Ebola vaccine Presented in France by Nigerian scientist

Ebola

Simon Agwale who is a Nigerian Vaccinilogist, presented a report of an experimental vaccine for the dreaded Ebola virus disease to a scientific conference in France.
 Yuri Nakamoto, who on behalf of the scientific committee of the conference organised by the Pasteur Institute, Paris concluded that the report was one of the items discussed at the two-day conference.

Over 300 delegates from 42 countries in attendance at the International Conference on Ebola, as this was confirmed by Mr. Nakamoto.

He said that the agenda of the conference included 140 oral, short and posters communications, latest developments in the Ebola outbreak in Africa, and latest clinical developments.

Others were latest innovations, vaccines and drugs to combat Ebola, and prevention of Ebola contamination and transmission, to be published by the committee.

“Agwale, alongside Epie E. and Pushko P. of Innovative Biotech Ltd, Keffi, Nasarawa State, and Innovative Biotech USA Inc, made a presentation on ‘Construction and Evaluation of a Highly Immunogenic EBOLA Influenza VLP Vaccine Candidate’.
“They prepared and evaluated EBOV VLPs that included GP of EBOV Zaire strain in which VLPs were expressed using recombinant baculovirus in Sf9 cells.

He quoted the researchers as saying that they had developed and evaluated an EBOV candidate vaccine that was highly immunogenic in mice.

“Given the immediate need for an Ebola vaccine and the efficiency, safety and adaptability of our VLP platform technology, we are confident in producing a high yield, high quality product using the most cost effective methodologies available, they said.

The researchers said that the vaccine approach could be used for mass vaccination in Africa to prevent EBOV infections and future epidemics of the deadly disease.

They announced that they were also using their platform technology to develop vaccines against HIV, malaria and other diseases that plaque Africa.

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Brazil says No Ebola found in quarantined African patient

The Quarantined African from Guinea who was suspected to have contacted Ebola has been cleared by Brazilian Health Organization. He was suspected to have been infected with Ebola and presently has been confirmed not to have the deadly Virus as announced by health officials today after medical test results came in.

“The health ministry says that diagnostic testing on the patient suspected of being infected with the Ebola virus is negative,” a government statement said.

“He’s in good condition, and does not have a fever,” said the statement adding, however, that he remains in isolation.


The 47-year-old man had arrived from Africa last month. He checked into a clinic  in the town of Cascavel complaining of fever on Wednesday.

On Friday was taken in an air force plane from the southern state of Parana to the National Infectious Disease Institute (Fiocruz) in Rio de Janeiro.

His case was considered suspect after he developed a fever within the incubation period for Ebola after arriving from one of a handful of African countries battling an outbreak of the illness.

Symptoms of Ebola can resemble other diseases found frequently in Brazil and Africa, including malaria.
Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have been the countries hardest hit by the Ebola outbreak that erupted at the beginning of the year, killing nearly 4,000 people so far — roughly half of those infected.
The disease causes fever, diarrhoea, vomiting and in some cases internal and external bleeding.
It is spread by contact and the exchange of bodily fluids.

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Obama Reveals Military Plan for Ebola Outbreak in Liberia

Ebola

The President of United States of America, Barack Obama has laid outs plan to use the U.S. military to in the tackling of the raging Ebola epidemic, on his visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

There are speculations that it could involve up to 3,000 troops and more than $500 million in spending.

"Faced with this outbreak, the world is looking to the United States and it is a responsibility we are prepared to embrace. We are prepared to take leadership on this," Obama said. "This is an epidemic that is not just a threat to regional security, it’s a potential threat to global security if these countries break down, if their economies break down and people panic."

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Ebola Scare cause Panic at LUTH over death of patient

The death of a patient, who is suspected to have Ebola, has caused panic among patients and doctors at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH Idi- Araba, Lagos State.

A reliable source, who confirmed this development to our correspondent in Lagos on Tuesday, said the patient was brought in by members of the health authorities at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, to the hospital on Monday.

