Ebola recently hit home for members of the TCU community with the devastating news that TCU alumna, Nina Pham, had become the first person in the United States to contract the virus. A candlelight vigil was held at Robert Carr Chapel on Tuesday night in her honor. Students, professors, and other members of the community attended the vigil in order to show support for Pham, who is currently being treated at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital; the same hospital where she had worked weeks prior to treat Ebola patient Thomas Duncan. Duncan originally contracted the disease while in Liberia, but did not begin experiencing symptoms until he was in the US.           

In a statement release by Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital on Tuesday, the same night as the vigil, Pham said, "I'm doing well and want to thank everyone for their kind wishes and prayers." On Monday, she got a blood transfusion from American Ebola survivor and doctor, Kent Brantly. The hope is that the antibodies in Brantley’s blood will trigger an immune response in Pham that will allow her body to fight off the virus. Brantly beat the virus after receiving a blood transfusion from one of his former Ebola patients who overcame the disease. Although it was successful for Brantly, there is not enough scientific evidence to prove these blood transfusions are a feasible cure for Ebola.            

News and reports about the Ebola virus have been growing exponentially in the past few weeks since the first case of Ebola in the United States was diagnosed on September 28th. Now, let’s backtrack to March 2014 when the World Health Organization stated that the Ebola outbreak began in the West African country of Guinea. Here’s a brief timeline of events that happened during those six and a half months until now: 

April 1st: The Ministry of Health of Guinea reports a cumulative total of 127 cases of Ebola and 83 deaths. 

July 14th: Two U.S. workers become infected with the virus at a hospital in Liberia 

July 28th: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official Stephan Monroe held a press conference about the possibility of infected travelers arriving in the U.S. Monroe says, “I want to underscore that Ebola poses little risk to the U.S. general population.” He also states that the chance of Ebola spreading to the U.S is a “very remote possibility.”

August 2nd: U.S citizen Kent Brantly is flew out of Liberia to be treated at Emory University Hospital in Georgia for Ebola. 

August 8th: CDC Director Tom Frieden states that, “There is a risk for Ebola to be introduced to the United States.” He also acknowledges, “a cluster of cases is possible if patients are not quickly isolated.” This stands in contrast from the statement made by CDC official Stephan Monroe a week and a half prior, that Ebola posed "little risk to the U.S general population."

August 21st: Kent Brantly is discharged from Emory University Hospital and no longer has Ebola. September 16th: President Obama announces a "major increase" in the U.S. response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The White house issues a statement saying, “Despite the tragic epidemic in West Africa, U.S. health professionals agree it is highly unlikely that we would experience an Ebola outbreak here in the United States.” 

September 30th: the first laboratory-confirmed case of Ebola is diagnosed in the United States in Thomas Duncan, who had traveled to Dallas, Texas from West Africa. 

October 8th: Duncan dies of Ebola. Federal officials announce that passengers from West Africa arriving at five American airports will be screened for fever. 

October 10th: Nurse Nina Pham, who treated Duncan, tests positive for Ebola. 

October 14th: The director of the federal Centers for Disease Control admits that swifter action on the agency’s part might have kept the nurse from becoming infected by the virus. A total of 125 people are now being monitored after coming in possible contact with Ebola patients Duncan and Pham. Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan announce plans to donate $25 million to the Centers for Disease Control Foundation to help fight Ebola. 

Looking forward: The World Health Organization estimates that there will be 5,000 to 10,000 new Ebola cases weekly in West Africa by the first week of December if the virus is not contained and put under control. Officially, WHO has reported only 8,914 Ebola cases total in the entire months-long outbreak, but believes that this number under-reported.   

Instead of panicking about the virus, educate yourself about it and learn the symptoms. Here are some quick important facts about the virus from the Centers for Disease Control website: 

• Ebola is not spread through casual contact; therefore, the risk of an outbreak in the U.S. is very low. 
• Symptoms may appear anywhere from 2 to 21 days after exposure to Ebola, but the average is 8 to 10 days. 
• Initial symptoms include: abrupt fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, sore throat, and weakness. It can later progresses to diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain. 
• It is not transmitted through the air. 
• Humans can contract Ebola if they come in contact with body fluids from an infected person or contaminated objects from an infected person, including but not limited to: urine, saliva, sweat, feces, vomit, breast milk, and semen.