests include collective action among global health stakeholders and maternal health. She is currently researching collective action between global health organizational stakeholders during the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola epidemic. ----- Hope you all enjoyed this one; See you on Wednesday for a new episode! In the meantime, keep up to date with my podcast and involvement (Lately, I've been speaking at conferences!): https://linktr.ee/theraredisorderpodcast Shivani Vyas☺ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theraredisorderpodcast/support

The pandemic has raised significant issues of concern for a democratic society, including that of balancing personal freedom against the greater good. How should this issue be most appropriately addressed during a time of pandemic or national emergency? How well is America actually equipped to handle this kind of crisis and how can we best reconcile the protection of individual rights with the need for a national uniformity of effort? Dr. Frieden is a physician trained in internal medicine, infectious diseases, public health, and epidemiology. He began his public health career in New York City confronting the largest outbreak of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis to occur in the United States. He was then assigned to India, on loan from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he helped scale up a program for effective tuberculosis diagnosis, treatment and monitoring. Asked to return to New York City to become Mayor Mike Bloomberg's health commissioner, he directed efforts to reduce smoking and other leading causes of death that increased life expectancy by 3 years. As director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Frieden oversaw the work that helped end the 2014 West Africa Ebola epidemic. He now leads Resolve to Save Lives, a $225 million, 5-year initiative of Vital Strategies, working with countries to prevent 100 million deaths and to make the world safer from epidemics. He is also senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations. Join this important conversation about protecting the rights and health of Americans. SPEAKERS Dr. Tom Frieden M.D., M.P.H., Director, Centers for Disease Control Under President Obama; Health Commissioner, City of New York under Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Current President and CEO, Resolve to Save Lives In Conversation with Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal M.D., Editor in Chief, Kaiser Health News; Former Health Correspondent, New York Times; Author, An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on April 22nd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The pandemic has raised significant issues of concern for a democratic society, including that of balancing personal freedom against the greater good. How should this issue be most appropriately addressed during a time of pandemic or national emergency? How well is America actually equipped to handle this kind of crisis and how can we best reconcile the protection of individual rights with the need for a national uniformity of effort? Dr. Frieden is a physician trained in internal medicine, infectious diseases, public health, and epidemiology. He began his public health career in New York City confronting the largest outbreak of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis to occur in the United States. He was then assigned to India, on loan from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he helped scale up a program for effective tuberculosis diagnosis, treatment and monitoring. Asked to return to New York City to become Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s health commissioner, he directed efforts to reduce smoking and other leading causes of death that increased life expectancy by 3 years. As director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Frieden oversaw the work that helped end the 2014 West Africa Ebola epidemic. He now leads Resolve to Save Lives, a $225 million, 5-year initiative of Vital Strategies, working with countries to prevent 100 million deaths and to make the world safer from epidemics. He is also senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations. Join this important conversation about protecting the rights and health of Americans. SPEAKERS Dr. Tom Frieden M.D., M.P.H., Director, Centers for Disease Control Under President Obama; Health Commissioner, City of New York under Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Current President and CEO, Resolve to Save Lives In Conversation with Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal M.D., Editor in Chief, Kaiser Health News; Former Health Correspondent, New York Times; Author, An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on April 22nd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us as we discuss Ebola response together with colleagues who have experience addressing the disease during the DRC outbreaks and the West Africa Ebola crisis. Our guests are Dr. Etienne Longe and Dr. Yav Gushimana from ADRA DRC, and Dr. Nisar Ul-Haq from ADRA Yemen. 

This episode is part of a special series recorded to celebrate Father’s Day.For the series I interviewed some friends and mentors. I asked them to reflect on the greatest lessons that shaped the men they have become and also to reflect on how these lessons have influenced them as parents.About my Guest:Gyude Moore is a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development. He previously served as Liberia’s Minister of Public Works with oversight over the construction and maintenance of public infrastructure from December 2014 to January 2018.Prior to that role, Gyude served as Deputy Chief of Staff to President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Head of the President’s Delivery Unit (PDU). As Head of the PDU, his team monitored progress and drove delivery of the Public Sector Investment Program of Liberia—a program of over $1 billion in road, power, port infrastructure, and social programs in Liberia after the civil war. As one of the President’s trusted advisors, he also played a crucial role in supporting President Sirleaf as Liberia responded to the West Africa Ebola outbreak and shaped its post-Ebola outlook.Hosts & GuestsAkaego OkoyeGyude MooreSenior Policy Fellow Center For Global Development

