MEDICINE & HEALTHPursuing the newest origin of the viral pathogen deep within the forests of West Africa, health officials believe that they may have found the source of the infection in a hollowed out tree. But the issue is far more complex than many would like to think.
While the viral pathogen continues to claim lives in West Africa, health officials believe that they may have now found the source of the infection, in a hollowed out tree. After making an expedition to patient zero’s—a two-year-old boy named Emile Ouamouno—hometown in Meliandou, Guinea, researchers believe that they may have found the source of Ebola in a hollow tree the young boy may have played in, which also is home to a colony of bats.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recorded over 7,500 confirmed, and suspected Ebola deaths in the West African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea; and more than 19,000 recorded cases in the said trio, which are the most heavily-affected countries in terms of Ebola. Early detection and quick action are therefore necessary to curb the further accelerated spread of the disease.
The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a report saying a number of its scientists may have been exposed to the deadly Ebola virus. The scientists are said to have transferred a live Ebola sample to another lab by mistake.
The antibodies from the blood of survivors of the deadly disease may finally enable researchers to create a treatment that is effective against all the strains of the virus and stop its spread across Africa and the rest of the world.
As Ebola treatments and vaccines have been gaining ground as of late, fear and anxiety over the spread of the disease have been slowly allaying in communities around the world.
After testing potential Ebola drugs, WHO found no effective treatment so far. The whole world was shaken by the Ebola epidemic, after the disease had killed one after the other with no known treatment or cure.
WHO reports more than 5,000 deaths from Ebola as of Nov. 9 Number of Ebola deaths in the West African trio-- Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone-- has reached 5,147, as of November 9, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Another silent killer disease slowly creeping in the U.S., study says. The ongoing Ebola epidemic has taken the limelight for quite a long time now, leaving other equally deadly and terrifying diseases in the background.
Genetic makeup may make you less vulnerable or more susceptible to Ebola, researchers say. Since its outbreak earlier this year that caused widespread deaths in West Africa, Ebola has been an area much studied by international health organizations, pharmaceutical companies, and research centers around the world.
Researchers track roots of the Ebola epidemic to a boy from Guinea Researchers have finally uncovered the mystery as to where the epidemic that is Ebola started, and from which person the outbreak originated.
The governors of both New York and New Jersey made announcements on Friday that each state would be enacting a mandatory quarantine for anyone entering the United States via JFK and Newark Liberty International Airports that have provided direct patient care for anyone diagnosed with Ebola in West Africa. All those quarantined in the two states will be held in isolation for a period of 21 days.
Texas nurse Nina Pham got a special hug this week as she was declared Ebola-free by health officials, and that hug came from President Obama himself. Pham met with and embraced the president in the Oval Office at the White House, in Washington D.C.
Taking not only developing nations, but the world by surprise, the recent Ebola virus outbreak seen in West Africa is one of unprecedented proportions and terrifying outcomes. Far greater than 20 times worse than previously documented outbreaks in human victims, the current epidemic has made headlines for months as researchers search for a cure and health officials search for a way to stop it from spreading. And while many nations in West Africa are falling farther and farther into a state of disease, the World Health Organization declared that the country of Nigeria has successfully rid itself of the viral pathogen.
While surveillance on a global scale tightens, looking for the looming threat of Ebola symptoms from international travelers around the world, researchers worldwide are evaluating the all too real threat of the spreading viral infection. And they’re finding that even a conservative estimate could spell international disaster over the next few months.
Today marks 21 days of quarantine since the Ebola infection spread into the US by an infected Dallas patient, who recently fled Liberia. And as none of the individuals quarantined for their close contact with the infected have developed the often fatal hemorrhagic fever, health officials are hopeful that their clean bill of health is a sign that the Ebola virus will not find a foothold here in the United States.