U.S. finds first Ebola case, CDC confirms

[LLS]

An adult who recently traveled from West Africa to Texas has tested positive for Ebola, the first case to be diagnosed in the U.S., health officials said Tuesday.

The patient developed symptoms of the viral disease days after landing in Texas and was admitted into isolation on Sunday at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, the Texas Department of State Health Services said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta confirmed Tuesday that the patient had tested positive for Ebola.

The patient took a flight that left Liberia on Sept. 19 and arrived in the U.S. on Sept. 20, CDC Director Tom Frieden said in a news conference Tuesday. The patient became ill on Sept. 24 and was admitted to the hospital on Sept. 28, he said.

Dr. Frieden and Texas health officials wouldn’t provide any information about the patient, including the person’s health status or nationality. Dr. Frieden declined to answer repeated questions as to whether the patient had taken a commercial flight to Dallas.




after SARS now we have ebola, this news was out after market closed
so tonight's US market could have some selling pressure

[greengiraffe]

Choc horror! Ebola could hit cocoa prices, Nestle warns
ELI GREENBLAT THE AUSTRALIAN OCTOBER 09, 2014 12:00AM

Nestle Boss Martin Brown
Nestle’s Martin Brown Source: News Corp Australia
NESTLE will squeeze costs out of its local arm in the face of skyrocketing cocoa prices that have already risen 16 per cent in the last year, with fears prices could rise further if the Ebola virus in Liberia and Guinea spreads to Ivory Coast, the world’s biggest cocoa-bean producer.

The move comes as Nestle’s operations in Oceania, which take in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, face a raft of commodity price increases across key inputs including milk and vegetable oil, and a competitive retail sector makes price rises difficult to push through.

Martin Brown, Nestle’s general manager for confectionery and snacks, said the company was forced to lift prices this year for its branded chocolate due to wild swings in commodity prices, but at this stage no decision had been made on a fresh round of ­increases.

However, the rapid spread of the Ebola virus in West Africa is a huge concern, as hedge funds reportedly are already speculating that the cocoa price will surge as concerns grow that the Ivory Coast could soon report its first victim.

Mr Brown, who oversees local sales for chocolate brands such as KitKat, Aero, Smarties, Wonka and Milkybar, said the Swiss-based global confectionery manufacturer was keeping a watchful eye on events in west Africa.

“There are no cases of Ebola (in the Ivory Coast yet); clearly it’s a major concern for us,’’ Mr Brown said. “We are very active. We have a big business there with our leading R&D centre in Africa based in Ivory Coast, and we are watching the Ebola crisis with considerable concern for the communities we work in.’’

He said Nestle would first try to cut costs before it was forced to pass on rising commodity prices to its customers — supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles, independent supermarkets, as well as convenience stores and milk bars.

“We haven’t made a decision yet (on prices). We are very ­focused now on trying to drive as much efficiency through our supply chain to offset any commodity increases and not pass that on to our customers.

“Commodity prices are incredibly volatile at the moment: cocoa has been up, dairy prices are up then down, the vegetable oil price has moved all over the place, and at end of day what we do if we see long-term trends in commodity prices we can’t offset through efficiencies, then we look to recover that in pricing.’’

He said the increase pushed through by most confectionery companies this year, including Nestle, was the first movement in five years for the chocolate bar category.

The confectionery sector is worth about $6 billion a year in sales in Australia, but unlike other segments within the food and grocery space it hasn’t suffered from a proliferation of private label products pushed by the two supermarket heavyweights.