Nigeria has only one Ebola patient: Health Minister

Nigeria said Tuesday that two more people had been released from isolation after recovering from 

Ebola, leaving only one living patient with the disease in the country.

According to the health ministry, Nigeria has recorded 13 confirmed cases of Ebola, including the Liberian-American Patrick Sawyer, who brought the virus to the economic capital Lagos on July 20 and died five days later.

In all five people have died of the disease in Nigeria.

Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu announced that an additional two patients had been discharged, bringing the number of those released to seven.

"Two of the treated patients, a male doctor and a female nurse were discharged yesterday evening, 25th August, 2014, having satisfied the criteria for discharge," he told reporters in Abuja.

The only patient in the country who currently has Ebola is the wife of a doctor who treated Sawyer, he added.

"She is stable but still on treatment at the isolation ward in Lagos," Chukwu said.

Dozens of people who were at risk of exposure are being monitored and the caseload could rise.

The World Health Organization said last week that it was encouraged by the situation in Nigeria, given that all of the confirmed cases came from a single chain of transmission.

The deadliest-ever outbreak of the virus has killed more than 1,400 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since the start of the year.

....In God we trust 

CBN introduces N65 Fee for ATM Withdrawals

From the 1st of September 2014, bank customers will pay a token for cash withdrawals made on other banks’ Automated Teller Machines (ATM). The Central Bank of Nigeria announced this on Wednesday.

If you recall, customers used to pay N100 if they used other banks’ ATM, but it was cancelled by the CBN and Deposit Money Banks in December 2012.

The Central Bank agreed to re-introduce the charges because the cost of transaction was becoming too burdensome for the banks to continue to bear.

Director of Banking and Payment Systems Department of CBN Dipo Fatokun said the first three withdrawals on other banks’ ATM will be free but it would become effective on the fourth withdrawal in a month.

“The CBN hereby issues the following directives: The re-introduction of ‘Remote-on-us’ ATM cash withdrawal transaction fee, which will now be N65 per transaction, to cover the remuneration of switches, ATM monitoring and fit-notes processing by acquiring banks; the new charge shall apply as from the fourth ‘Remote-on-us’ withdrawal (in a month) by a cardholder, thereby making the first three ‘Remote on us’ transaction free for the cardholder, but to the paid by the issuing bank.

September 1, 2014 shall be the effective date for the implementation of the new charge; banks are expected to conduct adequate sensitisation to the customers on the introduction of the new fee; all ATM cash withdrawals on the ATM of issuing banks shall be at no cost to the cardholder.”

World Health Organisation (W.H.O) RELEASES DETAILED INFORMATION ON EBOLA

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released Frequently Asked Questions and answers on the Ebola Viral disease. Please read carefully below to be well informed about Ebola and how it can be transmitted.
Culled from WHO website.

"What is Ebola virus disease?

Ebola virus disease (formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever) is a severe, often fatal illness, with a death rate of up to 90%. The illness affects humans and nonhuman primates (monkeys, gorillas, and chimpanzees).

Ebola first appeared in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks, one in a village near the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the other in a remote area of Sudan.

The origin of the virus is unknown but fruit bats (Pteropodidae) are considered the likely host of the Ebola virus, based on available evidence.

2. How do people become infected with the virus?

In the current outbreak in West Africa, the majority of cases in humans have occurred as a result of human-to-human transmission.

Infection occurs from direct contact through broken skin or mucous membranes with the blood, or other bodily fluids or secretions (stool, urine, saliva, semen) of infected people. Infection can also occur if broken skin or mucous membranes of a healthy person come into contact with environments that have become contaminated with an Ebola patient’s infectious fluids such as soiled clothing, bed linen, or used needles.

More than 100 health-care workers have been exposed to the virus while caring for Ebola patients. This happens because they may not have been wearing personal protection equipment or were not properly applying infection prevention and control measures when caring for the patients. Health-care providers at all levels of the health system – hospitals, clinics, and health posts – should be briefed on the nature of the disease and how it is transmitted, and strictly follow recommended infection control precautions.

