The latest on Ebola
It’s a busy day in the global struggle with the Ebola virus – which the World Health Organization says is getting worse and worse. When the WHO briefed reporters this morning (Eastern Time), it kicked off a busy day of Ebola news.
The head of the CDC was on Capitol Hill for a hearing on Ebola, where members of Congress grilled him on the U.S. response. Meanwhile, his CDC counterparts briefed reporters on Ebola preparedness. And nurse Nina Pham is on the way to the National Institutes of Health in Maryland.
This blog will keep you updated on the latest Ebola news. You’ll also get a peek at the best reporting from CNN and our affiliates, such as heartbreaking stories about children orphaned by the disease and Liberia’s struggle to secure enough body bags for the dead. Also, check out our full report on today's developments.CNN Digital Newsdesk Editor Catherine E. Shoichet has been your guide this evening. We're closing the blog for now. Thanks so much for reading. For updates throughout the night, keep checking CNN.com.
-
Ebola's sobering toll on uninfected children
Ebola isn't just ravaging the thousands infected with the virus in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. It's also wrecking the lives of the victims' survivors -- especially children. UNICEF estimates Ebola has created more than 3,700 orphans in West Africa, CNN's Christiane Amanpour reports: -
An eye on bordering nations
Dr. Isabelle Nuttall, the World Health Organization's director of global capacity, alert and response, said that while the Ebola cases in the United States and Spain are a concern, they are less of a concern because they have high-quality health care systems and "good infection control."
Of more concern, she said, are Mali, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Guinea-Bissau, countries that border the three African nations with widespread transmission -- Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone -- because of the trade and travel among those countries.
"They really need to be better prepared," she said, adding that WHO has been working with African nations for years to control outbreaks -- any outbreaks -- and handling Ebola involves the same steps: "Be ready, detect, inform, assess, respond." -
'Persistent transmission'
Nuttall also said it could take months before the Ebola outbreak can be stopped, blaming the increasing number of Ebola cases and deaths on the “persistent transmission” of the virus. There has been an increase of new cases in Guinea, difficulties in gathering data in Liberia and an “intense transmission is still taking place” in Sierra Leone, Nuttall told reporters in Geneva. -
Looking beyond affected countriesDr Nuttall: For #Ebola preparedness plan, 14 countries are our top priority (land borders w/ affected countries or high travel trade routes)Oct. 16, 2014
- Reply
- Retweet
- Favorite
-
Danger on front linesDr Nuttall: The outbreak continues to hit health workers hard. So far 427 healthcare workers have been infected with #Ebola , 236 have diedOct. 16, 2014
- Reply
- Retweet
- Favorite
-
-
Wider preparedness plan
Dr. Isabelle Nuttall, the World Health Organization's director of global capacity, alert and response, told reporters in Geneva that while the countries bordering Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia are of particular concern, the larger preparedness plan involves a total of 15 African nations.
They are: Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Ghana, Mauritania, Nigeria, South Sudan, Togo, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Senegal, Benin, Burkina Faso and Cameroon. -
Obama vows 'much more aggressive' Ebola response
CNNPresident Barack Obama said his administration will respond to new Ebola cases "in a much more aggressive way." -
Patient in Nebraska improving
Ashoka Mukpo, the freelance cameraman for NBC News who tested positive for Ebola in Monrovia, Liberia, and is now being treated in Nebraska, is "doing well, getting better every day and continues to trend in the right direction," said Taylor Wilson, spokesman for Nebraska Medicine. -
Condolences for U.N. worker from Sudan
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon offered condolences to the second U.N. worker in Liberia to die from Ebola, saying, "I salute the courage of the medical and support personnel working on the front-lines. I offer condolences to the family of Abdel Fadeel Mohammed Basheer, a
laboratory technician and member of the United Nations family from Sudan
who died this week from Ebola. He was the second person from the U.N. Mission in Liberia to succumb to this unforgiving disease. -
An apology
Dr. Daniel Varga, chief clinical officer for Texas Health Resources, will issue an apology regarding the handling of Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person in the United States to be diagnosed with Ebola, during his remarks to a congressional committee today.
"Unfortunately, in our initial treatment of Mr. Duncan, despite our best intentions and a highly skilled medical team, we made mistakes. We did not correctly diagnose his symptoms as those of Ebola. We are deeply sorry," his prepared remarks say.
