August 4, 2014 – The Ebola Virus
The filovirus Ebola, as with HIV/AIDS, was an unknown disease less than 50 years ago. And like HIV, it can be sexually-transmitted but there the similarity mostly ends.
According to America’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) two filoviruses exist,
“The first filovirus was recognized in 1967 when a number of laboratory workers in Germany and Yugoslavia, who were handling tissues from green monkeys, developed hemorrhagic fever. The virus was named after Marburg, Germany, the site of one of the outbreaks.”
The CDC added,
“Ebola virus was first identified in 1976 when two outbreaks of Ebola hemorrhagic fever (Ebola HF) occurred in northern Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) and southern Sudan.”
It also stated that,
“When close contact between uninfected and infected persons is minimized, the number of new filovirus infections in humans usually declines.”
Summer of 2014
And on August 2, 2014 the Washington Post reported,
“This is the first time an Ebola patient has been brought to the United States, the CDC said. But it’s not the first time an ultra-lethal virus like this has surfaced in the U.S. health system. The CDC said there have been five instances in which people came to the United States carrying the Marburg virus and Lassa fever virus … The health system correctly identified the disease in every case, and the virus didn’t spread …”
According to Newsweek’s July 31, 2014 online article, David Heymann, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology and head of global health security at Britain’s Royal Institute of International Affairs, stated that,
“The only case in which an Ebola case was known to have left Africa and made it to Europe via air travel was in 1994 when a Swiss zoologist became infected with the virus after dissecting a chimpanzee in Ivory Coast.
The woman was isolated in a Swiss hospital and discharged after two weeks without infecting anyone else.”
Other Factors
Another lesser-known fact is that the Ebola virus can be sexually transmitted by a male for 7 weeks after he has recovered, according to the Canada’s Public Health Agency’s data sheet on Ebola.
And perhaps that is a reason why, under Epidemiology, the same site reported that,
“the 20 – 30-year-old age group seems to be particularly susceptible.”
If Ebola is detected outside Africa, the stringent precautionary measures in place in highly developed nations are expected to be effective — as long as a major catastrophe, such as war or a significant natural disaster, does not severely overtax a nation at the same time.
For instance, in a serious catastrophe people will be unable to get a sick person to the hospital because roads are blocked or jammed, and doctors won’t be able to easily get there either. Furthermore, how can someone implement precautionary measures at home if basic supplies like gloves are unobtainable.
Tools
One of the tools is the stepped up use of infrared thermography to screen international passengers on departure to and arrival in another country.
The cameras automatically detect elevated skin temperatures that may indicate a fever and underlying infection.
The CDC fact sheet can be viewed here
The Public Health Agency of Canada Ebola data sheet can be viewed here
The World Health Organization travel guidelines can be read here
