In my blog, I have discussed many things concerning Ebola. I have talked about how it spreads around the world, how it affects these places and how this outbreak started an online "epidemic," but I have yet to talk about what Ebola actually does to the patient. First, we must look at where Ebola originated from. According to an article by Lecia Bushak we still do not know the origins of this virus. Scientist believe that the virus came from infected animals when hunters gathered what they call "bushmeat." These meats consist of "dead dogs, pigs, or bats," which she says are made into various soups. (Bushak, para. 4) If this is the case, then it might as well not be safe to eat any sort of animal. All animals were wild at one point, but some are now domesticated such as cows and chickens. We eat these meats on a daily basis and we do not see many illnesses come about from those except when we cook them wrong. Bushak says in her article "if an infected animal isn't cooked properly," that is when the person gets the disease. (Bushak, para. 4) So, the problem might not be the type of animals these people ate, but how they cooked them. Improper cooking of meat can cause many illnesses. For example, if we were to under cook a chicken breast, there would be a very high chance of getting salmonella. Same goes for the Ebola virus, but what animal is a natural carrier of the virus? Scientist believe that bats in the rain forest regions of Africa can carry the disease without being affected by it. (Bushak, para. 4) If the people in these regions have been collecting "bushmeat" for years, why has this disease only recently been discovered? This only poses the question whether or not this disease had been around before it's discovery. Perhaps, in the near future, we will know more about it's exact origin as we continue research on the disease. Perhaps now we should look into what the disease actually does to the human body.
After a person has been infected symptoms start to appear between two and twenty-one days. Some of the symptoms Bushak lists in her article are a headache, lack of appetite, a sore throat and fever. (Bushak, para. 7) Basically, in the beginning stages of this disease it is just like the common cold. It is hard to tell whether a person has the disease or not. When winter comes around most people get a mild cold, so if someone were to have the disease they would blend in perfectly until a couple more days have passed. Just like HIV, the Ebola virus attacks the immune system and destroys the T-lymphocyte cells. (Bushak, para. 7) The major difference between Ebola and HIV is that Ebola attacks in a more viscous way. Where HIV takes years to develop, Ebola on needs a couple weeks before it shuts down the immune system. If I remember from my 10th grade biology class, HIV is a very difficult disease to deal with because it mimics the shape of a sugar. This allows it to gain entry into host cells where it will suck the life out of it and then replicate itself. I'm assuming this is what happens with Ebola as well. After a day or so, the infected person will "begin to ache all over; they will begin vomiting and experiencing diarrhea." (Bushak, para. 7) This leaves the person in critical condition and they will be very contagious. With all the fluids that are coming out of the person, it is not hard to spread the disease to others around you. It is actually scary if you have to take care of a person with Ebola. As I have seen before in documentaries about the disease, nobody wants to take care of an infected person. They would leave the person in a room until they died, so they would be gathered by officials. We haven't even got to discuss the final stage of this disease. This one is the most fatal and it basically decides whether or not you are going to survive.
This stage, Bushak describes is the "worst," but is that word has little to no meaning. If I were to describe the last stage I would use the word unfortunate. No, I lied, it is the most detrimental of the stages. This stage is described commonly as the "Cytokine Storm," and this is where the immune system starts turning on itself. At this point the immune system starts attacking every organ of your body, which causes the bursting of blood vessels and making the person bleed internally and externally. (Bushak, para. 8) This is why Ebola is also commonly known as the hemorrhagic fever because you are really bleeding to death at your bodies fault. Not that it cannot help itself, but at this point your body is very weak. Blood starts to pour out through your eyes, vomit and diarrhea. (Bushak, para. 8) This causes me to cringe just thinking about this, but it is reality and thousands of people are dealing with this disease at this moment. Without a cure to this disease medics can only provide so much help to the people. There are a few treatments that Bushak has described in her article, one being oral hydration. This is where they flush the body with clean water in attempt to re-hydrate the patient as they do get extremely dehydrated with the diarrhea. Another treatment which she says shows positive results is blood transfusions. They take the blood of an Ebola survivor and add antibodies in hope it will help to fight off the disease. (Bushak, para. 11) The second treatment method does not make much sense to me. Although they are filling the blood with antibodies, how will this help the patient fight of the disease. Ebola is a virus, so antibiotics would not help very much. The only thing that helps is time and care. Even after a person has been cured of the disease, they are still infectious up to 40 days. (Bushak, para. 12) That is a scary thought because even though you might feel better you are still contagious, so you would need to be isolated from everyone.
Lecia Bushak, is a reporter who covers mental health and international news for many publishers. She graduated from New York University with a double major in Journalism and Studio Art. Recently, she has begun to write various articles about Ebola, so she is very knowledgeable about this topic. This is why she is a credible author.
This stage, Bushak describes is the "worst," but is that word has little to no meaning. If I were to describe the last stage I would use the word unfortunate. No, I lied, it is the most detrimental of the stages. This stage is described commonly as the "Cytokine Storm," and this is where the immune system starts turning on itself. At this point the immune system starts attacking every organ of your body, which causes the bursting of blood vessels and making the person bleed internally and externally. (Bushak, para. 8) This is why Ebola is also commonly known as the hemorrhagic fever because you are really bleeding to death at your bodies fault. Not that it cannot help itself, but at this point your body is very weak. Blood starts to pour out through your eyes, vomit and diarrhea. (Bushak, para. 8) This causes me to cringe just thinking about this, but it is reality and thousands of people are dealing with this disease at this moment. Without a cure to this disease medics can only provide so much help to the people. There are a few treatments that Bushak has described in her article, one being oral hydration. This is where they flush the body with clean water in attempt to re-hydrate the patient as they do get extremely dehydrated with the diarrhea. Another treatment which she says shows positive results is blood transfusions. They take the blood of an Ebola survivor and add antibodies in hope it will help to fight off the disease. (Bushak, para. 11) The second treatment method does not make much sense to me. Although they are filling the blood with antibodies, how will this help the patient fight of the disease. Ebola is a virus, so antibiotics would not help very much. The only thing that helps is time and care. Even after a person has been cured of the disease, they are still infectious up to 40 days. (Bushak, para. 12) That is a scary thought because even though you might feel better you are still contagious, so you would need to be isolated from everyone.
Lecia Bushak, is a reporter who covers mental health and international news for many publishers. She graduated from New York University with a double major in Journalism and Studio Art. Recently, she has begun to write various articles about Ebola, so she is very knowledgeable about this topic. This is why she is a credible author.
Bushak, Lecia. "This Is What The Ebola Virus Does To Your Body." Medical Daily. N.p., 07 Aug. 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.