WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE EBOLA OUTBREAK

Fear over Ebola is growing as international leaders and health organizations struggle to try to stop the deadly epidemic in West Africa.

The Ebola outbreak “is moving faster than our efforts to control it,” Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization, said in a statement Friday. “This is an unprecedented outbreak accompanied by unprecedented challenges. And these challenges are extraordinary.”

This is the first Ebola outbreak in West Africa and involves the most deadly strain in the Ebola virus family, Chan said.

“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.”

One of those countries could be the United States, health officials have said. In fact, the U.S. Department of State announced Friday that it is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to bring home two U.S. citizens who have been infected by Ebola in Liberia.

Here’s what you need to know about the Ebola outbreak today:

••»» How many people have died?

As of Sunday, the World Health Organization had confirmed 909 cases and 485 deaths in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria. It suspects that there may have been up to 1,323 cases and 729 deaths.

“The outbreak is by far the largest ever in the nearly four-decade history of this disease,” Chan said. “It is the largest in terms of numbers of cases and deaths. … It is the largest in terms of geographical areas already affected and others at immediate risk of further spread.”
CDC Director Tom Frieden said Thursday that it could take three to six months to stop the epidemic.

•••»» Why is it spreading so quickly?

First of all, there’s no vaccine for Ebola. So health officials have to stop the infection by isolating patients to prevent further transmission.

Past outbreaks have primarily occurred in rural areas, where people were not frequently traveling and infecting others. This outbreak has made it to several of the region’s major cities, including Freetown, Sierra Leone; Monrovia, Liberia; and Conakry, Guinea.

These cities have international airports, which opens up the possibility of infected patients traveling abroad. For example, American Patrick Sawyer became infected with Ebola in Liberia and traveled via plane to Lagos, Nigeria, where he died. Health officials are still tracing all the people he came in contact with along the way.

The outbreak is “taking place in areas with fluid population movements over porous borders, and it has demonstrated its ability to spread via air travel, contrary to what has been seen in past outbreaks,” Chan said.
“Cases are occurring in rural areas which are difficult to access, but also in densely populated capital cities.”

•••»» Is Ebola is coming to the U.S.?

On Thursday, a medical charter plane outfitted with an isolation pod left Cartersville, Georgia, about 5 p.m. The aircraft was scheduled to fly to Monrovia, Liberia, and will return with either Dr. Kent Brantly or Nancy Writebol, who were infected with Ebola while working for the aid group Samaritan’s Purse in Liberia last week.

The two patients will be evacuated in separate trips, according to Samaritan’s Purse spokesman Todd Shearer. It is unclear who will be transported first but both evacuations “should be completed by early next week.”

Samaritan’s Purse has described Brantly and Writebol as being in grave but stable condition
Several aid organizations, including the Peace Corps, are asking volunteers and nonessential personnel to leave the region. The evacuation of these staff members has begun, Samaritan’s Purse said.

•••»» When will the infected Americans be evacuated?

Soon. The State Department said the two citizens would be evacuated in the “coming days.”

When it arrives, the plane will land at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Georgia, about 20 miles from the CDC’s Atlanta headquarters, a Pentagon spokesman said.

•••»»Then where will the patients go?

The patients will be brought to Emory University, which is near CDC’s headquarters, hospital officials told Gupta. They will likely be transported in an Emory ambulance or medical helicopter from the airport.

Emory University Hospital has a specially built isolation unit that is designed to treat patients exposed to infectious diseases like Ebola, the hospital said in a statement Thursday. It is one of only four units in the United States.

“Emory University Hospital physicians, nurses and staff are highly trained in the specific and unique protocols and procedures necessary to treat and care for this type of patient,” the statement said. “These procedures are practiced on a regular basis throughout the year so we are fully prepared for this type of situation.”

•••»» What treatment will they receive?

There is no specific treatment for Ebola. Doctors can administer only “supportive therapy,” which means supporting the patient’s own immune system as it tries to battle the infection. This usually involves intravenous fluids to prevent dehydration and shock. This therapy for Ebola patients could also include blood or platelet transfusions and oxygen therapy.
Ebola can last two to three weeks, so patients would remain in isolation until their symptoms subside and tests come back negative for the virus.

