Airport screenings seem to be an effective way to prevent the spread of Ebola. A new study estimates airport screenings in West Africa help prevent three Ebola cases per month from leaving the region. These screenings currently take place in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea—the three countries hit hardest by the virus.

Passengers departing these countries have had to undergo screenings for Ebola since early August. The study also says these screenings are more efficient than screening passengers as they arrive at other countries. The United States began screening arriving passengers for Ebola at five maajor airports earlier this month.

Published in the journal The Lancet, researchers analyzed flight information and schedules along with Ebola virus data from West Africa to estimate the number of infected people that would have been likely to fly outside of the three countries. More than half of the travelers from those three countries are expected to arrive in the United Kingdom, Ghana, Senegal, France and Gambia.

In addition, the study found that exit screening was much more efficient and less disruptive than entry screening.

Without the screenings, researchers estimated that an average of 2.8 travelers with Ebola would travel internationally each month. The researchers did not account for the number of unreported Ebola cases.

NEXT: Transplanted nose cells help paralyzed man walk

Sourced from: livescience.com, Ebola Airport Screening Prevents 3 Cases Per Month from Traveling

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has taken the position that edible marijuana products—such as pot-infused brownies—should be banned because they may be attractive to children. Instead, those  health officials say edible marijuana products should be restricted to  lozenges or hard candy.

A task force has been established in Colorado to create new rules on the packaging and labeling of edible pot due to an increase in the number of children treated at hospitals for ingesting edible marijuana products. Many people have become sick after eating pot products and two deaths have been linked to pot edibles.

One requirement already approved for implementation in the future is the use of a standard symbol to indicate marijuana is contained in an edible product.

The group’s proposals will be presented in February to the state legislature.

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Sourced from: reuters.com, Colorado health officials recommend banning most pot confections

A paralyzed Bulgarian man has regained the ability to walk with the help of a frame after a groundbreaking surgery involving cells from his nose transplanted into his spinal cord.

The man became paralyzed after being stabbed in the back in 2010. A certain type of nose cell, called an olfactory ensheathing cell (OEC), permits nerve fibers to regenerate into the brain. Scientists from Neurosurgery at Wroclaw Medical University in Poland created a “bridge” across the scar on his spinal cord and used OECs so nerve fibers could regrow.

First, surgeons removed one of his olfactory bulbs up in his nose and grew OECs in culture. Two weeks later the OECs were transplanted into the patient’s spinal cord—a strip of ankle nerves was grafted on to create a “bridge” for the gap. The OECs successfully sparked the spinal nerve fibers to regrow across the grafted ankle nerves.

After months of intense rehabilitation and management, the patient has recovered some voluntary movements and sensation in his legs. He continues to improve and is even able to drive and live independently today. This surgery may provide a breakthrough in treating spinal cord injuries.

NEXT: Colorado officials want to ban edible pot

Sourced from: medicalnewstoday.com, Paralyzed man walks again after nose cells repair his spinal cord