West Africa Ebola Outbreak 2014

At its core, the field of global health strives to create more equitable relationships between people and places around the world. However, the contemporary global health discourse lacks critical consideration of the historical background, political context, and disproportionate power dynamics of the current, Western-dominated system. Nearly every aspect of global health from agenda-setting to financing, funding, data collection, publishing, and research dissemination is dominated by the Global North. For example, of the 198 global health organizations around the world, less than 15% are located outside of North America or Western Europe (Global Health 50/50, 2019). Also, a number of recent studies have highlighted the fact that African researchers are under-represented in first and last authorship positions in papers published from research conducted in Africa (Mbaye et al., 2019; Hedt-Gauthier et al., 2019). This discussion brings together researchers, policymakers, and others interested in identifying and correcting some of the pervasive power imbalances in global health that contribute to these inequities. By critically engaging with the shortcomings of our current global health system, we demonstrate how we can work across disciplines towards more equitable global health practice. First, we discuss how policies that are meant to improve public health can exacerbate global inequities by not accounting for the priorities and expertise of local communities. Next, we present results from qualitative interviews with healthcare professionals who deployed to the 2014–2016 West Africa Ebola epidemic to illustrate the harms that can arise as a result of relying on a Western-centric approach to healthcare volunteerism. Then, we examine ongoing trends in persistent colonization of global health that still exist through informal venues such as foreign policy. Finally, we address the extent to which accessibility of data on underserved populations can lead to further exploitation and stigmatization, and the limitations of “informed consent” in these contexts. We incorporate both research and professional experiences to inform this conversation, and will close with a moderated discussion including a synthesis of our presentations, actionable ways to decolonize global health, and strategies to overcome systemic barriers that may impede that goal. This discussion highlights the importance and challenges of cross-cultural collaborations, and lessons learned that can inform true collaborative transnational partnerships and effective global health research, practice, and policy. Session Chair: Attia Goheer Presenters: Denise St. Jean, Ezinne Nwankwo, Ans Irfan, Chioma Woko

The world’s second largest outbreak of Ebola was declared on 1 August 2018 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. More than 2,200 people have died and over 3,300 have been infected. The response to Ebola has been complicated by conflict between central government, local political actors and armed groups in the affected areas. Rumours about the virus and the response have also been spread and shaped by that conflict. Attempts have been made to apply key lessons from the 2014-15 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, such as the need for strong surveillance and outbreak control strategies and the importance of understanding the behaviours, practices and perceptions of communities and of engaging them actively in the response. The identification and trial use of effective vaccines during the outbreak has been an important and promising development. Yet, despite these efforts, cases of Ebola continue to be reported. Drawing on articles from the Humanitarian Exchange, this webinar will discuss to what degree the lessons learned from the West Africa Ebola outbreak have been taken into account in the DRC response and how barriers to containment of the disease could be better addressed.

W. Gyude Moore is a visiting fellow at the Center for Global Development. He previously served as Liberia's Minister of Public Works with oversight over the construction and maintenance of public infrastructure from December 2014 to January 2018. Prior to that role, Moore served as Deputy Chief of Staff to President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Head of the President's Delivery Unit (PDU). As Head of the PDU, his team monitored progress and drove delivery of the Public Sector Investment Program of Liberia—a program of over $1 billion in road, power, port infrastructure, and social programs in Liberia after the civil war. As one of the President's trusted advisors, he also played a crucial role in supporting President Sirleaf as Liberia responded to the West Africa Ebola outbreak and shaped its post-Ebola outlook At CGD, Moore's research focus is around financing infrastructure in Africa and the changing landscape of development finance on the continent.  His research tracks the channels of private sources of finance, the rise of China and its expanding role in Africa, and Africa's response to these changes. This episode was recorded at PeaceTech Lab PeaceTech Lab works to reduce violent conflict using technology, media, and data to accelerate and scale peacebuilding efforts. An independent nonprofit, the Lab brings together engineers and activists, MBAs and conflict experts, social scientists, data scientists, and other innovators to put the right tools in the right hands to build peace.

