Why is the world on alert for Ebola right now?
Since the WHO declared an international crises caused by Ebola Virus Disease, governments have embarked on measures to preempt the contagiousness of the epidemic. The goal is to ensure that the world is not decimated by this deadly disease. The patients have been secluded in Europe and substantially in Africa for monitoring symptoms of the lethal virus. The outbreak has left thousands of casualties on the global scale. In the meanwhile, authorities have launched border screening at airports against the demise of Thomas Duncan (Eric), the first victim to be diagnosed positively with the Ebola virus outside the African Continent. He originated from Liberia and subsequently diagnosed with the disease upon arrival in Dallas.
Airports have stepped up measures to screen passengers from West Africa in countries that have been identified as hotspots struck with the epidemic. The footing comes midst skepticism of the negligent refusal by the hospital in Texas where he went to seek cure, this lack of expeditiousness for two days cost the expatriate his life while exposing other persons to the virus. It was not until one week that his apartment was painstakingly cleaned while medical officers lost track of one man who was suspected to have contracted the virus.
The spread of Ebola virus is only possible where there is an unequivocal national blueprint or protocol for the virus, states that are perspicaciously prepared have an inclination of containing the epidemic before conditions have exacerbated. Though screening at border points is imperative, this can be insufficient given the stakes. In the interim, three additional persons are undergoing monitoring in a hospital in Madrid for Ebola symptoms; they are alongside others being monitored in Spain.
In the US and Spain, the governments have set up quarantine areas where patients are monitored. Victims transmit the virus through various body fluids like semen, saliva, mucus, blood and openings on the body. Nevertheless, one may also be exposed to contracting the disease if they handle a contaminated animal. So far, the poignant cases that have sparked foreign intervention in West Africa have left a death toll of above forty expatriated hitherto. Liberia has been hardly hit, with more than 2,000 people dead and many others confirmed to be already infected.
In the neighboring Brazil, the health ministry admitted they were monitoring a patient though did not test positive for the virus. The man had left Guinea on 19th September, 2014. He was secluded in a quarantine situated in Rio de Janeiro but was not released after the first test and was subjected to another test with a negative result. In the foregoing, the deadly nature of the virus is poised to make things worse as hyping and unverified claim may confuse potential patients. Knowing the facts on the disease has been prioritized for everyone; this is done as to enable victims to undertake apt counter measures.
Unlike antecedent cases, the outburst that began in West Africa has spread worries internationally as new discoveries are being made under the hotbeds of the lethal virus. The disease symptoms include fever, vomiting, rashes, anti-peristalsis, breathing difficulties and hemorrhagic signs. The signs are not however a positive confirmation, it requires expert evaluation for a positive conclusion to be arrived.