It was recently announced that an outbreak of the Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever virus in Northern Uganda had occurred, according to the World Health Organization. The virus, which is a severe, usually fatal disease in humans has appeared sporadically since its discovery. The first reported outbreak , occurred in the city of Kikwit, Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to all reports, the first case occurred in January 1995, but went unrecognized as Ebola by health-care workers. This one case started a chain of transmission of the virus that finally was recognized in April of that year, when many more cases appeared. The outbreak peaked in May. An early response might have prevented widespread transmission of the virus, since the virus is transmitted by direct contact with an infected person or their bodily fluids or by contact with objects contaminated with the virus. No vaccine or antiviral medication is available for treatment of Ebola hemorrhagic fever.
The current outbreak has already claimed 41 lives, and more are certain to die before the outbreak subsides. The Ugandan public health officials said that 111 cases had been positively identified so far in this outbreak. As a result, the Ugandan officials called on health agencies around the world for support and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has responded with a 6 person team. The CDC teams are experts at dealing with outbreaks such as this, however other government agencies around the world fall short.
The World Health Organization has failed to restrict travel to and from the area that the outbreak is taking place in, stating that since it was a remote area, it did not appear to warrant a warning at this time. This organization, knowing the history of this virus and the its potential for rapid disease transmission to other areas is taking a calculated risk that it won't spread, and that risk is contrary to human behavior patterns. If a person living in the area discovered Ebola in their village, for example, the natural reaction would be to leave. To get as far away from the illness as possible. This, obviously means travel and if they have already been infected, then the disease has been spread to a new area. In my opinion, the proper response would be to quarantine the entire area to control this possibility and to save human lives.
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