A conversation with Dr. Daniel Lucey comparing and contrasting the current Ebola epidemic in the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the 2014 West Africa Ebola epidemic. We touch on advances made in vaccines, diagnostics, treatments, and how the lessons learned from the West Africa epidemic are being applied, as well as the challenges faced by a region in conflict. Show Notes: [WHO | Stories of Ebola survivors](https://www.who.int/features/2014/ebola-survivor-stories/en/) [2014-2016 Ebola Outbreak in West Africa | History | Ebola (Ebola Virus Disease) | CDC](https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/history/2014-2016-outbreak/index.html) [An Epidemic of Suspicion — Ebola and Violence in the DRC | NEJM](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1902682) Congolese Ministry of Health Twitter: @MinSanteRDC https://www.who.int/emergencies/crises/cod/drc-ebola-srp-v20190219-fr.pdf?ua=1 (National Plan to Combat Ebola) [Digitalcongo.net | Le ministre de la Santé dresse la situation sur l’évolution de l’épidémie à virus Ebola dans les provinces du Nord-Kivu et de l’Ituri](https://www.digitalcongo.net/article/5c825c724813c5000431e377/) [WHO | Ebola virus disease – Democratic Republic of the Congo](https://www.who.int/csr/don/7-march-2019-ebola-drc/en/) [WHO expresses concern over damage to Ebola treatment facilities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo | WHO | Regional Office for Africa](https://www.afro.who.int/media-centre/statements-commentaries/who-expresses-concern-over-damage-ebola-treatment-facilities) [Statement on the October 2018 meeting of the IHR Emergency Committee on the Ebola virus disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo](https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/17-10-2018-statement-on-the-meeting-of-the-ihr-emergency-committee-on-the-ebola-outbreak-in-drc) [MSF warns of DRC Ebola response losing upper hand | CIDRAP](http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2019/03/msf-warns-drc-ebola-response-losing-upper-hand) [Democratic Republic of Congo: Ebola Virus Disease - External Situation Report 31 - Democratic Republic of the Congo | ReliefWeb](https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/democratic-republic-congo-ebola-virus-disease-external-situation-46) https://www.who.int/immunization/interim_ebola_recommendations_feb_2019.pdf?ua=1

On August 1, 2018 the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ministry of Health announced the 10th Ebola virus outbreak since 1976 had been confirmed in the country’s North Kivu Province. Senior Director of Emergency Health at the International Rescue Committee, Michelle Gayer, noted this outbreak has, “the potential to be the worst ever seen in East Africa—and risks being an encore of history we simply cannot afford.” Health workers face a number of challenges delivering medical and preventative care in this context, exacerbated by high numbers of operational armed groups and rumors that the outbreak is politically fabricated to decrease voter turnout in the country’s upcoming elections. New options for treatment and lessons learned from the 2014 West Africa Ebola crisis can provide insight for aid workers on the frontlines of this latest outbreak. In this episode, Ambassador Sinead Walsh and Dr. Oliver Johnson discuss their new book, "Getting to Zero: A Doctor and a Diplomat on the Ebola Frontline," which explores the shortcomings of the 2014 response, as well as suggestions for improvement in future outbreaks. They are joined by Patrick Vinck, the Director of Research at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, who is currently conducting research on the outbreak in the DRC.

In this podcast, that was actually recorded in early November 2014, I started by giving some thoughts on Ebola in the US. This segwayed into a discussion with Associate Professor with the Department of Biostatistics, Environmental Health Sciences, and Epidemiology at Kent State University's College of Public Health, Tara Smith, PhD. Dr. Smith addressed topics of how the situation in West Africa got to the point of where it was–unprecedented high numbers of cases and deaths dwarfing all previous Ebola outbreaks. What factors led to the enormous, in Ebola terms, outbreak; how did “patient zero” likely get infected and what did Nigeria do so well to squash a potential disaster in Africa's most populous country?

