http://www.itv.com/news/2014-10-17/a-timeline-of-the-spread-of-ebola/

1976 - The first documented person with the Ebola virus, a schoolteacher in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) dies 1976-2013 Numerous small outbreaks are recorded in West Africa, with the highest death toll for any one outbreak reaching 250 December 2013 - An unidentified fever claims the lives of a handful of people in Guinea, it is later confirmed they died of Ebola March 2014 - A major Ebola outbreak in Guinea is reported by the World Health Organisation and Liberia identifies its first case. In teh following months the virus spreads to neighbouring Sierra Leone

I heard a report on the TV today, saying that the World Health Organization says that if they don't get this under control by Christmas; it will be deemed to be out of control..............are we looking into the precipice ??

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/17/ebola-senegal-over_n_6003056.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg0000001...

Hundreds of NHS medics volunteer to work in Sierra Leone as Ebola spreads

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/17/nhs-medics-volunteer-sierra-leone-ebola-nursing-call-up

The first NHS volunteers are expected to arrive around November or December but over time will be absorbed by other agencies on the ground. They will be seconded for up to two months with their salaries paid by DfID.

Tony Redmond of emergency charity UK Med, which is managing the NHS recruitment, appealed for more workers qualified in nursing, general medicine, infectious specialists and paramedics to come forward. But he says the response so far has been heartening given the dangers.

“It’s been phenomenal, it’s very moving. Dame Sally Davies, [chief medical officer for England] was at one of our events for volunteers this week and it was clear she was very moved by the people coming forward,” Redmond said.

I came on here to escape for 5 mins from listing and awful news on the radio - the first thing I see is

 

EBOLA EBOLA

 

Back to listing...

Oh,I don't know,I read that Guardian story and it gladdened my heart that hundreds of our NHS workers were wiling to possibly risk their lives to help their brothers and sisters in the fight against Ebola,in times of crisis mans compassion and empathy Re-emerges to the forefront and to the realisation that we are all connected,all one race,all one big society,the very best to them all

Here are a few facts and figures from the WHO website.

 

There are five species of Ebola and the three biggest killers of the five are the Bundibugyo, Zaire and Sudan strains. The current outbreak is the Zaire strain.

 

In the 36 years since it's discovery in 1976 until 2012 there have been 2323 confirmed cases of Ebola resulting in 1589 deaths (68% fatality rate). Most of these outbreaks were confined within the borders of one country which is why the infection rate didn't spiral out of control.

 

In the seven months since March 2014 there have been 8997 confirmed cases (four times as many as in the previous 36 years). So far resulting in 4493 deaths (50% fatality).

 

 

I don't think anyone is scaremongering, this is serious.

 

Ebola, Marburg and Lassa are among the most fatal diseases on the planet and we don't have a readily available cure for any of them. All travel should be stopped from any country that first reports an incidence of any of these viruses, if this had been done back in March it wouldn't have spread to two neighbouring countries and hence to the wider world.

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ebola has been known about since the 1970's,but all of a sudden the western world becomes threatened and money now will be no object,instead of spending billions bombing the middle east,spend it instead on iradicating the causes

UK has sent £125million to help people..

While these diseases are confined to Africa very little is done to fight them, drug companies can't make money from the world's poorest people. As you say joebloggs, now Ebola has arrived in the West they are all running around like headless chickens trying to develop a vaccine.  Hasn't it always been so? Wasn't the situation exactly the same with HIV/AIDS back in the 80s.

 

36million have died from AIDS in the past 30 odd years, let's hope we are more successful with Ebola.

Vaccines have been around for Ebola but it takes time to get them up & going until the safety aspects are known approx Ten years, they are I believe about two years left to complete these checks, also there is I believe more than one strain of this virus which further complicates matters!.
AIDS is still a very nasty & rife disease however if people use the correct method of contraception & hygiene it is preventable, like everything in these poor countries, lack of education, hygiene ,contraception, & the worst of all religion & ignorance will allow this disease to continue !

Things are starting to look a bit more hopeful...fingers crossed.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/22/ebola-serum-in-weeks-and-west-africa-vaccine-tests-by-j...

Only hopeful if the virus hasn't mutated before a safe vaccine is available & even then it's not always successful !.

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/irishvoice/Exclusive-interview-The-woman-who-can-stop-Ebola-Dr-Nanc...

Dr. Nancy J. Sullivan may be the one person in the world who can stop Ebola. She is the National Institutes of Health (NIH) researcher who experts say has the best chance of stopping the deadly disease through her vaccine. On Friday, Doctors Without Borders said "this could be the tipping point," referring to Sullivan’s vaccine which has now begun clinical trials.

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Irish-American-Harvard-researcher-could-have-the-answer-to-cheap-fa...

A Harvard research team, led by New York Irish American Jim Collins, has developed a prototype Ebola test that costs just $1 and could detect the virus in 30 minutes. Collins, a professor of biomedical engineering at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, said the team created the test over 12 hours, at a cost of just $20. He told the Boston Herald, “We’re keen to see if we can move the technology out into the field to address the (Ebola) crisis.” The test works along the same idea as litmus paper. It uses molecules inside the cell, taken from saliva or blood, and drops them on to a piece of paper containing freeze-dried biosensors. If the sheet turns from yellow to purple, after 30 minutes, then Ebola is present. Collins said the team wants to make the test even more sensitive so it will work even with a small amount of a sample before it will be ready to be field tested. The current “gold standard” for Ebola testing is RT-PCR or reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Although it does not produce false positives it also costs between $60 and $200.