Understanding Ebola

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According to the World Health Organization,"the Ebola virus causes an acute, serious illness which is often fatal if untreated. Ebola virus disease (EVD) first appeared in 1976 in 2 simultaneous outbreaks, one in Nzara, Sudan, and the other in Yambuku, Democratic Republic of Congo. The latter occurred in a village near the Ebola River, from which the disease takes its name.The current outbreak in west Africa, (first cases notified in March 2014), is the largest and most complex Ebola outbreak since the Ebola virus was first discovered in 1976. There have been more cases and deaths in this outbreak than all others combined. It has also spread between countries starting in Guinea then spreading across land borders to Sierra Leone and Liberia, by air (1 traveler only) to Nigeria, and by land (1 traveler) to Senegal."I remember watching  a documentary about the Ebola virus when I was in sixth grade, so about three or four years ago. I believe the documentary was called The World's Most Dangerous Virus. Therefore, this proves that Ebola isn't anything new, as the World Health Organization confirmed  that the virus was first discovered in 1976. If I remember correctly the documentary mentioned that the first persons to be infected with the virus in West Africa most likely caught it from primates in the woody lands. 

 Most West Africans similar to us East Africans go into the forest in order to get woods to make fire for food. And trust me I know because my mother had to do that in means of attaining food. As we're all aware of the recent Ebola outbreaks, I'm proud to hear that whatever treatment U.S. Ebola patients are getting is optimistically fighting off the virus. I'm especially happy to hear that  Nina Pham, the Dallas nurse diagnosed with Ebola is free of the virus! This shows that our country will do everything it can to protect its people and provide them with all the necessity they need to gain all the health and wellness they deserve.Nevertheless, some government officials are debating whether to ban travel from west African and the U.S. But as US Today states, there are no flights that leave directly from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. The process of trying to figure out who went to those countries and were infected with the virus would take ages. 

 US Today stated, "Supporters of a travel ban started with a simple slogan: Stop the flights. That was before they discovered that no airlines fly directly to the U.S. from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. So a travel ban would require halting connecting flights from Europe or any place where West Africans could reach the USA. That's a non-starter. More realistically, a travel ban would take the form of visa restrictions designed to prevent people from the stricken countries from entering the USA." Therefore, it would be best if people just report their trip to countries in west Africa so that they could be tested for Ebola as a precaution. 
Lastly, I'm getting very annoyed of students taking Ebola as a joke. Its not funny at all, you don't know what Ebola patients are going through! Getting a very high fever and not being able to move at all is not fun. Please students, respect those patients and try to imagine yourself in that position just to get an understanding on their struggles.










Dr. Anthony Fauci

 WebMD Asks About Ebola

 WebMD

 2014
The Editorial Borad

 Misinformation mars Ebola travel ban debate: Our view

 U.S. Today

 2014/10/22

  http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/10/22/ebola-virus-travel-ban-editorials-debates/17750123/

 Michael, Martinez

 Mark, Bixler

 What will nurse do after beating Ebola? Hug, her dog of course

 CNN

 CNN Health

 2014/10/25

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