Ebola Research Paper

The ebola virus is a very complex level four virus. Level four viruses are extremely lethal, and there is no cure for them yet, not does there seem to be a cure for them or ebola in the near future. To give you an example of just how lethal level four viruses like ebola are, AIDS is only a level three virus, and requires minimal protection when working with it. The protection required for working with the ebola virus consists of wearing three layers of gloves, and giant space suits. Only people with top government security are allowed into these airtight rooms where this all takes place. The virus is a member of the family filoviridae. In this family, there are only three viruses that apply, and they are all practically identical, with only …show more content…
Although, the virus is transmitted through only bodily fluids, the virus was believed to originate in monkeys. For monkeys have been the culprits in the two outbreaks that have occurred in the United States. An associated press writer stated "the first outbreaks of ebola began when some local natives found a monkey in the forest, and began eating the raw flesh from it"(Johnson, 1). The monkeys, who seemed to have contained the virus, then passed it on to the humans, through the monkey 's blood. The only strain of ebola that can be spread otherwise is ebola Reston. This strain is an airborne strain of ebola, but since it is not lethal to humans, it is not that big of a threat to us. Once you have contracted the virus, it invades your cells, and multiplies very rapidly. It quickly moves from cell to cell, multiplying and destroying as it goes. Your cells become so destroyed and mangled that they eventually explode. Soon after this, you begin to show the symptoms of the virus. This includes headaches, backaches, fever, vomiting, hemorrhaging both internally and externally, your skin is jaundice, with pink lesions all over it and your face seems comatose. Internally, you bleed into yourself. The patient usually dies within ten days of the first symptoms. The final stage of the virus, is the crash and bleeding out stage. This is the stage where the infected person bleeds from every orifice of …show more content…
Why should we worry with all of our vaccines and all of our medical knowledge, we would never have something that bad in America? Especially since the majority of the outbreaks that occur seem to occur in mainly Zaire. People seem to think, there is just no possible way that a virus like that could be anywhere except Africa, where they are no where near as sanitary as we are. Well, this little theory that most people seem to have, is no longer true. As we get closer to the millennium, there seem to be more and more ebola outbreaks, in more places all over the world. In the past thirty-two years, there have been at least thirty-five different outbreaks, in numerous countries all over the world. All of these outbreaks have varied, for the three different strains seem to rotate their appearances. There have been outbreaks in Zaire, Sudan, Italy, Gabon, Congo, the Philippines, Liberia, the Ivory Coast, and even closer to home, Virginia, and even Texas. Yes there was an outbreak in Texas, about two years ago, in a little town north of Corpus, called Alice. "This outbreak involved monkeys only, not humans, for this was an outbreak of the Reston strain of ebola(Jackson, 1). This outbreak was very similar to the outbreak in Reston, Virginia a couple of years before. Except this outbreak was a smaller outbreak, with less of a panic, and there were fewer monkeys involved. These two outbreaks were from the transporting of