The Facts About Ebola: How The Disease Can (And Can’t) Be Spread

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
In the wake of recent developments involving the ongoing outbreak of Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever, officials from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are reaching out to make certain that people have the facts about the dangerous viral disease.
On September 30, CDC tests confirmed that a Liberian man, later identified as Thomas Eric Duncan, had become the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola while in the US. Duncan reportedly started showing symptoms approximately five days after arriving from West Africa and is currently being treated for the disease in the Dallas, Texas area.
In a statement, the CDC said that it “recognizes that even a single case of Ebola diagnosed in the United States raises concerns.” The agency added that “medical and public health professionals across the country have been preparing to respond” and that experts “have been reminded to use meticulous infection control at all times.”
On Friday, reports surfaced that a freelance cameraman who had been working with NBC News on their coverage of the outbreak had been diagnosed with Ebola. That individual, 33-year-old Ashoka Mukpo, first reported symptoms on Wednesday. He will be flown back to the US for treatment this weekend, and his colleagues have decided to voluntarily quarantine themselves for 21 days, according to William M. Welch of USA Today.
With stories like these dominating news broadcasts and print headlines, and given the fact that the CDC has declared that this is the largest Ebola epidemic in history, US health officials have been making a concentrated effort to quell concerns about a domestic outbreak of the disease. The CDC explained that the risk of a US Ebola outbreak was “very low,” that it and its partners were “taking precautions to prevent this from happening.”
Likewise, HHS officials sent out an email statement (see below) to the press Friday morning ensuring the country was “prepared” to deal with the disease, and that unlike the regions of Africa being hardest hit by Ebola, that the US “has a strong health care system and public health professionals who will make sure this case does not threaten our communities.”
According to the agency, the virus responsible for causing the viral hemorrhagic fever disease, as of Thursday, was reportedly responsible for more than 3,300 deaths worldwide. The symptoms include fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, weaknesses, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain, a lack of appetite, and abnormal bleeding. Symptoms can appear anywhere from two to 21 days after exposure.
The HHS went on to explain that while Ebola was a potentially deadly disease, it is “not a highly contagious disease.” It can only be transmitted through direct contact with either the blood or bodily fluids of a person who has been infected and is showing symptoms of the disease, or through exposure to objects (such as needles) that have been contaminated with infected secretions.
Ebola is not a respiratory disease and cannot be transmitted through the air, the HHS said. Likewise, it is not transmitted through water, and a person cannot catch the viral hemorrhagic fever by eating contaminated food in the US, the agency noted. Likewise, it cannot be caught from a person who has been infected but is not showing any symptoms of the disease – a person would have to have “direct contact with an individual who is experiencing symptoms or has died of the disease,” according to the HHS statement.
“Ebola can be scary. But… the United States has a strong health care system and public health professionals who will make sure this case does not threaten our communities,” CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden explained in a statement announcing the details of the Duncan diagnosis on Tuesday. “While it is not impossible that there could be additional cases associated with this patient in the coming weeks, I have no doubt that we will contain this.”
The CDC also ensured that the agency had taken multiple steps to help prepare for the potential domestic spread of Ebola, including enhancing surveillance and laboratory testing capacity to better detect cases at the state level, for providing recommendation to help prevent infections and control the spread of the disease, and informing flight crews, emergency medical responders and other official on how to report ill travelers to the CDC.
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HHS Statement:
This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the first confirmed case of Ebola diagnosed in the United States in a person who traveled from West Africa.
There’s all the difference in the world between the U.S. and parts of Africa where Ebola is spreading. The United States is prepared, and has a strong health care system and public health professionals who will make sure this case does not threaten our communities. As CDC Director Dr. Frieden has said, “I have no doubt that we will control this case of Ebola, so that it does not spread widely in this country.”
Although Ebola is a highly destructive disease, it is not a highly contagious disease.
Here are the facts you should know about Ebola:
What is Ebola? Ebola virus is the cause of a viral hemorrhagic fever disease. Symptoms include: fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain, lack of appetite, and abnormal bleeding. Symptoms may appear anywhere from 2 to 21 days after exposure to Ebola virus though 8-10 days is most common.
How is Ebola transmitted? Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected symptomatic person or though exposure to objects (such as needles) that have been contaminated with infected secretions.
Can Ebola be transmitted through the air? No. Ebola is not a respiratory disease like the flu, so it is not transmitted through the air.
Can I get Ebola from contaminated food or water? No. Ebola is not transmitted through food in the United States. It is not transmitted through water.
Can I get Ebola from a person who is infected but doesn’t have any symptoms? No. Individuals who are not symptomatic are not contagious. In order for the virus to be transmitted, an individual would have to have direct contact with an individual who is experiencing symptoms or has died of the disease.
Click here for more: Questions and Answers about Ebola