According to the doctor who was on duty when the patient was admitted into the Accident and Emergency Unit, the patient was vomiting blood and stooling, symptoms  which are similar to that of an  Ebola patient, before he died in the early hours of Tuesday at the Spill-Over ward of the hospital.


He said, “They rushed him to the Accident and Emergency Unit, and since he was vomiting and purging and he also had high fever, we quickly took his temperature, it was very high. We were all scared to take his blood samples because we were not wearing any Protective Protective Equipment.

“We had to take him out of the emergency ward to the other spill-over ward to avoid any form of contamination. We also reported to the Lagos State Government so that they can take him to the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Yaba for proper treatment. But he had started vomiting blood by this morning , and few hours after he died.”

The doctor said that the body has being transferred to the Mainland Hospital, Yaba, for testing and confirmation of the cause of death.

The source said, “Like I said, we could not take any blood sample when he was alive because we were not wearing PPE, and we could not manage him effectively because of the severity of the symptoms we saw and considering the fact that he was coming from the airport. He could have been coming from an Ebola-affected country.

“They will need to establish the cause of death, so as to be able to know whether to quarantine those that he had contact with from the airport to the hospital. LUTH does not have the facilities to handle any suspected case of Ebola, government should know that, so they don’t keep bringing suspected cases here. All suspected cases should be taken to IDH.”

Several calls to the LUTH’s Chief Medical Director, Prof. Akin Oshibogun, to confirm if the patient had died of Ebola were unanswered as at press time.

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Ebola News : Dr Kent Brantly discharged from Hospital 'Today is a miraculous day' he Says

Dr Kent

The recovery of Dr Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol was announced by the missionary group SIM USA, which jointly ran the project in Liberia where they had been working to tackle the Ebola outbreak before catching the disease themselves.

Dr Bradley told reporters: "I am forever thankful to God for sparing my life".

He and Ms Writebol returned to the US on 5 August and doctors say they will make a full recovery.

Both were treated with ZMapp, a drug that has only been used on a handful of patients in the current West African outbreak.

The World Health Organisation said on Wednesday that 2,473 people had been infected and 1,350 have died since the outbreak was identified in south eastern Guinea in March.

Travel ban
No cases of the disease have so far been confirmed outside Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria.

On Thursday South Africa announced that due to fears of the spread of the virus it would ban all travellers from Guinea, Libera and Sierra Leone from entering the country, apart from its own nationals who will be screened more thoroughly.

Travellers from Nigeria, where the outbreak has been much smaller, will be allowed entry.

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Ebola Crusade : See What Ebola Is Now Causing In Churches

Ebola

This is really serious.. Some members have been staying away from church in the last two weeks because of ‘Ebola’, hence worried pastors are now organising Crusades against Ebola. But will crusade not complicate the issue?

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BREAKING NEWS: Another Nigerian Woman With Ebola Dies On Flight! See Where She Was Heading!

Abu Dhabi Airport

The Health Authority Abu Dhabi (HAAD) has confirmed the death of a 35-year-old Nigerian woman at Abu Dhabi International Airport. The women, who was suffering from advanced metastatic cancer was travelling from Nigeria to India for treatment, when her condition deteriorated at a transit stop in Abu Dhabi. Despite immediate medical assistance, she could not be saved, said the Authority in a statement.

The traveller had shown signs that may be consistent with the Ebola virus infection; however Haad stated that her existing medical condition provided an adequate medical explanation for her death: “Full safety and precautionary measures have been taken by the medical staff who attended the patient according to the World Health Organisation standards for dealing with suspected cases of infectious diseases. In addition, all contacts of the patient (her husband and the 5 medics who took care of her on site) are in isolation pending the result of Ebola testing on the patient. They are all well with no symptoms.”

The Ministry of Health assures the public that there is no risk to the community, to fellow passengers on the plane from Nigeria and those in the airport.

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