Ebola spreads in Guinea and surrounding regions
By Tyler Sibal
Recently,
Ebola (a very lethal Virus/Disease) has spread in West Africa specifically in the
country of Guinea. 59 people so far have died to the illness as the U.N. stated
and it is possible for the disease to spread to neighboring countries and keep
on throughout the world.
In the past, there have been
severe cases of widespread outbreaks of diseases resulting in deaths such as
the Bubonic Plague and Spanish Flu in 1918. Just about 100 years later since the Spanish Flu, small
outbreaks have occurred such as SARS, H1N1, H3N1, H5N1, H7N9, and Ebola.
Ebola, which has symptoms
similar to a severe fever, stands out as it recently killed 59 of the so far 80
people and has no vaccine and no immunity. Ebola has around a 75 percent fatality rate for an ill person from the
accounted cases of the disease in Guinea.
Whenever an outbreak occurs,
medical “communities” take great concern over such an event to prevent it from
spreading elsewhere in the world. Ebola and other diseases have been present in
countries with poverty and small countries in Asia or large populations in
cities such as Hong Kong. Ebola in Guinea has been considered highly contagious which
can be a disaster in a poor country as everyone shares the same water or poor
sanitation due to poverty and in areas such as these it could easily contaminate
and infect a person.
To prevent the disease from
spreading to other countries and communities, medical charities have sent 33
tons of medicine and other equipment to set up isolation units to facilitate
the prevention so it doesn't spread. Diseases and outbreaks should always be top priority for
countries instead of wars and unneeded money usages. Diseases such as Ebola
take the lives of people who can never be replaced. We can help by donating to
this specific charity linked in the bottom to help with the medical costs and
equipment. Also we can help by simply washing our hands and always to remember
in public when touching things such as an escalator railing or a door handle to
always wash our hands afterwards thoroughly and avoid touching our face so we
don’t get sick!
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| Location of Guinea in West Africa |
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