The Ebola hemorrhagic fever epidemic is rapidly expanding. Should I be worried?

Ann Ebola hemorrhagic fever outbreak Global health authorities are scrambling to contain the relevant virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda, and the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the virus is likely to spread further, killing more than 130 people estimated so far. The virus that causes this type of Ebola hemorrhagic fever is a species called Bundibugyo virus. There is no approved vaccineis considered to be fatal in about 25 to 50 percent It sickened hundreds of people, including at least one American.

The WHO describes this situation as “Public health emergency of international concernHe said there were “significant uncertainties” about the large number of suspected early-stage infections and the extent of the spread. But despite the severity of the outbreak, public health experts have stressed that the risk of a pandemic-level threat is low and the risk to the United States is minimal.

“Not all pathogens have the ability to cause a pandemic,” says Amesh Adalja, a senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “People think it’s zero or pandemic. There are a lot of public health emergencies that are less than pandemic but still important.”

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The situation in the DRC is particularly serious. The first cases occurred in remote areas of political conflict and violence, causing displacement. Over 100,000 people That makes it “extremely dangerous” for health care workers to offer help, said Gene Marrazzo, CEO of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

The only American confirmed to have contracted the virus was a missionary doctor named Peter Stafford. reportedly Doctors believe he came into contact with an Ebola patient while working in the DRC. He has been evacuated to Germany for treatment, which reportedly has “experience treating Ebola patients.” According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There are currently no confirmed cases of Ebola in the United States, and the risk of the outbreak spreading nationally is “low at this time,” according to the CDC. The country’s government also imposed a travel ban on visitors from Japan. three countries in africa To further limit the possibility of the virus entering the United States

Health experts say there are other reasons the risk to the United States is likely to remain low, including the biology of the virus itself. People usually become infected with ortho-Ebola, the group of viruses that cause Ebola, through contact with body fluids such as blood, feces or saliva, but unlike the virus that causes coronavirus, which can be spread through the air, Adalja said this is not a particularly efficient route of transmission.

“This is not a subtle airborne transmission from asymptomatic people like we see with influenza or coronavirus,” Marazzo said, adding that some of the worst pandemics have been caused historically. respiratory virus It may be possible to transmit between hosts before symptoms begin.

On the other hand, people infected with the ortho-Ebola virus are not thought to be contagious until they become infected. After symptoms start. These can include fever and pain, as well as vomiting, diarrhea, and, as the disease progresses, internal and external bleeding. of incubation periodThe time between infection with Bundibugyo virus and the onset of symptoms usually ranges from 2 to 21 days.

“It’s highly unlikely that this will cause some sort of zombie-like phenomenon.” world war z “It’s not that type of virus,” Marrazzo added, referring to the 2006 novel and 2013 film adaptation about a zombie pandemic.

She says past outbreaks show that authorities have been able to stop the spread of Ebola by taking strict control measures. The largest Ebola outbreak, which began in 2014, took two years to contain and infected more than 28,000 people. According to CDC. It was caused by a different, more common species of ortho-Ebola virus than the current outbreak. Meanwhile, the Bundibugyo virus has only been linked to two other infections in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo since it was identified in 2007.

“Ebola does not have pandemic potential, but it is clearly an epidemic and is of great regional importance,” Adalja said.

For the average American, the risk of infection from a traveler from an African country where Ebola is present is currently “extremely low,” Marazzo said, but it is not completely non-existent, and is more of a “theoretical risk.” “Just be careful and be aware of where you are. If I see someone who is sick, I would take extra precautions,” she says.

Still, right now, she says, you’re far more likely to contract a respiratory infection or foodborne illness, such as norovirus, while traveling. Wearing an N95 mask and washing your hands can help prevent these illnesses.

“I’m an infectious disease person, so I’m very cautious. But I would say, ‘These theoretical risks are pretty unlikely, but don’t get caught up in them.’ And remember, people get seriously ill while traveling every day, but many of them are preventable,” she says.