WHO does not advise families or communities to care for individuals who may present with symptoms of Ebola virus disease in their homes. Rather, seek treatment in a hospital or treatment centre staffed by doctors and nurses qualified and equipped to treat Ebola virus victims. If you do choose to care for your loved one at home, WHO strongly advises you to notify your local public health authority and receive appropriate training, equipment (gloves and personal protective equipment [PPE]) for treatment, instructions on proper removal and disposal of PPE, and information on how to prevent further infection and transmission of the disease to yourself, other family members, or the community.

Additional transmission has occurred in communities during funerals and burial rituals. Burial ceremonies in which mourners have direct contact with the body of the deceased person have played a role in the transmission of Ebola. Persons who have died of Ebola must be handled using strong protective clothing and gloves and must be buried immediately. WHO advises that the deceased be handled and buried by trained case management professionals, who are equipped to properly bury the dead.

People are infectious as long as their blood and secretions contain the virus. For this reason, infected patients receive close monitoring from medical professionals and receive laboratory tests to ensure the virus is no longer circulating in their systems before they return home. When the medical professionals determine it is okay for the patient to return home, they are no longer infectious and cannot infect anyone else in their communities. Men who have recovered from the illness can still spread the virus to their partner through their semen for up to 7 weeks after recovery. For this reason, it is important for men to avoid sexual intercourse for at least 7 weeks after recovery or to wear condoms if having sexual intercourse during 7 weeks after recovery.

Generally, a person must come into contact with an animal that has Ebola and it can then spread within the community from human to human.

3. Who is most at risk?

During an outbreak, those at higher risk of infection are:

health workers;
family members or others in close contact with infected people;
mourners who have direct contact with the bodies of the deceased as part of burial ceremonies.
More research is needed to understand if some groups, such as immuno-compromised people or those with other underlying health conditions, are more susceptible than others to contracting the virus.

Exposure to the virus can be controlled through the use of protective measures in clinics and hospitals, at community gatherings, or at home.

4. What are typical signs and symptoms of infection?

Sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat are typical signs and symptoms. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.

Laboratory findings include low white blood cell and platelet counts, and elevated liver enzymes.

The incubation period, or the time interval from infection to onset of symptoms, is from 2 to 21 days. The patients become contagious once they begin to show symptoms. They are not contagious during the incubation period.

Ebola virus disease infections can only be confirmed through laboratory testing.

5. When should someone seek medical care?

If a person has been in an area known to have Ebola virus disease or in contact with a person known or suspected to have Ebola and they begin to have symptoms, they should seek medical care immediately.

Any cases of persons who are suspected to have the disease should be reported to the nearest health unit without delay. Prompt medical care is essential to improving the rate of survival from the disease. It is also important to control spread of the disease and infection control procedures need to be started immediately.

6. What is the treatment?

Severely ill patients require intensive supportive care. They are frequently dehydrated and need intravenous fluids or oral rehydration with solutions that contain electrolytes. There is currently no specific treatment to cure the disease.

Some patients will recover with the appropriate medical care.

To help control further spread of the virus, people that are suspected or confirmed to have the disease should be isolated from other patients and treated by health workers using strict infection control precautions.

7. What can I do? Can it be prevented? Is there a vaccine?

Currently, there is no licensed medicine or vaccine for Ebola virus disease, but several products are under development.

Ways to prevent infection and transmission
While initial cases of Ebola virus disease are contracted by handling infected animals or carcasses, secondary cases occur by direct contact with the bodily fluids of an ill person, either through unsafe case management or unsafe burial practices. During this outbreak, most of the disease has spread through human-to-human transmission. Several steps can be taken to help in preventing infection and limiting or stopping transmission.

Understand the nature of the disease, how it is transmitted, and how to prevent it from spreading further. (For additional information, please see the previous questions about Ebola virus disease in this FAQ.)
Listen to and follow directives issued by your country’s respective Ministry of Health.
If you suspect someone close to you or in your community of having Ebola virus disease, encourage and support them in seeking appropriate medical treatment in a health-care facility.
If you choose to care for an ill person in your home, notify public health officials of your intentions so they can train you and provide appropriate gloves and personal protective equipment (PPE) (gloves, impermeable gown, boots/closed shoes with overshoes, mask and eye protection for splashes), as well as instructions as a reminder on how to properly care for the patient, protect yourself and your family, and properly dispose of the PPE after use. N.B. WHO does not recommend home care and strongly advises individuals and their family members to seek professional care in a treatment centre.
When visiting patients in the hospital or caring for someone at home, hand washing with soap and water is recommended after touching a patient, being in contact with their bodily fluids, or touching his/her surroundings.
People who have died from Ebola should only be handled using appropriate protective equipment and should be buried immediately by public health professionals who are trained in safe burial procedures.
Additionally, individuals should reduce contact with high-risk infected animals (i.e. fruit bats, monkeys or apes) in the affected rainforest areas. If you suspect an animal is infected, do not handle it. Animal products (blood and meat) should be thoroughly cooked before eating.

