Ebola can have a fatality rate of up to ninety percent. In his novel, The Hot Zone, Richard Preston describes Ebola as, “a kind of obscenity you see only in nature, an obscenity so extreme that it dissolves imperceptibly into beauty.” The virus spreads through all bodily fluids, including blood, vomit, feces, saliva and sweat. Male patients who have recovered from the virus can even pass it on through their semen up to seven weeks after recovery (Elliot). The current outbreak in West Africa has caused the death of over a thousand people, and is one of the most devastating Ebola outbreaks ever. Recent reports have been leaked that indicate the outbreak has been severely underestimated. “Many families hide infected loved ones in their homes,”
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Ebola is extremely difficult for doctors to identify immediately. Initially, it seems to be the case of the flu, with similar symptoms to the more common influenza virus. Ebola also has similar symptoms to malaria and typhoid fever, common in African cities. This causes possible Ebola patients to be hospitalized among the general public. Hospitals are easy breeding grounds for any filovirus. Some families who suspect a relative to be infected with Ebola send them to an isolation ward. The WHO calls these isolation wards "an incubator of the disease," in a news release issued Friday, August 22. “When a hot virus multiplies in a host, it can saturate the body with virus particles, from the brain to the skin. The military experts then say that the virus has undergone "extreme amplification". This is not something like the common cold. By the time an extreme amplification peaks out, an eyedropper of the victim's blood may contain a hundred million particles of virus.” (Preston 12) Ebola patients are cared for in the same communal room where patients with other diseases are being treated, and the Ebola virus can easily spread to the entire ward (Elliot). The United Nations health agency says that many infected individuals come from “shadow zones” where people who fear or do not trust authorities will not let doctors enter (Portland Press Harold). These individuals risk the health of not only themselves, but also hundreds of others. This is due to lack of public awareness of the severity of the 2014 Ebola
Ebola is extremely difficult for doctors to identify immediately. Initially, it seems to be the case of the flu, with similar symptoms to the more common influenza virus. Ebola also has similar symptoms to malaria and typhoid fever, common in African cities. This causes possible Ebola patients to be hospitalized among the general public. Hospitals are easy breeding grounds for any filovirus. Some families who suspect a relative to be infected with Ebola send them to an isolation ward. The WHO calls these isolation wards "an incubator of the disease," in a news release issued Friday, August 22. “When a hot virus multiplies in a host, it can saturate the body with virus particles, from the brain to the skin. The military experts then say that the virus has undergone "extreme amplification". This is not something like the common cold. By the time an extreme amplification peaks out, an eyedropper of the victim's blood may contain a hundred million particles of virus.” (Preston 12) Ebola patients are cared for in the same communal room where patients with other diseases are being treated, and the Ebola virus can easily spread to the entire ward (Elliot). The United Nations health agency says that many infected individuals come from “shadow zones” where people who fear or do not trust authorities will not let doctors enter (Portland Press Harold). These individuals risk the health of not only themselves, but also hundreds of others. This is due to lack of public awareness of the severity of the 2014 Ebola