In a study of 93 men in Sierra Leone, scientists found the Ebola virus in semen samples from about half of them. The risk seemed to decline over time. Ebola was detected in all nine men tested at two to three months after their illness began but in only 11 of the 43 survivors tested at seven to nine months

In a study of 93 men in Sierra Leone, scientists found the Ebola virus in semen samples from about half of them. The risk seemed to decline over time. Ebola was detected in all nine men tested at two to three months after their illness began but in only 11 of the 43 survivors tested at seven to nine months

The capital of Sierra Leone has turned "eerily quiet" at the start of a three-day national lockdown aimed at accelerating the end of an Ebola epidemic in the worst affected country.

The capital of Sierra Leone has turned "eerily quiet" at the start of a three-day national lockdown aimed at accelerating the end of an Ebola epidemic in the worst affected country.

At least 10 Americans possibly exposed to the deadly Ebola virus were being flown to the United States from Sierra Leone for observation, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Saturday.

At least 10 Americans possibly exposed to the deadly Ebola virus were being flown to the United States from Sierra Leone for observation, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Saturday.

This is a downright scary image taken by Getty of the situation in Liberia.. the victim, obviously is suffering from Ebola..

Some news to know today:

From NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: Liberia is in free fall as Ebola spreads out of control..

75% of Ebola victims are women..

Police open fire on slum to keep 50,000 within..

Hospital: California patient may have been exposed to Ebola

Kaiser Permanente reports a patient at its Sacramento hospital may have been exposed.

The CDC is going to be testing blood samples..

And more:

"In order to protect our patients, staff and physicians, even though infection with the virus is unconfirmed, we are taking the actions recommended by the CDC as a precaution, just as we do for other patients with a suspected infectious disease," according to the statement. "This includes isolation of the patient in a specially equipped negative pressure room and the use of personal protective equipment by trained staff, coordinated with infectious disease specialists."

The patient is in isolation. But news of him is not.. fear and intrigue in California today.

Hospital: California patient may have been exposed to Ebola

Kissing the Corpses in Ebola Country

Ebola victims are most infectious right after death—which means that West African burial practices, where families touch the bodies, are spreading the disease

Hence more dead bodies are infecting more live humans with the disease.. this also begins to answer a question I posed weeks ago about how a burial process for dead Ebola patients should go. The answer: No burial.. just burning.. the bodies need to be gone to destroy the virulent nature of the beastly Ebola disease..

Kissing the Corpses in Ebola Country

Skeptics In Sierra Leone Doubt Ebola Virus Exists

Sierra Leone is at the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak. But many people there don’t think the virus is real. Others are so frightened by Ebola that they’re afraid to take sick relatives to clinics.

This is fascinating, and a symptom of oppression and constant upheaval in certain places on the continent of Africa..

So many in the hot spot for Ebola don’t think it even exists..While workers, government officials, and military personnel all drive around in cars with loudspeakers—cars that feature images of people looking like zombies, vomiting—some listening are ignoring.. Ignorance is what may be causing the virus to spread faster and further than ever before in recorded history of Ebola.

NPR reports on some of the Ebola deniers: 

Opinions are mixed, but there’s a strong dose of Ebola deniers— those who don’t believe the virus exists at all. Zainab Koroma, a street hawker, is adamant it isn’t real.

"I do not believe Ebola exists because none of my family members has been affected by it," she says. "When you get sick of cholera, they say it is Ebola. When your body temperature rises, they say it is Ebola. So I honestly don’t believe Ebola exists. There could be a lot of other diseases killing people."

That’s one of the challenges facing Sierra Leone — trying to convince the nation that “Ebola is real, Ebola is here, and Ebola kills,” as one poster reads. Some people do survive, if they receive medical care early, as soon as they fall sick.

The case of 32-year-old Saudata Koroma transfixed the nation late last month. She was brought to a faded blue government hospital in Freetown, feeling unwell, and was admitted.

"Yes, and we were suspicious that she had Ebola, and she was put in isolation," says Amadu Sesay, the doctor in charge of the hospital. "The tests proved she had Ebola. Prior to the arrival of the test results, the relatives of the patient stormed the facility. They stormed this hospital and took the patient away."

When his staff learned Koroma had Ebola, Sesay says, they had to track her down. But it took some time. “She was put in an ambulance, but unfortunately on the way to [an Ebola clinic in] Kailahun, she died,” he says.

And with that epic account, more infections were spread due to the denial of the disease..

The world may spin their eyes at tales of denials of a deadly virus, but consider some facts: You may live in a nation absent these abuses:

1. Harsh conditions and treatment in jails


2. Female genital mutilation, forcibly done


3. Widespread government corruption


4. Rampant discrimination from the government based off of sexual preference


5. Child abuse and trafficking, with high officials involved


6. Forced child labor


7. And this: A civil war that actually killed 25 times as many people as the Kosovo war did.. During wartime, children were often forced into the military and women were raped in brutal attacks. 