•••»»Should I be worried?

When the infected aid workers return, it will be the first time someone infected with Ebola is known to have crossed into the United States. That realization has prompted fear among some on social media.

But U.S. health experts don’t seem concerned about it spreading for two reasons:

One, Ebola is aggressively infectious, which means that those infected are highly likely to get sick. But it’s not very contagious, meaning it doesn’t spread easily. It’s transmitted only through bodily fluids while the infected patient is exhibiting symptoms.

And two, experts say our health care system would be able to identify and contain the virus swiftly.

Frieden said other aid workers returning to the United States will have their temperature taken every day for 21 days — the longest period known for Ebola symptoms to appear after infection — to ensure that they don’t have the virus.

•••»»Have other aid workers been affected?

Yes. A well-known doctor fighting Ebola in Sierra Leone died this week after contracting the virus.

“To date, more than 60 health care workers have lost their lives in helping others. Some international staff are infected,” Chan said. “These tragic infections and deaths significantly erode response capacity.”

Source »»CNN

Gossip Zone

•••10 of the Longest Prison Sentences on Earth

»»384,912 YEARS

In 1972, twenty year old Palma de Mallorca was demanded to three hundred eighty four thousand nine hundred and twelve years of sentence for having failed to deliver letters. His crime of not delivering over four thousand letters resulted in such a huge punishment by the Spanish judiciary. This remains the longest sentence demanded so far in history.

»»10,000 YEARS

For having brutally killed his wife, Dudley Wayne Kyzer was sentenced to imprisonment for 10,000 years in 1981. This remains the longest sentence given in the US till date. For having killed his mother in law and a college student, he was also given life sentences for each of the crimes in addition to the 10,000 years. The judge justified his verdict in the name of the brutality of the murders.

»»28 LIFE SENTENCES

Bobbie Joe Long, Florida is a serial killer. He was sentenced to 28 life sentences, 99 years sentence and 1 death sentence. He had raped more than 50 women and killed about half the number. In most cases they were raped before murder. Bobbie Joe was born with an extra x chromosome which resulted in him growing breasts after puberty. With this, the added trauma of the dysfunctional relation he had with his mother as an adolescent is often remarked as the reason for his crimes.

25 LIFE SENTENCES

Juan Corona, California murdered 25 farm workers who worked for him. In a short span of 1 year, he had killed 25 migrant workers who worked for him and had their remains buried. For this act that questioned human nature, he got sentenced for 25 consecutive life imprisonments-as an answer to the 25 lives he took.

»»7,109 YEARS

In 1969 two Iranians were sentenced to 7,109 years of imprisonment each. The number of years was proportional to the amount of their transgressions. This sentence further confirmed the fact that justice is swift and decisive in the Middle East.

»»2 MILLENIA

With a crime history ranging from rape to robbery, this man Darron Bennalford Anderson of Oklahoma got the jurisdiction to two thousand two hundred years of imprisonment. When he appealed for this, he got further sentenced for a few more thousand years for each of his crime. Later in 1997 when he appealed again, he had some success and got the parole date as in the year twelve thousand seven hundred and forty four.

»»845 YEARS

In 2000, Shalom Weiss received a sentence for 2000 years for his part in the collapse of the National Heritage Life Insurance Corporation of New York. He robbed hundreds of pensioners of their life savings and was featured in the FBI most wanted list. Though he appealed to make his sentence less severe, he was disappointed as the judge said that was impossible.

»»330 YEARS

Mr. Schmidt promised attractive rates to hundreds of investors and robbed them of millions of dollars. He used this money to cover personal expenses and to lead a life of luxury instead of investing as he promised. For this crime of fraud and money laundering, he was sentenced to more than three hundred years in prison by the US District Judge Denny Chin. As of now, his chance of getting a parole is slim.

»»265 YEARS

The longest sentence in the history of Georgia was given in 1996 when Ryan Brandt and Jeffrey Kollie were sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences and 265 years each. What is more interesting is that, this long sentence was not given for committing murder or rape but for armed robbery. Ironically, the two of them had turned down a plea that would have given them just 40 years in prison.

