Panic as strange disease hits Ondo, kills 14

At least 14 people were yesterday confirmed dead by Ondo State government following an outbreak of a strange disease in Ode-Irele in Irele Local Government Area of the state.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Dayo Adeyanju, who disclosed this at a press conference in Akure, the state capital, stated that the strange disease, which was yet to be identified, broke out in the community on Wednesday.
The commissioner also disclosed that some victims of the strange disease were already in the danger list in various government hospitals in the state.
He identified headache and loss of sight as the major symptoms of the strange disease, stressing that the disease was not known to medical practitioners in the state yet.
He, however, explained that the state government had taken measures to prevent the spread of the disease to other parts of the state. He also  hinted that the  cause of the disease was not yet known.
Medical experts in the state, he said, had taken samples from the victims of the strange disease to Lagos for examination and diagnosis.
Adeyemi confirmed that four other people affected by the disease in the town had been quarantined in a special ward within the General Hospital in Ode-Irele.
The commissioner, who ruled out the dreaded Ebola
Virus Disease, allayed the fear of the people of the state on the
spread of the disease. He said
efforts were in top gear to curb its spread.
He said the state Ministry of Health has not verified whether or not
the disease was
contagious, but noted that the ministry will continue to do its best
to prevent the spread
of the unknown disease.
“The presentation of the disease is bizarre and this was one of the
reasons why the ministry
is working round the clock  to prevent the outbreak, and I am assuring
you that we will get to the roots of the disease within the next 24 or
48 hours,” he stressed.
He explained further that the disease affects the Central Nervous
System, while the person
infected by the disease usually lose their sights and die few hours
after losing the sight.
The Commissioner said local and international health institutions,
such as World Health Organization, Red Cross Society and others are
already on ground carrying out investigations on the root cause and
treatment of the ailment.
He therefore called on the people of the area to report any case of
sudden death or
illness to the officials of the state Ministry of Health already
deployed to the area.
He however advised the people of the area not to bury the remains of
the affected victims
within residential areas since the cause of the outbreak remains a
mystery and to curb
against the spread.
Also, he warned the people against sensationalizing issues to avoid
creating tension among the people, urging the people to rely on the
information from the official sources to avoid creating panic among
them.

Read More

Superbugs to kill 'more than cancer' by 2050

 

Drug resistant E.coli bacteria are already a significant problem in Europe

Related Stories

• Analysis: Antibiotic apocalypse
• PM warns of antibiotic resistance
• Antibiotic resistance 'threat to UK'

Drug resistant infections will kill an extra 10 million people a year worldwide - more than currently die from cancer - by 2050 unless action is taken, a study says.

They are currently implicated in 700,000 deaths each year.
The analysis, presented by the economist Jim O'Neill, said the costs would spiral to $100tn (£63tn).
He was appointed by Prime Minister David Cameron in July to head a review of antimicrobial resistance.
Mr O'Neill told the BBC: "To put that in context, the annual GDP [gross domestic product] of the UK is about $3tn, so this would be the equivalent of around 35 years without the UK contribution to the global economy."
The reduction in population and the impact on ill-health would reduce world economic output by between 2% and 3.5%.
The analysis was based on scenarios modelled by researchers Rand Europe and auditors KPMG.
They found that drug resistant E. coli, malaria and tuberculosis (TB) would have the biggest impact.
In Europe and the United States, antimicrobial resistance causes at least 50,000 deaths each year, they said. And left unchecked, deaths would rise more than 10-fold by 2050.

Mr O'Neill is best known for his economic analysis of developing nations and their growing importance in global trade.
He coined the acronyms Bric (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and more recently Mint (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey).
He said the impact of the would be mostly keenly felt in these countries.
"In Nigeria, by 2050, more than one in four deaths would be attributable to drug resistant infections, while India would see an additional two million lives lost every year."

