Introduction: A. The Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is caused by 4 specific type of virus from the Ebolavirus genus. The virus affects human and other primates. The virus currently has a death rate of over 90 percent. The virus is thought to have been contracted from human consumption of fruit bats or bushmeat. B. The Ebola disease epidemic in the West Africa has turned out to be a global threat with no cure or vaccine available. C. The virus is transmitted in humans through direct contact of bodily fluid of an infected individual.
Thesis: The virus is known to have mutated very fast since the first outbreak of the disease, and without any proper treatment in sight it’s still very dangerous and threatens life of many individuals. Transition: We will now discuss the origin of the virus, its effects and other risks that are brought by the virus including economic risks. Body Main Point A: The origin of the virus and previous outbreaks of the virus A. The first known outbreak of the Ebolavirus dates back to 1976 in sudan, The name of the virus was given Sudan Virus. a. The first outbreak infected over 280 people and killed 151 people. b. The strain of virus was named Sudanvirus after the country B.
The second outbreak occurred in Northern Congo, which was called Zaire at the time. 1. The virus was contained within 27 days of the outbreak 2. Dr. Ngoy Mushola described the nature of the virus for the first time 3. Was caused by a different strain of Ebola virus and was named Zaire Ebolavirus Transition: Other outbreaks have occurred after the initial outbreaks but none had claimed thousands of casualties like the current outbreak of the Ebolavirus in the West Africa . Main Point B: Causes of Rapid Ebola Spread in 2014 A.
The main causes for rapid spread of the disease seem to point to the inability to contain the disease in the early stage of the disease spread. a. The treatment facilities were closed pretty early without complete containment of the virus. b. People were allowed to leave the country freely. c. The people in Guinea, the origin of the outbreak were negligent and resorted to violence and denial of the virus. B. Neighbouring countries Liberia and Seirra Leone tried to stop the virus from taking hold in their countries but were unsuccessful. a. They closed border, organized information sharing with locals, conducted door to door search but the outbreak took hold. b.
They were hightly under resourced and didn’t have the infrastructure to deal with an outbreak. Main Point C: Countries and various companies are trying to create a working treatment for the Ebola virus which are currently in trial. A. The first medicine to surface was ZMapp, which had promising effect of apes but were untested in human subjects. a. A few vials were given to some medical works where only 2 Americans survived. b. After that, ZMapp announce they were out of the medicine and needed to create more. B. The UN has two medicine which it thinks has potential to be a cure. a.
VSV-EBOV” by scientists at the Public Health Agency of Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, Canada. Currently on human trials. b. Another treatment identified is by UK pharmaceuticals firm GlaxoSmithKline. Transition: While these treatments have shown good results in animal testing, they need to be thoroughly tested for doses, and other side effects before giving them to the masses in the affected areas. which can stil take months. Main Point D: The countries affected by the virus were already very poor and most of the people were living under the poverty line. The outbreak set them even back.
A. Liberia had gone through civil war and was just about to start getting better while the outbreak has halted all sectors to a standstill. B. The outbreak will cause tremendous pressure on the poor as they are unable to afford better sanitation and preventive measures or leave the country. C. Even after the outbreak might be over, the country still has to restart their development process all over again. Conclusion: Even though the world had Ebola outbreaks before the world hadn’t seen an epidemic in the modern world like this. A.
The outbreak spread hugely because of some decisions made on the early stage and also illiteracy, negligence and denial of the local people B. This is a global threat that needs help and support from far and wide to be able to contain and prevent further spreading. Final Thoughts:
A. The global community take lessons from the current outbreak to prevent any more outbreaks like this. B. Education is very important in this scenario so that the people don’t resort to violent behaviours like we’re seeing in the current countries.
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