All of that while the world ignored, and then Sierra Leone was put on the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2012.

So doubt that Ebola exists? Common sense would tell someone it’s real.. But live in a nation where the citizenry has been oppressed by a tyrannical government, and it’s easy to see why disbelief in reality is rampant. 

Skeptics In Sierra Leone Doubt Ebola Virus Exists

EBOLA SUMMER

EBOLA SUMMER: A few days ago, we were told of a person being tested for Ebola at Mount Sinai in New York.. the results of which are not known..But it turns out that that 1 sole patient number may be a bit skewed.. it is now 6–I suspect maybe more–being tested.. And it’s also not just the Big Apple.. Ebola tests are being conducted across the nation, and it would appear that at this point the government is attempting its best to surpress information on where the tests are being conducted.. Numbers are being concealed.. Press reports from Ohio indicate that the suspected patient in that state is negative for the virus.. Meanwhile in the hotspot of the outbreak: Sierra Leona is being ravaged by the disease, troops are being deployed, and doctors are describing a scene of chaos and horror.. One doctor, as quoted in the UK DAILY MAIL, described a frightening appearance of Ebola patients prior to death, saying that patients typically look healthy up until a bit before they succumb .. A possible carrier is also being watched in Wales..

A few questions still revolve around why the two Americans with Ebola got the secret serum.. And while the world is clamoring for a vaccine, some are beginning to question if people should line up in droves to get the yet undone antecdote: Red flags are being raised over the use of experimental Ebola drugs..

Fear and loathing with Ebola: The internet world is abuzz with reports information over Ebola: 90% death rate, vs the more realsitic 60% rate with this outbreak is one item that is constantly being misreported.. And even more: Lola Okolosie writes in the UK GUARDIAN today that “Ebola has infected public discourse with a new xenophobia”.. It’s a summer of fear..

Oh, back to that ‘secret’ serum thing? Maybe we gave the two Ebola patients the antecdote, and then brought them to the CDC for observation to see how effective it is. It is somewhat common sense and really not conspiracy conjecture.. we would probably desire to know if our ‘secret’ cocktail worked..

And this: VOX reports that the Ebola patients in America are the subjects of a science experiment..

Mount Sinai patient who traveled to West Africa tested for Ebola virus

Mount Sinai Hospital is performing tests on a patient who had recently traveled to a West African country where Ebola has been reported, the hospital says.

Obviously a developing story from New York..

Mount Sinai patient who traveled to West Africa tested for Ebola virus

Atlanta hospital receives hate mail for treating aid workers stricken by Ebola

The Atlanta hospital treating one of the US aid workers stricken with the Ebola virus, and preparing to receive a second, has appealed to the public to show compassion, after receiving “nasty emails” asking why the patients were allowed back into the country.

Atlanta hospital receives hate mail for treating aid workers stricken by Ebola

Ebola terror at Gatwick as Sierra Leone flight passenger dies

Staff tell of fears as jet from Africa is quarantined after the death of passenger who was ’sweating and vomiting’ before she collapsed

MORE:

The woman, said to be 72, became ill on the gangway after she left a Gambia Bird jet with 128 passengers on board. She died in hospital.

Ebola has killed 256 people in Sierra Leone. A total of 826 have died in West Africa since the outbreak began in February. Tests are now being carried out to see if the woman had disease.

The plane was quarantined as ­officials desperately tried to trace everyone who had been in contact with the woman.

But before emotions get wild and assumptions get made: This is not yet ruled Ebola related. As a matter of fact, the MIRROR goes on to report—deep in the article—

The passenger was taken to hospital and sadly died.

“In line with standard ­procedures, tests are being undertaken to determine the cause of death.

“The patient’s symptoms suggest that Ebola is very unlikely but as a precaution this is one of the tests being undertaken.

It is a matter of time, of course, before cases pop up outside of Africa.. The world is too connected and close for that not to occur. It’s just the hope that health officials will calmly take matters into their responsible hands.. and that panic will not ensue.

Like today…when the vomiting 72-year-old led to a world crisis.

Ebola terror at Gatwick as Sierra Leone flight passenger dies

Plane Carrying Ebola Patient Stopped in Maine

An American infected with the Ebola virus in West Africa was flown on Saturday to the Atlanta area to receive treatment. But not before the plane carrying the patient made a pit stop in New England.

But no one will be harmed by the stopping of the Ebola patient plane..

