Article, Paragraph, Essay on “Ebola Virus- Global Concern” article for Class 10, Class 12, Graduation Classes and descriptive examination

Ebola Virus- Global Concern

A huge compact of media awareness is now being stanch to Ebola, the virus that is operation uncontrolled in West Africa in what is said to be the most terrible eruption yet. Ebola has already killed over a thousand people in the nations of Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria. While efforts are presently being made to stop the occurrence and quarantine these exaggerated, new infections continue to happen at an upsetting rate and the disease continues to spread. While Ebola may not pretense a considerable threat to the United States or to other non-African nations, the high fatality rate of the disease combine with the lack of average treatment makes it a cause for global concern in spite of of location.

WHAT IS EBOLA?

Ebola virus disease (EVD) or Ebola hemorrhagic fever (Ebola HF) is a type of viral hemorrhagic fever that occurs in humans and non-human primates (gorillas, monkeys, chimpanzees) due to infection with Ebola virus. The Five different breed of Ebola virus are known to exist, four of which cause disease in humans. A hemorrhagic fever is a type of fever that can cause bleeding disorders. No vaccine or standard course of treatment currently exists for Ebola and the disease is fatal around 90% of the time. The incubation period can last from two days to three weeks and diagnosis is not easy. The human disease has so far been mostly limited to Africa, although one strain has cropped up in the Philippines.

Healthcare workers are at danger if they care for patients without taking the right precautions to keep away from infection. People are contagious as long as their blood and secretion hold the virus in some cases, up to seven weeks after they recover.

WHERE DID EBOLA COME FROM?

Ebola first appear in 1976 in two outbreaks that occur in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa. The disease was named after the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of Congo where one of the villages pretentious by the virus was located. It is believed that fruit bats in Africa may be a natural host of the Ebola virus, although this has not been proven. These bats are suspected to be carriers of the virus that causes Ebola but do not become sick from it. The fruit bats are then capable of spreading the virus to humans and non-human primates.

HOW IS IT LIKELY TO CATCH EBOLA?

Ebola is considered highly infectious but not easily transmitted. In order for it to be transmitted, it needs to come and get in touch with with bodily fluids of another person is infected. This could also be an impure animal or corpses of infected humans or animals. Bodily fluids include a person’s blood, urine, saliva, feces, vomit, sweat, and semen. Ebola can also be transmitted via contact with objects such as syringe needles that have been unhygienic with infected body fluids.

It is not possible to indenture Ebola from being coughed on or breathed on by an infected person or shaking hands with an unhygienic person, or sitting next to an infected person. However, it is best to avoid any contact with persons known or suspected to be infected due to the high fatality rate of Ebola.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?

The Ebola virus takes 2 to 21 days to hatch inside a person’s body before that person begins to experience symptoms, so it is possible for an infected person to be symptom-free up to 21 days after infection, although it is more common for symptoms to begin 8 to 10 days after infection. The symptoms of Ebola are truly horrendous. The disease starts out causing flu-like symptoms such as high fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache, and sore throat. It then progresses in its later stage to vomiting, diarrhea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and both internal and external bleeding.

Late-stage Ebola symptoms can include bleeding from the ears, eyes, nose, mouth, rectum, gastrointestinal tract, and from under the skin .Reddening and swelling of the eyes, genital swelling, vomiting blood, and bloody stool can also occur.

Some patients who become infected with Ebola are able to recover from the disease. Doctors are not entirely sure why this occurs. In cases in which recovery does not happen, death from Ebola usually occurs due to shock or multiple organ failure within 7 to 16 days after symptoms first began.

WHAT ARE THE TREATMENT OPTIONS?

There is no standard course of treatment exists for Ebola and there is no vaccine for the disease. The cure involves providing supportive care to patients in the hope that their bodies will be able to fight off the virus. The encouraging care involves provide intravenous fluids and electrolytes to combat dehydration, preservation of oxygen levels and blood pressure, pain management, and administration of procoagulants to stop bleeding in the later stage of the disease.

Drugs such as ZMapp are currently being developed to combat Ebola. ZMapp a cocktail of three different antibodies that bind to foreign protein is still considered experimental and has not yet been widely tested in humans. The drug has efficiently treated a group of laboratory monkeys that were infected with Ebola, curing them of the disease.

HOW CAN THE SPREAD OF EBOLA BE PREVENTED?

The finest way to put off the spread of Ebola is to avoid contact with the bodily fluids of Ebola patients or the corpse of persons who have died from the disease. The population most at risk for contracting Ebola remains healthcare workers who treat Ebola patients due to their proximity to the disease. Stringent infection control practices must be in place in healthcare settings where Ebola patients are treated. These practices include measures such as wearing masks, gloves, gowns, and goggles, sterilizing all medical equipment, routinely using disinfectant, and isolating Ebola patients from contact with individuals who are unprotected.