Fentanyl mix-up believed responsible for Abbotsford overdose

Authorities in B.C.'s Fraser Valley are still concerned that drug users are taking the synthetic opioid painkiller fentanyl while under the impression they are using heroin or oxycodone.

Abbotsford police say that officers found a bag of white, powdered fentanyl near the scene of an overdose in the 2100 block of Peardonville Road.

A 38-year-old man was found at that location in his trailer home in severe medical distress Friday. He was rushed to hospital, where he died.

Police say the man did not appear to be aware he was taking the substance in its pure form. 

Fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid, poses dangers because of its rapid absorption into the human body.

Last year, police in Abbotsford warned drug users after a number of heroin overdoses occurred in which it appeared fentanyl had been mixed into the heroin, unbeknownst to the users.

In June, after fentanyl was linked to the deaths of 13 people in the Fraser Health region already this year, the BC Coroners Service issued a public warning. In 2013, there were 12 deaths linked to fentanyl in the Fraser Health region, and 2012 saw six.

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Australia may intervene in case of abandoned baby with Down syndrome

Australia's government is considering intervening in the case of a sick Down syndrome baby left with a Thai surrogate mother by Australian biological parents.

Pattaramon Chanbua, a 21-year-old food vendor in Thailand's seaside town of Sri Racha, is taking care of her 7-month-old surrogate baby, named Gammy, who also has a congenital heart condition. The parents, who have not been identified in the media, took Gammy's healthy twin sister back to their home in Western Australia state.

Australian Immigration Minister Scott Morrison told Sydney Radio 2GB on Monday that Pattaramon "is an absolute hero" and "a saint," adding that the law surrounding the case "is very, very murky."

"We are taking a close look at what can be done here, but I wouldn't want to raise any false hopes or expectations," Morrison said. "We are dealing with something that has happened in another country's jurisdiction."

Morrison's spokesman Julian Leembruggen later declined to say what type of intervention the government was considering.

In Sri Racha on Sunday, Pattaramon said that she was not angry with the biological parents for leaving Gammy behind, and that she hoped they would take care of the boy's twin sister they took with them.

"I've never felt angry at them or hated them. I'm always willing to forgive them," Pattaramon told The Associated Press. "I want to see that they love the baby girl as much as my family loves Gammy. I want her to be well taken care of."

Surrogate still unpaid by agency

Pattaramon was promised $9,300 by a surrogacy agency in Bangkok, Thailand's capital, to be a surrogate for the Australian couple, but she has not been fully paid since the children were born last December.

She said the agency knew about Gammy's condition four to five months after she became pregnant but did not tell her. It wasn't until the seventh month of her pregnancy when the doctors and the agency told her that one of the twin babies had Down syndrome and suggested that she have an abortion just for him.

Pattaramon recalled strongly rejecting the idea, believing that having the abortion would be sinful. "I asked them, 'Are you still humans?' I really wanted to know," she said.

An online campaign by the Australian charity organization Hands Across the Water to help Gammy has raised around $200,000 since July 22.

Child 'should be an Australian citizen'

Mora Kelly, founder of the Children First Foundation, which brings sick children from developing countries to Australia for medical treatment, said she had discussed with Hands Across the Water bringing Gammy to the Australian city of Melbourne for heart surgery.

"I believe that this child should be able to access our health care system here in Australia," Kelly told Australian Broadcasting Corp. "This child, in essence ... should be an Australian citizen."

Hands Across the Water founder Peter Baines was not immediately available for comment Monday.

ABC also reported that Gammy's biological father denied intentionally abandoning his son in Thailand, and that he had not known that his new daughter had a twin.

It is illegal to pay a surrogate mother in Australia and in some states, excluding Western Australia, it is also illegal to pay a surrogate living overseas. An Australian woman can act as a surrogate for free, but also has a right to keep the child rather than hand it over to the biological parents.

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Plan to put EpiPens in Hamilton eateries will launch in August

After months of legal negotiations that were trickier than expected, Hamilton is about to launch its first test site in a plan to put epinephrine auto injectors in every food court and restaurant in the city.

By the end of August, public health officials hope to hold an official launch at Jackson Square, where they will test a plan to arm security guards with auto injectors, often referred to by the brand name EpiPen.

