It was a little over 2 months ago that the World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak in East Africa an “international public health emergency.” The crisis began back in March, when over 50 people in one town of Guinea died with similar symptoms. Since then, 778 people have died from Ebola in Guinea. In surrounding countries, the disease has also spread rampantly with 2,316 deaths in Liberia, 930 in Sierra Leone, and 8 in Nigeria. Officials say 70% of cases result in death. As Ebola has begun to pop up in the West (a man who travelled in Liberia died in the United States last week), here are eight key facts you should know about the outbreak.
1. The outbreak traces back to December last year. Doctors and other scientists are working tirelessly to try and asses, contain, and treat the outbreak. They have traced Ebola deaths all the way back to December 2013, when a 2 year old Guinean boy died with symptoms of ebola. From there, his family succumbed to the same symptoms and their friends and family contracted it and spread it throughout Guinea.
2. This is the most dangerous strain of the Ebolavirus. For non-medical experts, there are five viruses that are classified as Ebolavirus. The virus at the centre of the outbreak is the most dangerous version of these five viruses, making it incredibly deadly. Symptoms of this particular virus include nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, coughing, bleeding, and weight loss, amongst other things
3. We still don’t know exactly how it infected people in East Africa. Ebola was first diagnosed in 1976 in Central Africa. However, this strain is different than the Ebola strain that was first found there. That means that the first cases of the East Africa outbreak probably came from animal-human contact, but it is difficult to know for sure. The general theory is that animals, especially bats, drop feces into water reservoirs which humans then drink. From there, it is spread through human to human contact.
4. Lack of proper equipment has made containing Ebola difficult. Besides there being an extreme shortage of beds and medical tents available in these regions, even within these pop-up treatment centers there are problems. Lack of things as simple as soap and water makes proper sanitation and rehydration for patients almost impossible.
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5. Almost 10% of deaths are from healthcare workers. With some doctors and healthcare workers serving thousands upon thousands of patients with hardly any resources, many have also succumbed to Ebola. This also makes research difficult because many conducting long-term and possibly crucial studies are dying before their work can be used to prevent deaths.
6. There is no cure for the virus. As Ebola has spread to the West, many are confused as to why doctors cannot easily cure patients with their high-tech equipment. While treatment does become infinitely easier with proper equipment (clean water, decontamination measures, isolation wards), there is no known cure for Ebola once a patient is past a certain point. This was the case of the first U.S. death last week. After he had contracted the disease for several days with no treatment, it made treatment much more difficult.
7. Spain, the United States, and Singapore have all seen Ebola cases within their borders. These countries and others are working to outrun the spread of ebola by invoking tireless monitoring and decontamination initiatives. When a man arriving in Philadelphia joked about having Ebola, he was escorted off the plane by medical workers in full Haz-Mat suits (http://youtu.be/7e6pBcHabnM). Similarly, family and friends that may have come in contact with the patients in these countries are being carefully monitored for symptoms.
8. Proper resources are vital to containing the outbreak. While there is no reason to panic for an outbreak in the West, officials are warning that the rate at which Ebola is spreading should be a concern to all. Doctors in East Africa need immediate resources to contain and treat the virus and conduct important research. Do your part to assist these efforts by donating and encouraging others to do the same. Doctors without Borders (http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/our-work/medical-issues/ebola) and the British Red Cross (http://www.redcross.org.uk/en/Donate-Now/Make-a-single-donation/Ebola-Outbreak-Appeal) are two options that provide direct services in East Africa.
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