Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Kenya Will Build US-Funded Ebola Facility, Despite Court Order Against It
Bloomberg: Kenya Pushes US-Funded Ebola Isolation Unit Despite Court Order
Kenya will proceed with a plan to establish an Ebola isolation and treatment complex at a military facility with US government funding, even after a court temporarily blocked the move. President William Ruto’s administration will build the facility at a US airforce base 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of the capital, Nairobi, the Health Ministry said in a statement. A Kenyan court last week ordered the government to reject the deal with the US after a human-rights group said the plan posed “grave health risks” to the public. (Nyambura, 6/1)
AP: Hundreds Of Youths Protest Outside Kenya's Ebola Quarantine Center For US Citizens
Hundreds of youths in Kenya’s central town of Nanyuki on Monday demonstrated against the establishment at the Laikipia Air Base of an Ebola quarantine center for American citizens exposed to the virus. ... Health Minister Aden Duale on Sunday said the quarantine center was for “everyone” and not exclusively for U.S. nationals. (6/1)
The global response —
Bloomberg: Ebola Outbreak Exposes Gaps In Global Pandemic Readiness, Ex-CDC Chief Says
The world is not “well prepared” for the next pandemic, Tom Frieden, the former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, citing the current response to the Ebola outbreak and cuts to US public health efforts. “This Ebola outbreak is not going to cause a pandemic, it’s not going to cause a significant risk to large numbers of Americans,” Frieden, the CEO of Resolve to Save Lives Inc., said on Bloomberg This Weekend. “It’s a stress test, and it’s a stress test the world is not doing well at. I would say so far we’re failing, and that bodes ill for the future.” (Roy, 5/30)
Politico: Ebola Response Puts Trump On Collision Course With Global Health Body
Donald Trump and the World Health Organization are teed up for another clash over infectious disease travel bans. Trump ignored the WHO’s advice, and its criticism of travel restrictions, when he closed the U.S. border to foreigners who’d recently been in China at the outset of the Covid pandemic, and he’s ignoring the U.N. agency again now, at the outset of what is already one of the worst Ebola outbreaks ever, by barring most travelers from the affected countries. (Gardner and Paun, 5/30)
NPR: How Aid Cuts Are Hampering The Frontline Response To The Ebola Crisis
One of the ways Leonard Musinguzi, the community and surveillance officer for the International Rescue Committee in Uganda, tries to combat misinformation is public health messaging. His organization distributes radio spots, posters, and information on hospital televisions meant to educate about the disease. However, governments like the United States have cut back their support for programs like the IRC's. That means Musinguzi has less money for the projects he wants to do. Before, he might have paid to place educational messages during five radio talk shows. Now, he said, "because of this reduced funding, you only have one." (Larson, Florido and Robbins, 5/31)
KFF Health News: Amid Ebola, Hantavirus Outbreaks, Democrats Decry Trump’s Health Cuts
The Trump administration’s deep cuts to federal health agencies have become a political liability after a deadly outbreak of hantavirus aboard a cruise ship and the spread of an even more fearsome disease, Ebola, in Africa. At least that’s the way many Democrats see it. They have seized on the situation to charge that the U.S. is ill prepared to respond to outbreaks — let alone a pandemic — after President Donald Trump slashed jobs and funding for public health infrastructure and pandemic preparedness. Infectious disease specialists have called on the White House to reverse cuts and rejoin the World Health Organization. (Armour, 6/1)
On the spread of Ebola —
CBS News: Two North Texas Counties Monitoring Travelers For Ebola Symptoms
At least two North Texas counties are monitoring travelers who have returned from Ebola‑impacted countries to ensure they are not developing symptoms of the virus. Tarrant County Public Health and Denton County Public Health said they are working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Texas Department of State Health Services to check on people arriving from three African nations: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and South Sudan. (Hudson, 5/29)
The New York Times: Inside The Ebola Epicenter, The Virus Rages With Little To Stop It
In the cramped, dilapidated Ebola ward, a 5-year-old boy languished on a bare mattress, a tissue stuffed into his nose to stanch the incessant bleeding. His father stood over him, eyes clouded with worry. A few beds away lay the body of Christiane Bahati, 21, who had died seven hours earlier but had not yet been taken away. Her shoes were still tucked under the bed, her wailing relatives gathered outside the ward doors. The body, covered by a thin sheet, was highly contagious. Yet hardly anyone in the ward was protected. (Walsh, 5/30)
Reuters: Ebola Recoveries Bring Signs Of Hope In DRC As Suspected Cases Emerge Outside Africa
Four nurses who were being treated for Ebola caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus have been discharged from a hospital in Bunia in the Democratic Republic of Congo after recovering from the disease, the World Health Organization said on Sunday. A laboratory worker had also recovered earlier this week, the agency said, bringing the total number of people who have recovered from the virus to five. However, suspected cases are being looked into in Brazil and Italy tied to travel to affected nations. (Abraham, 5/31)
Regarding hantavirus, measles, and vibriosis —
The Washington Post: Dispute Grows Over Monitoring Of Hantavirus Passengers Who Could Soon Return Home
U.S. officials are prepared to allow some of the 18 American passengers exposed to a unique strain of hantavirus to leave a special quarantine facility in Nebraska as early as Monday. But they are still negotiating with state officials over how closely the passengers should be monitored for the remainder of the 42-day quarantine after returning home, according to three people familiar with the response. The three people, like others interviewed for this account, spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity to share internal deliberations. (Sun, Dennis and Roubein, 5/30)
CIDRAP: US Nears 2,000 Measles Cases As Scientists Note Brain Inflammation, Pneumonia In Hospital Cases
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today confirmed 31 new measles cases in a nationwide outbreak that has now reached 1,983 infections, as experts describe sometimes-serious symptoms that can warrant hospital stays, including brain inflammation and pneumonia. All but nine of the US infections are locally acquired, with the rest related to international travel. The total for all of last year was 2,288 confirmed cases. (Wappes, 5/29)
The Hill: Vibrio Season Is Here: How Can You Avoid The Flesh-Eating Bacterial Infection?
Vibriosis, an infection caused by a dozen types of vibrio bacteria that affects approximately 80,000 people per year, is expected to rise in the coming months. Vibrio bacteria live in coastal waters and their numbers multiply starting in May, explains the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The bacteria can survive in salt water and brackish water (a mix of salt and fresh water). People most commonly get infected by eating shellfish, like oysters, but you can also be infected through contact if swimming with an open wound. (Martichoux, 5/30)
