Patient is in Isolation and Being Tested For Contagious Ebola Virus Disease: Ontario, Canada

This video presents “2014 August 3 Breaking News Ebola Crisis Doctors Without Borders warns outbreak out of control.”

“2014 August 3 Breaking News Ebola Crisis Doctors Without Borders warns that the outbreak in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia is now out of control.”

“…But government public health officials have been trying to reassure Canadians they need not worry, reminding people that the virus doesn’t spread easily through casual contact or the air, like the flu, and that one can only become infected though direct contact with infected bodily fluids.

In a recent statement, Health Minister Rona Ambrose stressed that all points of entry into Canada are routinely monitored, and travellers showing symptoms are referred to quarantine officers who have the authority to implement public health measures under the Quarantine Act to protect Canadians…

Canadian hospitals also have sophisticated infection control systems and procedures in place that are designed to limit the spread of infection and protect health care workers…”

Mark Gollom, CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ebola-outbreak-how-canada-s-prep-has-led-the-world-1.2728188

CBC News also reported that an “Ebola ‘cocktail’ developed at Canadian and U.S. labs” is an experimental drug that neutralizes the virus so it can’t do further damage.

An experimental Ebola treatment (ZMapp) was given to two American aid workers infected in Liberia which is one of four West African nations dealing with the world’s largest Ebola outbreak.
- “The Public Health Agency of Canada said it was involved in the development of ZMapp, but the agency was not involved in the decisions to administer the treatment.”
“The World Health Organization says that as of Aug. 1, there have been at least 1,603 cases of Ebola in the current outbreak, which is centred in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
- At least 887 of those people have died.”

“The workers, Nancy Writebol and Dr. Kent Brantly, are improving, although it’s impossible to know whether the treatment is the reason or they are recovering on their own, as others who have survived Ebola have done…

The experimental treatment the U.S. aid workers are getting is called ZMapp and is made by Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc. of San Diego. It is aimed at boosting the immune system’s efforts to fight off Ebola and is made from antibodies produced by lab animals exposed to parts of the virus.

In a statement, the company said it was working with LeafBio of San Diego, Defyrus Inc. of Toronto, the U.S. government and the Public Health Agency of Canada on development of the drug, which was identified as a possible treatment in January.

The drug is made in tobacco plants at Kentucky BioProcessing, a subsidiary of Reynolds American Inc., in Owensboro, Kentucky, said spokesman David Howard. The plant “serves like a photocopier,” and the drug is extracted from the plant, he said…

The Kentucky company is working “to increase production of ZMapp but that process is going to take several months,” Howard said. The drug has been tested in animals and testing in humans is expected to begin later this year.

Writebol, 59, has been in isolation at her home in Liberia since she was diagnosed last month. She’s now walking with assistance and has regained her appetite, said Bruce Johnson, president of SIM USA, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based group that she works for in Africa.

Writebol has received two doses of the experimental drug so far…

Brantly, 33, also was said to be improving. Besides the experimental dose he got in Liberia, he also received a unit of blood from a 14-year-old boy, an Ebola survivor, who had been under his care. That seems to be aimed at giving Brantly antibodies the boy may have made to the virus…

Ebola is only spread through direct contact with an infected person’s blood or other bodily fluids, not through the air…”

MARILYNN MARCHIONE AP Chief Medical Writer, ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/us-govt-role-ebola-drug-aid-workers-24840281

Brampton Civic Hospital in Ontario, Canada, is currently testing a patient who recently travelled to Canada from Nigeria and presented with symptoms including fever, headache and malaise.

Samples have been sent to the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.
- Results of the testing are expected within the next 24 hours.
The patient is currently in isolation and is being treated for a fever and other flu-like symptoms.

Electron Microscope Image of Ebola Virus: Image extracted from video below. (In reality, Ebola is neither blue, red or white. Colours are added as visual aids.)

NEWS RELEASE

Update On Patient Being Tested For Ebola Virus Disease in Ontario

Ontario Hospital Testing Patient as Precautionary Measure

August 9, 2014 5:45 P.M.

Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care

William Osler Health System’s Brampton Civic Hospital is currently testing a patient who recently travelled to Canada from Nigeria and presented with symptoms including fever, headache and malaise.

This action was taken as a precautionary measure and results of the testing are expected within the next 24 hours. Samples have been sent to the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.

The patient is currently in isolation and is being treated for a fever and other flu-like symptoms.

The Minister of Health is closely managing the situation and is in close contact with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, the local public health unit and the hospital.

Initial signs and symptoms of Ebola are similar to many more common diseases and health care providers have been advised to be on heightened alert for Ebola cases. Although the risk of transmission of the Ebola virus disease in Ontario remains very low, the ministry is taking measures to ensure the province’s health care sector is prepared and the public is protected.

Given the current outbreak of Ebola in West Africa, it is expected that health care providers will consider Ebola as one of the diseases to rule out for persons who have recently travelled to one of the affected African countries, and who are presenting with symptoms seen in many more common diseases such as malaria or the flu. These symptoms could include fever, malaise, muscle pain and headache.

Health professionals are responding to the alert appropriately, by identifying individuals who potentially may be affected, taking enhanced infection-prevention precautions, and testing. Our system is working as it should.

Ontario learned many lessons from SARS including the need to ensure health care providers have the information they need to respond appropriately and quickly.

The ministry, in collaboration with Public Health Ontario, has recently advised Ontario health care providers of the Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa, and the need to consider Ebola as one possible diagnosis for travellers who have visited Africa in the previous 21 days, and who show symptoms such as fever, malaise, muscle pain and headaches. Guidelines have been provided regarding: disease diagnosis; specimen collection; infection, prevention and control measures and testing.

Quick Facts

People in need of medical care returning from a West African country affected by the Ebola outbreak should seek care immediately.
The current Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak began in Guinea in December 2013. This outbreak now involves transmission in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
The CMOH notified the health system to the risk posed by Ebola in West Africa in the Spring. Guidance for health care workers was posted on Public Health Ontario’s website on April 9, 2014.
On August 1 and 8, 2014, CMOH memos were issued to the health system to alert health workers and health sector employers to the latest guidance on appropriate occupational health & safety, infection prevention & control measures and laboratory testing protocols.

Quotes

“My number one priority is ensuring Ontarians are healthy and safe. I am closely monitoring this situation, I am in constant contact with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, and I remain thoroughly confident in our health system’s ability to contain and treat any infectious illness. There are currently no confirmed cases of Ebola in North America, but we have taken strong action to prepare our system so that it is fully equipped to deal with any potential cases in Ontario. I want to thank all of the dedicated frontline health professionals and public health officials who have been working together to address the patient’s illness and ensure Ontarians are protected from infectious disease.”

Dr. Eric Hoskins
Minister of Health and Long-Term Care

“Ontario continues to take steps to ensure the health system is prepared should a returning traveller from a country where Ebola is circulating be suspected of having the disease. Our hospitals have sophisticated infection control systems and procedures in place that are designed to limit the spread of infection, protect health care workers, and provide the best care possible for the patient.”

Dr. Graham Pollett
Interim Chief Medical Officer of Health

“William Osler Health System is committed to the health and safety of patients, families and staff and we take the prevention of infectious diseases very seriously. Osler’s medical experts have been working with our public health partners to manage the current situation and confirm a patient diagnosis as quickly as possible. I want to thank all of our staff, physicians and volunteers for their dedication and commitment to delivery of patient-inspired care.”

Matthew Anderson
President and CEO, William Osler Health System