In the News--Ebola

Have you read the news about Ebola?  This virus found mostly in Africa has killed over 1500.  Earlier (7/31/2014) US health officials warned Americans not to travel to three African countries (Liberia, Guinda, and Sierra Leone).  Two Americans working for a medical mission became ill with Ebola and were transferred back to the US (Emory University in Atlanta for medical care.  Both Americans recovered.  What do we need to know about Ebola?

Ebola is caused by the Filoviridae virus and has been causing illness and death in Africa since 1976.  The experts suspect the first people caught the virus when they ate an infected monkey. Moore, P, The Little Book of Pandemics, Fall River Press (New York, NY, 2009): 29-31.  Another possible carrier is bats.   The current outbreak has killed over 1500 people in western Africa countries.  This virus is a vicious killer; it kills 60-90% of the people infected.  If you want to check out the CDC website on Ebola virus, you can find it at http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/guinea/qa.html

The Yahoo News report on 8/2/2014 quoted a doctor/professor and chair in molecular microbiology and immunology at Johns Hopkins University, as “low-risk situation for general US population…Ebola is not spread like the cold or the flu… It’s transmitted by very close contact with people who are sick or with their bodily secretions, such as blood, urine or feces.”  This Yahoo article can be found at

https://www.yahoo.com/health/how-ebola-is-spread-from-human-to-human-93513417302.html

I noticed a recent communication from CDC expanded to “body secretions.”  

This week’s news involved the successful treatment using a experimental vaccine on 18 monkeys infected with the Ebola virus.  The National Institutes of Health will begin enrolling volunteers for the ebola vaccine beginning this week. 

http://online.wsj.com/articles/testing-on-experimental-ebola-vaccine-to-begin-in-u-s-1409241094?KEYWORDS=ebola+vaccine

Many people (including medical professionals) are concerned with this disease.  Needless to say, many people are watching this situation as it evolves.