In this podcast, that was actually recorded in early November 2014, I started by giving some thoughts on Ebola in the US. This segwayed into a discussion with Associate Professor with the Department of Biostatistics, Environmental Health Sciences, and Epidemiology at Kent State University’s College of Public Health, Tara Smith, PhD. Dr. Smith addressed topics of how […] The post Flashback: Discussing the West Africa Ebola outbreak (Circa 2014) appeared first on Outbreak News Today.

What is health promotion and what is its role and importance in disease outbreaks? Author of the new book, Health Promotion in Disease Outbreaks and Health Emergencies, Glenn Laverack, PhD joined me on the show to answer these questions and more. He discussed the role of community involvement, communications and social media in a health emergency. In addition, Dr. Laverack discussed in some detail health promotion in specific outbreaks like the West Africa Ebola outbreak, avian influenza and the Zika virus outbreak. Topics such as rumors and the importance of post outbreak response were also examined.

This episode of Emerging Trends is about the economic impact and recovery of the West Africa Ebola crisis. In this installment, we talked to economist Mark Ellyne, an African Union doctor named Janet Byaruhanga, and a Sierra Leonean man who became an economic refugee during the outbreak. Cases of Ebola diagnosed in the United States: https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/2014-west-africa/united-states-imported-case.html ECOWAS pledges US$ 250,000: http://news.abidjan.net/h/493946.html Timeline of the African Union's response: https://au.int/en/newsevents/26997/timeline-au-response-ebola-outbreak For more information on the business environments in emerging countries, check out eBig Guides at www.ebizguides.com For more information about World Investment News, visit http://www.winne.com You can also read our reports on Sub-Saharan Africa at http://africa.winne.com For feedback and advertising information, contact us at podcast@winne.com Stan’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/StanAronTweets Camila’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/Camilanomics Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/worldinvestmentnews/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/WINNENews LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/world-investment-news

West Africa Ebola Outbreak 2014

Dr. Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, joins CMAJ News to reflect on his career fighting two of the most feared viruses of our time. In 1976, he codiscovered Ebola. And as founding director of UNAIDS, Dr. Piot has been a champion in the global response to HIV. For these efforts, he recently received the Canada Gairdner Global Health Award. In this podcast, Dr. Piot shares insights into the West Africa Ebola outbreak, changing perceptions of the AIDS pandemic, and the importance of physician advocacy.

Thousands of lives have been claimed in the West African Ebola outbreak since the World Health Organisation (WHO) was first notified of the outbreak in Guinea in March 2014. The epidemic is expected to spread rapidly over months to come. The three countries most affected by the crisis, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, are post-conflict states with weak health infrastructures. In a climate of fear and mistrust of government institutions, health workers face huge challenges in raising awareness and educating communities. The crisis has not only highlighted the deficiencies in the capabilities of these West African governments, but those of the international community. The World Health Organisation’s emergency response mechanisms, which have experienced budget cuts over recent years, have shown they are largely inadequate in the face of international health crises. Speakers: - Dr Kandeh K. Yumkella, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and CEO, Sustainable Energy for All - Professor Peter Piot, Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine - Major General Michael von Bertele, Humanitarian Director at Save the Children International - Robtel Neajai Pailey, Liberian writer and PhD researcher at SOAS. Chair: Dr Titi Banjoko, healthcare professional & RAS Council Member Recorded at SOAS, University of London on 8th October 2014.

The Ebola outbreak, please Join The Gist of Freedom, The Black History Internet Radio show in welcoming Sierra Leonean Hindowa Saidu! "On Thursday the World Health Organization said that more than 1,900 people have died in West Africa Ebola out break. There have been 3,500 confirmed probable cases in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. More than 40 percent of death have occurred in the last three weeks, the W.H.O. said, suggesting that the epidemic is fast out pacing effort to control it, In spite of all of these development Sierra Leoneans in the state of Massachusetts in America in few hours time will be taking on the principal streets of Boston in a walk against the Ebola out break in their country and region. This is to draw the attention of the American public and the rest of the world to the suffering of our people as international press houses have been invited to fully cover the event. May God cause his face to shine on the land that we love Sierra Leone." ~ Hindowa Saidu