The paranoia in my is strong: My first inclination was to immediately remember the peaceful scene presented in the book and TV movie THE STAND.. Maine was the place where Frannie Goldsmith lived with her father. Molly Ringwald in the TV version..

Hope Frannie will be ok.

Plane Carrying Ebola Patient Stopped in Maine

….so this guy, without any protective gear, was sneaking behind walls to take a photo of the Ebola patient arriving in Emory..

Either stupidity.. or perhaps a clear sign that my hunch is right: This was a decoy van for publicity and media attention while the real one was either there already or going in another way..

Saturday night's many main events

A few more news curating duties before turning off the ill-colored monitor.. the light from which has been making my eyes go dizzy over the past week. Not because of the aura of blue it emits, but instead because of the FTPed and HTMLed information that has been given to me on it.. news of the weird and wild, hurtful and harmful.. Ebola on a jet plane and an ambulance ride that the world watched. Obama vs Congress vs the Immigrants. Part 4. Justin Bieber. Ninja Turtles.. Crudeness, rudeness. Overt blasts to the past.. my mind is numb.

But not numb enough to ignore a few more tidbits of information this late Saturday night…

A CNN ‘ireport' shows us the moment when the now world famous Ebola patient walked into Emory University Hospital. The woman was there seeing her father. She heard about the Ebolaman .. she got the Ebola: She left her father to film history.. Not sure if that’s something I’d do. But she did.. 

There has been fear and loathing in Las Vegas. And also lots of fear over Ebola in Atlanta.. but here’s some facts: This is how you get Ebola, what happens when you have it, and why you die a short time after being infected. If the article was meant to quell fears, it did not of that for me.. instead it just increased my paranoia about Ebola being willingly being brought onto the shores .. 

Top WHO officials say that Ebola is outstripping control efforts.. IN Africa. But in the United States, the United Nations tells us still, risk remains low of a Captain Tripps the STAND end of the world scenario. But that’s what they said in the movie too, then the Army blasted their way in to Rae Flowers’ radio show. And the rest was television and novel history.

And finally, on Ebola, call me crazy *many often due*.. but I got  to thinking about today’s live coverage on networks of the ambulance—without even a car of police protection in sight—taking the Ebola patient to Emory. I hope, truly hope, that it was staged.. I hope that some wild conspiracy took place, and that actors were paid to throw off the news nets while the real Ebola patient was transmitted the right way.. The more I thought about the slow motion ambulance drive, the more I really began hoping that what we witnessed was simply a staged presentation …

Those in Toledo Ohio tonight have been shocked into a world without water.. warnings have been sounded: Don’t drink, and don’t even BOIL the liquid.. Apparently 600,000 people on the west end of the never clean Lake Erie have been told to avoid the basic ingredient to a good day: H20.  Water at a Toledo treatment plant tested positive for microcystin, a toxin known to cause liver and kidney damage.. Governor Kasich declared a state of emergency.. Residents are now forced to wait. Bottled water is going fast..

@Time magazine this week featured a cover story about ‘manopause’ and the male race to increase their manhood.. but we are not told tonight in reports that, quite a long time ago, that a decrease in male testosterone led the world to beautiful art and amazing civilized humans.  I knew the Bronies were on to something good…

Some interesting news from the GHOSTBUSTERS 3 universe.. apparently, VARIETY reports, the movie may feature an all-female cast.. Apparently Sony and Paul Feig are conversing over the possibilities.. Maybe even as we speak. It may be a good idea, too.. movies are trending more towards the feminine hero side.. THOR will be a woman, LUCY was the show last week.. and now a team of all women hunting SLIMER may be next.. 

Now that Bill Murray may be free of GHOSTBUSTERS, minus the predictable cameo we all hope for, he will be busy doing the voice of BALOO in the JUNGLE BOOK.

Here’s some raunchy stuff, since it’s a Saturday night. Forgive me the indulgence if you read it Sunday: Transgender to have a penis made from tattooed skin on his arm. Chances are, if you’re German in Germany, and a male, you have had penis enlargement surgery.. An anatomically correct doll has parents freaking out. And a mastiff dog bit off a man’s penis while he was in conversation.  Surely the painful subject of which will be the topic of conversation for many conversations to come.

Meanwhile read the first chapter in a book I have been cooking for some time.. the story of life, new life.. old life. Life. 

That’s the story until the morning’s glory.
So if you’re out and about, have a drink on me. I used to go out, but that’s so pre-internet. Right?

Enjoy the music.. play a song and dance. You are the show.

I wish I was enjoying the show like some of my friends tonight in Philly.. Next time, Billy Joel.. next time.

And I’m glad you enjoyed the movie thepete

Evenin’ all.

