Ebola... what do we do?

The recent death of Dr Sheik Umar Khan, the doctor at the front lines of Sierra Leone’s battle against the worst Ebola outbreak in history, marks the latest person killed by the contagious, incurable disease.  This disease is rapidly spreading in West Africa and I hope & pray that some sort of cure is invented SOON.  At the last official count released on July 23, 672 people have died from the virus.  

I recommend the brief article in the link below about a vaccine that works for monkeys and why not test on humans... (Ebola vaccine for monkeys what about humans? - PBS NewsHour)

We may think that the victims are miles away however it is very close to home.  Think about people travelling everyday and how quickly one could get it… God help the victims….   

                                          ********************************************

Ebola virus disease (EVD) or Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) is the human disease caused by the ebola virus.  It is an infectious and  fatal disease marked by fever and severe internal bleeding spread through contact with infected body fluids by a filovirus Ebola virus, whose normal host species is unknown.

• Symptoms typically start two days to three weeks after contracting the virus, with a fever, throat and muscle pains, and headaches. There is then typically nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, along with decreased functioning of the liver and kidneys. At this point, some people begin to have problems with bleeding
• How to get infected - The disease is usually acquired when a person comes into contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected animal such as a monkey or fruit bat. Fruit bats are believed to carry and spread the virus without being affected by it. 
• Once infection of a human occurs, the disease may be spread from one person to another.   People who survive may be able to transmit the disease sexually for nearly two months.
• Diagnosis - typically other diseases with similar symptoms such as malaria, cholera and other viral hemorrhagic fever are first excluded. The blood may then be tested for antibodies to the virus, or the viral RNA, or the virus itself, to confirm the diagnosis.
• Prevention includes decreasing the spread of the disease from infected monkeys and pigs to humans. This may be done by checking these types of animals for infection and killing and properly disposing of the bodies if the disease is discovered.
• Properly cooking meat and wearing protective clothing when handling meat may also be helpful and washing hands when around a person who has the disease. Samples of bodily fluids and tissues from people with the disease should be handled with special caution.

                  ********************************************

The first Ebolavirus species was discovered in 1976 in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo near the Ebola River. Since then, outbreaks have appeared sporadically as in the most recent outbreak in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, West Africa.

If there's an Ebola vaccine that works on monkeys, then what about humans? | The Rundown | PBS NewsHour