Ebola: Patience Jonathan joins new vogue of Ebola greetings

The first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan was photographed on her
arrival at Sopoto, Northern Poland to commission a training ship
built for the Nigerian Oceanographic Institute for Marine and
Research purposes, greeting officials and aides in the new vogue
of Ebola greeting.
She was received on arrival today at the Gdansk Walesa
International Airport by Ambassador Ibrahim Jimba, the Nigerian
Envoy to Poland, some ministers and other Nigerian dignitaries
and she greeted them at respectable distance with ”palm-rubbing
acknowledgement.

Cure for Ebola at last?

For Ebola, an illness of exceptional contagion which first outbreak
of the virus was in 1976, its origin traced to Congo and Sudan,
cure for the dreaded disease seems to have been found in the
United States (US).
Two American citizens in Liberia struck by the ailment while on
medical missionary work, Nancy Writebol and Dr. Ken Brantly
flown to the US to get treatment have improved tremendously, after
being given the experimental drug.
The two Ebola victims, who had travelled 6,000 miles from West
Africa in special aircraft, were admitted at Emory University
Hospital in Atlanta, are now getting much better. They were unable
to walk on arrival, but are now doing so.
The report named the serum as ZMapp – an experimental drug,
even not yet approved for clinical trials, although already used on
small number of monkeys. It was grown in green house with
genetically modified tobacco. So far, the drug is working well on
the Ebola patients.
Manufactured by a US pharmaceutical company, ZMapp was
supposed to hit the market in 2015, but is being tried because of
the current deadly epidemic caused by the virus now ravaging
Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea with nearly 900 people killed by
the disease which has made inroad into Nigeria. With one person
dead and eight people confirmed positive to Ebola, Africa’s most
populous country could be fatally threatened.
The two Americans have reportedly got up on their own after the
drug was administered on them, seen as a big surprise. They are
already recovering.
Patients afflicted by Ebola are usually quarantined, going into
isolation in the four West African countries where the disease is
ravaging, well protected and temperatures taken twice a day.
The (US) plans to send 50 health experts to West Africa and help
the health authorities in combating the scourge. Ebola is virtually
out of control in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea as dozens of
doctors and nurses have died in efforts to give medicare to
victims.
Unlike Africa with poor ineffective and obsolete medical facilities,
the US has top class infrastructure and medical personnel to take
quick care of Ebola victims. Among these are the Centre for
Disease Control, CDC, the National Institute of Allergy and
Infections Diseases, IAID, and several others who are up to the
challenge. The experimental serum has brought some ray of hope
to the global community including Nigeria.
The World Health Organisation has contributed $100 million to
fighting Ebola and so too the World Bank, concerned about the
spread and devastating effect of the scourge.
In a radio interview, Professor Oluyemi Akinloye, head of Clinical
Chemistry, Medical Laboratory, University of Lagos, said only little
has been done in Nigeria towards research for Ebola cure. No
magic in scientific Ebola cure. It’s a big challenge for Africa. No
magic in scientific research, as there are protocols to be followed.
Asked about the Ebola experimental drug, he seemed not aware of
this development, but agreed that some vaccines have been
produced in Nigeria and currently tested on mice which is quite
good.
“The Ebola epidemic can be opportunity to test these vaccines and
speed up trials in Africa. We are dealing with humans. Emphasis
should be on precaution to control the spread. All scientists in
Nigeria are coming together,” he stated.
Akinloye assured that physicians are talking, not doing so bad in
fighting the epidemic.
On Professor Maurice Iwu’s claim that bitter kola could be a
remedy, he noted that this was still in experimental stage.
“Traditional medicine has its protocol and a lot still has to be
done.”
Other contributors to the radio programme lamented that it was
shameful that since 1976, there has been no vaccine for Ebola.
One of them asked what the Federal Government has been doing
since the outbreak in Liberia, Sierra Leone, etc.
Chief Research Director, Research Institute of Traditional Medicine,
Dr. Idowu, disclosed that research had been conducted on the
virus. “We’ve gone to roots. In Yoruba, Ebola is called Ajakale-
Arun, which is medicinal plant,” he stated. On whether bitter kola
can cure Ebola, he said it had not been tried yet.

Police stopped drugged-up boy racer 50 minutes before he killed two teenage girls

A boy racer high on ketamine and mephedrone was pulled over by police just 50 minutes before he mowed down and killed two teenage girls, a court heard.

Samuel Etherington, 21, was stopped at 3.25am after uniform officers saw a broken rear light on his modified Honda Civic.

At 4.15am, he crashed into friends Jasmine Allsop, 14, and Olivia Lewry, 16, in the road at 65mph - more than double the 30mph limit.