The initial target date was June. But negotiating with food courts, and hammering out legal agreements, proved more complex than city staff had originally expected, said Brent Browett, director of community health planning and integration.

'Nobody remembers who the second person was to fly an airplane.'- Coun. Lloyd Ferguson

"It has been more complicated…to do this well and to make sure everybody's interest are protected," Browett said.

The issue first came to the board of health last year after the Rotary Club of Ancaster AM approached Coun. Lloyd Ferguson. The group's concerns stemmed from the death of a 12-year-old girl in a Burlington food court last year.

Councillors voted to spend $82,000 on the pilot project, which runs for one year. Part of that will go to Anaphylaxis Canada to train security personnel. The rest is going to McMaster University, which will use the pilot as part of a study to test factors such as usage and consumer confidence.

The pilot was also supposed to involve Eastgate Square mall, but management there is waiting to see the results of the Jackson Square agreement, Browett said.

Lime Ridge Mall is waiting to see the Jackson Square agreement, too, he said.

Other delays included discussions with McMaster over liability, Browett said. There were also questions about who would provide signage around the mall and how the auto injectors would be replenished.

It was decided that Jackson Square guards will wear the injectors on their belts, he said.

Ferguson wasn't happy with the two-month delay. But considering the trial involves at least two levels of bureaucracy — the city and McMaster — it wasn't surprising, he said.

Hamilton is the first municipality to launch a widespread project of this kind. The trial has attracted international interest.

"It's exciting to be first," Ferguson said. "Nobody remembers who the second person was to fly an airplane."

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Ebola outbreak: 2nd case confirmed in Nigeria

Nigerian authorities on Monday confirmed a second case of Ebola in Africa's most populous country, an alarming setback as officials across the region battle to stop the spread of a disease that has killed more than 700 people.

Also Monday, health authorities in Liberia ordered that all those who die from Ebola be cremated after communities opposed having the bodies buried nearby. Over the weekend, health authorities in the West African country encountered resistance while trying to bury 22 bodies in Johnsonville, outside the capital Monrovia. Military police helped restore order.

In Nigeria, Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said test samples are pending for three other people who had shown symptoms of Ebola, and that authorities are trying to trace and quarantine others. The confirmed second case in Nigeria is a doctor who had helped treat Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian-American man who died July 25 days after arriving in Nigeria from Liberia.

"Three others who participated in that treatment who are currently symptomatic have had their samples taken and hopefully by the end of today we should have the results of their own test," Chukwu said.

The emergence of a second case raises serious concerns about the infection control practices in Nigeria, and also raise the spectre that more cases could emerge. It can take up to 21 days after exposure to the virus for symptoms to appear. They include fever, sore throat, muscle pains and headaches. Often nausea, vomiting and diarrhea follow, along with severe internal and external bleeding in advanced stages of the disease.

Doctors and other health workers on the front lines of the Ebola crisis have been among the most vulnerable to infection as they are in direct physical contact with patients. The disease is not airborne, and only transmitted through contact with bodily fluids such as saliva, blood, vomit, sweat or feces.

Sawyer, who was travelling to Nigeria on business, became ill while aboard a flight and Nigerian authorities immediately took him into isolation upon arrival in Lagos. They did not quarantine his fellow passengers, and have insisted that the risk of additional cases was minimal.

Nigerian authorities said a total of 70 people are under surveillance and that they hoped to have eight people in quarantine by the end of Monday in an isolation ward in Lagos. The emergence there is particularly worrisome because Lagos is the largest city in Africa with some 21 million people.

Health officials rely on "contact tracing" — locating anyone who may have been exposed, and then anyone who may have come into contact with that person. That may prove impossible, given that Sawyer's fellow passengers journeyed on to dozens of other cities and the health workers who treated them may have exposed family members.

Nigeria is the fourth country to report Ebola cases and at least 728 other people have died in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

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Soccer goal death of Ontario teen adds to calls for tip-proof nets

At first it sounds like a freak accident: A soccer net topples, killing a young person on a playing field, a place where kids are supposed to be safe.

But accidents involving soccer goals like the one that killed a 15-year-old girl Wednesday afternoon in Bradford, Ont., north of Toronto have happened before.

The girl was playing on the field with a friend when she became trapped under the crossbar of an overturned soccer net, according to South Simcoe police. Friends and teachers have identifed the girl as Jaime Palm.

