After more than a year since the outbreak of the new deadly virus, COVID-19, the Ebola virus disease (EVD) seems to have resurfaced. The 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa began in a rural setting of southeastern Guinea, spread to urban areas and across borders within weeks, and became a global epidemic within months. Much like COVID-19, the Ebola virus is believed to have been infected by bats. The first case was reported in December 2013, with an 18-month-old boy from a small village in Guinea. After five additional cases of fatal diarrhea occurred in that area, an official medical alert was issued on January 24, 2014, to the district health officials. During the outbreak, from 2014 to 2016, eleven people in the United States were diagnosed with the Ebola virus disease, two of them died.
According to the Washington State Department of Health (DOH), public health officials in Washington state are monitoring 23 low-risk people who recently traveled from N’Zérékoré Prefecture of Guinea and North Kivu Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which are areas experiencing Ebola virus disease outbreaks. Though the individuals are being monitored in Washington, state health officials have stated that the public risk is low, the individuals have been considered “persons under monitoring” for 21 days after their arrival to the United States.
Due to this resurfacing of the Ebola virus, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) have now issued an order requiring all airlines to collect and provide the CDC with contact information for passengers who have traveled in either Guinea or the Democratic Republic of Congo within 21 days before arriving in the United States.
Local public health officials are also assigned to conduct health monitoring and other follow-ups for 21 days after the travelers arrive in the United States.
The Ebola virus symptoms include fever; aches and pains, such as severe headache, muscle, and joint pain, and abdominal pain; weakness and fatigue; gastrointestinal symptoms including diarrhea and vomiting; abdominal pain; unexplained hemorrhaging, bleeding or bruising; red eyes, skin rash, and hiccups. However, many common illnesses can have the same symptoms as EVD including influenza, malaria, or typhoid fever.
Though right now, especially with COVID-19 still present, another virus outbreak can be seen as alarming, the risk of getting the Ebola virus in the United States is very low. According to the DOH, the viruses that cause EVD are located mainly in sub-Saharan Africa and are spread through direct contact with an infected animal, like a bat or nonhuman primate, or a sick or dead person infected with EVD. More information on EVD can be found by the CDC.