With more than a million people affected by Ebola virus in West Africa, the outbreak of this contagious virus has taken a toll, forcing WHO to declare it as a public health emergency of International Concern. To make things worse, this disease does not have any known fully tested vaccine or treatment.
The first strain of Ebola emerged in Sudan and Zaire in 1976, near a river called Ebola, hence the name. There are five known strands of this virus till now, four of them effecting the human species. This disease is often severe, followed by fatal illness, with a mortality rate up to 80%. Fruit bats are considered the most likely carriers of this virus. The introduction of this virus into the humans was through close contact with the infected animal. Once in contact with the virus, it can spread within the community through direct contact with the blood, or other bodily fluids and secretions of infected person. Health workers are the most frequently exposed people, and inadequate resources and improper training makes them more susceptible to the virus.
In Africa, it all started with handling of infected chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys and fruit bats. Being easily communicable, this virus spreads like forest fire. Once inside the body, it works by liquefying the internal organs, causing some victims to bleed even from their pores.
Outbreak persists in countries with poor sanitation and shortage of resources to contain the virus in isolation. As far as India is concerned, apart from constant monitoring, India’s health machinery has to be strong enough and the health officials be given proper training in case this virus strikes. Africa is now facing difficulty in isolating the patients and treating them, for lack of infrastructure and resources. Having a huge population, India would face similar problems when dealing with an epidemic of such magnitude. The government has already swung into action taking precautionary measures like obtaining data of passengers traveling from effected countries and tracking them.
However, unlike the United Kingdom and the United States, no treatment facilities with right equipments have been set up to deal with sudden outburst of patients. Though circulars have been issued from the government to health departments, there has been no impartment of training at the ground level to deal with an outbreak. This could have serious economic consequences too, with other countries preventing flights to and from India, as is being one with Africa right now. Also, with Africa’s growing population pushing into tropical environment: farming, forestry, grazing cattle humans become more prone to carrying the infection to their communities. Medical research teams are on the run to make drugs that could bring the situation under control. It is being debated if untested drugs like ‘Zmapp’ from Mapp Bio-pharmaceutical could be rolled out in the market or if it is unethical to introduce untested drugs inside a human body.
The first strain of Ebola emerged in Sudan and Zaire in 1976, near a river called Ebola, hence the name. There are five known strands of this virus till now, four of them effecting the human species. This disease is often severe, followed by fatal illness, with a mortality rate up to 80%. Fruit bats are considered the most likely carriers of this virus. The introduction of this virus into the humans was through close contact with the infected animal. Once in contact with the virus, it can spread within the community through direct contact with the blood, or other bodily fluids and secretions of infected person. Health workers are the most frequently exposed people, and inadequate resources and improper training makes them more susceptible to the virus.
In Africa, it all started with handling of infected chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys and fruit bats. Being easily communicable, this virus spreads like forest fire. Once inside the body, it works by liquefying the internal organs, causing some victims to bleed even from their pores.
Outbreak persists in countries with poor sanitation and shortage of resources to contain the virus in isolation. As far as India is concerned, apart from constant monitoring, India’s health machinery has to be strong enough and the health officials be given proper training in case this virus strikes. Africa is now facing difficulty in isolating the patients and treating them, for lack of infrastructure and resources. Having a huge population, India would face similar problems when dealing with an epidemic of such magnitude. The government has already swung into action taking precautionary measures like obtaining data of passengers traveling from effected countries and tracking them.
However, unlike the United Kingdom and the United States, no treatment facilities with right equipments have been set up to deal with sudden outburst of patients. Though circulars have been issued from the government to health departments, there has been no impartment of training at the ground level to deal with an outbreak. This could have serious economic consequences too, with other countries preventing flights to and from India, as is being one with Africa right now. Also, with Africa’s growing population pushing into tropical environment: farming, forestry, grazing cattle humans become more prone to carrying the infection to their communities. Medical research teams are on the run to make drugs that could bring the situation under control. It is being debated if untested drugs like ‘Zmapp’ from Mapp Bio-pharmaceutical could be rolled out in the market or if it is unethical to introduce untested drugs inside a human body.
Anurag is the Chief Branding Officer at Brandcare
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