Ebola Virus: A Negative Effect On Public Health

In 2014 the United States was hit with a force far more deadly and dangerous than many threats received. The ebola virus took the world by storm after it was carried to the United States and spread by people who had visited West Africa. This virus was all the more deadly as it often took hours for any symptoms to occur. In this time the Center for Disease Control spent much time and many resources looking for answers to the many questions they had. Under the time constraint and scrutinizing public, they had to determine what ebola was, what it did and its effects on the general public.

Discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River, Ebola’s first two outbreaks in Sudan and Zaire killed the majority, over half, of the people infected with the disease. Although the natural host reservoir of Ebola has yet to be found, the virus is believed to be animal-borne. A person gets Ebola from a wild animal and then is spread throughout the human population through person-to-person transmission. Healthcare workers providing aide for Ebola victims know that they have a high possibility of contracting the disease because they are exposed to infected blood and body fluids. It could take from two to twenty-one days for the Ebola Virus to show symptoms in humans, and

As with any infectious disease, whether it originates from a virus, bacterium, or fungi, there is the possibility that it will become an epidemic. For centuries, deadly diseases have threatened to infect and possibly eradicate mankind. The Ebola virus, which causes an extremely fatal hemorrhagic fever, is considered to be one of the most aggressive contagions in the world. The Ebola virus is a member of a family of RNA viruses known as, “Filoviridae” and is composed of multiple distinct subspecies (Bausch et al. 2007). It causes Ebola Virus Disease, a fairly new disease that plagues multiple poor countries within Africa. The virus mainly attacks the lymphatic system, but also severely damages the reproductive and reticuloendothelial systems. The Ebola virus disease causes muscle pain, weakness, limited kidney and liver function and extreme blood loss due to failure of blood clotting.

It is standard journalistic practice that a story must be news worthy in order for it to be of any significance. Newsworthiness is determined by the following criteria impact, timeliness, prominence, proximity, the bizarre, conflict, human interest, and currency. (SPJ) Reports must demonstrate how their story fits into one of these criteria before it can be considered news. While these factors of newsworthiness are not lost in today’s media, many media outlets have started to sensationalize the news in an effort to get rating. In today’s fragmented news society ratings have become the dominate motive behind news stories. Recently that has been a lot of information in the news concerning the Ebola outbreak. This coverage has posed many questions from an ethical and a legal standpoint.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the swine flu in the U.S., or the botulism outbreak in Ohio. What did they all have in common? They were all dealt with by epidemiologists. Now what is an epidemiologist? An epidemiologist, in briefest terms, is a person in the health profession who studies the causes and patterns of disease in humans, with the intent of reducing risks of “negative health outcomes” usually by way of research and implementation of health policy (“Epidemiologists” U.S. Bureau). Most epidemiologists are heavily involved in lab work. They analyze data and send it to health practitioners and the public. They often work for state governments where they address public health issues or abroad investigating diseases

There are many risks and ramifications of not managing diseases when traveling from different countries. The EBOLA outbreak started in parts of Africa and has started to show up in other countries due to the spread of the virus from travelers. WHO and U.S. Army personnel have since been sent over to Africa to contain and treat EBOLA (Getz, Gonzalez, Salter, Bangura, Carlson, Coomber, & Wauquier, 2015)). Now, agencies are tracking EBOLA and have learned different protocols for containment. Since, WHO and other agencies have been working on isolating the virus there has been less cases being reported of the spread of the virus. Influenza was also fatal and if it had not been control we would have lost more people. The first outbreak of Influenza

Ebola is a disease outbreaking and killing off many Africans. It was also brought to the U.S. and infected people. the first case in the latest Ebola outbreak was in December 2013 in Guinea. in guinea the health facilities are weak and the doctors and medical workers aren't ready for such a big project and

"The only sound is a choking in his throat as he continues to vomit while unconscious. Then comes a sound like a bed sheet being torn in half, which is the sound of his bowels opening at the sphincter and venting blood. The blood is mixed with his intestinal lining. He has sloughed off his gut. The lining of his intestines have come off and are being expelled along with huge amounts of blood" (Preston 17).

It is doubtless that Ebola virus has a big impact on human’s health. It kills many people and it is a catastrophe. Although there is some experimental treatments and vaccines, they are not commonly used because they are not approved by any organisation yet. Hope that approved vaccines and treatments in the future can stop ebola virus killing people so that more lives can be saved.

Most people would say that there are two different versions of viruses. One version of viruses infects people's computers and completely ruins them (which personally happens to me way to often, by the way), but the other version of viruses is a lot more deadly. These viruses affect all sorts of living things and could cause them to get very sick. Viruses replicate themselves inside an organism's living cells and they then spread to other organisms. Viruses usually spread in a similar fashion to how if you have the flu and you cough on somebody, then they will get sick as well. According to a website called Virology Blog, we do not consider viruses to be living things because, quite frankly, viruses are passive and do not fit the definition

Ebola continues to be in the center of health issues since the last outbreak of 2014. In West Africa, the effect of Ebola caused a great need for social workers to work with vulnerable populations such as orphaned children abandon by their remaining families, traumatized communities, health problems related to Ebola, etc.

I think nurses hold a major role in prevention and control the spread of communicable disease, such as the Ebola virus. One of the most important role is educating. Nurses can educate the communities about how to prevent and protect themselves from the disease. But before educating the communities, the nurse needs to familiarize him/herself about the signs and symptoms of Ebola virus and to know how to react in case of a possible or confirmed Ebola case. Nurses also must follow the standard precaution at all time. As equally important roles include collecting data, making nursing diagnoses, investigating and reporting cases, and providing information to the general public.

In March of 2014, in West Africa, the Ebola outbreak began. This horrendous disease causes symptoms such as “…sudden onset of fever, muscle aches, weakness, sore throat and headache.” Last year, when Ebola spread, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, believed the “…outbreak could reach 1.4 million cases by early next year.” The President Barack Obama spoke about the issue and what needed to happen in order to keep the people safe. However, a year later, Ebola is still taking lives from innocent people.

Ebola is a virus that was discovered in 1976, but has not failed to grab people’s attention because of recent outbreaks (1). It is often a fatal viral infection that targets the liver and blood vessel lining (10). When Ebola goes untreated it can lead to fatalities. There are 5 viral species of Ebola that are linked with infecting not only humans, but also animals (2). Many animals, such as African chimps, monkeys and other primates, are suspected of being the primary source of the Ebola virus. It is very easy for scientists conducting experiments on infected animals to contract the virus themselves (2). A person could also eat a contaminated animal and not be aware of the infection the animal contains.

In our decade, there have been mass discoveries of ways to treat, cure and prevent infectious viruses. If you were to just Google infectious virus breakthroughs the results would almost seem endless. With the recent outbreak of the Ebola virus one might begin to forget or bypass any recent advances. There is no denying that the Ebola virus has already had a tragic effect on our globe, and with our 24-hour news update availability it is often uncertain of what is true and what is untrue.