The speeding driver had taken a mixture of ketamine, a horse tranquilliser, and mephedrone in the 24 hours before the crash in Gosport, Hants.

Jasmine's heartbroken mother Rose Allsop, 38, claims her daughter might be alive if the officers who pulled Etherington over had tested him for drugs and not just let him speed away.
Ms Allsop said: "If they'd have pulled him over, the accident wouldn't have happened in the first place.

"They should have done some kind of test on him. That's what makes me angry."

Hampshire Police maintains they carried out stop-check procedures correctly as a drugs test in not normal procedure when pulling over a driver with a broken rear light.

Officers said Etherington's driving had not been inappropriate and he was "behaving normally" when stopped.

A force spokesman said: "The driver, Samuel Etherington, was reported for the defective rear light and he was seen to be behaving normally. No inappropriate driving was observed either prior to or following this stop check by these officers.

"The driver was observed as behaving normally at this point and as such no roadside test for intoxication was required."

A court heard there is no evidence to suggest Etherington's drug consumption impaired his driving in any way.

Etherington, from Gosport, Hants, pleaded guilty to two counts of death by dangerous driving and was given a nine-year prison sentence in February.

However, last week The Court of Appeal refused all attempts by the 21-year-old to appeal against his jail term.           
Jasmine's brother Reece, 16, created a drug-driving awareness campaign after his sister died at the scene, just yards from their home on November 3rd last year.

He said: "The police should have drug checked him. Now I'm trying to get the word out there and make people aware not to do drugs and go out and drive. It's just as bad as drinking."

Olivia was taken to hospital where she later died.

Boy aged 12 'stabbed 9-year-old to death in playground because he wanted to go to jail'

A 12-year-old boy allegedly stabbed another child to death before calmly calling the police and asking to go to jail.

Schoolboy Jamarion Lawhorn(black) is thought to have knifed Michael Connor Verkerke(white) to death in a seemingly unprovoked attack in a playground.

Lawhorn allegedly pulled out a blade and stabbed the nine-year old at least four times in the back.

The fatally wounded boy ran home with his younger brother Kameron.

Before collapsing on the porch of the house, he reportedly told his brother: “If anything happens to me, it’s not your fault. I’ll always love you.”

The family frantically tried to stop him losing blood. He was rushed to hospital but later died.

Meanwhile, Lawhorn reportedly ran to a nearby house where he asked owner Glen Stacy, 34, if he could borrow his phone, Mlive reports.

Mr Stacey said the boy told him he had stabbed someone he didn't know.

The boy then called police, and according to Mr Stacey, said: “Hi. I just stabbed somebody.

“Please pick me up. I want to die. I don’t want to be on this earth anymore. Please pick me up.”

The child also is said to have claimed he hated his life, felt like no one loved him and had “taken many pills”.

Despite the claim, Mr Stacy said the child did not appear showing any signs of an overdose.

Lawhorn is said to have got annoyed when police arrived at the scene in Kentwood, Michigan, and went to the aid of the victim before arresting him.

He is said to have shouted: “Hello. I’m right here. You’re going the wrong way.”

He then walked out into the street with his hands out ready to be handcuffed and shouted “finally”, before both children were taken away in ambulances.

Police said he told medics that he had been planning the attack for a year because he wanted to take someone with him when he killed himself.

He said that he wanted to go to jail or die and asked if anyone in jail could kill him.

An investigator said: “Jamarion was asked why he did that and he stated because he wanted to go to jail.

“He stated that he did it because he is bad and always does stupid things, and gets in trouble a lot.

“Jamarion stated that he was thinking they would probably kill him for doing something like this and ‘inject stuff in his body.’”

It has been reported that the boy cried and trembled as he appeared in court where he will be tried as an adult.

Pet dog bites off owner's genitals when he tries to stop attack on daughter

The 90lb mixed breed, called Stitches, punctured the child's cheek, before locking its jaws around her 35-year-old father's groin..

A dog owner had his genitals ripped off when he tried to stop his pet pitbull attacking his young daughter.

The man was trying to rescue his eight-year-old girl as the vicious mutt bit her face.

The 90lb mixed breed, called Stitches, punctured the child's cheek, before locking its jaws around her 35-year-old father's groin, Sky News reported.

The New Mexico man was rushed to hospital where he was treated for "partial detachment of the genitals" and "severe lacerations".

The girl was treated at the scene following Saturday's attack.

Albuquerque Police Department spokesman Simon Drobik said: "When we got on the scene the man was bleeding severely and holding his groin.

"It was really bad."

The family said they had only moved in to the house three days before the attack after inheriting it from man's grandfather who had recently died.

They also inherited Stitches, who was removed from the property following the attack.