Recently, the American government and the African government have attempted to launch two trial vaccinations in an effort to combat the Ebola virus, also known as hemorrhagic fever, and prevent further outbreaks from occurring in the future. These trial vaccinations have shown significant promise in developing the appropriate antibodies to two different strains of the Ebola virus. Most importantly, it has shown significant promise in a large group of test subjects in developing the antibodies necessary to protect them from catching the virus, even when the person has been in direct contact with someone infected with the virus. The most recent Ebola outbreak brutally killed over 10,000 documented people and possibly more that were never noted …show more content…
As the Ebola outbreak spiraled out of control, the poor were being ignored, sent home to infect their family, their neighbors and their friends. As other countries took notice of the outbreak, more people were able to receive treatment, but there were not enough relief workers to handle the number of people who were coming to clinics and the sick were still being turned away. Most of the relief efforts did come from outside countries and the African government was not willing to invest financially in order to save their own people from certain death or the spread of the disease. The government also relied on other countries for decontamination materials and since the outbreak occurred in poor, rural areas where the population could not afford to pay for their own treatment or the care that they would receive from the typical hospital. Many of the poor were treated by outside relief workers and the funding to treat people came from multiple countries, but not their own. Because of the low number of people who volunteered, many of the sick were cared for at home by family members who did not have a thorough understanding of how to avoid contaminating themselves in the process, causing a chain reaction of illness and …show more content…
The people feel threatened by the offer of health care and the fact that the government is paying people to participate in these clinical trials is adding to the mistrust.
In order to help the people of Africa, trust must be regained between the people and the government. The people of Africa do not have the same privileges that wealthier countries do. Simple things that we take for granted, like education and emergency health care are not available to the majority of the population. They also do not have regular access to the media, or proper educational information to keep themselves safe from disease. Nor do they have proper access to information regarding the proper hygiene to prevent the spread of disease.
Anthropologically speaking, a global effort must be made to improve the quality of life in Africa and the availability to a proper education regardless of income level. It is important that an effort be made on a global scale to help the more rural areas of Africa develop a better quality of life. By doing this, trust in humanity in general would slowly be
In conclusion, the suffering from malnutrition as well as the lack of education in rural Africa are spotlighted in both Dettwyler and Lee’s books. Both anthropologists give an insight into the true nature of the many problems faced by the people and how they confront life and death in a completely foreign manner. Even though both areas suffer from similar problems, steps are slowing being taken in the right direction to help educate people by setting up programs and making better schools. Although both the societies and their issues differ greatly, both are advancing toward similar solutions.
...surrounded it due just to who was known to contract the disease first. The lack of prevention was then mostly due to the lack of information, and the neglect to the urgency of the disease by political leaders, as seen in Uganda by president Nelson. We could have saved millions of people lives had they known that the disease could affect anyone around them including themselves, and had they known what to do prevent the spread to them firstly, if not how to prevent transmitting it to someone else.
On November 28th, Dr. Peter Jahlring of the Institute was in his lab testing a. virus culture from the monkeys. Much to his horror, the blood tested positive. for the deadly Ebola Zaire virus. Ebola Zaire is the most lethal of all strains. of the Ebola.
In the New York Times interview of Richard Preston, the well renowned author of The Hot Zone, is conducted in order to shed some light on the recent Ebola outbreak and the peaked re-interest in his novel. The Hot Zone is articulated as “thriller like” and “horrifying.” Preston uses similar diction and style choices corresponding with his novel. By choosing to use these specific methods he is advertising and promoting The Hot Zone to the audience members that are interested in reading, and reaching out to those who read and enjoyed his novel. He continuously grabs and keeps the reader’s attention by characterizing and personifying Ebola as the “enemy [and] the invisible monster without a face” in order to give the spectators something to grasp and understand the Ebola virus. Along with characterization, Preston uses descriptions with laminate
Ebola, a virus which acquires its name from the Ebola River (located in Zaire, Africa), first emerged in September 1976, when it erupted simultaneously in 55 villages near the headwaters of the river. It seemed to come out of nowhere, and resulted in the deaths of nine out of every ten victims. Although it originated over 20 years ago, it still remains as a fear among African citizens, where the virus has reappeared occasionally in parts of the continent. In fact, and outbreak of the Ebola virus has been reported in Kampala, Uganda just recently, and is still a problem to this very day. Ebola causes severe viral hemorrhagic fevers in humans and monkeys, and has a 90 % fatality rate. Though there is no cure for the disease, researchers have found limited medical possibilities to help prevent one from catching this horrible virus.
The threat of the Ebola virus at this time was taken
In 1976 the first two Ebola outbreaks were recorded. In Zaire and western Sudan five hundred and fifty people reported the horrible disease. Of the five hundred and fifty reported three hundred and forty innocent people died. Again in 1995 Ebola reportedly broke out in Zaire, this time infecting over two hundred and killing one hundred and sixty. (Bib4, Musilam, 1)
...ary 2014)”. The Ebola epidemic helps remind the U.S. That other nations are there to work with them, and unite to prevent a rapid growing disease. CDC partners with programs from other nations, such as the Global Disease Detection Centers, and the Field Epidemiology Training Program, which work to stop the Ebola virus. Information systems will grow stronger, more partnerships dedicated to stopping outbreaks will be formed and laboratory security will also grow. The writer of the paper cannot agree more to this.
