The Ebola Epidemic: The Fight, The Future

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About The Ebola Epidemic: The Fight, The Future

Product Description An ordinary blue thermos holding blood samples from a sick nun in Zaire reached Belgium's Institute of Tropical Medicine in September 1976. From the samples, researchers discovered a new virus, which they named the Ebola virus after a river in Central Africa. The virus killed two hundred eighty people before it seemingly disappeared into the jungle. No one suspected the virus would erupt in West Africa nearly four decades later to cause an unprecedented epidemic. Ebola has riveted―and terrified―the world since its reemergence from the jungle, killing more than eleven thousand people in West Africa since December 2013. Transmitted through bodily fluids―blood, saliva, sweat, vomit, feces, and semen―the disease causes high fever, widespread pain, nausea and vomiting, and severe diarrhea. Patients may develop dangerous bleeding and organ failure. With no effective treatment available, about 40 percent of infected people die within days. Using proper protective gear, safe burial protocols, cleansing techniques, and educational outreach, the disease has been slowed in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone―at least temporarily. Can researchers develop vaccines quickly enough to prevent new outbreaks? Will Ebola move beyond West Africa? Readers will hear from Ebola survivors, learn what experts say about this devastating disease, and draw their own conclusions about whether another epidemic can be prevented. Review "Welcome to the you-better-be-Brave New World of emergent viruses. Much of this crisp and informative book chronicles the Ebola outbreak that savaged Liberia and parts of neighboring countries in September 2014. Goldsmith, a veteran health/science writer, knows how to invest readers in her story. Here, with the help of a swarm of photographs and maps, she explains how the virus found its way to Liberia―an engrossing story in itself―which necessitates a little background information. Goldsmith delivers science in a serious yet welcoming tone (no one gets talked down to); pathology can be fascinating in its own right, but Goldsmith makes the development of vaccines and rapid-result Ebola tests just as absorbing. There is good material on Doctors without Borders as well as on the locals who took part in the effort to educate people about the nature and transmission of the virus. There is also a pithy explanation of viruses―'Not really alive, yet not quite dead, viruses are the zombies of the microscopic world'―including their ability to shift shape, which makes designing a vaccine so difficult. Meanwhile, a creepy image of the virus snakes across the pages, innocent-looking as spaghetti or yarn, deadly as a blue-ringed octopus. An arresting, illuminating, and unlikely-to-be-forgotten story."―starred, Kirkus Reviews "Goldsmith, a health care practitioner and experienced science writer, begins her investigation of Ebola with the 1976 outbreak in Zaire (now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and scientists' realization that they were dealing with a new type of incredibly deadly hemorrhagic fever. Subsequent chapters explain how the virus works so effectively to sicken its human hosts and shed light on the recent 2014 epidemic in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. The efforts of health care workers and humanitarian organizations to care for the sick and contain the spread of the disease are described, as is the unfortunately less-than-adequate response of the World Health Organization. Particularly interesting is the information about the development of medical advancements in response to the epidemic. Quick and cost effective screening tests, various curative medications, a vaccine, and even innovative personal protective gear are in the works. Goldsmith also addresses the ethical questions accompanying the rapid development of new medicines: Who should receive the medication first? Is informed consent (necessary to implement clinical trials) even possible when Western doctors are working wi