If you’ve picked up a newspaper, or turned on the news recently, you have definitely heard about Ebola hemorrhagic fever, more commonly referred to as Ebola. According to the CDC, “Ebola, previously known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a rare and deadly disease caused by infection with one of the Ebola virus strains. Ebola can cause disease in humans and nonhuman primates (monkeys, gorillas, and chimpanzees)”. Symptoms associated with the virus are high fever, vomiting, diarrhea, body aches, and unexplained hemorrhaging. The current Ebola epidemic has been spreading through African countries for months, killing thousands. Living so far away from Africa, it was easy for us to ignore the issue, but last week the first case of Ebola was reported in the United States. Although it seems to be under control right now, I couldn’t help but wonder: will Ebola become an epidemic here too? Of course, I am not the only one with these fears, panic spreads much faster than the virus itself, and many Americans have been on edge since hearing the news.It can be scary to imagine the possibility of an outbreak in America, but according to the World Health Organization (WHO), that doesn’t seem likely.
Ebola is spread through direct contact with the body fluids (blood, vomit, saliva, etc) of an infected individual, or from contact with something that has been contaminated with the fluids of an infected person (towels, sheets, etc). This is actually good news for us, because that makes the disease a lot harder to spread than if it was airborne. Another reason an Ebola epidemic in the United States is unlikely is because of the precautions that are already being taken. Individuals that test positive for the Ebola virus are immediately quarantined and everyone they’ve had contact with since showing symptoms is alerted and tested for the virus every day for 21 days. If any of the people who had contact with the original infected person start to show symptoms, all their contacts are alerted and tested, and so on. This technique is known as “contact tracing”.
The CDC remains optimistic about the ability to prevent an Ebola outbreak in the United States. In an interview on October 5th, CDC Director, Dr. Thomas Friedan stated, “Here in the U.S., I remain quite confident we will not have a widespread outbreak…we will stop it in its tracks, because we’ve got infection control in hospitals and public health that tracks and isolates people if they get symptoms”. While it’s natural to feel uneasy about the spread of the virus, it’s important for people to realize that most attention should be focused on Western Africa, where the death toll continues to rise. Until Ebola is under control where the real epidemic is, there is always a risk of it spreading to other countries. It’s also important for people to be educated about the virus and prevention.
Sources:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/01/comparing-ebola-flu/16554689/
http://www.newsweek.com/us-public-response-ebola-could-echo-early-days-aids-epidemic-275249
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/07/31/world/africa/ebola-virus-outbreak-qa.html?_r=0
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/cdc-head-frieden-ebola-america-stop-tracks/story?id=25975221
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/2014-west-africa/qa.html
The ebola epidemic is so scary and heartbreaking. The scariest part is that ebola starts out with flu-like symptoms and while we are just getting into flu season many people are scared they won’t be able to tell the difference. Luckily, scientists are experimenting with different drugs that could help and they have been making progress. Brincidofovir and ZMapp are two drugs that have seemed to be helping. They are also in the process of trying to make a vaccine. There are efforts being made to help the ebola epidemic and keep it from spreading in the US.
This is definitely something scary to think about. I am sure that Ebola will not spread in the US, and the CDC seems to already be taking precautions and doing a good job at making sure they contain the disease if they believe there are potential symptoms showing in an individual. And it is definitely easier to keep track of a victim’s contacts because of the way the disease is spread, because an airborne disease would pretty much be impossible to follow. Of course, it was different knowing about the disease when it was halfway around the world in Africa, and now knowing that it is in our own country. It’s always scary to think of such dangerous diseases entering our country and being able to come close to home, but after reading this post, I feel that the US will not have to deal with an epidemic and will control the situation.
Well I do hope Ebola will not spread here. However, do you know now that 80 PSU students were monitored for Ebola couple of days ago. Luckily, these 80 Penn State students across the university’s campuses who were considered to be at risk of infection after traveling in areas close to Ebola outbreaks in West Africa are cleared of Ebola. Here is the news link. http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2014/10/80_psu_students_monitored_for.html
Of course, I agree that Ebola will not spread here. There has been another patient brought to the US, (Nebraska), to be treated for Ebola after contracting the disease in Liberia. I’ve also read that the man who’s currently being treated in Dallas is in serious condition and that experimental drugs are hard to come across currently. I think that we wouldn’t be bringing Ebola-infected people here if there was a possibility to cause an outbreak here.