Ebola Outburst in Africa A Deadly Virus

Ebola is a deadly virus that first showed up in 1976 in West Sudan, but it majorly showed itself in 2014 in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.

This is what the Ebola virus looks like.

There are many symptoms to this virus that kills 90% of its victims. Some of the early stages of the infection are a slight headache, then a sudden high fever, tiredness, diarrhea, and then a stomach pain come quickly. Around a week later blood leaks into the intestinal tract and lungs when the virus thins lining in the body's blood vessels and internal organs. After that people will be nauseous, and then puke bloody, black liquid. The sickness makes the body uncontrollably bleed, like nosebleeds, blood shot eyes, and sometimes the victim will even bleed through their skins pores. Because of all of this, people will go into shock and die soon after.

There are different theories of how Ebola started and there are different animals that it came from. One possibility is that it came from green monkeys and they spread it to Germany and Belgrade. Another way Ebola could have come about is by bats and fruit flies.

People who get infected by the Ebola virus need to be immediately isolated so it can't spread. Since there is no cure for Ebola doctors who help patients suffering from the infection try to keep them alive until their body can start to control the infection. One way health workers can help is by supplying fluids, electrolytes, and food. Another way is by getting blood transfusions and dialysis to keep them stable when the body is fighting the disease.

Health workers must wear protective gear to cover their whole body to not get infected because the virus spreads by bodily fluids.

Ebola is a very scary and painful virus that has no cure or vaccination. It is spreading to more countries and the amount of people getting infected has been quickly increasing since the outburst in 2014. The U.S. government is planning to spend $750 million on treatment centers in West Africa. Even after that there will still be people who don't have the resources to defeat the virus.

Cited Sources

“A Deadly Disease.” Badger Link, 10 Nov. 2014, web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?sid=c762e02a-aa29-42f8-b95f-25377ba8e0f1%40sessionmgr4007&vid=0&hid=4204&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWNvb2tpZSxpcCxjcGlkJmN1c3RpZD1zNzMyNDk2NCZzaXRlPWVob3N0LWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=99286997&db=mih. Accessed 16 Mar. 2017.

“Liberia: Sharing His Experience Fighting Ebola.” Interview by World Health Organization. World Health Origination, Dec. 2014, www.who.int/features/2014/ebola-patient-trainer/en/. Accessed 16 Mar. 2017.

Miller, Petra. Ebola. New York, Cavendish Square Publishing, 2016.

Rupp, Jennifer A. “Ebola virus.” Ebola Virus,

Credits:

Created with images by SEDACMaps - "Biomes, Africa" • CDC Global Health - "Ebola virus" • PublicDomainPictures - "monkey amazon squirrel" • BaronBrian - "Bat" • USDAgov - "Mexican Fruit Flies" • CDC Global Health - "Preparing to enter Ebola treatment unit" • Army Medicine - "Army researcher fighting Ebola on front lines" • CDC Global Health - "Triage"

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