"Also, in our effort to communicate to the public quickly and transparently, we inadvertently provided some information that was inaccurate and had to be corrected. No doubt that was unsettling to a community that was already concerned and confused, and we have learned from that experience as well." -
Hearing under way
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing on Ebola has begun. Witnesses will include CDC Director Thomas Frieden and Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
If you'd like to read the background memo issued prior to the hearing, you can access it here. -
Pentagon taking actionThe Pentagon is updating it's emergency pandemic plan, creating an Ebola "boot camp" cnn.it/1zdsNoY http://pbs.twimg.com/media/B0FMSgXCYAAY6O9.jpg
Retweeted by CNNOct. 16, 2014- Reply
- Retweet
- Favorite
-
Nina Pham transfer confirmed
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the subcommittee that Nina Pham, one of the Dallas nurses who contracted Ebola, is headed to an National Institutes of Health facility where she will receive "state-of-the-art care in our high-level containment facilities." -
-
Ohio quarantines
In northeast Ohio, one person has been quarantined and six others have quarantined and are monitoring themselves for Ebola after coming into contact or being in the vicinity of Ebola-stricken Texas nurse Amber Vinson, said Ohio Department of Health spokesman Jay Carey. -
-
'Overwhelming' demand for vaccines
Luciana Borio, assistant commissioner for counterterrorism policy at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, tells the subcommittee that the desire for safe and effective Ebola vaccines is "overwhelming" and stresses the importance of testing the efficacy of all products. -
Nurse who worked in Sierra Leone hospitalized
"A male nurse who had worked for Red Cross on Sierra Leone has been admitted in La Candelaria Hospital in Tenerife after showing symptoms of having been infected with Ebola. He had a soar throat and fever. He was in direct contact with the virus in Sierra Leone so we are following the protocols," said a spokeswoman for the Spanish Red Cross in the Canary Islands. -
Health care system creates landing page
-
Armed forces in Africa stand by CDC
Amid questions about CDC guidelines concerning Ebola stateside, Maj. Gen. Darryl Williams, commander of U.S. Army Africa, who is on the ground in Liberia, tells CNN he has "great confidence in the CDC guidelines. I meet with the current team here daily and I have great confidence and don't plan on adjusting any of the current guidelines." -
Human trials of vaccine no concern
There are so far no safety concerns with human trials of an Ebola vaccine currently being tested at Oxford University, Roy Anderson, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at Imperial College, tells CNN.
Human volunteers in Oxford were given a trial vaccine September 17. Anderson, a former chief scientist for the British Ministry of Defense, is privy to information about the trials.
-
On the way to Maryland
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas nurse Nina Pham is helped out of the back of an ambulance at Love Field airport. (Credit Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas nurse Nina Pham will be flown from Texas to Maryland to undergo treatment at the National Institutes of Health. (Credit Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) -
#Ebola patient #NinaPham 's` plane takes off for #Maryland . #AC360 is live from #Dallas right now with the latest. http://pbs.twimg.com/media/B0G5h44CYAAOVzf.jpg
Oct. 17, 2014- Reply
- Retweet
- Favorite
-
-
Whistleblower nurse #BrianaAguirre talks about #TexasHealthPresbyterian 's handling of #Ebola . Next on #AC360 http://pbs.twimg.com/media/B0G6MZpCcAAVC6_.jpg
Oct. 17, 2014- Reply
- Retweet
- Favorite
-
Nurse: My neck was exposedBriana Aguirre is a nurse who says she helped take care of Nina Pham at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. One of her main concerns: the protective care nurses were given to wear while handling Ebola patients. "My entire body is covered in at least two layers of plastic and my neck is hanging out," she told CNN's "AC360."
-
They asked who was trained? The room was silent. Nurse Aguirre says hospital asked for volunteers to treat #NinaPham http://pbs.twimg.com/media/B0G8SZ0CQAARBMd.jpg
Oct. 17, 2014- Reply
- Retweet
- Favorite
-
-
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas has just released this video of nurse Nina Pham before she left the hospital for Maryland.
by CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet via YouTube 10/17/2014 12:52:03 AM -
More details about Vinson's symptomsTexas Health Presbyterian Hospital nurse Amber Vinson said she felt fatigue, muscle ache, and malaise while she was in Cleveland and on the flight home Monday, a federal official with direct knowledge of the case tells CNN’s Elizabeth Cohen. Vinson did not have diarrhea or vomiting while in Cleveland or on the flight home, the official said.
