9/10/2014
My article was about more people that have contracted the Ebola virus going to other countries. According to the article, a male US citizen who contracted the Ebola virus from Sierra Leone arrived at the Emory Hospital. He was seen to be healthy, able to walk with the help of others. This man was taken from Africa in an air ambulance said the State Department. Then the article moves on talking about more patients that have contracted the virus from other African countries such as Liberia and Nigeria.
The statistics are introduced next by stating that 4200 cases of Ebola have been reported since the first documented case in December. The fatality count has surpassed 2200 and many officials believe that the number to extremely under-reported. Thus, they believe that the current epidemic is a dire emergency with the possibility of becoming the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history.
Also, WHO stated that the rapid spread of the virus in Liberia shows no sign of slowing. “The number of new cases is increasing exponentially,” WHO said, calling the situation a “dire emergency with … unprecedented dimensions of human suffering.”
Then, the article talks about the current status of the Western African nations that are under the effect of the virus. Liberian citizens are facing a crisis where no beds in hospitals are available for the infected. They have reported that taxis are filled with refugees trying to leave the contaminated areas. According to one of the WHO officials, as soon as a new Ebola treatment facility is opened, they are expecting it to be filled immediately.
Due to demanding requests of aid from Western Africa, the US has decided to remedy the situation by sending them $10 million additional funds. Thus, it has added more on top of $100 million the US has already sent to help fight the outbreak. The new funds will help pay for the additional 100 staff workers to fight the epidemic. They will be sent to countries such as Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.
The article did a great job of explaining the current situation of the Ebola crisis in Western Africa. Even though the article seems to just contain the important facts regarding the outbreak, the public seems to get a different reaction. As I read the comment sections, not so many people were concerned with the virus itself but rather held negative views against patients coming back from Africa. Some didn’t understand why the US was accepting the infected people and others believed that the US shouldn’t help the countries in need. When I was first introduced to the news of Ebola, I had opinions where the virus was a minor issue and that it should just stay in Africa, and be dealt by the Africans. However, I found that more people that I thought are in need for additional medical support that their countries can’t afford. Thus, the article was helpful to have me realize that it actually can cause multiple organs to fail which could be fatal, and that the rate of infection is not slowing down. Therefore, CNN did a good job of addressing the factual situation of the current Ebola crisis.
article: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/09/health/ebola-patient-emory-atlanta/index.html?hpt=iaf_c2