The outbreak and spread of ebola in West Africa should serve as a warning to Americans. There is no effective vaccine or cure for the virus, which is usually lethal. Its communicable nature and the international transportation links with West Africa make it likely that it will find its way to the United States. Ebola has been known to the medical community since 1976, when it was first identified as a killer disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, then Zaire. Since then, neither African national government health systems nor international bodies, including the World Health Organization, have devoted significant efforts to finding either a vaccine or a cure, even as it raised its ugly head several more times on the continent. African governments’ health care budgets are normally pathetically small, in spite of the considerable wealth of some countries. The outbreak and spread of ebola in West Africa should serve as a warning to Americans. There is no effective vaccine or cure for the virus, which is usually lethal. Its communicable nature and the international transportation links with West Africa make it likely that it will find its way to the United States. Ebola has been known to the medical community since 1976, when it was first identified as a killer disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, then Zaire. Since then, neither African national government health systems nor international bodies, including the World Health Organization, have devoted significant efforts to finding either a vaccine or a cure, even as it raised its ugly head several more times on the continent. African governments’ health care budgets are normally pathetically small, in spite of the considerable wealth of some countries.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 14:34:45 +0000
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