8. What about health workers? How should they protect themselves while caring for patients?

Health workers treating patients with suspected or confirmed illness are at higher risk of infection than other groups. During an outbreak a number of important actions will reduce or stop the spread of the virus and protect health workers and others in the health-care setting. These actions are called “standard and other additional precautions” and are evidence-based recommendations known to prevent the spread of infections. The following questions and answers describe the precautions in detail.

Should patients with suspected or confirmed Ebola virus be separated from other patients?
Isolating patients with suspected or confirmed Ebola virus disease in single isolation rooms is recommended. Where isolation rooms are not available, it is important to assign designated areas, separate from other patients, for suspected and confirmed cases. In these designated areas, suspect and confirmed cases should also be separate. Access to these areas should be restricted, needed equipment should be dedicated strictly to suspected and confirmed EVD treatment areas, and clinical and non-clinical personnel should be exclusively assigned to isolation rooms and dedicated areas.

Are visitors allowed in areas where patients suspected or confirmed Ebola virus disease are admitted?
Stopping visitor access to patients infected with EVD is preferred. If this is not possible, access should be given only to those individuals who are necessary for the patient’s well-being and care, such as a child’s parent.

Is protective equipment required when caring for these patients?
In addition to standard health-care precautions, health-care workers should strictly apply recommended infection control measures to avoid exposure to infected blood, fluids, or contaminated environments or objects – such as a patient’s soiled linen or used needles.
All visitors and health-care workers should rigorously use what is known as personal protective equipment (PPE). PPE should include at least: gloves, an impermeable gown, boots/closed shoes with overshoes, a mask, and eye protection for splashes (goggles or face shields).
Is hand hygiene important?
Hand hygiene is essential and should be performed:

before donning gloves and wearing PPE on entry to the isolation room/area;
before any clean or aseptic procedures is being performed on a patient;
after any exposure risk or actual exposure with a patient’s blood or body fluids;
after touching (even potentially) contaminated surfaces, items, or equipment in the patient’s surroundings; and
after removal of PPE, upon leaving the isolation area.
It is important to note that neglecting to perform hand hygiene after removing PPE will reduce or negate any benefits of the PPE.

Either an alcohol-based hand rub or soap and running water can be used for hand hygiene, applying the correct technique recommended by WHO. It is important to always perform hand hygiene with soap and running water when hands are visibly soiled. Alcohol-based hand rubs should be made available at every point of care (at the entrance and within the isolation rooms and areas); running water, soap, and single use towels should also be always available.

What other precautions are necessary in the health-care setting?
Other key precautions are safe injection and phlebotomy procedures, including safe management of sharps, regular and rigorous environmental cleaning, decontamination of surfaces and equipment, and management of soiled linen and of waste.

In addition, it is important to ensure safe processing of laboratory samples from suspected or confirmed patients with EDV and safe handling of dead bodies or human remains for post-mortem examination and burial preparation. Any health-care workers and other professionals undertaking these tasks in connection with suspected or confirmed patients with Ebola virus disease should wear appropriate PPE and follow precautions and procedures recommended by WHO.

9. What about rumours that some foods can prevent or treat the infection?

WHO strongly recommends that people seek credible health advice about Ebola virus disease from their public health authority.

While there is no specific drug against Ebola, the best treatment is intensive supportive treatment provided in the hospital by health workers using strict infection control procedures. The infection can be controlled through recommended protective measures.

10. How does WHO protect health during outbreaks?

WHO provides technical advice to countries and communities to prepare for and respond to Ebola outbreaks.