Unable to lift the heavy net, her friend called 911. Palm was rushed to hospital, where she died.

Police are investigating what caused the net to tip over but other — almost identical — accidents have prompted a push in some jurisdictions for laws requiring that soccer nets be anchored to the ground or switched out in favour of safer, tip-proof designs.

Soccer nets are often made of metal and can weigh a few hundred pounds, and their design often makes them top heavy and prone to falling forward onto the field of play.

This soccer goal killed a five-year-old girl in Watson Lake, Yukon in 2012. (CBC)

In July 2012, a five-year-old girl died in Watson Lake, Yukon, when a soccer net tipped over on her as her parents stood nearby.

A CBC.ca story about the Watson Lake accident quoted Toronto-based neurosurgeon Dr. Charles Tator, founder of Think First Canada, a brain and spinal cord prevention agency.

"It's been recognized for a long period of time that goal posts that are improperly anchored can cause injury, and in fact there are several recorded fatalities from falling goal posts," he said.

A coroner's report into the Watson Lake death found that the net was in poor condition at the time of the accident.

In Montreal 2001, a 14-year-old boy was killed after an unsecured soccer net fell on him causing a fatal head wound. The Quebec coroner's inquest recommended all park soccer nets be anchored to the ground.

In October 2003, six-year-old Zachary Tran died when a goal fell on him during soccer practice in the north Chicago suburb of Vernon Hills, Ill. The 180-pound net tipped forward, striking Zachary on the back of the head. He died of cardiac arrest caused by massive head injuries.

Six-year-old Zachary Tran died in 2003 when a soccer net fell on him during a practice. His death prompted his parents to raise awareness about the dangers posed by unsecured soccer nets. (Tran Family)

Tran's parents made it their mission to raise awareness about the dangers of soccer goals and to prevent similar deaths. They pushed for an Illinois law — which passed in 2011 is named after their son — that bans the manufacture or sale of new movable soccer goals that are not tip-resistant. Older goals in Illinois must be properly anchored to the field and schools and soccer organizations in the state are required to have safety plans for movable goals.

Zachary's parents also started a website called Anchored for Safety, which chronicles soccer-net deaths. According to statistics compiled on their website, soccer nets have caused 38 deaths since 1979. Each incident is listed here.

Through the website, the family argues that in the short term, all soccer goals should be secured to the ground so they can't tip over. A long-term goal is to promote tip-proof designs for soccer nets.

The Tran family says other jurisdictions, including Canada, have not passed similar legislation, and that thousands of unsafe soccer goals remain in use across North America.

A YouTube video, posted on the channel of the family's law firm, tells Zachary's story.

In the video, Zachary's mother Michelle Tran said that when her son's accident happened, she was shocked to learn that his death was the 27th time someone in the U.S. was killed by a soccer goal that tips over.

"We didn't know that these structures were unsafe," she said.

Zachary's father Jayson Tran said parents should be on the lookout for any soccer goal that is not anchored to the ground.

"Keep your children away from it or make sure that it is properly secured," he says on the video.

"We want parents to know that an unanchored soccer goal is ... dangerous. When parents see a soccer goal … they need to check it. To make sure that goals are properly anchored. Parents need to report an unanchored goal to whoever owns that goal."

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Ebola virus: What you need to know to protect yourself

A Toronto doctor who specializes in the treatment of tropical diseases says it's unlikely a recent outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa could spread to North America.

Dr. Jay Keystone, who works in the tropical diseases unit of Toronto General Hospital, was interviewed Wednesday on CBC Radio's Metro Morning.

A woman puts on a protective mask to protect against SARS at a wash station at the entrance to North York General Hospital in Toronto in May 2003. (Kevin Frayer/Canadian Press)

He said the SARS outbreak in 2003 that killed more than 40 people in Toronto helped improve how we identify, treat and contain infectious diseases. He said such measures are lacking in countries affected by the current Ebola outbreak: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone

As of July 23, the number of Ebola cases in West Africa reached 1,201, with 672 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

As of July 27, there were more than 1,300 cases of the Ebola virus in the West African countries of Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria and as many as 729 deaths, according to the World Health Organization. 