The review team believes its analysis represents a significant underestimate of the potential impact of failing to tackle drug resistance, as it did not include the effects on healthcare of a world in which antibiotics no longer worked.
Joint replacements, Caesarean sections, chemotherapy and transplant surgery are among many treatments that depend on antibiotics being available to prevent infections.
The review team estimates that Caesarean sections currently contribute 2% to world GDP, joint replacements 0.65%, cancer drugs 0.75% and organ transplants 0.1%.
This is based on the number of lives saved, and ill-health prevented in people of working age.
Without effective antibiotics, these procedures would become much riskier and in many cases impossible.
The review team concludes that this would cost a further $100tn by 2050.
Mr O'Neill said his team would now be exploring what action could be taken to avert this looming crisis.
This would include looking at:

• how drug use could be changed to reduce the rise of resistance
• how to boost the development of new drugs
• the need for coherent international action concerning drug use in humans and animals

Mr O'Neill said the support of the Bric and Mint nations was vital.
He noted that China would be hosting the G20 summit in 2016 and said he hoped this issue would be a focus of discussion.
'Compelling' He said scientists seemed more certain that drug resistance would be a major problem in the short term, than they were over climate change.
Dr Jeremy Farrar, the director the Wellcome Trust, said: "By highlighting the vast financial and human costs that unchecked drug resistance will have, this important research underlines that this is not just a medical problem, but an economic and social one too."
Prof Dame Sally Davies, chief medical officer for England, said: "This is a compelling piece of work, which takes us a step forward in understanding the true gravity of the threat."
The review team concludes that solving the problem of drug resistance will be far cheaper than doing nothing and there was "cause for optimism" that the right steps could be taken.
This included university researchers and biotech entrepreneurs "teeming with ideas" including new drugs, vaccines and alternative therapies such as antibodies.
Investment Laura Piddock, professor of microbiology at the University of Birmingham, is focusing her research on bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella, which are responsible for a growing level of drug resistant infections.
Both are so-called gram-negative bacteria, which have a complex cell wall that acts as a barrier to drugs. If they do penetrate the wall, they are "vacuumed out" by the cell.
She said: "My team is looking at what are the switches in those bacteria which turn that vacuum cleaner off, and at molecules which would have the same effect. If we can do that, we can make the bacteria sensitive to antibiotics."
Prof Piddock said there had not been enough global investment in finding new drugs.
She said: "It is very difficult to find drugs against bacteria like E.coli because they are so naturally resistant.
"We need more investment and new business models to ensure the pipeline is filled with promising molecules, to ensure that we can solve this problem, and make sure the drugs are there when patients need them."
Your comments (565)

Read More

Ebola outbreak

A 15-minute blood and saliva test for Ebola is to be trialled in Guinea, it has been announced.

The solar-powered, portable laboratory should deliver results six times faster than tests currently used in West Africa.
The researchers involved say faster diagnosis would increase the chances of survival and reduce transmission of the virus.
The trial will take place at an Ebola treatment centre in Conakry, Guinea.
Ebola is currently diagnosed by hunting for the virus's genetic material in the blood of a patient.

Read More

World Trade Center: Secrets of a skyscraper window cleaner

After two window cleaners endured a terrifying ordeal 68 storeys above the ground at the World Trade Center, many watching around the world wondered who would do such a dangerous job.
Juan Lizama and Juan Lopez held onto the nearly vertical platform for almost two hours after a cable holding the platform malfunctioned.
The pair were eventually rescued after firefighters cut a hole in the glass.
The BBC spoke to Andy Horton, a veteran window cleaner and safety trainer in New York, about the dangers of working hundreds of feet above the city streets.

Read More

US hails West Africa Ebola progress

THE US has praised Ebola-hit West African nations and foreign donors for their efforts in tackling the outbreak.
America's UN envoy Samantha Power, on a visit to the region, said Liberia and Sierra Leone had hugely increased the number of safe burials - one of the main ways the virus is transmitted.
Ms Power said international aid was helping to combat the disease, and urged donors to continue to help.
The disease has killed roughly 5,000 people in the region.
The US government has continued to stress that the best way to stop the virus from spreading is to tackle it at source, and has rejected calls for restrictions on travel from the region.
Australia, however, has approved a visa ban on the main affected countries, and its government has not sent medical staff to West Africa.

Read More

Ebola quarantine test looms in US

Ms Hickox was forced to stay in a tent in Newark, New Jersey

Continue reading the main story

Ebola outbreak

• Six surprising numbers
• WHO under fire
• Nigeria's heroine
• Vaccine 'too late'

A nurse who cared for Ebola patients in Sierra Leone is fighting the US state of Maine over its right to quarantine her against her will.

