People 몰라 about ebola
By Jae Park and William Kim
Edited by William Seo
Design by Nicole Yang
Edited by William Seo
Design by Nicole Yang
Introduction:
Ebola. First an endemic disease, then an epidemic. Since its discovery in 1976 in central Africa, Ebola has recently infected the most people it has ever had in any of its outbreaks. The WHO declared it to be a “public health emergency of international concern”—and the WHO has only declared such a state of emergency three times since its creation. With no viable cure developed yet, it is a serious issue. After ravaging Africa, it is now spreading to other continents. Few understand what exactly this enigmatic virus is, and misconceptions rise from such ignorance, as shown in Korea. Introduction - How it works: Ebola is a virus. It harms organisms by replicating harmful genetic information (in the form of RNA) inside the cells of the organism it infects. The virus tricks cells’ immune systems into accepting the virus by using specific human proteins on the virus’s outer wall that act as “keys.” It then escapes the organism, and spreads to others. It is hypothesized that the recent outbreak in west Africa began as a result of contact between infected animals and humans (more specifically, after a human ate a raw, uncooked animal that was infected). Ebola itself spreads through bodily fluids. However, even if the ebola virus is in an organism, it will not spread and infect others until its symptoms physically manifest themselves in the host. Part III - The Cure?
The only “cure” that is present is the “Z‐mapp” solution that consists of plant cells with inputted DNA/RNA. It is made by injecting antibodies (that fight Ebola) into tobacco plants, which replicates the antibodies. The plants are then ground to get a liquid containing the needed antibodies to cure Ebola. Unfortunately, the production of Z‐mapp is difficult. Thousands of plants must be grown and processed for just half a cup of the needed solution. It’s very unlikely that the so called “cure” will lead to mass production due to its instability, and lack of resources. A better cure is being developed by the NIH, and the goal is set as July, 2016. Part IV: A New Hope Over the past couple months, ebola has killed thousands of people. It struck fear in the hearts of the people of Africa, and other countries around the world. Throughout this outbreak of terror, one person each from Senegal, Spain, and the UK, four American citizens, 20 Nigerian citizens, 3,429 Guinean Citizens, 9,602 Liberian citizens, and 11,841 Sierra Leone citizens were infected in total. In this seemingly hopeless situation, a new hope was found. The death rates of ebola dropped and still are dropping to low levels of infection. $ 2.9 billion aid pledges have delivered, and $ 620 million pledges are outstanding. Ten experimental drugs have been tried, and five vaccines are in trial. But even if the vaccines works, mass production is still an issue. So until then, wash your hands well, check WHO reports vigilantly, and check in with hospitals every once a month. |
Part I - Patient Zero:
While usually only occurring in animals, the first case of human infection occurred in Guinea, a country on the northwest coast of Africa, when a child ate an uncooked animal that was infected with ebola. After spreading in a wider area, the virus spread south to Sierra Leone, then east to Liberia, then further east to Nigeria. Recently, there was an outbreak of the ebola virus in the west coastal side of Africa that includes the countries, Nigeria, Liberia, and Guinea. This outbreak killed 10,719 people. The DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Ethiopia, and many more countries across Africa were impacted by the virus. However, the terror did not stay within the borders of Africa. The virus successfully spread to Italy, Switzerland, USA, and the Philippines. Part II - Korea’s Defenses Then comes the bombshell: If Korea is exposed to Ebola, it will have no possible solutions to contain the disease, or prevent it from spreading. Korea is not ready for the Ebola virus. First of all, Korea has no air emergency ambulances. Air ambulances can consist of emergency helicopters to jets. These types of emergency transportations can determine the life or death of a person. In the scenario of a person with Ebola, the lack of these methods of transportation may lead to a mass spreading of the virus, before the victim even gets to a hospital. Secondly, there is no official cure that counteracts Ebola. Thankfully, ebola is not big a threat to Korea because there is a low chance of it ever reaching the peninsula. However, if ebola happens to reach Korea before the cure is discovered, Korea’s department of public health has concluded that there will be numerous casualties. |