Deadly Ebola Virus Spreads Beyond Guinea Borders, Suspected In Mali

Deadly Ebola virus spreads beyond Guinea borders, suspected in Mali (RT, April 4, 2014):

Mali authorities have reported of three suspected cases of fatal Ebola virus. Liberia is now also believed to have witnessed the outbreak, which has killed at least 84people in Guinea and alarmed the world.

“Three suspected cases of hemorrhagic fever have been detected in the country. Samples have been taken and sent abroad for analysis,” said Ousmane Kone, Health Minister of Mali, West Africa, according to AFP.

The samples of the virus were sent to scientists to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Now Mali authorities are waiting for the results, which will be made public as soon as they are known.

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Guinea Battles To Contain Ebola As Senegal Closes Its Border

Guinea battles to contain Ebola as Senegal closes its border (AFP, March 30, 2014):

Guinea is racing to contain a deadly Ebola epidemic spreading from its southern forests to the capital Conakry, as neighbouring Senegal closes its border.

The European Union pledged 500,000 euros ($690,000) to fight the contagion, while the Senegalese interior ministry said border crossings to Guinea would be closed “until further notice”.

Read moreGuinea Battles To Contain Ebola As Senegal Closes Its Border

Ebola Virus Outbreak Spreads To Canada

Ebola Virus Outbreak Spreads To Canada (ZeroHedge, March 25, 2014):

The last few days has seen a sudden jump in the news headlines about one of the deadliest viruses known to man. Ebola haemorrhagic fever has prung up in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone but now, as BBC reports, a man is in hospital in Canada with symptoms of a haemorrhagic fever resembling the Ebola virus, a health official has said.

“Ebola” is in the news again…

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Terrifying Ebola Outbreak In West Africa Kills At Least 59 People And Is Spreading Fast

This scanning electron micrograph, SEM, depicts a number of Ebola virions
This scanning electron micrograph, SEM, depicts a number of Ebola virions

A Terrifying Ebola Outbreak in West Africa Is Spreading Fast (TIME, March 24, 2014)

There are no known treatments or vaccines for the hemorrhagic fever, which kills up to 90 percent of those who become infected.

Ebola in Guinea Threatens 3-Nation Spread as Unicef Responds (Businessweek, March 24, 2014):

Africa’s biggest Ebola outbreak in seven years threatens to spread from Guinea to neighboring Sierra Leone and Liberia, the United Nations said.

Suspected cases of the lethal hemorrhagic disease are being investigated in southeast border areas, the World Health Organization said yesterday. At least 80 cases and 59 deaths have been recorded across the West African country, the United Nations Childrenâ??s Fund said on March 22. The capital, Conakry hasn’t been affected, government spokesman Albert Damantang Camara said today, after Unicef said the outbreak had spread there.

At least 59 people dead in Guinea Ebola outbreak (CNN, March 23, 2014)

Deadly Ebola outbreak spreads in West Africa (Fox News, March 24, 2014)

 

Guinea Junta Chief Camara Claims to Be New President


Power struggle … Captain Moussa Dadis Camara joins supporters on the streets of Conakry, a day after seizing power following the death of President Lansana Conte.
Photo: AFP

Dec. 25 (Bloomberg) — Guinea’s military junta chief, Captain Moussa Camara, declared himself the new leader of the resource-rich nation following the death of President Lansana Conte and ruled out elections for two years.

Related article: Military tightens control following coup in Guinea

Camara is heading a council of 26 army officers and six civilians that has ordered a nationwide curfew and told generals and ministers of the previous government to report to a military camp within 24 hours. A faction of the armed forces seized power in the west African country on Dec. 23, a day after Conte died.

“I am convinced, reassured that I am the president of the republic,” Camara, 49, told reporters late yesterday. Earlier, he and several hundred soldiers paraded through the streets of the capital Conakry before cheering crowds.

Guinea, which holds the world’s biggest reserves of bauxite, has never had a democratic transfer of power. The military group set up the National Council for Democracy and Development on Dec. 23 and said it plans to establish a government representing all ethnic groups.

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Feed the world? We are fighting a losing battle, UN admits

Huge budget deficit means millions more face starvation.

Ears of wheat growing in a field. Photograph: Steve Satushek/Getty images

The United Nations warned yesterday that it no longer has enough money to keep global malnutrition at bay this year in the face of a dramatic upward surge in world commodity prices, which have created a “new face of hunger”.

Read moreFeed the world? We are fighting a losing battle, UN admits

High Rice Cost Creating Fears of Asia Unrest

HANOI – Rising prices and a growing fear of scarcity have prompted some of the world’s largest rice producers to announce drastic limits on the amount of rice they export.The price of rice, a staple in the diets of nearly half the world’s population, has almost doubled on international markets in the last three months. That has pinched the budgets of millions of poor Asians and raised fears of civil unrest.

Shortages and high prices for all kinds of food have caused tensions and even violence around the world in recent months. Since January, thousands of troops have been deployed in Pakistan to guard trucks carrying wheat and flour. Protests have erupted in Indonesia over soybean shortages, and China has put price controls on cooking oil, grain, meat, milk and eggs.

Food riots have erupted in recent months in Guinea, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Senegal, Uzbekistan and Yemen. But the moves by rice-exporting nations over the last two days – meant to ensure scarce supplies will meet domestic needs – drove prices on the world market even higher this week.

rice.jpg

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