Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
White House To Set Up Ebola Treatment Facility In Kenya For Americans
The New York Times: Trump Administration To Send Americans Exposed To Ebola To Kenya
The Trump administration plans to send to Kenya U.S. citizens exposed to the Ebola virus rather than bring them home for observation and treatment, according to three people with knowledge of the plans. The approach is a stark contrast to the way previous administrations responded to outbreaks, during which health care workers and other U.S. citizens exposed to the virus were brought home to be treated at specialized medical units. The administration this month flew an American doctor who developed symptoms to a hospital in Germany, and transported six other Americans for monitoring in Germany and the Czech Republic. (Mandavilli and Kanno-Youngs, 5/26)
Bloomberg: Ebola Outbreak Prompts CDC To Expand Airport Screening Efforts In US
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is seeking volunteers from its workforce to go to domestic airports and help screen for Ebola as the deadly viral outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda intensifies. The public health agency wants to expand its screening capabilities for international travelers and has prioritized so-called CDCReady Responders for screenings, according to an internal email sent Tuesday by Jay Bhattacharya and viewed by Bloomberg News. (Nix, 5/26)
More on the spread of Ebola —
The Wall Street Journal: Ebola Outbreak Is Now Third Largest In History. Here’s What To Know.
An outbreak of a rare strain of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo is already the third largest in history, just weeks after it likely began. It is spreading rapidly in one of the most volatile and vulnerable regions of the world, worrying U.S. and international health officials. Cuts to international health aid over the past year and a half are adding to the burden, some public-health leaders say. (McKay, 5/26)
The Washington Post: Ebola Conspiracies Are Rampant As Outbreak Widens
As a deadly outbreak of Ebola spreads through the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, one conspiracy theory is that nonprofit workers brought the disease to get more money. Another is that the outbreak has been fabricated to frighten the population and gain access to minerals, including gold. There are people who refuse to accept that preventing the spread of Ebola, which is transmitted through contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, requires forgoing some traditional funeral rites. And there are others who do not believe Ebola exists at all — it is a fiction, they say, to steal aid money. (Ombuor, Chason and Weber, 5/27)
AP: People In Congo Displacement Camp Face Ebola Threat With Few Resources
There is one handwashing station and one infrared thermometer to fight the Ebola epidemic in a camp for 10,000 displaced people in Bunia, a city at the heart of the outbreak in eastern Congo. Camp leaders say they tell residents to wash their hands before eating — with soap for the lucky ones who have it. For the rest, the advice is to use oatmeal or sand. “My fear is that we are here with nothing to protect ourselves. We have no protection, no water or soap, and we live near garbage,” Francine Leve Janguzi, a resident of the so-called ISP camp told The Associated Press, as she opened an empty tap in a sea of tarpaulin roofs. (Kabumba and Pronczuk, 5/27)
Bloomberg: India Says Suspected Ebola Patient Has Tested Negative For Virus
India’s first suspected Ebola case has tested negative for the deadly virus, the country’s health ministry said on Wednesday, after a traveler who recently arrived in the country from Uganda developed symptoms and was isolated. (Gupta, Roy, and Sanjay, 5/27)
Vaccines are in development —
Bloomberg: Ebola Vaccine From Oxford Covid Team Nears Production For Trials
Production of an experimental Ebola vaccine from the developers of a Covid-19 shot is expected to begin soon, with animal studies underway as researchers race to bring a much-needed tool to the spiraling outbreak. Clinical trials for the shot could begin in two to three months, said Teresa Lambe, head of vaccine immunology, at the University of Oxford’s Pandemic Sciences Institute. “We are cautiously optimistic around that timing,” she said at a briefing. Animal studies, which are required for a vaccine to be tested in humans, have begun and more will get underway soon. (Furlong and Kew, 5/26)
Medical Xpress: Experimental MRNA Vaccine From China Shows Promise Against Multiple Ebola Strains
Scientists from China have developed a new broad-spectrum mRNA vaccine that could provide long-term protection against the most lethal family of Ebola viruses, including the Bundibugyo strain behind the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. (Arnold, 5/25)
In related news —
CNN: Exclusive: Trump Admin Policy Shutting US Disease Researchers Out Of WHO Virus Response Talks
Key officials responsible for leading US research on infectious disease threats have been barred from speaking directly with the World Health Organization — effectively shutting some of them out of the global discussions on virus outbreaks, according to documents and multiple sources who spoke to CNN. The internal Trump administration policy stops individuals at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from communicating with the WHO unless authorized by senior staff. (Owermohle, 5/26)