The fast-acting Ebola virus, which first appeared in 1976, produces a violent hemorrhagic fever that leads to internal and external bleeding. The infection is transmitted by direct contact with blood, bodily fluids, and tissues of infected people or animals.

Though there is no vaccine and no specific treatment for Ebola, Keystone said there are a number of measures travellers to the region can take to protect themselves.

Here's what Keystone told Metro Morning guest host David Common:

How does a person contract Ebola?

"They usually acquire it from close contact with blood and body fluids, and that means someone coughs in your face, you handle a body or you look after someone and don't have ideal infection-control methods. You get the virus on your hands, you touch your nose, your mouth."

What symptoms do Ebola patients show?

"It looks like the flu: fever, headache, sore throat, muscle aches and pains. That's in the first few days. And then vomiting, diarrhea and the really serious part of the illness — that is the hemorrhage part — really doesn't occur until toward the end of the first week."

Once a patient is hemorrhaging, can he or she be saved?

"It all depends on the quality of medical care. Most Ebola outbreaks have occurred in villages, in mission hospitals where essentially they have a very poor level of health care and very poor infection control methods. The mortality rate in this outbreak ... is about 60 per cent. So you can survive. The better the care, more likely you are to survive but there's no antibiotic or anti-viral agent to treat this disease."

Why has this outbreak been so bad?

"First, there's a lot of cross-border travel. Whereas most other outbreaks have been isolated in the middle of virtually nowhere. Also, people in these countries don't trust the government. They don't believe in the infection. They hide their cases. If someone dies, they take [the body] home. And unfortunately the funeral procedures where you touch the body, and handle the body, markedly increases your risk. These cases are now more in central areas, cities rather than tiny villages. All of those reasons I think have compounded to make this a much greater outbreak."

Doctors treating patients in Africa have died. Foreign doctors have been infected. Should we be worried about Ebola making its way to Canada?

"I don't think we need to be worried. Health-care providers, paramedics, the people who deal with the situation first-hand, I think we're the ones who have greatest risk. You have to remember since 1976 when this virus was first described, there are less than a handful of cases of [patients] who've gone to North American or European countries and very rarely is there secondary transmission. And that's because we have much better public health, infrastructure and certainly better methods of isolating [patients]. SARS was a perfect wake-up call and Ebola is following that ... our health-care system improved dramatically after SARS."

What do doctors in West Africa need to do to control the outbreak now?

"Mostly it's case finding. And that's the biggest problem. Someone comes in ill, they go back to their village and other people are infected but no one knows about it. The problem is they don't have enough personnel to follow up carefully and also people are hiding cases. It's all about case finding, surveillance, making the diagnosis, isolating the individuals and using appropriate isolation procedures. That will help, but it's going to take a long time given what's going on there.

What should people travelling to West Africa know and do to protect themselves?

"The most important thing is to try and stay away from people who are ill. You won't get Ebola unless the individual you're in contact with is sick. So if someone is well, you're not going to get it. So you just need to have a heightened awareness that this is going on and wash your hands frequently, certainly before meals. [Ebola is spread through] direct contact, it's not someone walking into a room with someone with Ebola and getting the infection. Ebola generally is not aerosolized, meaning it doesn't go well into the air."

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Ebola outbreak: Infected aid workers flying to Atlanta for treatment

Two American aid workers seriously ill with Ebola will be brought from West Africa to Atlanta for treatment in one of the most tightly sealed isolation units in the country, officials said Friday.

One is expected to arrive Saturday, and the other a few days later, according to Atlanta's Emory University Hospital, where they will be treated. They are due to arrive in a private jet outfitted with a special, portable tent designed for transporting patients with highly infectious diseases.

It will be the first time anyone infected with the disease is brought into the country. U.S. officials are confident the patients can be treated without putting the public in any danger.

Risk in Canada remains low

Canada's health minister reminded residents Friday that risk in Canada remains low. 

"There are no confirmed cases of Ebola in Canada," said Federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose. "The Ebola virus itself does not spread easily from person to person. It is not like the flu. All points of entry into Canada are routinely monitored and travellers showing symptoms would be referred to quarantine officers, who have the authority to implement public health measures under the Quarantine Act to protect Canadians." 

Ebola is spread through direct contact with blood or other bodily fluids from an infected person, not through the air.

