Tag Archives: Ebola
Has SARS Prepared Ontario For Ebola Possibility?
In October, 2014 Dr. Eric Hoskins, then Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, and Dr. David Mowat, Interim Chief Medical Officer of Health, issued the following statement on Ontario’s preparedness for Ebola virus disease in Ontario:
“We know that Ontarians may have concerns related to the ongoing challenges in West Africa and recent events in the United States regarding the spread of the Ebola virus.
Let us assure you that the safety of Ontario’s health care workers, patients and the public are our top priority.
We are confident that Ontario is prepared and ready to contain and treat any potential case of Ebola virus in our province — protocols are in place and we’ve seen the system work well in Ontario hospitals.
With the experience and lessons learned from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic, our health care facilities now have sophisticated infection control systems and procedures to protect health care providers, patients and all Ontarians. They are fully equipped to deal with any potential cases of Ebola.
But all health care workers, especially those providing care to patients, must be safe and protected. This is why we are working with health care employers to ensure they are providing appropriate training for their staff on the proper use of personal protective equipment and other occupational health and safety measures. We are also continuing to work with health care workers and employers to further strengthen protective measures and ensure they’re in place at all times.
Our health care workers are on the front lines and it is times like these when we are all reminded of how critical their work is in protecting the public. We want them to feel safe.
We will be reaching out to our health care partners to ensure they have the maximum protection possible and plan to release revised guidelines by the end of the week.
The government, in collaboration with our health system partners, is monitoring the Ebola situation and is continually assessing our state of readiness should a case of Ebola ever occur in Ontario.
On behalf of both the ministry and the government of Ontario, we would like to thank our health care workers for their selfless and tireless work on behalf of all Ontarians.”
Canada Sent Untested Experimental Ebola Vaccine To WHO
*translated from original Cuban-Spanish article from cubadebate.cu 
Vacunas-experimentales – ebola Mientras register more infections and deaths from ebola in several countries in Africa – the latest report is in Nigeria – death, Canada sent to the World Health Organization (who) an experimental vaccine being developed against the disease.
Gregory Taylor, Deputy Director of public health at the health agency of Canada, said that you between 800 and 1 000 doses of the vaccine, known as VSV-EBOV, doctors without borders were sent to a hospital in Geneva at the request of the who, and also to the organization.
The drug has not been used in humans, but Tuesday the ethics of the who panel said that the severity of the current epidemic in West Africa justifies the use of unapproved drugs.
The new fatality in Nigeria is a worker of the economic community of West African States (Ecowas) who died at age 36 in Lagos.
He informed the organization that had infected by having contact with the American Advisor to the Liberian Government, which flew in July to Lagos and there led disease. The man fainted at the airport and was treated without that were known at the beginning that it was ebola.
Since then, the employee of Ecowas was quarantined. His case raises three deaths by the virus in Nigeria, where there are more than 100 people in observation. Gambia, Ivory Coast and Zambia have suspended flights from that country for fear of contagion. Doctors without borders, which has hundreds of partners in West Africa, welcomed the decision of the who to use experimental drugs, but warned that they alone will not stop the problem and making it remains to increase massively the medical team.
As of August 9, 2014 there were about 1,800 confirmed and suspected cases of ebola in the region and more than 1,000 deaths, according to who figures.