CONGO -- In the Democratic Republic of Congo, more than 1,000 people have been positively diagnosed with Ebola since August 2018 and the number is actively increasing. According to the report submitted by the World Health Organization, the hemorrhagic fever has killed a huge number reaching 629 as for Sunday. Though it remains to be concentrated in the provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, the WHO thinks it can be considered the second largest Ebola Outbreak on the record.
The first epidemic was in 2014 that began in West Africa. It was the biggest in record as it has killed 26,000 people and killed another 11,300 people within the next two years. Ebola comes from a group of viruses that appear to generate from bats and is transmitted to primates such as chimpanzees and apes, including humans. The virus is transferred from one species to another through bodily fluids such as urine, blood, poop, vomit and a lot more. The cuts in the skin or the mucus membrane -- these are some of the possible ways the virus can enter the human body.
The early symptoms of the Ebola virus make it seem like it's the regular flu. Some of its symptoms include extreme feelings of exhaustion, body pain, stomach flu, and vision problems. All could be dismissed as flu symptoms until the patient feels much worse. Ebola escalates differently in different patients. But when a full-blown hemorrhagic fever sets in could lead to organ failure, bleeding and sometimes even death.
"The Ebola virus could spread to the community through the most mundane of human contact," according to the WHO report. "The virus can easily spread when the people left behind to deal with the bodies of their dead."
In many communities, dealing with the grieving process includes preparing the dead body for the burial. The epidemic that affected West Africa from 2014 to 2016 was basically caused by this process of dealing with the corpse. Public health officials were challenged by this practice of the locals that they found it hard to prevent contamination. The sad truth is that the virus can survive, though difficult, on its host body once it's infected.
Doctors simply monitor the patient's homeostasis until the disease passes on its own. The routine will include oxygen, blood transfusions, and intravenous fluids to help the body get rid of the virus. "Each outbreak is different, but the deaths will always be there," according to the WHO Report.
Indeed, there is no one Ebola Outbreak that is much like the last one, but it always brings about death that can be prevented. If this Ebola Outbreak is not put to stop, more lives would be in danger and the death number will continue to rise.
