Examining the Ebola Virus

Ali Mahmoud Salman Al-Bayati
Touz Khormato, IRaq

It is generally acknowledged that the Ebola Virus Disease is one of the most dangerous diseases in the world today. Many people have heard about EVD, and everyone know that this disease led many people to the death because there is no a good cure or vaccine for this disease. People around the world should know the causes for this disease and what factors lead to the spread of this disease, especially in some regions like in Central and West Africa. Knowledge of the causes of this disease and its spread factors by people will reduce and limit its spread.

In this essay, I will explain what are the main carriers for EVD in some regions in Africa, and how is transmitted, as well as what are the directions and procedures that lead to control and reduce its spreads.

Fruit Bats are one of the main carriers of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Central and West Africa, and these Bats represent one of the natural causes for this disease. The Ebola Virus transmits from Fruit Bats to human and to the other animals like Apes, Monkeys and Gorillas. The inhabitants for those areas in Africa are hunting Fruit Bats and use them in the nutrition. So Ebola Virus can be transmitted to humans, whether by the hunter who handles meat, leather and cleans it for the preparation for food, or other villagers who may be involved in the preparation for food, including women. In this way, the Ebola Virus is transmitted from Fruit Bats to human. Therefore, Fruit Bats represent the first carrier for EVD in the epidemic regions with this disease in Central and West Africa.

Another natural cause is Chimpanzees and Gorillas. It is believed that Chimpanzees and Gorillas acquire the disease by feeding on fruits that is eaten by Fruit Bats. Ebola Virus is transmitted to humans from these animals, through contact with the blood of these infected animals or their secretions or meat and their members or body fluids. Thus, Chimpanzees and Gorillas are considered a major source of EVD transmission and these animals are known widely in Africa. So the natural causes are the main source for EVD spreads in Africa.

     

Even though, natural causes represent the main source of EVD in Central and West Africa, the other causes such as human causes should not be forgotten. Some people believe that human causes represent the second main reason for the spread of EVD in Africa. According to Turner (2014), The EVD transmission occurs from animal to human as a primary transmission and then transmission from human to human as secondary transmission. EVD transmission from human to human can occur by direct contact with organs, patient’s blood and body fluids of an infected person. Also, EVD can be transmitted between people, through the use of contaminated needles or contact with the infected body of a person who died with this disease. As well as the Ebola virus, can also be transmitted through the semen of the person that carry this disease. So people that infected with Ebola Virus require an intensive care.

Poverty is the most significant contributor to Ebola Virus spread. According to Chan (2014), poverty is a big factor that led Ebola virus to spread in West Africa countries like Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. As a result of famine and extreme poverty in these areas, some residents depend on hunting and eating forest animals and wild animals, more than any other region in the world. Many of these animals in the forest, carrying in their bodies viruses that infect humans and thus lead to the spread of disease. In these countries, as a result of poverty, the health system is crashed or inactivated to a large extent. In addition to the absence of doctors in remote villages and the presence of generations of children without education, led a fertile environment for the spread of this deadly disease in these countries. If these countries were rich, most of the people in these areas would receive a proper education, in addition, money would assist to build a good health centers and advanced laboratories in order to study of this disease and to find the appropriate treatment for it.

    

One of the most important stages to stop and prevent EVD outbreak is the identifying the main factors that lead to its spread. According to Frieden, Damon, Bell, Kenyon, & Nichol (2014), there are three ways for the prevention of this disease. The first is a very precise diagnosis for the disease in the health institutions. Because the greatest danger of transmission of the disease is not from patients with diagnosed infection, but from late diagnosis and isolation. Second, educating and teaching people to change their habits and practices in burying the dead in order to prevent touching with body liquids of persons who have died with this disease. And third, avoiding touching the meat of wild animals and avoiding contact with Fruit Bats, can reduce the risk of transmission of the virus to humans.

    

There are ethical issues can be raised about the world's small response to the Ebola disease. Because of small travel to that region where EVD is endemic in Africa by the citizens of developed countries, there was not much economic support for a vaccine, treatment, and aid in the area of prevention. I believe that governments and higher authorities should take their responsibility in providing all the facilities and abilities to help patients and to reduce the outbreak of EVD especially in areas where EVD is endemic in Africa. In addition, I think that the scientist and experts around the world should do more research in order to find good cures and vaccines for this disease.

    

It is clear that EVD represents one of the most dangerous diseases facing humanity at the present time. Knowledge of the main reasons for this disease by the people can reduce its spread. In addition, the international community should take the responsibility to tackle the problem to make patients with EVD living in good quality of life.

References

1) Turner, C. (2014). Ebola virus disease: An emerging threat. Nursing, 44(9), 68-69. doi:10. 1097/01.NURSE.0000453010.02525.ca

2) Chan, M. (2014). Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa - No Early End to the Outbreak. The New England Journal of Medicine, 371, 1183-1185. Retrieved from http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1409859

3) , T. R., Damon, I., Bell, B. P., Kenyon, T., & Nichol, S. (2014). Ebola 2014 - New Challenges, New Global Response and Responsibility. The New England Journal of Medicine, 371, 1177-1180. Retrieved from http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.105