Essay on Ebola Outbreak

In the 21st century, there has been the development of a fatal viral disease referred to as Ebola which has resulted in the death of thousands of people in various parts of the world. To be precise, bola virus had spread to more than 20,000 people from different regions of the world. West Africa has been mapped as the primary region that has had an increase in the spread of the Ebola disease and hence there has been an increase in the death rate due to the Ebola Virus (Friedrich, 2014). West Africa countries which have faced a steep increase in the spread of the Ebola virus include; Guinea, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal, and Liberia. In Guinea, there has been a declaration of Ebola Virus disease as a national epidemic after the development of 4,507 Ebola related case in various parts of the world. 3,343 of the Ebola cases were confirmed to be caused by the Ebola virus while 667 were considered to be having high probabilities of being related to Ebola disease (Joob & Wiwanitkit, 2014). The spread of the virus attained its highest degree of climax after 2,296 deaths resulted from the proliferation of the disease.

Ebola outbreak in this peer-reviewed journal has been well determined by clearly explaining the cause of this viral disease. According to Derek Gatherer who is a bioinformatics researcher at Lancaster University in the United Kingdom, Ebola disease was caused bat infections (Friedrich, 2014). Derek research was affirmed by the World Health Organization where they affirm that bat is among the animals that resulted in the development of this disease. Other animals that are considered to be the cause of Ebola disease include; gorillas, porcupines, chimpanzees, forest antelopes, and monkeys. Five of the key viruses that have been involved in the spread of this disease include; Sudan Ebola virus, Tai Forest Ebola virus, Bundibugyo Ebola virus, Reston Ebola virus and Zaire Ebola virus (Joob & Wiwanitkit, 2014).

The spread of Ebola viral disease has also been discussed in the peer-reviewed journal articles since there has been a vivid explanation on how the disease is distributed over nations. As illustrated peer-reviewed journal articles, the Ebola virus has been spread when one comes into contact with Ebola-virus contaminated body fluids (Friedrich, 2014). Once the virus is in ones host cells, the virus replicates itself hence spreading to other host cells. Human antibodies usually fight the spread of this virus, but the fast and relentless nature of the Ebola-virus during its spread from one host cell to the other makes ones body immunity to weaken. Decreasing ones body immunity renders one to be diagnosed with the Ebola disease.

Creating awareness of the symptoms of Ebola has enabled people to detect and immediately report probable Ebola cases hence playing a significant role in enhancing global health. Symptoms of the Ebola virus include; severe fever which is 38.6 degrees Celsius, diarrhea, abdominal pains, severe headache and muscle pains. Ongoing researches like ZMapp and Brincidofovir have experimented to affirm the efficiency of the treatment drug developed; however, there is no current treatment of Ebola Virus (Joob & Wiwanitkit, 2014). Doctors ensure Ebola patients are hydrated hence the body immunity has enough time to replenish its antibodies to overcome the virus which then renders one cured of the disease. Statistics affirm that more than 10,000 Ebola patients have survived from this disease hence illustrating a positive impact on medical experts in the treatment of this disease.

The news report on the cause and spread of Ebola virus across West Africa has been considered to be accurate when compared to original scientific articles. Accuracy, in this case, is assured since the symptoms, cause and treatment procedure illustrated in this news report is the same as the ones in the original scientific articles.

References

Friedrich, M. J. (2014). Ebola Outbreak in West Africa. JAMA, 311(19), 1958-1958.

Joob, B., & Wiwanitkit, V. (2014). Ebola outbreak in West Africa. African health sciences, 14(4), 1085.