  The Ebola outbreak, please Join The Gist of Freedom, The Black History Internet Radio show in welcoming Sierra Leonean Hindowa Saidu! "On Thursday the World Health Organization said that more than 1,900 people have died in West Africa Ebola out break. There have been 3,500 confirmed probable cases in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. More than 40 percent of death have occurred in the last three weeks, the W.H.O. said, suggesting that the epidemic is fast out pacing effort to control it, In spite of all of these development Sierra Leoneans in the state of Massachusetts in America in few hours time will be taking on the principal streets of Boston in a walk against the Ebola out break in their country and region. This is to draw the attention of the American public and the rest of the world to the suffering of our people as international press houses have been invited to fully cover the event. May God cause his face to shine on the land that we love Sierra Leone." ~ Hindowa Saidu

Watch Video | Listen to the AudioRELATED LINKSA third American reportedly infected with Ebola How did the West Africa Ebola epidemic get out of control so fast? Ebola outbreak started with funeral in Guinea, report finds JEFFREY BROWN: The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control just returned from surveying the situation in West Africa. And in a press conference this afternoon, he too added strong words and warnings. Dr. Thomas Frieden joins us now from Atlanta. And, Dr. Frieden, there was a level of urgency and concern put forward today that I don’t think we have heard from you and other officials so far. Have we entered a new and frightening phase in all this? DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN, Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Well, unfortunately, the situation is bad. It’s worse than I and others had feared. The number of cases is increasing rapidly. The human tragedy is heartbreaking. And we anticipate that, in the next few weeks, we’re going to see significant further increases in cases and in the places where it’s spreading. So, this is definitely an epidemic and really the world’s first epidemic of Ebola, meaning spreading widely. And it’s spiraling out of control. What’s really important to understand is that we know how to under — we know how to control it. And there is this window of opportunity that’s closing, but it’s not too late. We have to act now. Urgency couldn’t be higher. Speed is of the essence. JEFFREY BROWN: Well, tell us — you use this kind of language, the window of opportunity is closing, the challenge is so great. You said today the epidemic is so overwhelming that it now requires an overwhelming response. What specifically did you see on your trip and are you getting from responses from health officials around the world that is so alarming now? DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN: Well, I will tell you an example. Doctors Without Borders, MSF, is doing phenomenal work. They’re working an extraordinarily difficult situation and trying to really do whatever they can to help patients and stop the outbreak, but they’re overwhelmed by the number of patients. So they’re opening new hospital beds as fast as they can, but only safety — they have a terrific track record of safety for the people working in the Ebola treatment units. But in order to do that, they can’t open them as fast as the patients are requesting hospitalization. What that means is that patients are not being hospitalized, and they are spreading Ebola in communities, including in urban communities, where it can spread quite widely. JEFFREY BROWN: Well, so you said today and you just said to us again that, in essence, we know how to contain Ebola, but then why the lack of success?  