EBOLA: Recently reported cases of Ebola in the United States cause many to express concern.
By Matthew Saenz, Staff Writer
Over the past several months, the “Ebola” headline has become more prevalent with each passing day introducing more media coverage and more harrowing accounts of the disease. When Ebola crossed the Atlantic Ocean from disease-ravaged Africa, the state of paranoia within the United States reached high levels. Many citizens, however, know little about the virus; the fear that they will contract Ebola is simply blown out of proportion.
Ebola, formerly known as the Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a disease caused by infection of the body with one of the four virus strains capable of infecting humans: Ebola virus (Zaire ebolavirus), Sudan virus (Sudan ebolavirus), Taï Forest virus (Taï Forest ebolavirus, formerly Côte d’Ivoire ebolavirus) and Bundibugyo virus (Bundibugyo ebolavirus). First discovered in 1976 in the Ebola river of the Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R.C), the virus has reappeared sporadically since then, becoming deadly only in the affected areas. Beginning in March 2014, however, the reported Ebola cases have skyrocketed according to the World Health Organization (W.H.O). Total estimated cases have numbered over 13,000 in three West African countries alone: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. With American aid efforts going into these countries, transmission of this virus has been passed to American citizens, with a total of five reported positive results. The disease is believed to have first been passed through fruit bats, though the Centers for Disease Control (C.D.C.) declared that transmission from human to human only occurs through direct contact with bodily fluids of the infected. Both the W.H.O. and the C.D.C. report that symptoms can be mistaken for that of the influenza upon onset, but the long incubation period (2 to 21 days) makes it hard to determine the presence of the virus. The disease is marked by internal and external bleeding, vomiting, muscle aches and diarrhea. Though this virus poses a risk to those living in West African countries, it poses little risk to people living in the United States, unless they have visited those countries and have come into contact with people carrying the disease.
Recent media coverage of Ebola has sparked a burgeoning sense of fear of the disease; MSNBC, Fox News, CNN and ABC have all focused entire segments on it. In fact, ABC’s Dr. Richard Besser traveled to Liberia to give a first-hand account of a country ravished by the disease, and his program showed the horrors of a society in fear. However, Ebola should not cause this type of reaction in the United States. In an article published by Time Magazine, Mandy Oaklander explained that the major outbreaks of the disease have all occurred in Africa, and “as long as the proper training has taken place, countries with robust health care systems are much more equipped to contain and manage infectious diseases.” Additionally, Ebola is described as a difficult virus to catch because there has to be intimate contact with infected people. It cannot be transmitted through the air and is generally ineffective at spreading through objects.
This did not stop the American population from creating new fears; some fear that the virus will eventually mutate and become airborne, leading them to believe that all incoming flights should be halted from the areas of the epidemic. However, Alice Park and Bill Saporito, both writers from Time, dispelled these fears. Park explained that the prospect of the virus mutating to become airborne is nearly non-existent. “In the history of all viruses, scientists have yet to see a virus mutate so that it goes from spreading via droplets to becoming airborne,” she said. She also explained that Ebola requires a fluid vehicle for transmission, which makes it even harder to transfer without bodily contact. Saporito explained that closing the borders to these countries would be counter-intuitive, as people would find alternative means to get inside the country.
Ultimately, Ebola is something that the world should be notified of; it can be deadly when transmitted and is something that has affected a significant portion of West Africa. However, U.S. citizens can rest easy knowing that the odds of contracting Ebola are slim.