Ebola Essay, Research Paper

Ebola Here in the United States, the kinds of diseases that invoke fear are typically ones such as Cancer or AIDS. As for the citizens of some third-world countries in Africa, the diseases they fear make Cancer look like a day in the park. One of such diseases is the deadly Ebola. This virus seriously lacks compassion and mercy on its victims, forcing innocent Africans to watch their friends and family die in a short period of time. The symptoms, biology, and outbreaks of Ebola have been, and are, nothing but horrific. Ebola causes several serious health problems and is highly contagious. The symptoms include headaches, fever, chills, loss of appetite, and muscle pains. When the diseased has progressed some the patient may experience: diarrhea, rashes, sore throat, black vomiting (highly contagious, scalding hot vomit containing blood), abdominal pain, limited kidney and liver functions, internal and external bleeding, no blood clotting, capillaries bleeding into the surrounding tissue, and viral hemorrhagic fevers (leads to breathing problems, and shock). The incubation period is four to sixteen days, and death may occur anywhere from eight to seventeen days. Of those who become infected, 70% to 90% die. Ebola can be spread in many different ways: direct contact with infected blood, organs, secretions, or by reuse of needles. The way it is most commonly spread is through needles, a more common practice over there. There is no known vaccination for this disease. An infected person must be kept in intensive care until the virus passes. It is urgent that they be given intravenous fluids since they are constantly dehydrated. Most importantly, sterility must be practiced by the doctors by using gloves, masks, and suits when dealing with the patients. The majority of the time the patient needs to be kept isolated, and corpses must be dealt with properly to prevent further spreading. If a person lives through the disease, he is still contagious for up to seven weeks after treatment, therefore, extreme caution should be taken. Ebola is a virus that spreads like wildfire, and scientists agree that it should be a classification all itself. It is classified as a level four pathogen. Only the most dangerous and fatal diseases are level four pathogens. AIDS is merely a level two. The virus itself is a long threadlike shape. It is called Filoviridae, from the root filo, meaning “thread.” A strand of negative RNA infects a cell and produces the counterpart, a positive strand. The positive strand then proceeds to produce several new negative RNA strands. Together, the community makes a protective protein layer. Then, the strands begin to bud off and infect new cells. The fascinating, yet frightening fact is that a person can become infected and die within a matter of days. This virus is truly one of a kind.

Where did this virus come from? No one knows exactly. It was first discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River, hence the name, “Ebola.” There are several different types of the virus: Ebola Sudan, Ebola Zaire, Ebola Reston, and Ebola Tai. Humans are immune only to Ebola Reston, which infects monkeys. In the beginning stages of the disease, infected monkeys were shipped from Africa to Reston, Virginia. There was a panic when they discovered the virus, but to make matters worse, they discovered it was airborne. None of the workers who were around the monkeys became infected. Ebola Reston is the only airborne form of the Ebola virus, and only infects monkeys. There have been several other outbreaks in the last twenty-three years. Steps must be taken to prevent further damage. We can not allow the scar of Ebola’s symptoms, side effects, and most importantly, number of lives taken, to grow. The organizations CDC and USAMRIID are working on finding a vaccination and preventing future outbreaks. This disease could easily be carried to the United States and take the lives of innocent Americans. Perhaps then people would start caring. Typically, people really do not care if it does not happen to them. It is vital that something be done to stop this killer while it is in its beginning stages, before it gets out of hand.