The two Americans — Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol — worked for U.S. missionary groups in Liberia at a hospital that treated Ebola patients. The State Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are assisting the groups in their transfer.

The government is working to ensure that any Ebola-related evacuations "are carried out safely, thereby protecting the patient and the American public," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement released Friday.

A U.S. Department of Defence spokesman said Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia, will be used for the transfer.

Jet fitted with specialized tent

The aircraft is a Gulfstream jet fitted with what essentially is a specialized, collapsible clear tent designed to house a single patient and stop any infectious germs from escaping. It was built to transfer CDC employees exposed to contagious diseases for treatment. The CDC said the private jet can only accommodate one patient at a time.

Brantly and Writebol are in serious condition and were still in Liberia on Friday, according to the North Carolina-based charity Samaritan's Purse, which is paying for their transfer and medical care.

An Emory emergency medical team in Liberia has evaluated the two aid workers, and deemed both stable enough for the trip to Atlanta, said Emory's Dr. Bruce Ribner. Hospital spokesman Vincent Dollard said the first patient was scheduled to arrive Saturday.

Brantly, 33, works for Samaritan's Purse while Writebol works for another U.S. mission group called SIM. Late last week, Samaritan's Purse officials said Brantly had tested positive for the virus. Shortly after that announcement, Writebol's infection was disclosed.

Liberia is one of the three West African countries involved in the Ebola outbreak, the largest since the virus was first identified in 1976.

The two-bed Emory isolation unit opened 12 years ago. It was designed to handle workers from the CDC if they became infected while working on a dangerous, infectious germ.

It is one of about four such units around the country for testing and treating people who may have been exposed to very dangerous viruses, said Dr. Eileen Farnon, a Temple University doctor who formerly worked at the Atlanta-based CDC and led teams investigating past Ebola outbreaks in Africa.

There is no specific treatment for disease, although Writebol has received an experimental treatment, according to the mission groups.

"If there's any modern therapy that can be done," such as better monitoring of fluids, electrolytes and vital signs, workers will be able to do it better in this safe environment, said Dr. Philip Brachman, an Emory University public health specialist who for many years headed the CDC's disease detectives program.

"That's all we can do for such a patient. We can make them feel comfortable" and let the body try to beat back the virus, he said.

He was echoed by Emory's Ribner, one of the doctors who will be seeing the Ebola patients. He stressed that safety precautions will be taken by staff in the unit.

"I have no concerns about even my personal health or the health of the other health care workers who will be working in that area," Ribner said.

The unit has its own laboratory equipment so samples don't have to be sent to the main hospital lab. Located on the ground floor, it's carefully separated from other patient areas, Farnon said.

Health experts say a specialized isolation unit is not even necessary for treating an Ebola patient. The virus does not spread through the air, so standard, rigorous infection control measures should work.

The current outbreak in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone has sickened more than 1,300 people and killed more than 700 this year.

WHO says outbreak moving fast

Also on Friday, the head of the World Health Organization said the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is out of control but can be stopped.

"This outbreak is moving faster than our efforts to control it," Margaret Chan told the presidents of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone at a meeting in Guinea's capital Conakry.

"If the situation continues to deteriorate, the consequences can be catastrophic in terms of lost lives but also severe socioeconomic disruption and a high risk of spread to other countries," she said, according to a WHO transcript.

Experience showed that the outbreak could be stopped and the general public was not at high risk of infection, but it would be "extremely unwise" to let the virus circulate widely over a long period of time, Chan said.

"Constant mutation and adaptation are the survival mechanisms of viruses and other microbes. We must not give this virus opportunities to deliver more surprises."

WHO officials will hold an emergency meeting next week in Geneva, looking at whether the outbreak constitutes "a public health emergency of international concern."

The agency said that if the meeting does reach that decision, it would "recommend appropriate temporary measures to reduce international spread." The WHO statement did not elaborate on what those measures might be.

New vaccine to be tested on humans

The U.S. National Institutes of Health plans in mid-September to begin testing an experimental Ebola vaccine on people after seeing encouraging results in preclinical trials on monkeys, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the NIH's allergy and infectious diseases unit, said in an email.

In its final stages, Ebola causes external and internal bleeding, vomiting and diarrhea. About 60 per cent of people infected in the current outbreak are dying from the illness.

