Ebola Research Paper

When we think about deadly diseases, we often think of cancer, malaria or HIV/AIDS. However, with the current horrific outbreak in West Africa, Ebola may also come to mind. Being one of the most dangerous diseases in the world, Ebola has been devastating and unpredictable throughout history; killing countless lives with each unexpected arrival. The deadliness of Ebola is closely related to its similar symptoms to malaria and dengue fever, which causes diagnosis to be difficult. Adding to the issue, our treatments for the illness are ineffective and needs further development. To date, we are losing the battle with Ebola, because we do not understand the disease. If we want to develop a cure for Ebola, we must learn about it through reviewing …show more content…
The history of Ebola allows us to understand how humanity had dealt with the disease in the past. Almost 38 years prior to the current outbreak in West Africa, Ebola had an outbreak in 1976 near the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. During the outbreak, over 318 infections of Ebola occurred with 280 confirmed deaths. As situations worsened, international scientific teams were sent to investigate the outbreak. When the teams arrived, they were surprised to find that Ebola transmissions within the region had largely ceased. There are several reasons that caused the transmission for Ebola to decrease. With the high death toll among the staff, all of the nearby facilities were shut down; this effectively removed large centers from spreading Ebola through unprotected contact with the infect individual. Without medical facilities, patients in affected villages were placed under quarantine, further preventing the spread of Ebola. As the Ebola virus fail to spread, it soon runs out of victims to infect and the outbreak was controlled. Shortly after the 1976 outbreak was resolved, the Ebola virus disappeared for several years. It was not until 1995 that Ebola returned to surprise us with an outbreak in the village of …show more content…
Currently, our technology is lacking to the extent that even diagnosing Ebola is challenging. Doctors can only diagnose the disease through advanced laboratory tests, such as electron microscopy, antigen-capture detection tests and virus isolation tests. However, the tests have slow processing times and results are delayed until weeks after the examination. Adding to the issue, even if Ebola is identified, our current treatments are ineffective and consist solely of reducing pain and attempting to control the spread of the virus within the body. Additional treatments given to the patient may include: restoring fluids, minimizing bleeding and dealing with any secondary infections. Evidently, our treatments are minimal and most patients do not survive. Fortunately, recent studies on the disease have led to a range of potential treatments including blood products, immune therapies and drug therapies that increase survival rates. Additionally, experimental vaccines specialized for curing Ebola have shown promising results. Two confirmed trial vaccines, developed through years of research on the illness, are currently at the last stage of human safety testing. Although our current technology may be lacking, further studies on Ebola has shown hopeful results and the possibility for a potential

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