What are the greatest impediments and what do you most need right now? DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN: It’s fundamentally about speed and scale. Every day we delay in getting the proven treatments and prevention out there, it spreads more widely and we have more of it. One of the encouraging things I did see was people throughout the region willing to help, willing to really work to make a difference. Ninety percent of the staff at the Doctors Without Borders hospitals are local staff who have been rigorously trained and are working hard to stop the outbreak and care for patients, but the challenges really are enormous, and the urgency is so great. The sooner we increase beds, the sooner we make burials safer, the sooner we help health care workers be safer from infections, we are going to be better off in terms of beginning to turn this outbreak around. Time is lives here. JEFFREY BROWN: One of the things you said today really jumped out at me. You were talking about as the world isolates itself from these countries, it is having an adverse effect. It’s harmful to the countries and it’s ultimately harmful to the rest of the world, including us, and you said, like it or not, we are connected. So explain that. Should we not be isolating those countries? DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN: The fact is, people are going to move around the world, and the only way to really protect ourselves from this is to stop it at the source. It’s not dissimilar to the dynamic that’s happened within these countries. Frankly, against the advice of many, some of the countries enforced quarantines in some areas. And the — as Dr. Liu from MSF said earlier on your program, that’s really counterproductive, because it drives patients underground, it increases hostility. And it’s not a way to help. What we need to do is to get services to patients, to families, get people into care and isolation quicker, so they stop spreading disease and so they have a better chance of survival, because early treatment does improve survival. JEFFREY BROWN: But given the interconnectedness that you’re talking to, what about the potential for a spread in the U.S.?  And given this new alarm of how quickly this is spreading, what do you tell people tonight who are afraid here in this country? DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN: Well, given the large increase in cases that we’re seeing and think we’re likely see in the coming weeks, I would be surprised if we didn’t see other cases in other parts of Africa. For the U.S., it’s certainly possible we will get someone here who develops symptoms of Ebola and may have Ebola. That’s a possibility. That’s why we have asked doctors working in emergency departments and elsewhere to be on the lookout for people who have been in an area with Ebola in the past three weeks, and, if they have fever or other symptoms consistent with Ebola, to isolate and test them. That’s also why we have worked with about 10 states from around the country to have tests for Ebola up and available, so that they can be tested in a regional approach, so we’re prepared in this country. Ebola doesn’t spread through casual contact. It doesn’t spread through the air naturally. The way it spreads is by physical contact with a sick person or their body fluids or someone who’s died from Ebola with their body fluids. And standard infection control in hospitals has prevented spread of five cases of hemorrhagic fevers that have been in the U.S. in the past decade. JEFFREY BROWN: I just want to ask you in our last minute about one other frightening scenario that you raised today, which was the possibility that Ebola might become easier to spread through genetic mutation. You said you didn’t see signs of it yet, but it’s — the possibility is not zero, I think is the way you put it. Explain that, because that would be a quite frightening new step. DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN: Well, the genetic material of the virus has been quite stable for 40 years. So we don’t think of this as a virus that changes much. But the longer it spreads and the more people it spreads to, the more what’s called selective pressure that might favor strands that do spread more easily. And that’s a concern. It’s something we will be tracking for. But the bottom line here is, we have to surge our response and act now. By bringing down the number of cases, we will protect ourselves, we will protect West Africa, we will reduce the humanitarian crisis, insecurity that’s there, and we will make it less likely that there are patients traveling to other parts of the world, and less likely that we could get that kind of a mutation. JEFFREY BROWN: All right, Dr. Thomas Frieden of the CDC, thank you so much. DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN: Thank you. The post Why Ebola is proving so hard to contain appeared first on PBS NewsHour.