Writebol, 59, received an experimental drug doctors hope will improve her health, SIM said. Brantly, 33, received a unit of blood from a 14-year-old boy who survived Ebola with the help of Brantly's medical care, said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan's Purse.

In Washington, meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama said "appropriate precautions" are also being taken ahead of the arrival in the U.S. capital next week of 50 leaders from Africa for a 3-day summit.

"Folks who are from these countries that have even a marginal risk, or an infinitesimal risk of having been exposed in some fashion, we're making sure we're doing screening." 

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More time driving increases obesity risk, study suggests

A study out of the University of Calgary suggests drivers who spend more time behind the wheel are more likely to be overweight.

Researchers conducted a review of 10 studies done in different countries, including one in Calgary.

A review of 10 studies done by University of Calgary researchers suggests the more people drive, the greater their risk of obesity or becoming overweight. (Kim Johnson Flodin/ Associated Press)

Eight of those suggest there is a link between the amount of time or distance travelled in a vehicle and extra pounds on the scale — something that caught the attention of the review's co-author Gavin McCormack.

 "Much of the results were sort of what we would expect because we know that sedentary behaviour by itself — sitting — is associated negatively with health and also increased risk of overweight and obesity," said the public health researcher. 

"We sort of expected that driving behaviour would see a similar relationship but the fact that we saw a consistent relationship across different cities, different countries — with eight of the 10 of our studies showing there was a relationship — that's sort of not so much surprising but alarming."

The overall findings didn't suggest a specific amount of driving that puts drivers at an increased obesity risk.

"But a study that was undertaken in Calgary in 2007 and 2008, that was included in the review, showed that by driving more than 30 minutes a day increased your risk of overweight and obesity than those who drove for less than 30 minutes a day," said McCormack.

Gavin McCormack is a public health researcher at the University of Calgary. (CBC)

The research also found more driving can lead to frequent visits to drive-thru restaurants, meaning more fast food — another factor for weight gain. 

His suggestion is to choose healthier and more active transportation alternatives, such as walking and cycling. McCormack says it is important information for policy makers and urban planners to keep in mind for new construction around the city.

"We've got to try and get adults to drive less," said McCormack.

"I think simply just telling people to be more active or to use the transit or to walk or to cycle isn't going to be enough by itself, and there needs to be infrastructure changes, design changes that can facilitate making walking and cycling an easy option and driving a less convenient option."

Adam Brown, a fitness instructor who drives to work, is not surprised by the findings.  

"When I go through rush hour once in a blue moon it's so annoying. It's frustrating sitting in traffic for 45 minutes, an hour, barely going anywhere," he said.

Brown thinks the findings of the study are so interesting he may suggest his clients avoid driving for long periods of time in the future.

Read the full report below. On mobile? Click here.

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Ebola outbreak: Infected aid workers flying to Atlanta for treatment

Two American aid workers seriously ill with Ebola will be brought from West Africa to Atlanta for treatment in one of the most tightly sealed isolation units in the country, officials said Friday.

One is expected to arrive Saturday, and the other a few days later, according to Atlanta's Emory University Hospital, where they will be treated. They are due to arrive in a private jet outfitted with a special, portable tent designed for transporting patients with highly infectious diseases.

It will be the first time anyone infected with the disease is brought into the country. U.S. officials are confident the patients can be treated without putting the public in any danger.

Risk in Canada remains low

Canada's health minister reminded residents Friday that risk in Canada remains low. 

"There are no confirmed cases of Ebola in Canada," said Federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose. "The Ebola virus itself does not spread easily from person to person. It is not like the flu. All points of entry into Canada are routinely monitored and travellers showing symptoms would be referred to quarantine officers, who have the authority to implement public health measures under the Quarantine Act to protect Canadians." 

Ebola is spread through direct contact with blood or other bodily fluids from an infected person, not through the air.

The two Americans — Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol — worked for U.S. missionary groups in Liberia at a hospital that treated Ebola patients. The State Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are assisting the groups in their transfer.

The government is working to ensure that any Ebola-related evacuations "are carried out safely, thereby protecting the patient and the American public," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement released Friday.

A U.S. Department of Defence spokesman said Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia, will be used for the transfer.

