Ebola Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Ebola - Essay Example The disease again struck in West Africa in March 2014 and had been the most lethal outbreak of the disease where cases of death outnumbered all of its previous outbreaks combined (World Health Organization). The host of Ebola virus is not yet known. The first patient who contracted the virus was believed to have been infected through a contact with an infected animal such as apes, monkeys or fruit bat. Among humans, the virus can be transmitted through direct contact with blood or body fluids (urine, sweat, saliva, feces, breast milk, semen) with person who has the Ebola virus. The virus can also be transmitted to another person through the medium of objects such as using needles and syringes that was contaminated by the virus or through primates and fruit bats (since the first patient was known to be infected by a primate or fruit bat). Ebola is not airborne or it cannot be transmitted through the air. Once a person has contracted Ebola, the following symptoms may appear – â€Å"fever, muscle pain, weakness, fatigue, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal (stomach) pain, unexplained hemorrhage (bleeding or bruising)† (Center for Disease and control Prevention). These symptoms may appear between 2 to 21 days after a person has been exposed to the virus. There is no FDA approved vaccine for Ebola yet. Ebola is treated as the symptoms and complications appear. Experimental vaccines are now being developed to arrest the disease but are not yet fully tested for their effectiveness (Center for Disease and control Prevention). At present, health care professionals administer the following interventions to increase the probability of survival of Ebola patients: One of the unorthodox treatment of Ebola is the infusion of body fluids of a person who recovered from Ebola believing that the antibodies in that person will help the immunity of the infected person to fight the