19 Of The Latest 27 Ebola Cases Connect To No Known Transmission Chain In DRC: Very Grim Prognosis

The figures continue to rise -- in the Ebola outbreak -- especially in Beni. According to a Thursday WHO report, "during 16–23 October, 27 new confirmed cases were reported: 24 from Beni (including one resident of Mandima who was hospitalized in Beni), and three from Butembo. Of the newly reported cases, eight were known contacts of previously confirmed cases at the time of reporting, two were linked retrospectively to transmission chains, and 17 remain under investigation. A health worker from a community health post in Beni was among the newly infected; 21 health workers have been infected to date, of whom three have died. . . . With 70 per cent of new cases being essentially untraced, to any known origin point -- there now is a real probability -- Ebola could easily spiral, out of control -- in Beni.

Here is is, from Vox, and a bit of 45's rather uninspiring response:

. . . .One of the largest Ebola outbreaks in history shows no signs of slowing — and the Trump administration barred U.S. health experts who want to help at the outbreak’s epicenter in the Democratic Republic of Congo from traveling there. … Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials were working in Beni, the city that’s ground zero for the outbreak in eastern DRC, for a few days in late August and early September. . . .

But then the White House’s National Security Council (NSC) coordinated a government review of the security risks, involving representatives from multiple government agencies and departments. The review determined that CDC officials could not return to areas where militant attacks threaten security, including Beni. . . . The relatively tepid response from the U.S., at a time when the outbreak is spiraling, has former CDC officials and global health experts concerned. . . .

The truth is, any US health worker bound and determined to go help out may easily evade the NSC directive, by doing so on personal time, and connecting through London, Paris or any other Doctors Without Borders enabled geography / city.

But clearly, the Trump administration should not stand in the way of US doctors and nurses who want to go help. Onward.

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