TED 2015: Bill Gates warns on future disease epidemic

By Jane Wakefield, Technology reporter, Vancouver

The world needs to prepare for the next major health crisis, Bill Gates has told delegates at the Ted (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conference.

While Ebola seems to be being kept under control currently, next time “we may not be so lucky” the Microsoft co-founder warned.

He said that there were plenty of technology tools that could be used to contain the spread of a virus.

And, he added, governments should learn from how nations prepare for war.

“Nato plays war games to check that people are well-trained and prepared. Now we need germ games,” he said.

He also called for a reserve “medical corps” similar to the reserve armies that civilians can join.

Technology can play a big role in helping prevent the spread of a virus, he told the Ted audience.

The proliferation of mobile phones mean that citizens can easily report where disease breaks out and satellite mapping can quickly collate where the problem areas are.

Meanwhile advances in biology have drastically cut the time it takes to develop vaccines for new viruses

During the Ebola crisis, technology firms such as IBM contributed tracking systems that allowed the authorities to create detailed maps of outbreaks based on text messages from citizens.

Why Ebola is so dangerous

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is the world’s deadliest to date and the World Health Organization has declared an international health emergency as more than 3,850 people have died of the virus in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria this year.

What is Ebola?

Ebola is a viral illness of which the initial symptoms can include a sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle pain and a sore throat, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). And that is just the beginning: subsequent stages are vomiting, diarrhoea and – in some cases – both internal and external bleeding.

The disease infects humans through close contact with infected animals, including chimpanzees, fruit bats and forest antelope.

It then spreads between humans by direct contact with infected blood, bodily fluids or organs, or indirectly through contact with contaminated environments. Even funerals of Ebola victims can be a risk, if mourners have direct contact with the body of the deceased.

Read more » BBC
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26835233

The best way to help your body protect itself against Ebola

The best way to help your body protect itself against Ebola (or any virus or bacteria)

(NaturalNews) With the threat of the Ebola virus spreading, there is a need to understand what natural options are readily available to you in case you don’t want to be subjected to conventional medical treatments and infected patients in hospitals. The only proven system to help eradicate the Ebola virus is your body’s immune system, and it is of primary importance to start strengthening its response now to give yourself the best chance of successfully fighting off an infection.

Work with your body’s natural defenses

The only way to work with your body’s natural defenses is to give it what it requires in order to function at optimal performance. Conventional medical wisdom claims that man-made remedies such as vaccines are superior to those provided by nature, but it doesn’t take a scientist to understand that the toxic chemicals and preservatives injected into the body along with antigens is not a legitimate way to improve immunity.

To improve your immunity, you must improve your relationship with nature and the medicine it provides, which has been proven to keep people healthy for thousands of years. In this case, a focus on healing foods and herbs that have strong antibacterial and antiviral properties is of primary importance, along with improving immune system function and eliminating foods that suppress it.

Antibacterial foods, herbs, and solutions to begin consuming regularly

Even though Ebola is a virus, it only makes sense to start clearing out any harmful bacteria in your digestive system in order for your immune system to function properly. This will allow it to do its job more efficiently, which is a must have when dealing with more deadly infections such as Ebola.

Antibacterial foods and herbs to consider, include: Garlic, Onion, Turmeric (curcumin), Ginger, Lemon, Cayenne, Peppermint, Cinnamon, Clove, Cranberry, Calendula, Echinacea, Oregon grape root ….

Read more » Natural News

The distinctive morality of ebola

Ebola does not really hide. It is transmitted by the obviously sick and the dead. Moreover if transmission stopped tomorrow, it would disappear completely within a couple of months. In so far as it is cryptic at all it is because of a short asymptomatic incubation period and early symptoms that can be mistaken for other diseases.

As the experts have said repeatedly, it is a disease we know how to control by contract tracing and isolation of symptomatic individuals. The fact that the recent outbreak has run out of control comes down to moral decisions and in fact its spread involves moral decisions at nearly every step. It is also in an important sense black and white. There is no accommodation possible. Ebola needs to be controlled or it will just grow and grow until it overwhelms those trying to fight it and then the rest of us.

Read more » http://paintmychromosomes.blogspot.ca/2014/10/the-distinctive-morality-of-ebola_13.html

Ebola reaches Europe for the first time: Spanish nurse tests positive for virus after treating African patient

By Jorge Sainz, Associated Press

MADRID, Spain — In what is the first reported incident of Ebola transmission outside Africa, a Spanish nurse who treated a missionary for the disease at a Madrid hospital tested positive for the disease, Spain’s health minister said Monday.

The female nurse was part of the medical team that treated a 69-year-old Spanish priest who died in a hospital last month after being flown back from Sierra Leone, where he was posted, Health Minister Ana Mato said.

The woman went to the Alcorcon hospital in the Madrid suburbs with a fever and was placed in isolation. Mato said the infection was confirmed by two tests and that the nurse was admitted to a hospital on Sunday.

Read more » National Post
http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/10/06/ebola-reaches-europe-for-the-first-time-spanish-nurse-tests-virus-after-treating-africa-patient/

First Ebola Case Is Diagnosed in the U.S., CDC Reports

By Kelly Gilblom

The first case of deadly Ebola diagnosed in the U.S. has been confirmed in Dallas, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said today in a statement.

Read more » Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-30/first-ebola-case-is-diagnosed-in-the-u-s-cdc-reports.html