Another U.S. doctor infected with Ebola in Liberia

A third American health worker has tested positive for the Ebola virus while working with patients in West Africa, the Christian missionary group SIM said Tuesday.The group did not release the name of the doctor, but said he had been working in obstetrics at the SIM-funded ELWA hospital in the Liberian capital Monrovia.

Two Americans who also worked at ELWA, Doctor Kent Brantly and nurse Nancy Writebol, were previously flown home from Liberia and successfully treated for the virus.Unlike Brantly and Writebol, the new US victim had not been working directly with Ebola patients, and it is not yet clear how he caught the disease, which is usually fatal.

The doctor has been isolated in the hospital`s dedicated Ebola unit.

“My heart was deeply saddened, but my faith was not shaken, when I learned another of our missionary doctors contracted Ebola,” said SIM president Bruce Johnson.”We have gifted Liberian doctors, medical staff and support staff who are carrying on the fight.”

Over the past six months the world`s worst ever Ebola outbreak has killed 1,552 people in several West African countries and infected 3,062, according to the latest figures released by the WHO.

Japanese researchers develop 30-min Ebola test

Japanese researchers said on Tuesday they had developed a new method to detect the presence of the Ebola virus in 30 minutes, with technology that could allow doctors to quickly diagnose infection.
Professor Jiro Yasuda and his team at Nagasaki University say their process is also cheaper than the system currently in use in west Africa where the virus has already killed more than 1,500 people.

“The new method is simpler than the current one and can be used in countries where expensive testing equipment is not available,” Yasuda told AFP by telephone.
“We have yet to receive any questions or requests, but we are pleased to offer the system, which is ready to go,” he said.

Yasuda said the team had developed what he called a “primer,” which amplifies only those genes specific to the Ebola virus found in a blood sample or other bodily fluid.

Using existing techniques, ribonucleic acid (RNA) — biological molecules used in the coding of genes — is extracted from any viruses present in a blood sample.

This is then used to synthesise the viral DNA, which can be mixed with the primers and then heated to 60-65 degrees Celsius (140-149 Fahrenheit).
If Ebola is present, DNA specific to the virus is amplified in 30 minutes due to the action of the primers. The by-products from the process cause the liquid to become cloudy, providing visual confirmation, Yasuda said.

Currently, a method called polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, is widely used to detect the Ebola virus, which requires doctors to heat and cool samples repeatedly and takes up to two hours.
“The new method only needs a small, battery-powered warmer and the entire system costs just tens of thousands of yen (hundreds of dollars), which developing countries should be able to afford,” he added.

The National Biotechnology Development Agency, Abuja, earlier said it had developed primers and probes for precise detection of Ebola virus disease, following the release of the genomic sequence of the Zaire strain of the virus.
The agency stated that it collaborated with its genomic partners in South Korea to develop the primers, in order to facilitate early laboratory diagnosis and adequate response.