In a test case for returning US health workers, Kaci Hickox has vowed to leave her home on Thursday if the state does not lift the restrictions.
President Barack Obama has been sharply critical of isolation being forced on people he says are "American heroes"

Read More

Ebola blood-therapy team set up

Blood from people who had Ebola could be used as a treatment

An international team of scientists has been set up to determine the effectiveness of using the blood of Ebola survivors as a treatment.

It is hoped the antibodies used by the immune system to fight Ebola can be transferred from a survivor to a patient.

Read More

Do people know where their chicken comes from?

Continue reading the main story

In today's Magazine

• Reclaiming the swastika
• US seniors face student loan debt
• Remembering Ben Bradlee
• Tales from the India Office

Campaigners say chicken meat needs better labelling. How much do people really know about the life of a chicken before it reaches their plate?

A long, low, metal shed, fed by large plastic drums, pipes and chimneys - to the layman it looks like a small chemical plant. Hidden in the folds of the Peak District, it's an incongruous sight. The only hint that living things are housed inside is the pungent smell from the extractor fan - like a mixture of a pet shop and manure.
The facility is not a paint or fertiliser factory. It is called Lower Farm and produces chickens. In a period of between 33 and 38 days, the chicks grow to an average weight of 2.2kg - ready to be slaughtered. Lower Farm, just outside Chesterfield, is not what most of us would think of as a farm. It is run by a poultry company called Applied Group, which operates two other farms. The chickens never go outside. Everything happens in four large sheds. The interiors of the sheds are continuously filmed and key statistics recorded - every litre the birds drink, every 10kg of feed that has been dispatched by the feeder mechanism, how much the birds weigh. Lower Farm produces 1.25 million chickens a year.

Read More

Club donates eye equipment to health centre

THE Lions Club District 404 A1, Nigeria continued with its mission statement when on September 23, 2014, it donated a multi-million Naira eye equipment to the Iga Idunganran Heath Centre on Lagos Island.
  Among the equipment donated were Slit Lamp Bio microscope, Perkins Tonometer, Visual Acuity Chart (Automated Text Chart), Professional Autolense Meter, Keeler Ophthalmoscope, Professional Keeler Retinoscope, Minor Microsurgical set, Trial Lens Box Set, Head Loupe, Near Point Charts, Automated Refractometer and Automated Vision Chart.

Read More

Obembe Calls for Community Based Surveillance on Ebola

President of Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Kayode Obembe

By Kassim Sumaina in Abuja

President of Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Kayode Obembe, on Saturday called for community-based surveillance on the Ebola Virus Disease in view of its ravaging potential, saying that Nigeria should not relent in her efforts to strengthen her health systems by embarking on “precautions and preventions” necessary to keep the scourge at bay.

Obembe disclosed this at a press briefing organised by the association to launch its Physician’s Week with the theme: "War against Ebola’ Precautions and Prevention" in Abuja.

Read More

Living the vegetarian life

 
Humans are generally regarded as omnivore, but vegetarians are showing they can live without eating flesh. Joe Agbro Jr. writes about their lifestyle
AFAM Obi, a Lagos resident had travelled to England 10 years ago and was returning back for a brief holiday. Prior to his departure from England, he had telephoned his mother to let her know that he no longer eats meat or fish  that he is what they call a vegetarian. But to his utter surprise, for welcome, his mother had cooked a huge pot soup ladened with meat and fish  delicacies for many Nigerians.
“Even when I told her that I don’t take meat or fish again, she was urging me to take just a little,” said Obi relating the incident. “She could not believe I was serious that I don’t eat flesh anymore.”
Eating for many humans is not complete without flesh as part of their daily diet. In many cultures, hunting and fishing were even basic occupations. However, some people abstain from eating animal flesh or by-products. This practice is known as vegetarianism while people that practice it are called vegetarians.
In many parts of Africa, being a vegetarian is somewhat novel compared to the western world where Obi was returning from. Around here, when one declares avoidance of eating flesh, reasons easily flash out; could it be for spiritual, medical, or just another freak reason? Indeed, the popular view about town is that they take to that lifestyle for religious or spiritual purposes.

Read More