WHO actions include:

disease surveillance and information-sharing across regions to watch for outbreaks;
technical assistance to investigate and contain health threats when they occur – such as on-site help to identify sick people and track disease patterns;
advice on prevention and treatment options;
deployments of experts and the distribution of health supplies (such as personal protection gear for health workers) when they are requested by the country;
communications to raise awareness of the nature of the disease and protective health measures to control transmission of the virus; and
activation of regional and global networks of experts to provide assistance, if requested, and mitigate potential international health effects and disruptions of travel and trade.
11. During an outbreak, numbers of cases reported by health officials can go up and down? Why?

During an Ebola outbreak, the affected country’s public health authority reports its disease case numbers and deaths. Figures can change daily. Case numbers reflect both suspected cases and laboratory-confirmed cases of Ebola. Sometimes numbers of suspected and confirmed cases are reported together. Sometimes they are reported separately. Thus, numbers can shift between suspected and confirmed cases.

Analyzing case data trends, over time, and with additional information, is generally more helpful to assess the public health situation and determine the appropriate response.

12. Is it safe to travel during an outbreak? What is WHO’s travel advice?

During an outbreak, WHO reviews the public health situation regularly and recommends any travel or trade restrictions, if necessary, and may inform national authorities to implement it. WHO is currently reviewing its recommendations for travel and expects to issue advice in the coming days.

While travellers should always be vigilant with regard to their health and those around them, the risk of infection for travellers is very low since person-to-person transmission results from direct contact with the body fluids or secretions of an infected patient.

Is it safe to travel with persons who have Ebola?
As with any illness or disease, it is always possible that a person who has been exposed to Ebola virus may choose to travel. If the individual has not developed symptoms (see FAQ #4), they cannot transmit EVD to those around them. If the individual does have symptoms, they should seek immediate medical attention at the first sign they are feeling unwell. This may require either notifying the flight crew or ship crew or, upon arrival at a destination, seeking immediate medical attention. Travellers who show initial symptoms of EVD should be isolated to prevent further transmission. Although the risk to fellow travellers in such a situation is very low, contact tracing is recommended under these circumstances.

Is it safe to travel to West Africa on business or to visit family and friends?
The risk of a tourist or businessman/woman becoming infected with Ebola virus during a visit to the affected areas and developing disease after returning is extremely low, even if the visit included travel to the local areas from which primary cases have been reported. Transmission requires direct contact with blood, secretions, organs or other body fluids of infected living or dead persons or animal, all of which are unlikely exposures for the average traveller. In any event, tourists are advised to avoid all such contacts.

If you are visiting family or friends in the affected areas, the risk is similarly low, unless you have direct physical contact with a person who is ill or who has died. If this is the case, it is important to notify public health authorities and engage in contact tracing. Contact tracing is used to confirm you have not been exposed to EVD and to prevent further spread of the disease through monitoring.

WHO’s general travel advice

Travelers should avoid all contact with infected patients.
Health workers traveling to affected areas should strictly follow WHO-recommended infection control guidance.
Anyone who has stayed in areas where cases were recently reported should be aware of the symptoms of infection and seek medical attention at the first sign of illness.
Clinicians caring for travelers returning from affected areas with compatible symptoms are advised to consider the possibility of Ebola virus disease."

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Nigeria confirms new Ebola case in Lagos: minister

Graphic explaining how the Ebola virus attacks the human body

Nigeria on Monday confirmed a new case of Ebola in the financial capital Lagos, bringing the total number of people in the country with the virus to 10.

Health minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said the latest confirmed case was a female nurse who came into contact with a Liberian-American man, Patrick Sawyer, who died of Ebola in a Lagos hospital on July 25.

In addition to Sawyer, another nurse who had contact with him died last week, while seven other people have been confirmed to have the virus in the city, he added.

"The 10th case actually was one of the nurses who also had primary contact with the index case. When he (Sawyer) got ill, we then brought her into isolation," the minister told a news conference in Abuja.

"We just tested her over the weekend. So, that's what made it 10. So, between Friday and today we had one additional case. That brings it to 10 and the 10 includes the index case."

Chukwu said the nurse was currently undergoing treatment while her husband was under surveillance.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday there were 13 probable and suspect cases of Ebola, including two deaths, in Nigeria.

The minister did not comment on the discrepancy in the figures.

