Ebola Outbreak

The Ebola Outbreak

Morgan Milledge

                   Ebola virus is a severe, often fatal illness in humans. The fatality rate for humans is around 50%. Lately, it has broken out in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. The first outbreaks occurred in remote villages in Central Africa, but have now moved to more urban areas. The number of cases deaths in this outbreak is more than all past outbreaks combined. So far, over 3,000 people have died in West Africa and more have been infected.

                   Doctors and scientists are finding it hard to believe that Ebola has spread so far and so fast because it does not travel through the air. It is spread by bodily fluids coming into contact with broken skin or open places in the skin, such as your eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.

                   There have been more than one cases in the United States including many people that had symptoms but tested negative for the disease. When doctors first decided to bring American Ebola patients to the U.S., people were skeptical and scared but the doctors assured everyone that the situation was under control.