Dear Mr. Ebola,
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How are you? I hope you’re doing fine. Won’t you ask the people of Earth how are they doing? Just kidding.
Well, you made it to the big screen now. What a blast.
I want to talk to you about your
recent event. If it’s okay with you, I would like to discuss a little bit about
you since you recently made humans around the globe to freak out.
They fear you, Mr. Ebola, but I fear you not.
People talked about you, but at least, they saw my purpose too. It is all about you.
You are a virus that causes an
acute, serious illness which is often fatal if untreated. The disease you
cause, Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is formerly known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, which is a severe,
often fatal illness in humans.
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| Photo credits from: Global Health Press Pte Ltd. |
You are transmitted through direct contact with infected body fluids.
It means that blood or body fluids
like urine, saliva, sweat, feces, vomit, breast milk and semen from an infected
person (alive or dead) have touched another person’s eyes, nose, or mouth, open
cut or wound. You are not spread through casual contact, air water or food.
As scientists have discovered,
when a person comes in contact with you, it takes 2 to 21 days for symptoms to
develop. What humans know is that they are not infectious until they develop
symptoms. Most of the time, infected humans develop fever, fatigue, diarrhea,
headache, vomiting, stomach pain, unexplained bleeding or bruising and muscle
pain.
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The disease you cause can be
difficult to distinguish from other diseases like malaria, typhoid fever and
meningitis. Confirmation is achieved through laboratory tests.
Samples from patients are considered an extreme biohazard risk.
Of course, laboratory
personnel handling samples of you should be well trained and the process of
investigation should be conducted in suitably equipped laboratories.
Speaking of laboratory tests, it
should be conducted at Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4). It means there should be practices,
safety equipment and facilities appropriate when working with dangerous and
exotic agents like you which pose a high risk of life threatening disease.
Practices and techniques include:
standard microbiological practices, biohazard warning signs, “sharps”
precautions, biosafety manual, controlled access, change of clothing before
entry into lab, shower on exit and decontamination of all materials on exit
from lab.
It is important to note that
a BSL-4 cabinet laboratory contains a Class III Biological Safety Cabinet (BSC). When the laboratory personnel is not in full-body,
air-supplied, positive pressure personnel suit, it is highly recommended that
the laboratory manipulations be conducted in a Class III Biological Safety
Cabinet.
Thanks to you, people realized my purpose.
Mr. Ebola, you may be deadly. But
I fear you not. I would tell the laboratory personnel not to fear you, if I could only talk to them. With me, I can help protect them from you.
Yours truly,
Class III BSC
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| Photo credits from: www.escoglobal.com |
Resources:
Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009. Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical
Laboratories. USA. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015. Top
10 Things You Really Need to Know about Ebola. USA. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. Available from: http://passthrough.fw-notify.net/download/683248/http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/pdf/top-10-things.pdf
[August 15, 2015].
Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention. Facts
about Ebola. USA. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Available
from: http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/pdf/facts-about-ebola.pdf
[Accessed August 15, 2015].
ESCO.
A Guide to Biosafety and Biological
Safety Cabinets. Singapore. ESCO Micro Pte. Ltd. Available from: http://www.escoglobal.com/resources/guide-to-biosafety-and-biological-safety-cabinets/13/
[Accessed August 15, 2015].
World
Health Organization, 2015. Ebola virus
disease. Geneva, Switzerland. World Health Organization. Available from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/
[Accessed August 15, 2015].
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