Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.
There has been a lot of news coverage on the Ebola outbreak
in Africa over the last several months. On August 8, the WHO declared the Ebola
outbreak an international public health emergency. For only the third time in
history, the US CDC raised its level of emergency alertness to “Level 1.”
As of now, about 1,700 people have been infected and 952
have died in basically three areas of Africa: Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
The government says Ebola can be up to 90% lethal, but this
outbreak has a death rate of about 55%, says Dr. Mercola.
What is Ebola? It is a virus with five subtypes or mutations
identified. The first discovered and most common is Zaire Ebolavirus (ZEBOV),
first found in 1976 and thought to be the most virulent. It is this strain
causing the current epidemic.
The virus produces flu-like symptoms in the first 6 to 16
days of infection. Sudden onset of fever, diarrhea, headache, muscle pain,
vomiting and abdominal pain are the initial symptoms. As the infection sets in,
brain swelling, blood clotting disorders and secondary bacterial infections may
occur. Hemorrhaging tends to begin four or five days after the onset of the initial
symptoms. Bleeding at the throat, gums, lips and vagina are the most affected
areas. Vomiting blood from GI bleeding may occur, with liver or multi-organ
failure as the next worst step. The virus leads to severe immune suppression,
but most deaths are attributed to dehydration caused by gastric problems. It
isn’t pretty, that’s for sure.
According to my reading, Ebola is hosted by humans, various
monkeys, chimpanzees, gorillas, baboons, two species of rodents, a species of
shrew and three species of fruit bats. The current outbreak is thought to have
started with bats or primates.
According to Fabian Leenderty, an epidemiologist and disease
ecologist at the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin, the outbreak is spreading by
contact with bodily fluids from an infected or dead person.
He reports that Ebola doesn’t spread as easily as most
think. He says it is directly person to person with close personal contact
necessary.
He says researchers have “confirmed” that Ebola is not
airborne. I have read research to the opposite though. On September 11, 2014,
the New York Times printed a quote from Michael T. Osterhelm, the director for
the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of
Minnesota. He said this, “In 2012, a team of Canadian researchers proved that
Ebola Zaire, the same virus that is causing the West Africa outbreak, could be
transmitted by the respiratory route from pigs to monkeys, both of whose lungs
are very similar to those of humans.” The pigs and monkeys were not able to ever
touch each other. That is very troubling for obvious reasons.
There are several fast tracked vaccines in the works, but
like other vaccines, I wouldn’t get anywhere near them. Fast tracked is another
term for “not tested nearly enough.” Fear mongering is a lucrative business,
especially for the vaccine companies. The last “Level 1” emergency was the
swine flu back in 2009. That turned out to be a complete hype job, promoting a
vaccine that had no good effect, yet caused a terrible sleeping disorder called
“narcolepsy.” It was a fast tracked
vaccine.
I do believe Ebola is a scary virus in a third world
country. As for here in the US, it is being hyped in my opinion. Basic care in
a hospital to control hydration, and bleeding, and care to not infect health
care workers will keep it from being an epidemic here. Having said that, I will
not be found anywhere near a hospital if it ever does reach our home soil. I
believe in the body’s ability to fight off most diseases, but I am also not in
the habit of needlessly exposing myself to deadly things on purpose.
The truth is that everyone that has survived Ebola so far
has done so with their own immune system. There are no drugs or vaccines to
date. Even the American doctor who survived by coming back to the US, did so by
his own immune system. There is no evidence the vaccine or drug given him did
any good, and we surely don’t know the ill effects it may have on him in the
future.
Fortunately, Ebola is inactivated by UV radiation. That’s
right, sunlight kills the virus? That’s why it won’t last long outside of a
host, and won’t become the epidemic here that it is in Africa.
The best thing you can do is keep your immune system at full strength. Vitamin D is
the key with Ebola, just as it is with the common flu and any other virus or
bacteria. The best cure is not getting it in the first place.