Ebola: The Virus That Won’t Go Away

                                                            “Everyone should know this stuff” Level

Many people forget that the world has seen the Ebola virus before 2014.  In 1976, the first Ebola outbreak occurred simultaneously in two villages:  Nzara, South Sudan and Yambuku, Democratic Republic of the Congo (WHO 2016). The virus (originally called ‘hemorrhagic’ fever) was named after the Ebola River located near Yambuku (WHO 2016).  From the 1976 outbreak, researchers learned that the key to containing the virus is complete community involvement. During this outbreak 318 people were infected and 280 people died (Gholipour 2014).  By comparison, during the 2015 outbreak, 7,800 people were infected within the first year (Gholipour 2014).

It is believed that humans were first infected with the Ebola virus through contact with the bodily fluids of infected animals like fruit bats (a natural host of the disease) or gorillas and monkeys (both of which are animal populations affected by the virus) (WHO 2016). Symptoms of the virus include muscle pain, sore throat, headache, fever and sometimes internal bleeding; fortunately, human transmission cannot occur until symptoms begin (WHO 2016). The leading causes for infection in the current outbreak are unprotected sex, unsanitary burial ceremonies, and attempted treatment of the infected (WHO 2016). Because there is no cure to this fast-spreading virus, only prevention and containment can contain the current outbreak (WHO 2016). This includes limiting animal-to-human and human-to-human transmission by reducing the consumption of uncooked meat, engaging in safe sexual practices and burial processes (WHO 2016).

So far, implementing these changes has been successful. In fact, on January 14, 2016 the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has come to an end, though they warn that Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone are still at risk for smaller flare ups to occur (Domonoske 2016). This has been the first time since December 2013 that there have been no cases of Ebola reported for two incubation cycles of the virus (42 days) (Domonoske 2016). Despite WHO’s reassurance, some still fear that a new strain of the virus will emerge, either through a reintroduction by animals or by Ebola survivors who still have the virus present in their bodies (Domonoske 2016). The Ebola virus can live more than nine months in semen and can even be “trapped” in a previously cured person, threatening reinfection (Domonoske 2016). On the other hand, the risk of survivors reinfecting the population is diminishing as the condition of survivors improves (Domonoske 2016).

Just hours after WHO declared that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa had come to an end, Sierra Leone confirmed that Marie Jalloh, a 22 year old woman who died two days previous, was killed by the virus (Kupferschmidt 2016). A great number of people came in contact with Ms. Jalloh, threatening a fresh outbreak in Sierra Leone  (Kupferschmidt 2016). The woman was buried unsafely, putting mourners unaware of her condition at risk for infection. Even at the hospital, she was not recognized as an Ebola case (Kupferschmidt 2016). Her infection was diagnosed when the virus was found in her tissue during a routine swab test of her body (Johnson 2016). It is likely that the woman was infected through sexual transmission  (Kupferschmidt 2016).  On January 14, WHO, declared an end to the Ebola virus outbreak, but warned that small waves of the virus may occur (Johnson 2016). On January 12, Ms. Jalloh died of Ebola, confirming what WHO had cautioned  (Johnson 2016). Ms. Jalloh was the first reported incident after the organization’s announcement  (Johnson 2016). The second reported case was Ms. Jalloh’s 38 year-old aunt (Johnson 2016). The 38-year-old woman was one of the people who washed Ms. Jalloh’s body to prepare it for the burial (WHO 2016). As the Ebola virus is most contagious in dying or dead bodies, Jalloh’s corpse was the most probable cause of infection (Johnson 2016). For this reason, the woman was put under strict observation (Johnson 2016). Indeed, under quarantine, she began to develop symptoms (Johnson 2016).  Between the time of infection and her death, Ms. Jalloh came in contact with approximately 150 people, many of whom are at high risk for developing symptoms (Johnson 2016).

The vaccine currently being administered to treat these high-risk contacts is the VSV-EBOV (Johnson 2016). However, some of those who have not exhibited any symptoms, refuse to take the vaccine because they fear unpredictable side effects (Johnson 2016). After two reported cases since WHO announced the world Ebola-free, the organization is taking drastic measures to make sure that the flare up is contained (Johnson 2016). This includes providing more screenings and checkpoints at major roads (Johnson 2016).

                                                                   “For geniuses only” Level

There are many things that we have yet to learn about the Ebola virus, but what we do know is the species the virus belongs to: the Zaire Ebolavirus (Servick 2014). The first thing the virus does upon entering the body is infect the dendritic cells, messengers of the immune system (Servick 2014). The role of dendritic cells is to alert T-lymphocytes (T- cells) of infection.The T- cells would typically then destroy the infected cells before the virus could replicate further (Servick 2014). However,  the infected dendritic cells never send a signal and the T-cells remain inactive.  This allows the virus to replicate freely (Servick 2014). While the virus travels through the bloodstream, macrophages in an attempt to attack the infected cells becomes infected themselves (Servick 2014). They then release proteins that cause clots to form within blood vessels, damaging them (Servick2014). This damage may even cause the blood vessels to leak (Servick 2014).

Often times, it is not the actual virus that strikes the fatal blow, but rather the immune system attacking itself (Doucleff 2014). When the virus is replicating freely cells begin to die and organs become infected (Doucleff 2014). Cells that are dying empty its content in the blood stream signaling a “cytokine storm” (Doucleff 2014). Though the “storm” attacks the virus, it also causes a lot of harm to the body (Doucleff 2014). Nitric oxide is released further damaging the blood vessels by making bigger leaks (Doucleff 2014). These leaks lead fatal drop in blood pressure and temperature, causing your body to go into shock (Doucleff 2014).

                                   Impress your friends and family with these three related facts:

Fact 1: Other countries that have been affected by the outbreak are Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, and America (WHO 2016)

Fact 2: Countries like, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, that are most affected by the current Ebola outbreak, lack the proper resources in order to care for their citizens, as they have inadequate health care systems and are just surfacing from political conflict (WHO 2016).

Fact 3: The Ebola virus disease comes from the family Filovirdae, which includes three genera (Cuevsavirus, Marburgvirus, and Ebolavirus). Within the Ebolavirus there are also five species: Zaire, Bundibugyo, Sudan, Reston and Taï Forest. While Zaire, Bundibugyo, Sudan are responsible for other outbreaks in Africa, the current outbreak is a member of the Zaire species. (WHO 2016)

Author: This page was created by Kellisha James, a student at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, CT. Kellisha’s spirit animal is Nicole Richie. Someday, Kellisha will be famous for opening a circus consisting solely of her progeny.

                                                            Works Cited

Johnson, RM. (2016.) WHO Confirms Second New Ebola Case in Sierra Leone. Yahoo News. http://news.yahoo.com/confirms-second-ebola-case-sierraleone093944697.html;_ylt=AwrC1CoWXKFWmkIAwYfQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTByOHZyb21tBGNvb G8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg–

World Health Organization. (2016.) Ebola Virus Disease. World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/

Domonoske, C. (2016). West Africa Is Finally Declared Ebola-Free — For Now. NPR. http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/14/463046284/west-africa-is-finally-declared-ebola-free-for-now

Kupferschmidt, K.(2016). Ebola is Back…Or Never Left. Science Magazine.  http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/01/ebola-back-or-never-left

Gholipour, B. (2014.)1976 Outbreak’s Lesson: Behaviors Must Change. Live Science. http://www.livescience.com/48170-ebola-outbreak-in-1976-revisited.html