Jet fitted with specialized tent

The aircraft is a Gulfstream jet fitted with what essentially is a specialized, collapsible clear tent designed to house a single patient and stop any infectious germs from escaping. It was built to transfer CDC employees exposed to contagious diseases for treatment. The CDC said the private jet can only accommodate one patient at a time.

Brantly and Writebol are in serious condition and were still in Liberia on Friday, according to the North Carolina-based charity Samaritan's Purse, which is paying for their transfer and medical care.

An Emory emergency medical team in Liberia has evaluated the two aid workers, and deemed both stable enough for the trip to Atlanta, said Emory's Dr. Bruce Ribner. Hospital spokesman Vincent Dollard said the first patient was scheduled to arrive Saturday.

Brantly, 33, works for Samaritan's Purse while Writebol works for another U.S. mission group called SIM. Late last week, Samaritan's Purse officials said Brantly had tested positive for the virus. Shortly after that announcement, Writebol's infection was disclosed.

Liberia is one of the three West African countries involved in the Ebola outbreak, the largest since the virus was first identified in 1976.

The two-bed Emory isolation unit opened 12 years ago. It was designed to handle workers from the CDC if they became infected while working on a dangerous, infectious germ.

It is one of about four such units around the country for testing and treating people who may have been exposed to very dangerous viruses, said Dr. Eileen Farnon, a Temple University doctor who formerly worked at the Atlanta-based CDC and led teams investigating past Ebola outbreaks in Africa.

There is no specific treatment for disease, although Writebol has received an experimental treatment, according to the mission groups.

"If there's any modern therapy that can be done," such as better monitoring of fluids, electrolytes and vital signs, workers will be able to do it better in this safe environment, said Dr. Philip Brachman, an Emory University public health specialist who for many years headed the CDC's disease detectives program.

"That's all we can do for such a patient. We can make them feel comfortable" and let the body try to beat back the virus, he said.

He was echoed by Emory's Ribner, one of the doctors who will be seeing the Ebola patients. He stressed that safety precautions will be taken by staff in the unit.

"I have no concerns about even my personal health or the health of the other health care workers who will be working in that area," Ribner said.

The unit has its own laboratory equipment so samples don't have to be sent to the main hospital lab. Located on the ground floor, it's carefully separated from other patient areas, Farnon said.

Health experts say a specialized isolation unit is not even necessary for treating an Ebola patient. The virus does not spread through the air, so standard, rigorous infection control measures should work.

The current outbreak in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone has sickened more than 1,300 people and killed more than 700 this year.

WHO says outbreak moving fast

Also on Friday, the head of the World Health Organization said the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is out of control but can be stopped.

"This outbreak is moving faster than our efforts to control it," Margaret Chan told the presidents of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone at a meeting in Guinea's capital Conakry.

"If the situation continues to deteriorate, the consequences can be catastrophic in terms of lost lives but also severe socioeconomic disruption and a high risk of spread to other countries," she said, according to a WHO transcript.

Experience showed that the outbreak could be stopped and the general public was not at high risk of infection, but it would be "extremely unwise" to let the virus circulate widely over a long period of time, Chan said.

"Constant mutation and adaptation are the survival mechanisms of viruses and other microbes. We must not give this virus opportunities to deliver more surprises."

WHO officials will hold an emergency meeting next week in Geneva, looking at whether the outbreak constitutes "a public health emergency of international concern."

The agency said that if the meeting does reach that decision, it would "recommend appropriate temporary measures to reduce international spread." The WHO statement did not elaborate on what those measures might be.

New vaccine to be tested on humans

The U.S. National Institutes of Health plans in mid-September to begin testing an experimental Ebola vaccine on people after seeing encouraging results in preclinical trials on monkeys, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the NIH's allergy and infectious diseases unit, said in an email.

In its final stages, Ebola causes external and internal bleeding, vomiting and diarrhea. About 60 per cent of people infected in the current outbreak are dying from the illness.

Writebol, 59, received an experimental drug doctors hope will improve her health, SIM said. Brantly, 33, received a unit of blood from a 14-year-old boy who survived Ebola with the help of Brantly's medical care, said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan's Purse.

In Washington, meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama said "appropriate precautions" are also being taken ahead of the arrival in the U.S. capital next week of 50 leaders from Africa for a 3-day summit.

