Ebola. Another way of saying: “African nightmare.”
Its signs and symptoms typically begin abruptly within five to 10 days of infection. These include:
- Fever
- Fatigue
- Severe headache
- Joint and muscle aches
- Chills
- Weakness
Over time, symptoms become increasingly severe and may include:
- Nausea and vomiting
- Loss of appetite
- Sore throat
- Hiccups
- Shortness of breath
- Difficulty in swallowing
- Diarrhea (may be bloody)
- Red eyes
- Raised rash
- Chest pain and cough
- Stomach pain
- Severe weight loss
- Bleeding, usually from the eyes, and bruising (people near death may bleed from other orifices, such as ears, nose and rectum)
- Internal bleeding
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Ebola virus
The average time between contracting Ebola and the onset of symptoms is eight to 10 days, but this can vary between two and 21 days.
Its early symptoms may be similar to–and mistaken for–those of malaria, dengue fever or other tropical fevers. When the disease reaches the bleeding phase, there can be no doubt.
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Ebola-infected hand
Infection can occur through contact with
- blood
- sweat
- saliva
- mucus
- vomit
- feces
- tears
- breast milk
- semen
- urine
of an infected person or animal.
Fruit bats are believed to be carriers and may spread the virus without being affected.
Even surviving Ebola infection doesn’t guarantee future safety: Male survivors may be able to transmit it through semen for almost two months.
Doctors believe it can’t–as yet–be transmitted through the air, like measles or chickenpox.
Government officials–such as Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention–are quick to point out that “direct contact” must occur to cause infection.
“Direct contact” means fluids that spray or splash into your eyes, nose or mouth–as when someone sneezes or coughs on you–or enter the bloodstream through breaks or cuts in skin.
You can also become infected by touching someone’s infected fluids and then touching your eyes or mouth.
Until September, Ebola was a nightmare that plagued only Africa–especially Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
As of October 3, Ebola has killed 3,400 people in West Africa.
Then on September 21, Thomas Eric Duncan flew from Liberia to Dallas, Texas. On September 25 he sought medical care at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.
He was diagnosed as having a “low grade fever and abdominal pain.” He underwent basic blood tests but wasn’t screened for Ebola. Duncan left the medical facility after being given antibiotics and a pain reliever.
Duncan lived in a Dallas apartment with his family when he got sick. On October 3, that apartment was finally decontaminated by a hazardous-materials crew.
Duncan’s relatives were moved out to a private residence in a gated community that was offered by a volunteer.
Health officials are monitoring about 50 people who may have had contact with Duncan, including nine who are believed to be at a higher risk. Thus far none have shown symptoms.
Meanwhile, an American freelance cameraman working for NBC in Liberia has tested positive for Ebola and will be flown back to the United States, along with the rest of the news crew.
So how is the Federal Government coping with this unprecedented crisis?
With a massive PR offensive, orchestrated at the highest level–the White House.
On October 3, reporters for national news media were briefed at the White House by no less a series of high-ranking officials than:
- Lisa Monaco, assistant to the President for Homeland Security;
- Sylvia Burwell, secretary of Health and Human Services;
- Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases;
- Raj Shah, administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development; and
- General David Rodriguez, commander of U.S. Forces Africa Command.
“We are not facing just a health crisis, we are facing a national security priority,” said Monaco. And she added:
“The strategy the United States is executing has four key goals:
- To control the epidemic at its source in West Africa;
- To mitigate the second-order impacts of this epidemic;
- To lead a coordinated international response;
- And to build a robust global health security infrastructure so we are prepared over the long run to confront epidemics such as the one we’re facing today.”
But controlling “the epidemic at its source in West Africa” doesn’t mean the government will ban all flights from Ebola-ravaged Liberia.
Said Monaco: “Right now we believe those types of steps actually impede the response. They…. slow down the ability of the United States and other international partners to actually get expertise and capabilities and equipment into the affected areas.”
Monaco did not explain why preventing travelers from an infected region from entering the United States would impede the United States from shipping “capabilities and equipment into the affected areas.”
But it’s easy to see how such a ban of black Africans would be seen–and attacked–as Politically Incorrect. Especially if it were ordered by the first black President of the United States.
The assembled dignitaries repeatedly emphasized that , as Monaco put it:
“It’s very important to remind the American people that the United States has the most capable health care infrastructure and the best doctors in the world, bar none. And it’s why people travel from all over the world to receive medical care here in the United States.”
That, at least, is the official side of the story. In the next column, we’ll explore the real side of it.
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