In February 2014, the Ebola virus broke free again. If earlier he destroyed people in Central Africa, now for the first time he struck the western part of the Black Continent. This mysterious disease turns a person into a bloody mass in a few days. There is no vaccine against Ebola, nor is there an effective treatment. 90% of those infected are doomed to die. At the end of June, 567 cases of the disease were recorded, of which 350 were fatal.
Crushing scale
The Ebola virus was first detected in the Congo in 1976, and the last major epidemic occurred there in 2007, when 187 people became victims of the disease. This year, the first outbreak of the disease was recorded in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. These states are perhaps the poorest in the world.
The war and the political crisis have significantly undermined the state structure, including the health care system. The first cases of the disease were recorded in February, but laboratory tests, which lasted 6 weeks, allowed the virus to roam the country for 1.5 months without hindrance. To date, the international organization "Médecins Sans Frontières" knows 60 places where Ebola is common.
Médecins sans Frontières is the only organization that helps local doctors treat those infected. But the strength of her employees is already running out. In addition, there are not enough teams that could travel to new foci of the disease. According to ITAR-TASS, since the beginning of 2014, 264 people have died from this disease in Guinea, 49 in Sierra Leone, and 24 in Liberia.
According to medical research, four cases of Ebola infection have been recorded in the capital of Guinea, Conakry. All infected were sent to isolated medical centers.
The virus was allegedly brought to the capital by a resident of the city of Dabola, who showed symptoms of fever after a trip to the central district of Guinea, Dingire, as reported by Minister of Health Remy Lama. The man, returning home, died. Four of his brothers came to the funeral from the capital, who after a while turned to doctors with symptoms similar to fever. Analyzes confirmed the presence of the disease. All four men and their families were quarantined.
Promotional video:
The Ministry of Health of Guinea is taking all measures to combat the spread of the disease: quarantine is introduced, mobile laboratories are being deployed. But it is impossible to foresee everything. Dr. Amara Jambai, who heads the Sierra Leone Center for Disease Prevention and Control, said some suspected patients go on the run and hide from doctors. There are 57 such cases to date. This means that it is impossible to predict where the disease will manifest itself.
"The magnitude of the current Ebola epidemic is unprecedented," said a statement posted on the Médecins Sans Frontières website.
African plague
Ebola fever is an especially dangerous acute viral disease characterized by a severe course, severe hemorrhagic syndrome (hemorrhage) and a high mortality rate. Carriers of the disease are, presumably, rodents living near human habitation. There are known cases of infection with the virus during the autopsy of chimpanzees and when eating the brain of monkeys. The sick person is a great danger to others.
The virus is transmitted by airborne droplets, contact and injection. It is found in biological fluids such as saliva, nasopharyngeal mucus, urine, semen. There is a very high risk of infection when caring for patients through hands and household items, on which traces of blood or urine remain, as well as through medical instruments and sexually. The exposure to the virus does not depend on a person's age or gender.
The virus enters the body mainly through the mucous membranes and skin, penetrates the lymph nodes and spleen, the number of platelets decreases, the vessels and internal organs are affected, foci of death and hemorrhage occur. The liver, spleen, lymph nodes, kidneys, endocrine glands and brain are most affected by changes in the background of the virus.
The average incubation period for Ebola is 7 days, but can range from 2 to 16 days. The onset of the disease is accompanied by high fever (up to 40 degrees), headache and weakness. From the first days of the disease, the patient has a violation of facial expressions and sunken eyes. Then there is dryness and sore throat, pain in the chest and muscles, cough. On the third day, there is abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea with blood, leading to dehydration.
The disease progresses rapidly, on the fifth day there are various bleeding, including from the mucous membranes, the patient becomes covered with a rash, his skin peels off. Reveal lethargy, drowsiness, confusion. The virus disables the blood's ability to clot. Death occurs on the eighth or ninth day from massive blood loss and shock. With a favorable outcome, the febrile period lasts 10-12 days, recovery is slow within 2-3 months.
Attempts to create a vaccine were made in the United States (they took into account that it could be used as a biological weapon), but research was curtailed due to insufficient funding.
Deadly delicacy
According to scientists, the main carriers of the Ebola virus are bats and fruit bats. The meat of these bats in Guinea is considered a delicacy due to its high taste; the locals traditionally eat it. A spicy soup is made from it, which is washed down with alcohol in small street cafes.
But the worst thing is mice kebabs, that is, uncooked meat. A person may well become infected by contact with these mice or eating their meat. Guinea's Ministry of Health immediately imposed a ban on the consumption of bat meat.
Many fall ill after the funeral of relatives who have died of fever. An example is the death of a healer who treated a person. Or the words of a local resident confirming this version: “I came from Daru because of an outbreak of fever. Many people died there, including my family members. A nurse who was next to her deceased mother died. Those who buried her also died. In this country, traditionally, funeral rites are performed by women, so most of the sick were from among them. The authorities have banned traditional funerals. Ebola deaths are now being buried by medical workers protected by suits and masks.
The population is scared of what is happening, and where there is fear, rumors and speculation invariably spread. Many believe that the ban on funerals exists in order to cut off the extremities of the dead from a terrible disease and remove internal organs. Police were recently forced to use tear gas when relatives stormed the hospital in an attempt to retrieve the bodies.
Localization of the virus
One cannot discount the possibility of Ebola spreading outside of the infected states. To avoid this, all countries in the region have already introduced strict medical controls at airports. And the Gambian authorities have completely closed the southern border checkpoints and do not accept passenger flights from Guinea and Senegal.
In regions where fever outbreaks have been recorded, schools are closed, and people are forced to measure temperatures at borders. Everywhere there are posters listing the symptoms of the disease, with calls to see a doctor. But many still rely on traditional methods. So in Molaa, at the checkpoint, soldiers are on duty with herbal bracelets made by a local healer around their wrists.
Liberia has criminalized the concealment of Ebola sufferers, as some have hid at home or in temples instead of seeking medical attention. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said in this regard: “Let the threat of punishment be a warning to all. I say this, taking care of the lives of our citizens first of all. The threat of disease is real and threatens our country, many people may die”.
Secret vaccine
Several years ago, the Vremya program sounded a sensational message that our scientists had developed a vaccine against the Ebola virus. Then there were several shots taken in the laboratory of the Ministry of Defense and a close-up of a test tube with a vaccine. The overall complexity of Igor Prokopenko's plot was given 40 seconds of airtime. But that was then, and now the journalist can tell much more.
It all started after Ebola broke out in Zaire in 1985. The Americans were the first to start research, but they took place in an atmosphere of strict secrecy. The next outbreak of the disease occurred in 1987, the results of American studies were still kept secret. 1995 - new victims of the fever. Here in the world they started talking about the fact that this is the result of a biological weapon test, and if a vaccine is not found, the world will perish.
Russian scientists still found a vaccine, and the discovery, without making it public, was transferred to the World Health Organization. It was then that Igor Prokopenko, with the permission of the Chief of the General Staff, was allowed to take pictures in the laboratory. But the main materials, filmed by the journalist, lay in the archives with the stamp "top secret" for five years.
The question arises: why is there such secrecy, why were state officials related to these developments silent? Apparently, because anyone who is developing a vaccine against viruses can easily be accused of creating the biological weapon itself. In this matter, the line between good and evil is very thin. By the way, the Americans to this day hide the results of their research.
Galina ORLOVA