Ebola: A Serious Issue

Ebola: this word has increasingly come up in daily conversation, but what is it? Many people have the misconception that Ebola is an untouchable and distant disease in Africa. On September 20, 2014 however, Thomas Duncan arrived in Dallas, Texas carrying the disease all the way from Liberia, Africa. Ebola has come to America.Thomas Duncan came to the U.S. to reunite with his son, Karsiah Duncan, and to marry Louise Troh, his former romantic partner from Liberia, after being separated from the two of them for 16 years. Some, however, have accused Duncan of coming to the U.S. to seek treatment for Ebola. On the other hand, Duncan and Troh have been planning his trip to America and their marriage for a long time, in addition to working on the extensive requirements of obtaining a visa.Duncan was screened in Liberia before boarding. He did not have a fever at that time and was thus not contagious on the flight. Duncan also denied that he had contact with anyone with the disease on the flight survey. This contact, however, is exactly how Duncan extracted Ebola. While in Liberia, Duncan became infected by helping his neighbor, Marthalene Williams, a sick, pregnant woman, to and from the hospital. At the same time, Duncan took a risk to try to save a woman, something many would not have done.When Duncan first arrived at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, nurses and doctors did not know how to treat him and sent him home with antibiotics, therefore endangering many lives in Dallas. Since then, his family’s apartment and his family have been quarantined. Furthermore, his family has been isolated to an undisclosed part of the city. The U.S. is trying to learn from this experience and from past cases in Africa, especially in Nigeria.Nigeria is the first country to officially contain the Ebola. Their main strategy was "contact tracing," in which officials tracked all the people who came into contact with Ebola patients. Through this process, Nigeria has not had a single reported case of Ebola since August 31. The U.S. is now employing "contact tracing" and quarantining all the people who came into contact with Duncan.Even though Ebola is only transmissible through direct contact of skin and/or bodily fluids, it has shown that it has the capability of spreading rapidly. At the beginning of the course of the disease, the common symptoms consist of headache, high fever, joint and muscle pain, sore throat, weakness and lack of appetite. As the disease progresses, the symptoms become more and more severe. They begin to consist of internal bleeding as well as from the eyes, ears and nose, and the coughing and vomiting of blood.The stigma surrounding Ebola in America has caused many people to be in denial of their possible symptoms. This stigma is perfectly portrayed by Dr. John Dreyzehner, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health, who stated "Fear, mistrust and stigma are really driving this epidemic," he said. "Stigma is one of the things many people believe is causing people to not be truthful about their contact and travel history."In contrast to common belief, Ebola became an epidemic in Africa in December 2013. Even though this was the case, most Americans have just recently learned about the disease and its severity once the disease began to spread to the United States.This lack of awareness exposes the nature of American’s naivety as well as their tendency toward selfishness. Most Americans are just now beginning to pay close attention to the fact that it could potentially affect or harm them. It is extremely important for Americans to become aware of this threatening disease, but this mentality is very showing of our selfish trends.Still, many are not taking Ebola seriously. Daily jokes are made about Ebola while thousands have already died and others still suffer from this terrible disease. We need to be more sensitive about this topic.Indeed, Ebola does seem like a foreign topic, something intangible, something we don’t fully understand. But that doesn’t justify our actions. Ebola is a serious disease that is affecting many around the world.As a community, as a country and as a global populace, we should be supporting each other in finding the cure not just for America, but for all infected. Editors’ Note: Thomas Duncan died of Ebola on Wednesday, October 8, 2014, becoming the first person in the United States to die of the disease.