The WHO is discussing the possible use of an experimental treatment to try to stem the spread of the deadly virus, which has claimed nearly 1,000 lives in four West African countries this year.

Nigeria has announced a number of measures to curb the spread of Ebola, including the declaration of a national emergency in line with WHO advice to trigger disaster response procedures.

President Goodluck Jonathan has announced greater funding to stop the spread such as setting up additional isolation centres, border screenings and contact tracing.

People in Africa's most populous nation and leading economy have been told to avoid large gatherings.

The authorities in Lagos, which is sub-Saharan Africa's largest city, have however appealed for volunteers because of a shortage of medical personnel exacerbated by a month-long doctors' strike.

The health minister on Monday confirmed that public sector doctors were pressing on with their stoppage after divisions within the National Medical Association union (NMA) created confusion.

NMA boss Kayode Obembe on Thursday announced the suspension of the strike citing the need to help tackle the Ebola crisis.

But other key players in the union refused to follow his directive, saying the government had not met any of their demands. Obembe has reportedly resigned as the NMA president.

The health minister on Monday said he was "pleading" with the union to return to work.

The Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) meanwhile said it had activated all its volunteers to get across preventative measures to the public, particularly seeking early medical advice and treatment.

Secretary-general Bello Hamman Diram said 18 volunteers were assisting in areas such as contact tracing, health promotion, case management and public information schemes.

Some 300 other volunteers will be deployed to help the federal and Lagos State governments in providing protective equipment as well as educational and hygiene materials.

   ....In God we trust

On This Day: Nelson Mandela arrested and begins 27 years in jail

AUGUST 5, 1962: Nelson Mandela was locked up for 27 years after being arrested and charged with inciting workers’ strikes and leaving South Africa on this day in 1962. 

The anti-apartheid activist, who had been on the run for a year since launching an armed sabotage campaign, was apprehended while driving near Howick, Natal.

He was charged with a relatively minor offence because police had not gained enough evidence since his March 1961 acquittal following the five-year Treason Trial.

But in July 1963 - nine months after being handed a five-year jail sentence – police found papers at a farmhouse that linked him to the destruction of infrastructure.

Mandela, who had been a lawyer before turning to politics, and nine comrades were charged with sabotage and conspiracy to violently overthrow the government.

With the exception of James Kantor, who was freed before the trial, they all admitted sabotage but denied having agreed to initiate guerrilla war against the government.

They used the trial to highlight their cause and, knowing they faced the death penalty, Mandela delivered a powerful speech in which he stated: ‘I am prepared to die’.

‘During my lifetime I have dedicated my life to this struggle of the African people,’ he told the court during the Rivonia Trial, named after the location of the farmhouse.

‘I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination.

‘I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. 

‘It is an ideal for which I hope to live for and to see realised. But, my Lord, if it needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.’

Of the nine remaining defendants, only Rusty Bernstein, a Jewish architect who drafted the Freedom Charter, was the only defendant to be acquitted.

But South Africa’s white-minority rulers were disappointed when, on June 12, 1964, Judge Quartus de Wet refused to sentence the remaining convicted men to death.

The eight activists, including mixed-race Walter Sisulu and Indian-descended Ahmed Kathrada, were instead all jailed for life.

Yet Mandela remained a focal point for opposition to apartheid, which means ‘separateness’ in Afrikaans and was the name given to a series of laws beginning in 1948 that formally codified racial segregation.

Under it, black South Africans were deprived of citizenship and barred from living in white areas or going to the same schools, hospitals or even beaches. 

Mandela, who initially advocated Gandhi-style non-violent protest, co-founded the ANC’s armed wing after the 1960 Sharpeville massacre of 69 black protesters.

This incident also turned many whites against the system of repression and nine days later a rich Englishman attempted to assassinate Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd.

The aftermath of the shooting by David Pratt – and glimpse of life under apartheid during this era – are shown in a British Pathé newsreel.

And while Mandela languished in Robben Island prison, violence intensified again after the 1976 Soweto Riots when 176 black schoolchildren were shot dead.

By the 1980s, a full-scale insurgency had erupted and mounting unrest led to brutal crackdowns and a decade-long state of emergency.

In a bid to stop the bloodshed, President FW De Klerk released Mandela from jail on February 11, 1990 and began negotiations to end apartheid.