»»160 YEARS

Keith O Wood from Pittsburg was sentenced to 160 years in prison for rapping 5 women in the short period of 1 year that extended from 2000 to 2001. The convict would enter the house through unlocked windows and threaten them to be killed and then rape them. What is ironic is that even when the DNA evidence proved him guilty in all the five cases he appealed of not being guilty. However the court judged against him taking fact that the chance of someone else matching the DNA is one in a billion, billion.

DOES CORRUPTION MATTER?

In 1966 at independence, Botswana was much poorer than Nigeria with average income per head of just about $70, less than
half of the average income per head in Nigeria at the time. Like Nigeria, it is a mono- product economy with diamonds accounting for more than 70%-80% of export earnings and 40% of total Government revenues. Like Nigeria, it was a British colony gaining independence in 1966, 6 years after Nigeria.
However, that is as far as the similarities go.

Today, Botswana is a middle-level income country with PPP GDP per head of $14,750, six times Nigeria’s $2,530 and 35% higher
and better than South Africa’s $10,960. In fact, the current PPP GDP per Head for Botswana is better than all the BRICS
countries (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) except Russia, and ranks with Mexico
and Turkey at the top of the MINT countries (Mexico-Indonesia-Nigeria-Turk ey).

According to Wikipedia, “Since
independence, Botswana has had one of the fastest growth rates in per capita income in the world. Botswana has transformed itself
from one of the poorest countries in the world to a middle-income country. By one estimate, it has the fourth highest gross
national income at purchasing power parity in Africa, giving it a standard of living around
that of Mexico and Turkey”. It earned the highest sovereign credit rating in Africa and
has stockpiled foreign exchange reserves of almost $8bn amounting to almost two years
of imports. Available data, though dated, indicate that about 30% of the population live below the poverty line compared to
almost 70% in Nigeria.

This is despite being a land-locked country without any access to the sea, and having 70% of its land mass covered by the Kalahari
Desert; challenges which Nigeria does not suffer. The country has also contended with an AIDS pandemic on a scale much worse
than most African countries.

How does Nigeria compare? Just look around you. Nigeria is full of millions of struggling people. The recent recruitment debacle of the Nigerian Immigration Service
where over 700,000 people paid N1,000 for a chance to compete for less than 5,000 employment slots graphically depicts the
situation of the average Nigerian.

1. 69% live on less than N6,000 monthly, worse than almost 70% of Sub-Saharan African countries including Togo (28%), Ethiopia (31%) and Uganda (38%)!; (World
Bank’s World Development Report 2013)

2. Life expectancy of 52 years is 33rd in Sub- Saharan Africa; (World Bank’s World
Development Report 2013)

3. Lagos is the 3rd most difficult city to live in the entire globe; (Pocket World In Figures
2013 Edition, International Economist) and

4. “1.2 billion people live in destitution out of which 100 million are Nigerians”: Marie
Francoise Marie-Nelly – World Bank Country Director for Nigeria; The Punch, Wednesday
13 November 2013; Page 32.

The contrast between both countries is stark. Botswana is ranked the 30th most transparent country in the world, the first in
Africa, with a score of 64%. Nigeria ranks 144 with a score of 25%. Botswana is consistently ranked the most transparent
country in Africa and it has the best sovereign credit rating. We believe that corruption is a major reason for the difference in the performance of both countries.

Nigeria’s natural place in the world is to emerge as a developed nation, proving that the Negro is inferior to no other. The great
work of Martin Luther King Jnr. and Nelson Mandela in achieving desegregation and legal equality in the last century need to be
validated by an economically and
technologicallysuccessful nation built substantially by Negro genius and talent. This
challenge is naturally Nigeria’s, but this Divine destiny is slipping out of our fingers, blighted by several vices, the chief being
corruption.

