Grady Broughton

Professor Groome
ENC 1101 OQM

May 7, y

Ebola outbreak in West Africa

West Africa is experiencing a very dangerous outbreak of the ebola virus. This ebola
outbreak in West Africa has been described by the World Health Organization as the largest,
most severe, and complex outbreak in the history of the disease (globalissues.org/article804).
The outbreak of the ebola virus in Western Africa has a few problems including the number of
patients effected and not enough hospitals to treat the infected people, the fatality rate for ebola is
very high, and no known vaccine or medicine is available for the ebola virus.
The number of people in West Africa that have become infected with ebola is so high it is
already in the thousands. The real problem in Africa is that they do not have enough money or
recourses to deal with the thousands of people who have the virus . Other countries have been
trying to help by sending over people to help treat the victims and build more hospitals and
places for the victims to be treated.
After a person starts showing symptoms of the virus they have about 16-21 days
according to Centers for Disease Control. As of now (healthmap.org/ebolaoutbreak) says that
63 percent of people that contract the virus will die. The CDC can not accurately determine the

viruses fatality rate because because the virus is still in its early phase and some people who have
the virus are still in the hospital and it is unknown yet if the virus will be fatal.
Possibly the worst part of the ebola outbreak is that there is no known vaccine or
medicine to treat for the virus. symptoms of ebola are treated as they appear
(cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/treatment). experimental vaccines and treatments are in the process of being
developed h but have not yet been tested to see if they work or if the vaccine is
harmful.Recovery from Ebola depends on good supportive care and the patients immune
response. People who recover from Ebola infection develop antibodies that last for at least 10
years, possibly longer. It isn't known if people who recover are immune for life or if they can
become infected with a different species of Ebola. Some people who have recovered from Ebola
have developed long-term complications, such as joint and vision problems
(cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/treatment).
The spread of the ebola in Western Africa is a very tragic event, many innocent
people have lost their lives and have been untreated
because there is not enough recourses or hospitals to treat the people who have been
infected. Although the CDC is working hard to contain the spread of ebola. CDC confirmed on
September 30, 2014 the first case of Ebola was diagnosed in the United States. a person who had
traveled to Dallas, Texas from West Africa. The patient did not have symptoms when leaving
West Africa, but developed symptoms approximately five days after arriving in the United States.

Works Cited
1. Ebola Outbreak in West Africa." - Global Issues. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2014.
2. CDC. "Treatment." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, 03 Oct. 2014. Web. 08 Oct. 2014.
3. "Estimating the Fatality of the 2014 West African Ebola Outbreak | HealthMap." Estimating
the Fatality of the 2014 West African Ebola Outbreak | HealthMap. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2014.