Contagion: How the World’s Deadliest Outbreak of Ebola Is Being Treated

Cameron Avery

Mrs. Bennett

World Literature Honors

15 March 2015

Contagion: How the World’s Deadliest Outbreak of Ebola Is Being Treated

We all have heard of it. Ebola. Mere mention of the word is enough to strike fear into the hearts of people everywhere. Yet, when asked, most people will not know much of this fatal disease from Africa. Many assume that it has spread worldwide, no doubt aided by the seemingly endless media hype around it. What they do know, however, is that last year’s outbreak of Ebola was the largest in history. Doctors have worked to limit and eventually eradicate the incurable virus. But how did they stop one of the world’s most dangerous, infectious diseases?

Ebola is believed to have begun in Guinea, when a two-year old child was found to carry the disease. The child then passed Ebola on to his family members, who later died from the disease. What makes Ebola particularly hard to stop is an often deadly combination: difficulty of treatment and the relative ease with which the disease is spread. No treatments exist for Ebola: the only options for the infected is constant monitoring and hydration in the form of IV drips. Some experimental drugs have proven effective on monkeys, but no medicines are approved for humans as of now. Once a patient becomes too far ill, there is nothing that can be done. The patient will bleed to death. As the disease can spread rapidly through even the slightest contact with skin, doctors and people working to treat patients can become infected. In fact, it is this that often causes a lack of interested professionals willing to treat infected patients. Extreme precautions must be taken to ensure safety, and the slightest breach can prove deadly.

2014’s outbreak was the largest ever recorded. Luckily for the human species, it did not spiral out of control, as is possible with a viral infection such as Ebola. According to The New Yorker, “if one particle of Ebola enters a person’s bloodstream it can cause a fatal infection”. If Ebola is not contained quickly within a small area, it can spread exponentially, as more and more people become infected and, in turn, infect others. This is seen in a few cases reported outside of the country of origination. Travelers to the USA and some European countries carried the virus with them unknowingly while traveling to Africa. Once back at their home countries, they became conduits for the spread of the virus.

While Ebola may not infect as many people as the flu, it is still one of the most potent diseases in the world. If not treated quickly and accurately, it could lead to drastic consequences for the human race. Luckily, with our increased knowledge of the virus, and promising treatments being developed, it seems as if the possibility of a widespread outbreak may be a thing of the past.