Over one billion people are living in poverty, lacking safe water, housing, food, and the ability to read. There is a high concentration of communities in poverty in Africa; particularly Central Africa. States that are considered in Central Africa are the following: Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Republic of Africa, Chad, Equatorial Guinea and the Congo. The majority of these Central African states’ economies are dependent on agriculture. As a result of this dependency, natural disasters, droughts and wars can displace subsistence farmer from their land resulting in poverty becoming even more prevalent and harder to come back from. Also with a history of dependency on farming there tends to be the trend of education not being a primary focus for the youth which is another factor into the stagnant poverty trend in Central Africa.
A study was done in 2005 to learn more about the hosts for the virus. Human outbreaks that occurred between 2001 and 2005 in Gabon and the Republic of Congo were linked to outbreaks that affected the local gorilla and chimpanzee populations. In order to identify the reservoir, the researchers did animal trappings in the areas affected. There were 1,030 animals captured which included 679 bats, 222 birds, and 129 small terrestrial vertebrates. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) which is for the Ebola virus was detected in the serum of three different bat species (Leroy et al. 2005). The organs targeted by the Ebola virus were the liver and spleen. The researchers concluded that their results supported the results of previous investigations as bats as reservoirs for
Hickox served with Doctors Without Borders and spent four weeks in Sierra Leone, one of the three countries plagued by the Ebola virus disease, treating and taking care of infected patients. Upon her return to the United States in New Jersey on October 24th, she was sent to a local hospital and immediately put under quarantine. According to Hickox in an interview, the conditions of her mandatory quarantine were not adequate, as she did not have access to a shower in the room or a flushable toilet and the only means of communicating with the outside world was through a small window in the tent. Hickox, who tested negative for Ebola twice, believed that her forced quarantine was not only unnecessary, but inhumane and violated her basic human rights. The actions done by state officials were done solely out of fear, and to Hickox, “when fear wins, everyone
There are five different strains of the disease, however; only four can spread to humans. The first reported case of Ebola was in 1976. It occurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo and was named after the Ebola River. Researchers strongly believe that the virus is animal borne, but no one really knows. When Ebola invades a human being, it incubates for a period of seven to ten days on average, and then explodes with catastrophic force (Hammer 1). “It becomes an arms race,” says the investigating team’s Brian Bird, veterinary medical officer and an expert in pathogens at the CDC. “The virus wants to make new copies of itself, and the human body wants to stop it from doing so. Most of the time, the virus wins” (Hammer 1). Infected cells begin producing massive amounts of cytokine, tiny protein molecules that are extensively used in intercellular communication. This overproduction of cytokine wreaks havoc on the immune system and disrupts the normal behavior of the liver, kidneys, respiratory system, skin and blood. In extreme cases, small clots form everywhere, a process known as disseminated intravascular coagulation, followed by hemorrhaging. Blood fills the intestines, the digestive tract and the bladder, spilling out of the nose, eyes and mouth. Death occurs within a week (Hammer
This cause has been seen thousands of times throughout West Africa. However, if the disease is captured at an early stage, the process of treating the infection could be started at an early stage to slow down and possibly prevent the disease from reaching its maximum capabilities. Current hospitals in West Africa quickly are filled, as they forced to deny the sick entrance. Thus, causing the families to carry the family member back home increasing the possibility of infectation. Hundreds of Ebola cases have been seen outside of West Africa. In a research conducted by Duffin (2014), he stated that “WHO has confirmed that 80 health professionals have died, while the British Red Cross told Nursing Standard at least 14 nurses have died.” Who is WHO you are probably asking? Who is a World Health Organization that coordinates international health within the United Nations’ system. Duffin explains that WHO has confirmed 80 health professionals are dead due to this disease. Thus, showing that the Ebola virus is no joke and must be paid very close attention. Ebola currently has over a 50% death rate. Normally, the Ebola virus is such a fast paced virus that the patient has the possibility of dying within the first 20 days. This puts a huge amount of pressure on the doctors to perform any medical treatment before the patient is another body lost that could have possibly been saved. This percentage
Thus, all these problems like poverty, education, transport, health facilities is creating problem for African people to develop and live a healthy life. It is also affecting the economy of the country and therefore government and many other organizations should take steps to look after all these issues for better development of Africa.
Because the US has not had to deal with the full effect of the disease crisis, many believe that the U.S. should have a moral obligation to help the people in LDC's and other countries because they do not have the power, economy or stability to help themselves. With the vast growing global economy it would also be in the best interest to help many of the LDC's that are suffering from these diseases. The world has lost sight of its important concern to get rid of poverty through better health and promote development by fighting deadly infectious disease. These diseases are n...