How surreal this ambulance driver’s day must be.. The entire world is watching.. I get nervous at backseat drivers. Imagine the entire television viewing audience watching his every move and potential traffic violation..

American Ebola patient arrives in U.S.

CNN airs live coverage of the ambulance taking the Ebola patient to the hospital. So surreal..

American Ebola patient arrives in U.S.

While we are watching the friendly skies for Ebola to land.. maybe it's already here?

A doctor named Alan Jamison put himself in self-quarantine in his Tennessee home. While there are no reports that he has Ebola, he treated Ebola patients in Liberia…

He did this Monday—meaning that this entire week, while the United States debated whether bringing Ebola patients to a hospital adjacent to the CDC was a good idea or not, it  may have already here all along..

CNN is reporting on the doctor.. and also the fact that he has exhibited no signs of the disease yet..

Worth reading: Jamison has no symptoms at this point.

CNN says, 

He plans to be in isolation for 21 days, which is the incubation period for the disease or the time between infection and onset of symptoms.

"My last encounter with a patient who had Ebola was on July 19," he said. "I contacted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on my arrival … and informed them I had been in West Africa and my history."

The father of three said his daughter picked him up from the airport and dropped him at home, where he’s quarantined himself and has had no contact with anyone since.

Good thing the CDC knows about this.. 

But I have a few questions…

How many other doctors, or people, are doing the same thing as Dr. Jamison? Should the CDC be more keenly aware, and are they even aware of everyone that may be doing this self-isolation treatment?  Should Dr. Jamison being transferred to the CDC location where these other two patients—who definitely have Ebola—are going to be housed ..? 

But potentially even more troubling in my mind.. it’s a nice gesture to self-quarantine, but what about the plane he rode with others to get back to the United States? 

There is one factor also worth considering—I did not know this until now. Ebola is only contagious after the 21-day incubation period.. That would make for a great sequel to 28 DAYS LATER, but it also creates a far greater chance for developed nations to prevent this disease ..

And let’s face it: The death toll is rough. 90% of those who contact Ebola die.. But a few hundred (conservative estimate, sure) of a few million people isn’t a lot.. Even in third world nations, where disease is abundant, Ebola is still hard to catch under the right circumstances.

The problem is the amount of distrust of governments in the African nations where the disease is hitting, and the refusals to be isolated and also, quite often, the fears of modern medicine.. 

Ebola patients 'refusing isolation'

This is one major reason this outbreak is so bad..
From all sources I have read: Those with the disease, or some who may get it, are either paranoid about their government’s actions or fearful of isolation, that the disease just continues to rapidly spread and countries unravel out of control..

CONGO’s President said that the disease is bigger than everyone..

And perhaps the best description is this: Fighting Ebola is like trying to change a tire in a hurricane..

Ebola patients 'refusing isolation'

This is how African newspapers are covering EBOLA.. 

NOTE.. The ‘burn all bodies’ headline in the lower left.. I think this sufficiently answers my question from last night is in which I asked what will be done with bodies that have suffered death at the hands of the outbreak: Burning.

Meanwhile: Africa has sealed off the Ebola epicenter. A little interesting that, after all the deaths, they are finally doing this..

The AFP reports this:

Opening the summit, WHO chief Margaret Chan told leaders that the response of the three countries to the epidemic had been “woefully inadequate”, revealing that the outbreak was “moving faster than our efforts to control it”.

"If the situation continues to deteriorate, the consequences can be catastrophic in terms of lost lives but also severe socio-economic disruption and a high risk of spread to other countries," Chan said.

She described the outbreak as “by far the largest ever in the nearly four-decade history of this disease”.

"It is taking place in areas with fluid population movements over porous borders, and it has demonstrated its ability to spread via air travel, contrary to what has been seen in past outbreaks," she told the summit.

"Cases are occurring in rural areas which are difficult to access, but also in densely populated capital cities. This meeting must mark a turning point in the outbreak response."

The meeting came after Dubai’s Emirates became the first global airline to announce it was suspending flights to the stricken area, while the United States, Germany, France and Italy have issued warnings against travel to the three African countries.

US President Barack Obama announced on Friday that the United States will screen delegates travelling from Ebola-hit countries to Washington for a three-day Africa summit next week.

The summit must go on.
Captain Trips does not exist.

Willing to test the shot?

REUTERS REPORTS THIS:

The U.S. government will begin testing on people an experimental Ebola vaccine as early as September, after seeing positive results from tests on primates, according to media reports on Thursday.

The National Institutes of Health’s infectious disease unit is working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to put the vaccine into trial as quickly as possible, according to CNN and USA Today. The director of that unit could not be reached for comment.

So .. I’m curious to those reading.. would you such an experimental vaccine? …would a bigger crisis, and outbreak, make you more likely to take it?