-
Original #CDC #Ebola guidelines are the left Revised version is on the right. What do you think? #AC360 http://pbs.twimg.com/media/B0HC_egCYAA4Lor.jpg
Oct. 17, 2014- Reply
- Retweet
- Favorite
-
CDC now wants to talk to passengers on Vinson's Dallas-Cleveland flight
The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention says it now wants to interview passengers who flew on the flight nurse Amber Vinson took from Dallas to Cleveland last Friday.
"CDC is now asking passengers on Frontier Airlines flight 1142 Dallas/Fort Worth to Cleveland on Oct. 10 and passengers on Frontier Airlines flight 1143 from Cleveland to Dallas/Fort Worth on Oct. 13 to call 1 800-CDC INFO (1 800 232-4636)," the CDC said in a statement. "Public health professionals will interview passengers about the flight, answer their questions, and arrange follow up if warranted. Individuals who are determined to be at any potential risk will be actively monitored."
-
CDC is now also asking passengers on Frontier Airlines flight 1142 DFW to CLE on 10/10 to call 1-800-CDC-INFO. 1.usa.gov/1odnfpKOct. 17, 2014
- Reply
- Retweet
- Favorite
-
Individuals on the flight who are determined to be at any potential risk will be actively monitored. 1.usa.gov/1odnfpKOct. 17, 2014
- Reply
- Retweet
- Favorite
-
New measures in TexasEach person at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital who came in contact with Thomas Eric Duncan is being given this document to sign, CNN's "AC360" reports. It is an order from the state of Texas and it includes measures to not go into large public places.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings told Anderson Cooper that officials are currently getting the document signed by about 50 people. It will put them on a do-not board list that won't allow them to fly, he said."They can't take public transportation. They must have personal monitoring twice a day. Furthermore, they cannot go to public places,' Rawlings said. -
Statement from Vinson's family
CNN affiliate WOIO sent us this statement Kent State University released from nurse Amber Vinson's family. Lawrence Vinson, her uncle, said:
Our family has been overwhelmed with support and love for Amber and our extended family over the last 72 hours, and we thank you for those prayers and well wishes. Amber is stable, and we are continuing to work with her doctors as her treatment progresses. Amber is a respected professional and has always had a strong passion for nursing. She followed all of the protocols necessary when treating a patient in Dallas, and right now, she’s trusting in her doctors and nurses as she is now the patient. To that end, we ask that the media respect Amber’s privacy and that of our family during this overwhelming experience. The time will come down the road for more further public involvement, but for now, your continued love and prayers helps greatly.
-
Statement from #texaspresbyterian on whistleblower nurse #BrianaAguirre sent to #AC360 http://pbs.twimg.com/media/B0HKrCfCUAAN_Ac.jpg
Oct. 17, 2014- Reply
- Retweet
- Favorite
-
Facing criticism, hospital fires backTexas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas released a new statement Thursday night, firing back at critics who've taken the hospital to task for its handling of Ebola patients.Here's an excerpt from the statement:
Texas Health Dallas employees have two mechanisms available to anonymously raise issues about safety concerns or related matters. It is important to note that no Texas Health Dallas employee did so concerning their care of Mr. Duncan or our two co-workers.
Third parties who don’t know our hospital, our employees and who were not present when the events occurred are seeking to exploit a national crisis by inserting themselves into an already challenging situation. Based on our strong track record of having excellent relationships with our employees, we do not believe it is necessary or helpful for outside parties to intervene in this relationship. Everyone should be focused on supporting each other in our pursuit of learning and continuous improvement that can be applied to hospitals throughout the nation. We are dedicated to providing a wide range of opportunities for employees to give input and influence decision making. From Magnet® designation to multiple Employer of Choice awards, this has long been a recognized strength of our organization. -
#AC360 answers your #Ebola questions next. You can tweet with #EbolaQandA . http://pbs.twimg.com/media/B0HM2-1CYAAMzS1.jpg
Oct. 17, 2014- Reply
- Retweet
- Favorite
-
If you didn't get to ask @donlemon your Q today on the streets of NYC, you can still tweet to #EbolaQandA. Ansrs 10P. http://t.co/bhDbmGTpZz
Oct. 16, 2014Delete- Reply
- Retweet
- Favorite
-
-
>@donlemon speaks exclusively w/ family member of TX nurse Amber #Vinson now being treated for Ebola. Tune in, 10P. http://t.co/3mX2PJyT3a
Oct. 16, 2014- Reply
- Retweet
- Favorite
