Staff Editorial

Ebola is a problem that could have been solved years ago when the first outbreak occurred. It wasn’t because the medical field is a business that requires a profit to sustain itself. There was no profit to be made creating a cure for a disease that would be given to people in African countries that have no means of paying for it. Therefore, first-world nations ignored the problem. However, now we’re desperately trying to find a cure because some of our own have now been affected.

Creating an effective medication for Ebola prevention and cure has become a question of ethics. At what point does finding a cure, and worrying about profits change the intention for the drug. We must remember that human life should ethically be more important than profit.

While some may believe that the highly restrictive quarantines are excessive, it is an effective way to contain the virus from spreading.

Some believe that the world is due for another pandemic. But theorists would say that Ebola is not a strong enough to create such a mass outbreak. The virus only lives, at most, a few hours outside of the host.

The virus is transmitted through bodily fluids including urine, blood, saliva and semen (though no cases have been reported because of sexual transmission). It has also been transmitted through dirty needles. The good news is that sneezing or coughing cannot transmit the disease, making transmission unlikely on the street. Right now, the disease can be killed through disinfectants such as bleach.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *