6A - Wednesday, September 10, 2014

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 4

6A - Wednesday, September10, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

With new surge in Liberia,
Ebola case toll above 4,200

Health workers at
risk while working to
treat patients
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) - A
surge in Ebola infections in
Liberia is driving a spiraling
outbreak in West Africa that
is increasingly putting health
workers at risk as they struggle
to treat an overwhelming num-
ber of patients.
A higher proportion of health
workers has been infected in
this outbreak than in any pre-
vious one. The latest infection
was of a doctor with the World
Health Organization treating
patients in Sierra Leone. The
organization gave no details,
but an American who became
infected while working in West
Africa landed in the U.S. Tues-
day to get treatment at Emory
University Hospital.
This is the second WHO staff-
er to be infected in Sierra Leone,
and the U.N. health agency said
Tuesday that after an investiga-
tion of the first case, staffers bat-
tling Ebola there now have better
working conditions - including
larger, more private quarters.
The outbreak sweeping West
Africa is thought to have killed
more than 2,200 people, and
public health experts agree that
it is out of control. More than
4,200 people have believed to
have been sickened in Guinea,
Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria
and Senegal.
The disease is spreading par-
ticularly quickly in Liberia,
where WHO figures published
Tuesday showed that more than
500 new cases were recorded in
a week. The organization warned
Monday that it expects thou-
sands ofnew cases in the country
in the coming weeks.
Sierra Leone said it is also
expecting to uncover potentially
hundreds of new cases during
a three-day nationwide lock-
down later this month. While
people are confined to their
homes, thousands of volun-
teers will go house to house to
search for those infected, Sidie
Yahya Tunis, a Health Ministry
spokesman said Tuesday.
Health workers in Liberia

have also paid a heavy toll; 160
have been sickened in that coun-
try, and 80 have died, accord-
ing to Karin Landgren, the U.N.
envoy to the country. Health
workers are at particular risk
because of their close contact
with the sick since Ebola is only
spread by contact with bodily
fluids of those who have symp-
toms.
Nancy Lindborg, a senior
USAID official, said a new
25-bed field hospital will be
dedicated to treating infected
health workers, though it will
not replace medical evacuations
abroad. The U.S. announced
Monday it would deliver - but
not staff - the medical facility.
"One of the limiting factors
in getting more health care
workers in is to provide them
the assurance that there will be
quality health care available to
them," she said. "This facility is
an important part of that."
A shortage of doctors and
nurses to care for these patients
is being exacerbated by the
sheer number of health work-
ers becoming infected. But that
shortage may also be the rea-
son they are getting infected,
experts say.
"The fact that people that
are highly trained are getting
infected is because the number
of cases is bigger than the bed
capacity," said Jorge Castilla, an
epidemiologist with the Euro-
pean Union's Department for
Humanitarian Aid. "When you
have too many patients, you
have too much to do, you get
tired and when you're exhaust-
ed, you make mistakes."
Staffing shortages have been
exacerbated by strikes, and
nurses and doctors have also
fled their workplaces simply out
of fear. Staff at a hospital in the
Liberian capital went on strike
this week; a local pastor called
the place a "slaughterhouse"
because it is not equipped to
handle treatment for Ebola.
Castilla said doctors face
the impossible choice between
turning away patients they don't
have room for - knowing that
they will continue to spread
the disease - and taking those
patients in, thus putting their
own health at risk
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That choice is starkly illus-
trated by the fact that Doc-
tors Without Borders, which
has been involved in Ebola
outbreaks for years, has never
recorded a single infection
among its international staff
during an outbreak. So far in
West Africa, where it is current-
ly running most of the treatment
clinics, six national staff have
been infected, but an investiga-
tion suggested none of them was
infected at work.
Castilla said the group's track
record is likely due to the fact
that they don't open more cen-
ters than they can properly staff.
While many facilities are
working with a fraction of the
staff they need, he said, Doc-
tors Without Borders adheres
to its rule that every caretaker
treating a patient enters the
ward with a buddy, who watches
the caretaker to ensure his suit
doesn't slip, for instance.
"If (protective equipment) is
worn properly, there is no risk of
infection," said Dr. David Hey-
mann, a professor at London's
School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine. "Unfortunately, in the
case of Ebola, a mistake can be
fatal."
After a Senegalese epidemi-
ologist with WHO working in
Sierra Leone tested positive for
Ebola last month, the agency
conducted an investigation into
how he became infected.
While the agency is not
releasing the results of the
investigation, spokeswoman
Nyka Alexander said Tuesday
that staff living and working
quarters in Sierra Leone have
been expanded to make them
less cramped and workers no
longer share living space with
other agencies.
Changes were also made to
working procedures, including
more temperature checks for
everyone coming into the WHO
office and living quarters, Alex-
ander said.
Michael Osterholm, a profes-
sor at the University of Min-
nesota who advises the U.S.
government on infectious dis-
eases, said while the infections
of two WHO staffers didn't yet
constitute a pattern, the cases
were worrying.
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A bulldozer works on a flood damaged section of Interstate 15, Tuesday near Mnape, Nev. Flood damage caused the
closure of the interstate which is the main road between Las Vegas and Salt Lake City.
Southwest fash flooding
closes interstate, rail ine

Seasonal monsson
and Tropical Storm
Norbert bring floods
MOAPA, Nev. (AP) - The
Southwest was mopping up
Tuesday after pouring rains
and flash flooding washed out
partofamajor rail line between
Las Vegas and Salt Lake City;
swelled a river so high that
a Utah national park down-
stream was briefly shuttered;
and closed a 50-mile stretch of
heavily traveled Interstate 15
when soggy pavement crum-
bled.
The cleanup began after
seasonal monsoon moisture
combined with the remnants
of Tropical Storm Norbert to
dump heavy rain throughout
the Southwest and set a single-
day rainfall record in Phoenix.
The sun was out Tuesday
in the small, southern Nevada
town of Moapa In Nevada,
where officials had feared that
rushing water would over-
whelm the banks of the swollen
Muddy and Virgin rivers.
"We saw it right at the cusp
and it didn't go over," said Erin
Neff, spokeswoman for the Clark
County Regional Flood Control
District. "It's a near-miss."
At least 30 homes in nearby
Overton were flooded, and Clark
County firefighters counted 18
rescues in the area, many involv-
ing submerged cars.
"I've been in this area since
1978. We've never had water
like that before," said David
Muns, a resident of Moapa,
where more than four inches of

rain fell in two hours.
Transportation officials said
a stretch of I-15 near Moapa
could be closed for three to four
days while they repair pave-
ment that crumbled into slabs
over muddy red dirt. One shat-
tered section stretched for half
a mile.
Traffic was diverted along
detours that added time and
miles for the 20,000 vehicles
a day that travel the highway
connecting Las Vegas and Salt
Lake City.
Truck driver Randy Garca of
Calhan, Colorado, said he hit a
standstill Monday afternoon
and didn't get rolling again
until the next morning.
"We were hungry so we
set up a- barbecue," he said by
phone from Cedar City, Utah.
Union Pacific Railroad ser-
vice was suspended while crews
repaired track near Moapa that
was undermined and washed
out by flash flooding. Officials
hoped to have the track bed and
rails repaired by Wednesday
for freight service to resume on
the busy LasVegas-to-Salt Lake
City main line.
In southern Utah, rangers
at Zion National Park turned
away visitors for several hours
Tuesday when heavy rain and a
surging river made park routes
impassable. Mud, debris and
a boulder blocked Route 9, the
road through the main canyon.
Wet weather also took its toll
on neighboring states.
Freeways in Phoenix became
small lakes on Monday and
rescuers scrambled to get driv-
ers out of inundated cars after
more than 3 inches of rain fell.

