17 things you don't know about Ebola (Part 2)

Symptoms

Ebola and Marburg viruses start to show symptoms after approximately five days after infection. Chills, sore throat, a typical-feeling fever, sore joints — all common symptoms that would not necessarily send a victim to the doctor. Days later, vomiting, bloody diarrhea, body rashes and red
eyes begin, and increase in severity. Many cases result in internal hemorrhaging or external bleeding from the mouth, nose, ears, and rectum.


Containment

Early symptoms of the virus do not look much different from the common flu, fever, or stomach viruses. Therefore, the disease usually is unreadable until there are multiple cases, which is why containment is difficult. In most outbreaks, isolation wards in hospitals or medical centers have been established. In many cases, isolating victims and tracking their contacts has helped prevent the disease from becoming more widespread. The World Health Organization (WHO), Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, and many disease control prevention workers descend on areas as soon as an breakout has been reported. In light of the current West African outbreaks, Senegal has closed its borders with Guinea, and many airports are taking the temperatures of arriving travelers before allowing them to enter the country.

Safety

“Barrier nursing techniques” are crucial for the safety of medical personnel during an Ebola outbreak. Basically, they get suited up–goggles, gloves, face mask, gown, and protection for the shoes. In the common event of an Ebola patient hemorrhaging or projectile vomiting, this helps to ensure that transmission does not occur. Many cases of hospital workers becoming infected are from early incidents of an outbreak before the actual disease has been diagnosed.

Treatment

While there is not a known cure, the ebola virus can be mollified and often eliminated if discovered in a timely fashion. In 2012, groundbreaking scientific findings were published in Science Translational Magazine, claiming that two leukemia drugs showed signs of halting ebola virus replication. Intensive care treatment is necessary, and many drug therapies are in the process of being validated. Further work on finding a definitive vaccine continues; in many cases, electrolyte and nutritional management have aided in rehabilitating infected patients.

But why no cure?

There are many reasons why finding a cure for Ebola is quite an uphill battle. For starters, antiviral treatments are much harder to establish than antibacterial. The ebola virus develops rapidly and evolves at breakneck speed, which means that today’s vaccine could be obsolete tomorrow. At a research safety level categorized as “biosafety level 4?, the total-lockdown laboratory situation means that there are limited facilities for studying the virus and extremely delicate, time-consuming procedures.

Early 2014 Outbreaks

As of late February, 2014, West Africa has seen an alarming outbreak of the Ebola virus. In Guinea, the epidemic started with five confirmed cases in the capital of Conakry. By March, cases were proliferating, with 60 deaths by hemorrhagic fever reported in three other districts. On May 15, the number of cases in Guinea totaled to 248, with 171 dead. The borders between Guinea and Liberia were closed when Liberia reported 35 cases and 11 deaths. Sierra Leone reported its first-ever outbreak of the virus, with five deaths initially. This has grown. The W.H.O. confirmed that the cases were along the country’s border with Guinea.
The New Outbreak: 1,000 and More Infected

Sierra Leone is now being called the epicenter of this continued, intensified outbreak, which cut a swath across three countries in West Africa–Liberia, Guinea, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. More than 2,473 cases have been reported by the World Health Organization, with 1,350 deaths documented. Hysteria is on the rise; many who feel symptoms of even a common cold will not admit to it, on account of becoming stigma. There are two infected U.S. citizens being treated in intensive care in Liberia.

The Fight to Contain this Outbreak

The rush to quarantine all areas in West Africa where the virus may spread has been intense. In Liberia, all public gatherings are banned and nearly every border has been shut down. Police forces as well as medical personnel are in a state of emergency, and work to enforce quarantines. The hospital in Lagos–Africa’s most populated city– where the Liberian Patrick Sawyer died of ebola, has been entirely shut down. Officials are tracing his contacts over the last few days, including fellow airline passengers and airport personnel. Airports in Liberia are screening all international passengers for symptoms.

Bioterrorism

In East Africa especially, where terrorist cells have been the culprits of serious acts of violence against the public, it may be a reasonable concern to fear a situation where the ebola virus surfaces as a deliberate outbreak. While security in containment sites is always very high and areas always heavily monitored with surveillance, there is an increased need for policymakers to take measures against bioterrorism ever becoming a possibility. Following the chain of transmission with every outbreak is a high priority, in order to root out the source.

The future

“Stop eating bats!” Guinea has already made this a legal order. Sanitary methods have been undertaken in West African countries, including the banning of ceremonially washing dead bodies by hand. Scientists have been working on mutations of the virus to create a safe strain, with the hopes of finding a vaccination. Sporadic ebola flare-ups over the decades leave a big question mark over the continent of Africa. Are better sanitation, better health care, and better education key to keeping this killer virus at bay?