Ready? Here’s what was fake on the Internet this week:
1. The only people who contracted Ebola in America, as of this writing, are two nurses who treated a Liberian man in Dallas. That is it, full stop, there is no one else. We could devote an entire Friday debunking ”” nay, an entire series of Friday debunkings ”” to nothing but the false Ebola rumors flitting around locations as far-flung as Anchorage. Instead, let’s make this brief: Nobody in the United States currently has Ebola, except (a) Nina Pham, who is currently being treated in isolation at the National Institutes of Health and (b) Amber Vinson, who was recently transferred to Atlanta’s Emory University Hospital,,,.
I was offline for 48 hours. I’m hoping what the WaPo writes is 100% true, and that indeed Nina Pham and Amber Vimson are the ONLY two people in the US who have Ebola.
But what about the NBC freelance photographer who was being treated in Nebraska and the never-named WHO staffer being treated at Emory? Last I knew of they were still in hospital? Have they both now tested negative for Ebola? I could have missed that….
It would be great news, if true.
Praying for nurses Nina & Amber.
Karen B., I believe the NBC freelancer is still being treated in Nebraska. Last I heard he was doing pretty well. I don’t know about the WHO staffer.
There were some stories about people who were ill but turned out not to have Ebola, including some idiot woman who threw up near the Pentagon and claimed to have just come from Liberia. She hadn’t been out of the country, in fact. Why someone would do such a thing is a mystery.
Karen B., the patient still requests anonymity, but [url=http://www.businessinsider.com/third-ebola-patient-at-emory-hospital-2014-10]he or she is recovering[/url] and expects to be released soon. Praise God.
Further, Karen, I looked up the NBC cameraman. A report said definitely that he had been treated with the recently-approved antiviral [url=http://www.chimerix.com/c/discovery-clinical-trials/brincidofovir-ebola.php]brincidopovir[/url]. This medicine was given to Mr. Duncan a day before his death but his organ failure was too far advanced. If this shows signs of helping all of these cases still under treatment this would be really good news. Unlike ZMapp, which seemed to work, Chimerix, in Durham, NC, has some doses of bricidopovir currently available, although probably not enough to provide widespread treatment in Africa at this point.