Ebola outbreak in West Africa

[Dr Strangelove]

Missions in Africa employ non-African missionaries (and American ones too). And non-African nuns....

The article doesn't specify whether non-African staff were amongst the fatalities.

[molly bloom]

The article doesn't specify whether non-African staff were amongst the fatalities.

I'm sorry, was it meant to ? Feel free to accuse me of being French now, or a supporter of imperialism.

[Dr Strangelove]

I'm sorry, was it meant to ? Feel free to accuse me of being French now, or a supporter of imperialism.

Oh, you're English. The French are amateur imperialists compared to your country.

[molly bloom]

Oh, you're English. The French are amateur imperialists compared to your country.

As I've pointed out before, I have no English ancestry at all. I have dual nationality- British and Irish. As for the French being amateur imperialists, tell that to Brittany.

[Dr Strangelove]

As I've pointed out before, I have no English ancestry at all. I have dual nationality- British and Irish. As for the French being amateur imperialists, tell that to Brittany.

British - English, English - British. Will this charade continue when the Scots and Welsh have left you? More importantly, when the Scots and Welsh have left where will you be?

[Dauphin]

Better off.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

Everyone will be better off - you should kick them out, to show them who is boss.

[The Mad Monk]

Technolgy! Woo!

US bots flagged Ebola before outbreak announced

By RODRIQUE NGOWI
Associated Press
Technology Video

Buy AP Photo Reprints

BOSTON (AP) -- The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is focusing a spotlight on an online tool run by experts in Boston that flagged a "mystery hemorrhagic fever" in forested areas of southeastern Guinea nine days before the World Health Organization formally announced the epidemic.

HealthMap uses algorithms to scour tens of thousands of social media sites, local news, government websites, infectious-disease physicians' social networks and other sources to detect and track disease outbreaks. Sophisticated software filters irrelevant data, classifies the relevant information, identifies diseases and maps their locations with the help of experts.

"It shows some of these informal sources are helping paint a picture of what's happening that's useful to these public health agencies," HealthMap co-founder John Brownstein said

HealthMap is operated by a group of 45 researchers, epidemiologists and software developers at Boston Children's Hospital.

The tool was introduced in 2006 with a core audience of public health specialists, but that changed as the system evolved and the public became increasingly hungry for information during the swine flu pandemic.

HealthMap generates information that includes locations of specific outbreaks and tracks new cases and deaths. The system is also capable of logging public sentiment.

The Ebola outbreak, the largest and longest ever recorded for the disease, has so far killed more than 950 people. It emerged in Guinea in March and has since spread to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria.

---

Online:

HealthMap Interactive Ebola Tool: http://healthmap.org/ebola/

This should help bring resources to bear more quickly in a more integrated world.

Now we just need that world.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

[C0ckney]

oh dear

Ebola crisis: Confusion as patients vanish in Liberia

There are conflicting reports over the fate of 17 Ebola patients who vanished after a quarantine centre in the Liberian capital Monrovia was looted.

An angry mob attacked the centre in the city's densely populated West Point township on Saturday evening.

A senior health official said all of the patients were being moved to another medical facility.

But a reporter told the BBC that 17 had escaped while 10 others were taken away by their families.

More than 400 people are known to have died from the virus in Liberia, out of a total of 1,145 deaths recorded by the World Health Organization.

Assistant Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah said protesters had been unhappy that patients were being brought in from other parts of the capital.

Other reports suggested the protesters had believed Ebola was a hoax and wanted to force the quarantine centre to close.

The attack at the Monrovia centre is seen as a major setback in the struggle to halt the outbreak, says the BBC's Will Ross, reporting from Lagos.

..........

'Stupidest thing'
Ebola is spread by contact with an infected person's bodily fluids, such as sweat and blood, and no cure or vaccine is currently available.

Blood-stained mattresses, bedding and medical equipment were taken from the centre, a senior police officer told BBC News, on condition of anonymity.

"This is one of the stupidest things I have ever seen in my life," he said. "All between the houses you could see people fleeing with items looted from the patients."

The looting spree, he added, could threaten to spread the virus to the whole of the West Point area.

[dannubis]

Darwin...

[molly bloom]

British - English, English - British.

Erm, no. Sorry to disappoint you, your Yankieness, but there is a difference.

[ColdWizard]

It's very noble of the English to let the others feel like contributing members of the team.

[kentonio]

We try.

[Sava]

Ebola patients that were flown to the US are being released. It's almost like bringing them here was an awesome idea that will end up saving countless lives.