Fears 'it will be impossible' to stop Ebola outbreak as death toll climbs

Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa

The UN special envoy on Ebola says the number of cases is probably doubling every three-to-four weeks and the response needs to be 20 times greater than it was at the beginning of October to control the rapid advance of the deadly virus.

David Nabarro warned the UN General Assembly that without the mass mobilisation of virtually every country, all donor organisations and many non-governmental groups to support the affected countries in West Africa, "it will be impossible to get this disease quickly under control, and the world will have to live with the Ebola virus forever."

Nabarro, who is the Senior United Nations System Coordinator for Ebola Virus Disease, said in his 35 years as a public health doctor dealing with many disease outbreaks and some pandemics he has never encountered a challenge like Ebola because the outbreak has moved from rural areas into towns and cities and is now "affecting a whole region and ... impacting on the whole world."

Cumulative totals of cases and deaths over time

He said the United Nations, which is coordinating the global response, knows what needs to be done to catch up to and overtake Ebola's rapid advance, "and together we're going to do it."

"And our commitment to all of you is to achieve it within a matter of months - a few months," Nabarro told diplomats from most of the 193 UN member states.

UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson appealed "to all member states to act generously and swiftly".

"Speed is of the essence. A contribution within days is more important than a larger contribution within weeks."

The comments come as the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that 4,033 people have died in the outbreak - all but nine of them in the three worst-affected countries, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

WHO, the Geneva-based UN agency, says that, as of the end of Wednesday, a total of 8,399 confirmed, probable and suspected cases of Ebola had been reported from seven countries. TVNZ

ISIS to Attack US with Ebola?

Conspiracy theory Further Bolstered by Reports of Direct Threat from ISIS Militants

If latest reports are to be believed, the Islamic State militants might be conspiring to deliberately infect jihadists with the deadly Ebola virus and send them to America in order to spread the disease in the US – an event that could see America being attacked in a new pseudo-war.

The Israeli News Agency, a site which claims to be Israel's first online news organisation has confirmed the authenticity of the report saying it "clears all news items relating to Israeli security with the Israel government press office."

The agency said, citing "Israeli security sources", that dozens of ISIS fighters in Syria have fallen ill and had symptoms of Ebola. This news quickly ignited a new conspiracy theory claiming that ISIS is planning to send Ebola-infected militants into the US to spread the disease.

"While Western nations fighting the Islamic State might consider this reported Ebola outbreak among radical jihadists to be welcome news, there is a very big, very dangerous downside to Islamic terrorists being carriers of the virus," Norvell Rose, the winner of numerous journalism honours, writes for WesternJournalism.com.

The article also cites the Israeli News Agency (INA) for inference into why the news could prove dangerous for the Americans. The INA in its report quoted a source it identified only as "AVi", who is "a global anti-terrorism consultant" as saying: "We know that ISIS has training camps in Africa and it is highly possible that this is where contact with the virus was made.

"This would add new meaning to the US stating that no boots would be on the ground as both missiles and Ebola penetrates one of the worst evils that the world has ever known."

The theory was further bolstered by reports of a direct threat from the ISIS militants who said they would spread the Ebola virus to the United States and its allies if they continue to wage war on the organisation inside Syria and Iraq as reported by Shoebat.com , a website created by Walid Shoebat who was a radicalised Muslim until 1994 when he converted to Christianity.

Shoebat quoted a statement from ISIS published in another website called Vetogate.com. The statement reportedly said: "Followers and soldiers of the Islamic State are mostly suicide bombers and all of them are ready not only to carry Ebola, but to drink Ebola if they were asked to carry and spread it in the United States. This is not difficult but we need a decision from the leaders jihadist (sic)."

The statement further said: "The process of spreading disease is not difficult. It can easily be transported in a bottle in your bag from Africa to America. The contents of the bottle can then be released in an air-conditioning duct or put it in the public drinking water." IBT

Turkey : Tsunami-Like Storm Surge in Giresun , Southern Black Sea Coast

Tsunami-like storm surge wave hits Giresun; off the southeastern coast of Black Sea.

A powerful storm in the Black Sea this week swamped a town off the coast of Turkey.

The storm started in the morning of Wednesday and hit the Black Sea province of Giresun, triggering flash floods in many parts of the province that damaged cars on the Black Sea Highway and a number of buildings close to the coast.  Weather

India : Girl Dies of Burn Injuries Under Mysterious Circumstances

Kanpur: An 18-year-old girl died after suffering burn injuries under mysterious circumstances in Auraiya district on Saturday. Police have started a probe.