Watch Video | Listen to the AudioRELATED LINKSA third American reportedly infected with Ebola How did the West Africa Ebola epidemic get out of control so fast? Ebola outbreak started with funeral in Guinea, report finds JEFFREY BROWN: The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control just returned from surveying the situation in West Africa. And in a press conference this afternoon, he too added strong words and warnings. Dr. Thomas Frieden joins us now from Atlanta. And, Dr. Frieden, there was a level of urgency and concern put forward today that I don’t think we have heard from you and other officials so far. Have we entered a new and frightening phase in all this? DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN, Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Well, unfortunately, the situation is bad. It’s worse than I and others had feared. The number of cases is increasing rapidly. The human tragedy is heartbreaking. And we anticipate that, in the next few weeks, we’re going to see significant further increases in cases and in the places where it’s spreading. So, this is definitely an epidemic and really the world’s first epidemic of Ebola, meaning spreading widely. And it’s spiraling out of control. What’s really important to understand is that we know how to under — we know how to control it. And there is this window of opportunity that’s closing, but it’s not too late. We have to act now. Urgency couldn’t be higher. Speed is of the essence. JEFFREY BROWN: Well, tell us — you use this kind of language, the window of opportunity is closing, the challenge is so great. You said today the epidemic is so overwhelming that it now requires an overwhelming response. What specifically did you see on your trip and are you getting from responses from health officials around the world that is so alarming now? DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN: Well, I will tell you an example. Doctors Without Borders, MSF, is doing phenomenal work. They’re working an extraordinarily difficult situation and trying to really do whatever they can to help patients and stop the outbreak, but they’re overwhelmed by the number of patients. So they’re opening new hospital beds as fast as they can, but only safety — they have a terrific track record of safety for the people working in the Ebola treatment units. But in order to do that, they can’t open them as fast as the patients are requesting hospitalization. What that means is that patients are not being hospitalized, and they are spreading Ebola in communities, including in urban communities, where it can spread quite widely. JEFFREY BROWN: Well, so you said today and you just said to us again that, in essence, we know how to contain Ebola, but then why the lack of success?  What are the greatest impediments and what do you most need right now? DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN: It’s fundamentally about speed and scale. Every day we delay in getting the proven treatments and prevention out there, it spreads more widely and we have more of it. One of the encouraging things I did see was people throughout the region willing to help, willing to really work to make a difference. Ninety percent of the staff at the Doctors Without Borders hospitals are local staff who have been rigorously trained and are working hard to stop the outbreak and care for patients, but the challenges really are enormous, and the urgency is so great. The sooner we increase beds, the sooner we make burials safer, the sooner we help health care workers be safer from infections, we are going to be better off in terms of beginning to turn this outbreak around. Time is lives here. JEFFREY BROWN: One of the things you said today really jumped out at me. You were talking about as the world isolates itself from these countries, it is having an adverse effect. It’s harmful to the countries and it’s ultimately harmful to the rest of the world, including us, and you said, like it or not, we are connected. So explain that. Should we not be isolating those countries? DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN: The fact is, people are going to move around the world, and the only way to really protect ourselves from this is to stop it at the source. It’s not dissimilar to the dynamic that’s happened within these countries. Frankly, against the advice of many, some of the countries enforced quarantines in some areas. And the — as Dr. Liu from MSF said earlier on your program, that’s really counterproductive, because it drives patients underground, it increases hostility. And it’s not a way to help. What we need to do is to get services to patients, to families, get people into care and isolation quicker, so they stop spreading disease and so they have a better chance of survival, because early treatment does improve survival. JEFFREY BROWN: But given the interconnectedness that you’re talking to, what about the potential for a spread in the U.S.?  And given this new alarm of how quickly this is spreading, what do you tell people tonight who are afraid here in this country? DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN: Well, given the large increase in cases that we’re seeing and think we’re likely see in the coming weeks, I would be surprised if we didn’t see other cases in other parts of Africa. For the U.S., it’s certainly possible we will get someone here who develops symptoms of Ebola and may have Ebola. That’s a possibility. That’s why we have asked doctors working in emergency departments and elsewhere to be on the lookout for people who have been in an area with Ebola in the past three weeks, and, if they have fever or other symptoms consistent with Ebola, to isolate and test them. That’s also why we have worked with about 10 states from around the country to have tests for Ebola up and available, so that they can be tested in a regional approach, so we’re prepared in this country. Ebola doesn’t spread through casual contact. It doesn’t spread through the air naturally. The way it spreads is by physical contact with a sick person or their body fluids or someone who’s died from Ebola with their body fluids. And standard infection control in hospitals has prevented spread of five cases of hemorrhagic fevers that have been in the U.S. in the past decade. JEFFREY BROWN: I just want to ask you in our last minute about one other frightening scenario that you raised today, which was the possibility that Ebola might become easier to spread through genetic mutation. You said you didn’t see signs of it yet, but it’s — the possibility is not zero, I think is the way you put it. Explain that, because that would be a quite frightening new step. DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN: Well, the genetic material of the virus has been quite stable for 40 years. So we don’t think of this as a virus that changes much. But the longer it spreads and the more people it spreads to, the more what’s called selective pressure that might favor strands that do spread more easily. And that’s a concern. It’s something we will be tracking for. But the bottom line here is, we have to surge our response and act now. By bringing down the number of cases, we will protect ourselves, we will protect West Africa, we will reduce the humanitarian crisis, insecurity that’s there, and we will make it less likely that there are patients traveling to other parts of the world, and less likely that we could get that kind of a mutation. JEFFREY BROWN: All right, Dr. Thomas Frieden of the CDC, thank you so much. DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN: Thank you. The post Why Ebola is proving so hard to contain appeared first on PBS NewsHour.