Ebola outbreak: second patient to be flown to Atlanta hospital Tuesday; 1603 cases, 887 deaths and rising

August 1, 2014

(Credit: CDC)

#EbolaOutbreak. Send newstips here. UPDATED:  August 5, 2014 at 2:07 am EDT (new content on top; new videos at bottom of this page)

  • Terror threat of lethal Ebola dirty bomb — The Sun
  • Ebola risk unheeded as Guinea’s villagers keep on eating fruit bats. — The Guardian 8/4/2014
  • The death toll from Ebola increased from 720 to 887 and the number of cases from 1323 to 1603 between July 31 and August 1. — WHO 8/4/2014
  • “We’re not going to hermetically seal the borders of the U.S.” to stop Ebola, CDC Director Tom Frieden said Sunday. Instead, the CDC will put 50 staff members on the ground in West Africa over the next 30 days. — Politico 8/3/14
  • Ebola patient Kent Brantly arrives from Liberia at Emory hospital in Atlanta; plane en route to pick up patient Nancy Writebol — CNN.com
  • Why There May Never Be A Cure for Ebola — The Wire 8/1/2014
  • Why we don’t have an ebola vaccine yet: cases are so rare, drug makers haven’t been interested in investing. NIH’s Ebola vaccine has been studied in monkeys and is set to begin its first phase I clinical trial in humans in September. If successful, it will take until mid- to late-2015 before a limited number of vaccine doses would be ready to administer to health care workers. — ABC News 7/31/2014
  • The CDC has issued level 3 travel alert: a high risk to people who travel to affected countries (Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea) and said about 10,000 people in the past three to four months have traveled from these countries to the U.S. (direct flights are connected through Houston, Atlanta and New York). — U.S. News 7/31/2014
  • Dr. Charles Chiu, Prrofessor of Laboratory Medicine and Infectious Diseases at UCSF said Friday his lab is expecting a shipment of non-infectious samples of the current Ebola outbreak to analyze and find the genetic sequence of the strain. Objective: better way to diagnose and treat the disease and learn how it mutates and evolves. — CBS S.F. 8/1/2014
  • Airports Have No Way to Screen for Ebola — National Journal
  • “[Three] recent cases, together with the continued increase in the number of Ebola cases in West Africa, underscore the potential for travel-associated spread of the disease and the risks of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) to healthcare workers. While the possibility of infected persons entering the U.S. remains low, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises that healthcare providers in the U.S. should consider EVD in the differential diagnosis of febrile illness, with compatible symptoms, in any person with recent (within 21 days) travel history in the affected countries and consider isolation of those patients meeting these criteria, pending diagnostic testing.” — CDC Health Advisory 7/28/2014
  • “The State Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are facilitating a medical evacuation for two U.S. citizens [missionary Nancy Writebol and Kent Brantly, MD, according to CNN] who have been infected by Ebola in West Africa.” — U.S. State Dept. 7/31/2014
  • The two patients are “expected to head to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, according to Dr. Bruce Ribner, who oversees the special isolation unit where they will be treated. On Friday, he described the patients as ‘stable’ and ‘safe to transport.”” — CNN.com (includes Dr. Sanjay Gupta video interview with CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden) 8/1/2014 updated 5:37 PM EDT
  • Emory Healthcare statement 7/31/2014
  • “The scale of the ongoing outbreak is unprecedented, with approximately 1323 confirmed and suspected cases reported, and 729 deaths in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since March 2014.” — WHO Director General Margaret Chan 7/31/2014
  • “The scale of the Ebola outbreak, and the persistent threat it poses, requires WHO and Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to take the response to a new level, and this will require increased resources, in-country medical expertise, regional preparedness and coordination.” — WHO Director General Margaret Chan 7/31/2014
  • “The CDC [has] alerted U.S. hospitals and doctors to be on the lookout for signs of Ebola fever and to question patients about their recent travel history and contacts.” — Washington Post 7/31/2014
  • What happens to Your Body When You Get Ebola? — Live Science June 18, 2014

Key references

Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever — CDC
Ebola Virus Outbreak — NBC News
Tracking ebola: 8 internet resources to help keep abreast of the epidemic

This Google Map (updated 8/1/2014) tracks the history of the deadly Ebola Virus that spread throughout central Africa between 1976 and 2015 and includes related incidents.


Google | The Spread of Ebola Outbreaks (1976-2015)

2014 West Africa Ebola outbreakWikipedia (includes this unconfirmed graph:

Ebola cases and deaths (credit: Martin R Leopoldo/Creative Commons)