Ebola Virus Disease Transmission and Treatment/Prevention

       This disease is spread when people come in contact with blood or bodily fluids of infected animals and/or people (WHO, 2014). In reality everybody is equally susceptible to developing the Ebola virus. This is one of the main things that make this disease so dangerous because it can attack anywhere and anyone at anytime. The disease is most prevalent in developing countries, almost completely in Africa and the Reston strain being acquired in the Philippines. After one individual contracts the Ebola virus, it starts to spread from human to human throughout whatever community it has surfaced in, and leads to an outbreak in the population (WHO, 2014). There are really no defined treatments or vaccines to help combat the Ebola virus. There are some new therapies that are being developed to try and help with the treatment, but the patients mainly just require intensive supportive care (WHO, 2014). The patients just need constant fluids due to dehydration from constant vomiting, bleeding or other general loss of bodily fluids. People working to prevent the Ebola virus are going about it in two ways. One way is to reduce the risk of Ebola infection in people and the other way is to control the infection in health-care settings (WHO, 2014). These both seem to be pretty effective means of preventing this disease. When reducing the risk of Ebola infection in people, the announcement of the certain risk factors to the people in the involved areas is crucial. As shown below, a healthcare worker is working with an Ebola patient and is covered from head to toe to ensure that there will be no direct transmission between them and the ill individual. 

This is to reduce the risk of transmission from animals-to-human and human-to-human, and to also contain this outbreak by properly taking care of the deceased individuals. This is done by practicing proper burial techniques and allowing no direct contact between the severely ill individuals and the general public and the doctors helping them. When controlling the infection in health care setting, it is important to take proper measures by wearing long sleeved gowns, avoiding exposure to contaminated body fluids, face protection and use of gloves (WHO, 2014). Everybody that is involved whether they are an innocent bystander, helping treat the sick individual or are the sick individual is at a high risk of contracting the disease, so extreme caution is a necessity. I believe that this is probably the best preventative/treatment measure that is available right now. Since there is no direct treatment or vaccine available, the most effective treatment would be to just contain the outbreak and reduce the amount of transmission as much as possible. I personally think that they should just somehow create robots to conduct the nourishment of the patients with fluids and such so nobody has to come in direct contact with these individuals. The sick individuals should be quarantined until they either pass away or the disease subsides. This is to protect absolutely everybody from the disease and to ensure that there is no transmission of the disease from the sick individual.

     Bibliography:

            "Ebola virus disease." WHO. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 June 2014.    http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/