In just one month’s time the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus has multiplied by tenfold, according to medical experts through the United Nations. FRUSTRATING the efforts to contain Ebola is ignorance about the disease and the lack of adequate resources. Experts predict it will take another six to nine months to get the disease under control.
What had been an alarming outbreak in mid-summer is now deemed a health crisis in a pocket of West Africa.
Tuesday, President Obama announced the United States would commit money, manpower and resources to help fight the spread of the disease which has more than a 50 percent fatality rate.
Almost 2,500 have died from the virus, and an equal amount are currently infected. Three weeks ago it was expected 20,000 would succumb to the disease. Today, that number is a fraction of what is expected.
The virus is most frequently transmitted from one person to another via bodily fluids, including those around the eyes or the moist tissue around the nose and mouth. An infected child could easily transmit the disease to her entire family. A husband to a wife. A victim to a caretaker.
Once inside the body, the virus infects various cells in one’s immune system, which are then replicated throughout, and attack the body’s blood vessels. Extreme dehydration results from acute diarrhea and vomiting. The body’s “building blocks,” electrolytes such as potassium and sodium, get out of whack. The virus also attacks the liver, disabling its ability to manufacture protein.
To date, no cure for Ebola exists, though survival rates are far greater in sophisticated hospitals where inconsistencies in one’s blood can be tracked and treated.
It’s not until November that the initial data will be released on two clinical trials of an Ebola vaccine. Of the several therapies being studied, they have been confined to monkeys and guinea pigs. Five strains of the virus exist across the continent of Africa.
Of the 40 years since its discovery, this is the worst outbreak of Ebola in recorded history, according to officials with the World Health Organization.
The West African nations have limited resources to wage such a campaign. Hospitals there are primitive compared to North American standards.
And because we cannot transport every victim to Europe or North America, we must help provide West Africa with the necessary resources to help them cope with the problem.
— Susan Lynn
U.S. right to join fight against Ebola
