Awake 96 5/8 pg 23-25 read and see what it says about Ebola virus. Killer Virus Strikes Zaire BY AWAKE! CORRESPONDENT IN AFRICA KIKWIT, Zaire, is a sprawling town on the fringe of a tropical rain forest. Forty-two-year-old Gaspard Menga Kitambala, who lived outside the city, was the only Witness of Jehovah in his family. Menga was a seller of charcoal. He prepared his charcoal deep in the forest, bundled it up, and carried it on his head to Kikwit. On January 6, 1995, he felt ill. He fell twice on his way home from the forest. When he reached his home, he said that he had a headache and a fever. Over the next few days, his condition deteriorated. On January 12, his family took him to Kikwit General Hospital. The Witnesses in Menga’s congregation helped the family to care for him at the hospital. Sadly, his condition worsened. He began to vomit blood. Blood flowed uncontrollably from his nose and ears. On January 15, he died. Soon others in Menga’s family who had touched his body became sick. By early March, 12 people closely related to Menga had died, including his wife and two of their six children. By mid-April, hospital staff and others began to sicken and die in a way similar to Menga and his family. Quickly the illness spread to two other towns in the region. Clearly, outside help was needed. Professor Muyembe, Zaire’s top virologist, went to Kikwit on May 1. He later told Awake!: “We concluded that Kikwit was suffering from two epidemics: one was diarrhea caused by bacteria, and the other was a severe hemorrhagic fever caused by a virus. Of course, we needed to confirm this diagnosis. So we collected some blood from patients and sent it to be tested at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, U.S.A.” The CDC confirmed what Muyembe and other doctors in Zaire had already suspected. The disease was Ebola. A Deadly Disease The Ebola virus is ferocious. It can kill quickly. There is no vaccine against it, and there is no known treatment for its victims. Ebola was first recognized in 1976. Named after a river in Zaire, the disease struck in southern Sudan and a short time later in northern Zaire. A smaller outbreak occurred again in 1979 in Sudan. After that, except for a few isolated cases of people dying with Ebolalike symptoms, the disease vanished for years. So lethal is the Ebola virus that scientists who study it in Atlanta do so in a maximum-security laboratory built with a ventilation system that prevents any airborne microbe from escaping. Before entering the laboratory, scientists don protective “space suits.” They shower in disinfectant when they leave. The teams of doctors who came to Kikwit brought protective gear with them—disposable gloves and caps, goggles, and special coveralls that do not allow penetration by the virus. In contrast, most residents of Kikwit lacked both the knowledge and the equipment to protect themselves. Others knowingly risked or lost their lives in caring for ailing loved ones. Friends and family carried the sick and the dead on their back or shoulders with no protection at all. The consequence was a terrible loss of life; the virus devastated whole families. Containing the Outbreak The international community responded to Kikwit’s cry for help with donations of money and medical equipment. Teams of investigators flew in from Europe, South Africa, and the United States. Their purpose in coming was twofold: first, to help contain the outbreak; and second, to discover where the virus lived between epidemics. To help stop the epidemic, health workers made a street-by-street search to find anyone who showed symptoms of the disease. The ill were taken to the hospital, where they could be quarantined and cared for safely. Those who died were wrapped in sheets of plastic and buried swiftly. A massive campaign was launched to provide accurate information about the disease to health-care workers and to the public at large. Part of the message strongly warned against traditional burial practices, in which families ceremonially handle and wash the dead.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 22:19:44 +0000
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