According to police the victim, a resident of Mada Ka Purwa under Achalda police station, had gone to answer nature's call at a nearby field in the village on Saturday morning.

The locals of the area were working in their farms when they heard her loud shrieks.

They rushed to the spot and found herin flames. They tried to douse the fire by wrapping a quilt around her. She was immediately taken to a health centre and then to the district hospital.

Later, the doctors referred her to Regional Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (RIMS), Saifai but she died on way to the institute. Doctors said that she had sustained major burn injuries.

Station officer Achalda said that the police are probing all angles. The victim's body was later shifted to mortuary for post-mortem examination.  The Times of India

Liberia : Dead Ebola Patients Resurrect?

ACT Alliance

Two Ebola patients, who died of the virus in separate communities in Nimba County have reportedly resurrected in the county. The victims, both females, believed to be in their 60s and 40s respectively, died of the Ebola virus recently in Hope Village Community and the Catholic Community in Ganta, Nimba.

But to the amazement of residents and onlookers on Monday, the deceased reportedly regained life in total disbelief.  The NewDawn Nimba County correspondent said the late Dorris Quoi of Hope Village Community and the second victim only identified as Ma Kebeh, said to be in her late 60s, were about to be taken for burial when they resurrected.

Ma Kebeh had reportedly been in door for two nights without food and medication before her alleged death. Nimba County has had bazaar news of Ebola cases with a native doctor from the county, who claimed that he could cure infected victims, dying of the virus himself last week.

News of the resurrection of the two victims has reportedly created panic in residents of Hope Village Community and Ganta at large, with some citizens describing Dorris Quoi as a ghost, who shouldn’t live among them. Since the Ebola outbreak in Nimba County, this is the first incident of dead victims resurrecting. The New Dawn

Scientists Puzzled by Green 'Alien Eggs' Found on Sydney Dee Why Beach

Surfers and beachgoers at a northern Sydney suburb, Dee Why's beach, were left stunned at the sight of a number of green, sponge-like spheres, which washed ashore.

RaeMaree Hutton, Dee Why Surf Life Saving Club's patrol member told The Manly Daily:

"I didn't want to touch one because you never know what can sting you on the beach, but I did poke it with my toes and it's squishy, like a sponge. They look like alien eggs or something."

 

Local resident, Jenny Zhang, further added: "About three days ago, there were a few egg-shaped balls but then today, they were much bigger and everywhere on the beach.

While locals in Dee Why explored extra-terrestrial origins, scientists clarify that the sponge-like spheres are in fact seaweed that cluster together in the form of an egg to protect themselves from predators.

University of New South Wales in Sydney says the balls could be a rare type of living green algae.

"I've seen similar things - sometimes dead sea grass can roll around and form balls like underwater tumbleweeds but that's made of dead material and these look to be living. It is a habit known as "aegagropilious", where the algae is free living (not on rocks) and forms into spherical balls."

Last month, bioluminescent creatures lit up Sydney's Manly Beach's waves giving a rare sight to photographers and Newport residents. IBT

Ebola Appearance in Venezuela ? : Venezuela on Alert over Mysterious, Deadly Disease. 10 Dead

The governor of Aragua says fake pictures of the disease on social networks seek to "distress the Venezuelans."

The deaths of 10 people in the past week of a mysterious disease in several cities in Venezuela, including the capital of Caracas, have caused panic within the population and has prompted doctors to sound the alarm.

A government spokesman minimized the warnings and described efforts to notify the public of a disease that has killed four adults and four children as a "campaign of disinformation and terrorism."

Despite the government's indifference, the country's doctors insist there is plenty of reason for concern about a highly dangerous and contagious disease of unknown origin.

"We do not know what it is," admitted Duglas León Natera, president of the Venezuelan Medical Federation.

In its initial stages, the disease presents symptoms of fever and spots on the skin, and then produces large blisters and internal and external bleeding, according to data provided week stop by the College of Physicians of the state of Aragua, where the first cases were reported.

Then, very quickly, patients suffer from respiratory failure, liver failure and kidney failure. Venezuelan doctors have not been able to determine what the disease is, much less how to fight it.

The government has denied the existence of "a mysterious disease" and described the information provided by the doctors as a "media campaign against Venezuela."

The governor of the state of Aragua, Tarek El-Aissami and Communications Minister Delcy Rodriguez, refer to the warnings as a "defamatory" strategy to "distress to the population."

Some theories being examined include the possibility that the disease could be a new type of very aggressive and severe dengue, an atypical version of the Chikunguña fever or an Ebola virus appearance in Venezuela. Local10