Corruption defines Nigeria, just as immorality defined Sodom and Gomorrah. God looked for a critical mass of 10 people to save
Sodom and only found 4. The place was destroyed. The transformation of Nigeria
requires a critical mass of people sworn to righteousness, committed to shunning
bribery and corruption, regardless of what it will cost them. With this critical mass, we trust God will release His grace and favour
upon Nigeria to fulfill its destiny by emerging as a developed nation, proving that the
Negro is inferior to no other. Only a transformed people can successfully deliver a Transformation Agenda.

KANYE WEST CONFRONTS VOGUE MAGAZINES EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ANNA WINTOUR OVER HER REFUSAL TO FEATURE KIM ON THE FEB COVER

It is no news that Kanye wants Kim to be on the cover of Vogue and has been working towards that since they started dating. Kim has graced almost every notable magazine cover inthe world but Vogue. This is because the editor in Chief Anna Wintour doesn’t consider Kim classy enough for the magazine. And Kim desperately wants to be on it because it will cement her status as a certified cover girl and star.

Radar online reports

” Kanye West is said to be insulted that his fiancée Kim Kardashian has been overlooked again in favour of the multi-talented Girls writer and director Lena Dunham.
The hip-hop artist allegedly confronted Vogue’s chief editor Anna Wintour at the Beverly Hills Polo Lounge, demanding to know why Lena had been deemed a worthy cover star for February’s issue.

Kanye believes Kim has a greater appeal than Lena and argued she is ‘just as talented as Lena, if not more so’.‘Kanye knows that it’s always been a huge dream of Kim’s to be on the Vogue cover and Kanye wants to make it comes true. If nothing else, Kanye is persistent.’‘He’s upset that Anna isn’t willing to do him this personal favour and put Kim on the cover.’
This is not the first time that Kanye has spoken of his desire to see his future wife appear in Vogue.During an interview with Ryan Seacrest last year, he described Kim as ‘the most intriguing woman right now’ and said there was ‘no way’ she shouldn’t appear on the cover.
And during Kanye’s recent concert tour stop in Brooklyn, Anna sat some distance away from Kim despite sharing a VIP box.

GOSSIP ZONE blog

BEYONCE TO BE STUDIED AS COURSE IN UNIVERSITIES.

Queen Bee has joined other celebrities including Oprah and husband Jay Z, (who has a Georgetown University sociology course named after him), who are studied in the University. The course is called Politicizing Beyonce and can be taken at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
The University’s Department of Women’s and Gender Studies will be exploring the social & cultural significance of the songstress’s music and image.

The course will allow fans to explore Beyonce’s alter ego Sasha Fierce, and debate the extent of control she has over her own image. They will also debate whether her red hot persona is an outlet of female sexual empowerment or merely complying with western gender stereotypes.

“This isn’t a course about Beyonce’s political engagement or how many times she performed during President Obama’s inauguration weekend. She certainly pushes boundaries. While other artists are simply releasing music, she’s creating a grand narrative around her life, her career, and her persona.’ Kevin Allred, the person in charge of the course at Rutgers University said

OYIBO TOO GET TIME.SO IF DEM ASK ME WAYTIN I GO READ FOR SCHOOL I GO SAY NA BEYONCE ???

GOSSIP ZONE blog

A SHORT TRUE LIFE STORY ABOUT NIGERIA’S BIGGEST PRODUCER MICHAEL COLLINS AKA DON JAZZY

When Don Jazzy began, his family moved to Ajegunle in Lagos, Nigeria where he sold akara and pap with his younger brother D’Prince.
However, in pursuit of his career, he went to London and had to work as a security man just to survive.
But in 2004 when he crossed part with D’banj who he managed then, with just two albums in the market, his story changed. He then moved his parents from Ajegunle and bought them a mansion. Now, he has gotten several awards and multi-million Naira endorsement deals with MTN, Loyal Milk and Samsung.
Recently, he was reported to have bought a house in Lekki, Lagos worth 160 million Naira, that’s almost $1M.

So Don Jazzy was a ‘nobody’ before God made a him a ‘somebody’ by giving him a breakthrough in his career. You should see Don Baba J now, really blessed.
My point? Never give up on your dreams

GOSSIP ZONE blog