"Folks who are from these countries that have even a marginal risk, or an infinitesimal risk of having been exposed in some fashion, we're making sure we're doing screening." 

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Ebola virus: What you need to know to protect yourself

A Toronto doctor who specializes in the treatment of tropical diseases says it's unlikely a recent outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa could spread to North America.

Dr. Jay Keystone, who works in the tropical diseases unit of Toronto General Hospital, was interviewed Wednesday on CBC Radio's Metro Morning.

A woman puts on a protective mask to protect against SARS at a wash station at the entrance to North York General Hospital in Toronto in May 2003. (Kevin Frayer/Canadian Press)

He said the SARS outbreak in 2003 that killed more than 40 people in Toronto helped improve how we identify, treat and contain infectious diseases. He said such measures are lacking in countries affected by the current Ebola outbreak: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone

As of July 23, the number of Ebola cases in West Africa reached 1,201, with 672 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

As of July 27, there were more than 1,300 cases of the Ebola virus in the West African countries of Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria and as many as 729 deaths, according to the World Health Organization. 

The fast-acting Ebola virus, which first appeared in 1976, produces a violent hemorrhagic fever that leads to internal and external bleeding. The infection is transmitted by direct contact with blood, bodily fluids, and tissues of infected people or animals.

Though there is no vaccine and no specific treatment for Ebola, Keystone said there are a number of measures travellers to the region can take to protect themselves.

Here's what Keystone told Metro Morning guest host David Common:

How does a person contract Ebola?

"They usually acquire it from close contact with blood and body fluids, and that means someone coughs in your face, you handle a body or you look after someone and don't have ideal infection-control methods. You get the virus on your hands, you touch your nose, your mouth."

What symptoms do Ebola patients show?

"It looks like the flu: fever, headache, sore throat, muscle aches and pains. That's in the first few days. And then vomiting, diarrhea and the really serious part of the illness — that is the hemorrhage part — really doesn't occur until toward the end of the first week."

Once a patient is hemorrhaging, can he or she be saved?

"It all depends on the quality of medical care. Most Ebola outbreaks have occurred in villages, in mission hospitals where essentially they have a very poor level of health care and very poor infection control methods. The mortality rate in this outbreak ... is about 60 per cent. So you can survive. The better the care, more likely you are to survive but there's no antibiotic or anti-viral agent to treat this disease."

Why has this outbreak been so bad?

"First, there's a lot of cross-border travel. Whereas most other outbreaks have been isolated in the middle of virtually nowhere. Also, people in these countries don't trust the government. They don't believe in the infection. They hide their cases. If someone dies, they take [the body] home. And unfortunately the funeral procedures where you touch the body, and handle the body, markedly increases your risk. These cases are now more in central areas, cities rather than tiny villages. All of those reasons I think have compounded to make this a much greater outbreak."

Doctors treating patients in Africa have died. Foreign doctors have been infected. Should we be worried about Ebola making its way to Canada?

"I don't think we need to be worried. Health-care providers, paramedics, the people who deal with the situation first-hand, I think we're the ones who have greatest risk. You have to remember since 1976 when this virus was first described, there are less than a handful of cases of [patients] who've gone to North American or European countries and very rarely is there secondary transmission. And that's because we have much better public health, infrastructure and certainly better methods of isolating [patients]. SARS was a perfect wake-up call and Ebola is following that ... our health-care system improved dramatically after SARS."

What do doctors in West Africa need to do to control the outbreak now?

"Mostly it's case finding. And that's the biggest problem. Someone comes in ill, they go back to their village and other people are infected but no one knows about it. The problem is they don't have enough personnel to follow up carefully and also people are hiding cases. It's all about case finding, surveillance, making the diagnosis, isolating the individuals and using appropriate isolation procedures. That will help, but it's going to take a long time given what's going on there.

What should people travelling to West Africa know and do to protect themselves?

"The most important thing is to try and stay away from people who are ill. You won't get Ebola unless the individual you're in contact with is sick. So if someone is well, you're not going to get it. So you just need to have a heightened awareness that this is going on and wash your hands frequently, certainly before meals. [Ebola is spread through] direct contact, it's not someone walking into a room with someone with Ebola and getting the infection. Ebola generally is not aerosolized, meaning it doesn't go well into the air."

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