Four years later, the man who had been branded a dangerous terrorist was voted president in the country’s first free and multi-racial elections.

Yet, in keeping with the ideals he outlined in his Rivonia Trial speech, Mandela vowed to allow all racial groups live in harmony and pledged reconciliation.

‘We saw our country tear itself apart in terrible conflict,’ he said while standing beside De Klerk, with whom he shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize.

‘The time for healing of wounds has come... never, never again will this beautiful land experience the oppression of one by another.’

And, urging forgiveness, he said in Afrikaans, the Dutch-related language of the majority of whites: ‘Wat is verby verby’ – ‘What is past is past’

Mandela, who became known by South Africans as the ‘father of the nation’, died aged 95 on December 5, 2013 in Johannesburg.

Peacemaker .....R.I.P

Five things to know about Ebola outbreak in West Africa

Raw:Plane Headed to Africa for 2nd Ebola Patient

Three West Africa nations are struggling to control an outbreak of Ebola. The virus was first discovered nearly four decades ago in Congo in a village near the Ebola River. Since then there have been sporadic outbreaks.

Five things to know about Ebola and how it is spread:

1. WEST AFRICA OUTBREAK NOW LARGEST IN HISTORY. The current outbreak in the neighboring countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone has sickened more than 1,300 people and killed at least 729 since March. The outbreak is unusual for West Africa as the disease is typically found in the center and east of the continent.

2. SOME PEOPLE HAVE SURVIVED EBOLA. While the fatality rate for Ebola can be as high as 90 percent, health officials in the three countries say people have recovered from the virus and the current death rate is about 60 percent. Those who fared best sought immediate medical attention and got supportive care to prevent dehydration even though there is no specific treatment for Ebola itself.

3. EBOLA CAN LOOK LIKE OTHER DISEASES. The early symptoms of an Ebola infection include fever, headache, muscle aches and sore throat. It can be difficult to distinguish between Ebola and malaria, typhoid fever or cholera. Only in later stages do people with Ebola begin bleeding both internally and externally, often through the nose and ears.

4. EBOLA IS ONLY SPREAD THROUGH CLOSE CONTACT. The Ebola virus is not airborne, so people would have to come into direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. These include blood, sweat, vomit, feces, urine, saliva or semen — making transmission through casual contact in a public setting unlikely.

5. FEAR AND MISINFORMATION. In the three countries, health workers and clinics have come under attack from panicked residents who mistakenly blame foreign doctors and nurses for bringing the virus to remote communities. Family members also have removed sick Ebola patients from hospitals. Government officials have stepped up efforts to isolate patients, educate the public, check travelers and tighten borders to prevent the disease's spread.

Ebola Outbreak: Nigeria Confirms Second Case as Fears Virus Could Spread Worldwide Grow

Medical staff working with Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) prepare to bring food to patients kept in an isolation area at the MSF Ebola treatment centre in Kailahun

Nigerian authorities have confirmed a second case of Ebola in the country.

The second person who contracted the virus is a doctor who helped Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian-American man who died of Ebola in a Lagos hospital in July.

"Three others who participated in that treatment, who are currently symptomatic, have had their samples taken and hopefully by the end of today we should have the results of their tests," health minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said.

Nigeria is the fourth country in West Africa to be affected by Ebola, a deadly virus for which there is no cure.

The virus first appeared in Liberia in January, has also struck Sierra Leone and Guinea.

At least 728 people have died so far during the outbreak.

As the plane Sawyer was travelling in has not been quarantined fears are growing that virus could spread worldwide.

Meanwhile, Dr Kent Brantly, an American doctor who had contracted the virus while in Liberia, has been repatriated. His colleague, aid worker Nancy Writebol, who also showed symptoms of Ebola, is due to reach the US later this week.

Humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has deployed around 300 staff in West Africa to treat patients affected by Ebola. It has warned the outbreak is out of control, and curbing it will require "a massive deployment of resources by governments in West Africa and aid organisations".

Experts believe the virus could increase terrorist threats worldwide.

According to Peter Walsh, a biological anthropologist from Cambridge University, there is a "serious risk that a group manages to harness the virus as a powder, then explodes it in a bomb in a highly populated public area. It could cause a large number of horrific deaths".

God Have Mercy on us all....