"We've never seen this,"
Mesa, Arizona, resident Greg
Montierth said. "Arizona deals
with sand and cactus and heat.
We're not set up for it so I can
understand why everybody's
scrambling at the last minute."
Cars also were stranded near
PalmSprings and inthe Coachel-
la Valleyin Southern California.
On an I-15 overpass in the
Moapa area, police officer
Shanan Kelly said he and sever-
al construction workers helped
rescue a woman who was swept
into rushing water from the top
of her minivan.
"It was very heroic and awe-
some," Kelly said.
Forty-two people were evac-
uated from a middle school
and high school in Moapa
and spent Monday night in a
building at Clark County fair-
grounds. Churches provided
blankets, and a store and res-
taurant donated food before
police escorted the people over
the damaged I-15, according to
Clark County spokeswoman
Stacey Welling.
About 190 people were evac-
uated from the Moapa Band
of Paiutes reservation after
tribal officials warned that
waters were close to breaching
a Muddy River dam. Officials
were assessing damage to prop-
erties with leaky roofs and wet
floors where water breached
flood control channels.
"We had rivers running
through people's yards. But
as far as property damage to
homes themselves, I think we
fared pretty well," said Sherryl
Patterson, administrator at the
tribal office.

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Tentative deal reached to aid
bankruptcy recovery in Detroit

In joint court
filing, The city and
Syncora settle the
company's claim
DETROIT (AP) - Detroit has
reached a tentative deal to pay a
key creditor 26 cents onthe dol-
lar and offer it valuable leases,
a move that that could clear the
biggest hurdle in the city's plan
to reduce its debts and emerge
from bankruptcy protection.
A joint court filing Tuesday
evening said Detroit and the
bond insurer Syncora Guar-
antee "have reached an agree-
ment in principle" to settle the
company's $400 million claim
in the nation's largest-ever
municipal bankruptcy case.
Syncora spokesman Steven
Schlein told The Associated
Press the company would get
26 percent of what it's owed.
Detroit also would extend
Syncora's lease on the Detroit-
Windsor Tunnel by 20 years, to
2040, and give the company a
30-year lease on the Grand Cir-
cus Park parking garage, Syn-
cora said.
The two sides said they need
two days to complete the deal
and ask Judge Steven Rhodes
for a postponement of the bank-
ruptcy case trial until Friday.
"If this agreement is final-
ized within this time period as
we expect, it will profoundly
alter the course of the proceed-
ing and the litigation plan of

the remaining parties," the fil-
ing said.
Syncora attorney James
Sprayregen told the AP that the
postponement request was "so
that we can work through cer-
tain contingencies contained in
the deal, including obtaining full
resolution with Bank of America,
UBS and other stakeholders."
"We are hopeful the deal
will be finalized in the next 48
hours," Sprayregen said.
In response to a question
from the judge last week,
another Syncora lawyer had
told the judge that he thought
Detroit could afford to pay 75
cents on the dollar.
Syncora Guarantee and fel-
low bond insurer Financial
Guaranty Insurance Co. have
been leading a small group of
creditors fighting the plan by
state-appointed emergency
manager Kevyn Orr.
Orr sent the City Council a
request Tuesday to approve the
deal, according to a copy that
Syncora gave the AP. Reflecting
the legal limits on the council's
power, Orr said it would have
a week to present an alternate
plan to raise an equivalent
amount of money, and an emer-
gency oversight board would
make the final decision.
A message seeking comment
was left for Orr spokesman Bill
Nowling on Tuesday night.
Most creditors, includ-
ing about 30,000 retirees and
city employees, have endorsed,
Detroit's plan to cut $12 billion
in unsecured debt to about $5

billion.
Syncora has strongly
opposed the terms, saying that
Detroit's blueprint unfairly
discriminated against finan-
cial creditors. Syncora and
some other creditors have
pushed for the city to look
into the sale of assets, includ-
ing city-owned pieces in the
Detroit Institute of Arts.
The threat to artwork
prompted the creation of the
so-called Grand Bargain -
commitments from the state,
major corporations, founda-
tions and others to donate more
than $800 million over 20 years
meant to soften cuts to city
pensions while placing pieces
in the DIA into a trust and out
of the reach of debtor demands.
Pensioners this summer
voted in favor of Orr's plan,
which calls for general retirees
to take a 4.5 percent pension
cut and lose annual inflation
adjustments. Retired police
officers and firefighters would
lose a portion of their annual
cost-of-living raise.
For decades, Detroit paid
its bills by borrowing money
while struggling to provide
the most basic of services for
residents. The city, once fueled
by the massive auto industry it
gave birth to, shrank from 1.8
million people six decades ago
to fewer than 700,000 now.
The trial that began Sept.
2 is to help Rhodes determine
whether to approve, modify or
reject the city's financial reor-
ganization plan.


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