Outbreak: The Ebola Crisis
What is it?
Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), a.k.a. Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever (EHF), a.k.a.Ebola, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans caused by four of the five strains of Ebolavirus.
How Ebola Spreads:
To people, from wild animals
To people, from people: through contact with:
• Blood
• Secretions
• Organs
• Other bodily fluids of infected people
• Objects contaminated with these fluids
Incubation period: 2-21 days
Humans are not infectious until they develop symptoms:
Weakness
Fever
Muscle Pain
Headaches
Sore Throat
Diarrhea
Vomiting
Stomach pain.
In some cases:
Red eyes
Rash
Chest pain
Difficulty breathing or swallowing
2014 Outbreak Timeline
March 25 – Ebola outbreak in Guinea, cases also in Liberia and Sierra Leone
CDC Situation Report – July 27: 86 suspected cases. 59 deaths.
July 26 – Kent Brantly, medical director for Samaritan Purse’s Ebola Consolidated Case Management Center in Liberia, is infected with the virus.
Situation Report – July 27: 1323 suspect and confirmed cases. 729 deaths.
July 31 –US residents urged to avoid nonessential travel to Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia.
August 2 –Brantly comes home to U.S.
Situation Report – August 6: 1779 suspect and confirmed cases. 961 deaths.
August 8 –WHO declares Ebola epidemic in West Africa an international health emergency.
August 21 – Brantly, cured, is discharged from Emory University Hospital.
Situation Report – August 21: 2473 suspect and confirmed cases. 1350 deaths.
September 30 – First diagnosed case of Ebola in U.S.
Situation Report – October 1: 7157 suspect and confirmed cases. 3330 deaths.
October 6 – A medical worker in Spain is first person known to have contracted Ebola outside Africa in 2014.
October 23 – Craig Spencer, a doctor recently returned from Guinea tests positive for EVD
Situation Report – October 25: 10,141 suspect and confirmed cases. 4,922 deaths.
Since March, Doctors Without Borders has sent over 700 doctors and aid workers to help in Ebola-stricken countries. 270 are still there.
In the future: C.D.C. projects 1.4 million cases of Ebola in West Africa by end of Jan. 2015 (if there is no change in current trajectory).
Sources:
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/2014-west-africa/previous-updates.html
http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/11/health/ebola-fast-facts/
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/15/ebola-epidemic-2014-timeline
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/history/chronology.html#modalIdString_outbreaks
http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/137510/1/roadmapsitrep_5Nov14_eng.pdf?ua=1
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/07/31/world/africa/ebola-virus-outbreak-qa.html
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/situation-reports/en/
