Ebola- more from DoD

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=123497

Navy Physician Provides Ebola Treatment Expertise to DoD Team

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas, Oct. 27, 2014 – The Defense Department’s unprecedented mission of establishing a 30-member team to rapidly and effectively respond to any potential Ebola virus outbreak in the U.S. has brought some of the U.S. military health system’s best medical professionals together.

One member of the joint team brings real-world experience treating Ebola patients to the DoD training course that will assist in advancing the group’s proficiency. Navy Cmdr. (Dr.) James Lawler, chief of the clinical research department of the bio-defense research directorate, Naval Medical Research Center, Fort Detrick, Maryland, discussed his role on the DoD team serving as a subject-matter expert on Ebola treatment.
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Lawler, an 18-year Navy veteran, said he thinks the treatment of Ebola has “evolved significantly” due to the outbreak in West Africa.
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One characteristic of Ebola, he said, has been recognized more widely now for contributing to the mortality and morbidity of the disease: diarrhea and the incredible amount of fluid loss and associated electrolyte abnormalities that come with the disease. “I think being more aggressive in treating those features of the disease has been an advance that this outbreak has precipitated,” Lawler said. “And I think that there’s a better appreciation that aggressive supportive care can make a significant difference in outcome.”
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“Their complex patients require a significant amount of care,” he added, “and as part of the team we have a core of critical care nurses who are really the most important part of the team.” That intensive nursing, Lawler said, makes the biggest difference in patient outcome, and all of those disciplines are important to managing patients.

“We also have some other folks who specialize in things like industrial hygiene and environmental health [who] can help with some of the other aspects of setting up a patient care unit that are important,” he said.

The infection prevention control practices the team is training on will work if they’re done effectively, Lawler said.
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http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=123498
Medical Research Institute Develops Ebola Diagnostics

By Cheryl Pellerin
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27, 2014 – The Ebola crisis in West Africa seized global attention in March, but scientists at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases have worked for years on diagnostics, vaccines and drugs for Ebola and other lethal pathogens that adversaries might use in bioweapons targeting troops on the battlefield.
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USAMRIID, based in Frederick, Maryland, has pioneered research since 1969 to develop such medical countermeasures, and its work has contributed to critically needed help in the current outbreak.
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In Africa today, some of the most-needed medical products are diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutic drugs to treat Ebola virus disease. USAMRIID and others are working on vaccines and therapeutics for Ebola, but none has been approved yet for use in patients.

Diagnostic assays developed at USAMRIID, however, are being used now in Africa to detect the Ebola virus in patient whole blood, serum or plasma samples. And beyond its vaccine and therapeutic efforts, USAMRIID has several efforts contributing directly to fighting the Ebola crisis in West Africa, said Dr. David Norwood, chief of the institute’s diagnostics systems division.

“That includes providing a diagnostic capability to the host nation in support of diagnosing Ebola on the continent,” he said, “[and] we’ve worked with the [Food and Drug Administration], the Joint Program Executive Office and others to get an emergency use authorization for the same assay for testing American citizens.”
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USAMRIID also provides training for military personnel in a course called Field Identification of Biological Warfare Agents, and Norwood said the institute has hosted representatives from foreign governments to train on using diagnostic capabilities in the field.
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In response to a question about the nature of USAMRIID’s contribution to the West Africa Ebola crisis, Norwood said USAMRIID and its experts have been working on pathogens like Ebola virus for many years before the current outbreak. “We had started in 2010 preparing the documentation for all the filoviruses that include Ebola and Marburg, to submit it to the FDA for just such an event,” he explained. The process is called a pre-EUA submission, and USAMRIID experts provided data to FDA so that if a dangerous outbreak occurred, the FDA could quickly transition the diagnostics into use under an emergency declaration.
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http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=123500

DoD News Broadcast Channel Plans Ebola Special
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27, 2014 – Defense Department leaders discuss mission, policy and protection of troops participating in the department’s Ebola response in a special program scheduled to air at 9 a.m. EDT Oct. 30 on the DoD News Broadcast Channel, Defense Media Activity officials announced today.

“Ebola Defense: A DoD News Special Report” also takes an in-depth look at the specialized training for service members deploying to West Africa, and the program also will present the latest information on the Army’s research on potential Ebola vaccines and treatments.

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=123511

Army Surgeon General Praises Medical Team Members Training to Fight Ebola

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas, Oct. 27, 2014 – Military health professionals training to be part of the medical support team that may be called upon to respond to new cases of Ebola in the U.S. can take pride that the nation turned to military medicine when faced with a potentially devastating virus, the Army’s top doctor said.
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Army Lt. Gen. Patricia D. Horoho visited the San Antonio Military Medical Center, where the team is receiving specific and deliberate training, on Oct. 24, 2014. She took questions and lauded the group for their participation in DoD’s unprecedented mission.
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