Ebola Outbreak

You may or may not have noticed that there is an Ebola outbreak going on in Africa right now. I'm not sure why but the news hasn't really covered much on this outbreak. That fact in and of itself is kind of scary especially considering that this is the largest Ebola outbreak in history and now spans three countries. So far there have been well over 600 cases with almost 400 deaths and authorities are struggling to contain it mainly because of the fear that the people have of the foreign healthcare workers and their distrust of their governments. On top of this people are actively trying to get away from quarantine zones and are even running healthcare workers out of town in some places. There are also at least 30 people who are confirmed to have Ebola who are missing! I mean, can you blame them? Who wants to spend their dying days in the confines of quarantine, and when you see that most of the people who go into those zones never come out, you would be suspicious too. To add to the chaos, the burial tradition of the people in Africa is very intimate and contributes significantly to the spread of the disease. Bottom line... it's a mess, and there is always the threat that Ebola, or any other deadly disease for that matter, could come knocking at our doors, and if it does, will you be prepared for that?

So you may wonder, what is Ebola? Well, it is a virus that is spread through blood and bodily fluids. That is the good news! Think about it, it is spread the same way that HIV or Hepatitis C is spread and those are already around us and you aren't dying from that and you don't see people in mass randomly getting it? So if we know that it is transmitted by bodily fluids all you have to do is avoid that! The problem is that Ebola causes internal hemorrhage and throws your body into a clot disorder called DIC which is very difficult to treat. This causes the internal organs to melt and for you to bleed from every orifice, thus making it difficult to avoid contact with bodily fluids. The bleeding is also at the end stages of infection. To start out you experience flu like symptoms for up to 3 weeks before bleeding starts. Well who doesn't get flu like symptoms occasionally? So you start having a cough, nausea, vomiting, fever, generalized weakness, and fatigue. Now it probably won't be all of those so lets just say you have some weakness, a cough, and some nausea. Is your first thought... O Crap! I have Ebola? Well if it is, congrats! You are probably a hypochondriac and you need to be evaluated! For the rest of us, we shake it off, maybe try some cold medicine, and maybe take a day or two off work. Keep in mind this would be in the beginning stages of and outbreak, I would hope once word got out that Ebola had come to a town near you, that precautions would be taken immediately with any signs or symptoms.

So how do you prevent it? During an Ebola outbreak, gloves and masks will become your best friend. The hard part to protect is your eyes because if someone is coughing and bleeding all over, it is possible that some form of bodily fluid will fly through the air and could land in your eye thus transmitting the disease. So if at all possible just stay away, but if not the take the precautions and make sure you don't get exposed. Also if someone had it and survived they could transmit the virus sexually for two months following infection. The likelihood of that is low since the mortality rate of Ebola can be as high as 90%. Luckily the outbreak in Africa right now is less than that but time will tell.Unfortunately there is no vaccine or real way to treat Ebola though there are some experimental treatments out there. They have made a vaccine that has worked in some animals but no FDA approved vaccine for humans. The only potential vaccine takes 6 months to work so by then it's too late.

My purpose here is to inform, not to cause fear. It should give us all great hope that it is only spread by bodily fluid contact rather than being airborne. This means you can prevent it just as you prevent HIV or Hep C. The panic of people should be the real thing to be worried about because people do stupid things when they are afraid. Knowledge is power so Be Powerful! Let us all pray for those affected in Africa and that those working to contain the outbreak will have success.