What is Ebola and Why is it So Deadly? Should You Be Worried? What Should You Do?

In March, an outbreak of Ebola began with a just a handful of cases in Guinea. As a public health afficionado if not practicioner, I've had my eyes on the reports of the outbreak, but recently Atala has been asking me what I know about the virus and he is becoming worried. So what is Ebola?

The Ebola virus causes viral hemorrhagic fever, and symptons can resemble the flu. The virus is named after the Ebola River in the DRCongo (formerly Zaire), where one of the first outbreaks occurred in 1976. Of Ebola's five sub-types, the Zaire strain is considered the most deadly.

The WHO has said preliminary tests on the Ebola virus in those cases in Guinea in March suggest the outbreak there is the Zaire strain, although that has not been confirmed.

However, as of June 30, at least 759 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have been infected by Ebola since its symptoms were first observed four months ago. 467 of them have died. That's a 61.5 percent mortality rate.

Kefee Will Be Buried in Sapele on Friday 11th July, Condolence Team Confirms at Visit to Her Family

Late Nigerian pop gospel singer Kefee [real names - Irikefe Don-Momoh nee Obareki] would be buried on Friday 11th July 2014 in her hometown – Okpara-Inland, Ethiope East Local Government, Delta State.

On Thursday, her publicist in Lagos released a statement stating her husband, Teddy Don-Momoh who has been making arrangements to bring her body back from the U.S., would arrive the country first to receive her body before taking her down to Delta State for burial.

Teddy earlier indicated that his wife’s family had requested that she be buried in their hometown, with a celebratory service in Sapele afterwards and he was comfortable with the arrangement.

Senator Zanna Says Chibok Girls are Being Raped on Camera and Videos Released to the Public

In an interview with Rudolf Okonkwo of Sahara Reporters, Senator Khalifa Ahmed Zanna of Borno Central said that Boko Haram members "are just raping the girls on camera and even showing them on video, releasing it to the public."

The Senator said;

Somebody told me that they were shown being raped, and in turn, it is the girl who was raped that came out kneeling down and begging the man to be patient. Do you know the reason why? They said when they rape them they shoot them. Therefore the girl after being raped, she curled down to the man, kneeling down and begging him to please be patient. So disturbing. And although I didn’t see the video, the person narrated to me, he said he had the video.

The interview was recorded on the 24th of June in New York, 70 days after the abductions, but was released today, 3rd July. See the video and the transcript below.

Man Cooks His Own Genitals And 5 Party Guests Pay $250 Each To Eat Them

Gross! A man who had his genitals removed seasoned them before cooking them for five paying dinner party guests, it has been claimed.

Mao Sugiyama, 22, who is asexual, had voluntarily undergone surgery to have them removed. Then the illustrator took his frozen penis and scrotum home from hospital and organised a party.

He charged guests around £160 per person to eat his severed genitalia in Tokyo, Japan. They were garnished with mushrooms and parsley.

Before tucking into dinner, guests sat down to listen to a piano recital and take part in a panel discussion, CalorieLab.com reported.

Taiwanese Man Gets 80s Punk Hairstyle To Impress Younger Women Into Going Out With Him

That style may have looked good on Arsenio Hall and Mc Hammer in the eighties, but on this man, n this age of video games, it made him look like a plastic Lego toy.

When Wu Lei, 54, from Taiwan, was asked about the punkish hairdo, a perfectly right-angled flat top, he said he had wanted to impress a 23-year-old woman he had tried to chat up but she was rejecting his advances.

Wu, who is still single despite the expensive hairdo, said:

"I can't understand it. I make an attractive monthly income of 70,000 Taiwanese Dollars (£1,400 - N350,000). I adopted this hairstyle because I wanted to look like a guy in his 20s or 30s to attract the girl who rejected me. Or in fact any girl."

Celeb Insta Fashion - Waje is Ready For the Day in Rugged Jeans

Some call it rugged jeans, others distressed denim, all is the same thing. Waje rocked her folded calf length jeans with white slingback sandals and a plain white top. Her blue suede tote, hair band and sunglasses give the outfit even more oomph!

The Omni Knowest crooner shared her style for the day with the caption;

That type of morning, u wake up regardless of the stress, smile, love yourself and get the job done #thattypeofmorning

Mya Goes Hard As She Addresses Rumors That Jay Z is Cheating on Beyonce With Her

Mya has completely denied the rumors that she has been Jay Z's secret long-term mistress amid speculations that he has been cheating on Beyoncé.

Yesterday, some reports of Beyonce's performance of her song Resentment, where she changed the lyrics [read here] during the On The Run tour, added the rumor that Jay had been having a long-term affair with Mya and that he has been paying her bills all the while.

But when an Instagram user asked Mya directly if she was Jay's mistress, Mya went hard against what she called "thirsty sources", and said if they bore false witness against Jesus, then she's not surprised. She wrote,

Genevieve Nnaji Slams Punch With Scathing Rebuttal - Never Called Nollywood Bland and Mediocre

A newspaper interview granted by Genevieve Nnaji to Punch quoted her as saying that she was not willing to return to Nollywood as it has been characterized by mediocrity and blandness. 

Several players in the industry had called her out on the harsh words, and she has issued a rebuttal on her Instagram saying;

"I never called my industry bland and mediocre. Truth or not, they were NOT MY WORDS. As a person/writer, you can "assume" what you like about my thought process but DO not project those thoughts as "quotes" by me. It's distasteful, insensitive and quite unprofessional. It's insulting to those limited few working hard to make a difference in the industry. I am a product of Nollywood and my loyalty remains unshaken."

The part of the interview referenced asked the actress why she did not appear in more movies these days; and she had suppossedly said;

Video - Nigerian Couple, Eghe and Uche Have Spectacular Dubai Getaway Wedding

The video of highlights from the wedding is courtesy of Onye Ubanatu, creative director of My Passion My Life. He describes Eghe and Uche as one playful set of young lovers.

They are beautiful and the video is absolutely spectacular!

Check it out and some pictures below...

Watermelon Pants to Keep Your Son Cool? Check! Check! Check!

Some children do have them. I mean they have some wacky but cool dads who will do anything to make their children comfortable, including pants made from watermelon.

Ruifeng Fan, from Taiwan, was the first to fashion watermelon pants for his son, to help the five-year-old Hao beat the summer heat.

Hao was always complaining about being too hot but the family had no swimming pool for him to cool down in.