Unless you have been living under a rock for the past month, you know that Ebola has become an ongoing and serious issue in the world. But before we all freak out, let's gets some facts straight:
Ebola is a severe, often fatal illness for humans. The virus (Ebola Virus Disease) is transmitted to people from wild animals and can spread in the human population through human-to-human transmission.
The first EVD outbreaks occurred in remote villages in Central Africa, near tropical rainforests, but the most recent outbreak in west Africa has involved major urban as well as rural areas.
There is, as of yet, no licensed treatment proven to neutralize the virus, but a range of blood, immunological, and drug therapies are under development. There are currently no licensed Ebola vaccines, but 2 potential candidates are undergoing evaluation.
The first patient to contract the Ebola virus on U.S soil, is 26 year old Nina Pham, who is a graduate of Texas Christian University, and a sister of Sigma Kappa. Apparently, the transmission resulted from an unknown “breach of protocol” in treating Thomas Eric Duncan (Liberia patient who became first diagnosed Ebola case in the U.S.) when he returned to Texas Presbyterian a second time.
Pham received her certificate in Critical Care Nursing on August 1, less than two months before Duncan arrived at Texas Health Presbyterian critically ill with Ebola. Duncan died last week. As of Sunday, she was in stable condition at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas.
So far, there have been eight diagnosed cases of Ebola in the United States. However, with each of the cases, the victims were either missionaries or were at one point living in Liberia, caretakers for victims of Ebola, and in one case, an NBC reporter traveling in Africa. The patients are being heavily monitored and treated for their condition in hopes of preventing the spread of this virus to more citizens in the United States.
The sisters of Sigma Kappa at Rutgers University's thoughts and prayers are with the Pham family at this difficult time.
