The article posted in New York Times titled, “Guinea Declares Ebola Outbreak With at Least 3 Deaths,” discusses fighting a new Ebola epidemic in Guinea, a West African country. Health officials in West Africa reported an Ebola outbreak after three people died on Sunday, Feb 14, 2021, in Guinea. The Ebola was confirmed with a laboratory test in all three patients (New York Times, 2021).

Ebola virus was initially identified in 1976 in Nzara, South Sudan, and Yambuku, Democratic Republic of Congo. The name Ebola came from the Ebola River, where the infection occurred. The biggest Ebola outbreak took place from 2014 to 2016 in west Africa country Guinea and later spread to neighboring countries such as Sierra Leone and Liberia (WHO, 2020). Ebola virus is a rare but severe and often fatal illness. The virus is transmitted from wild animals to humans through direct contact with body fluids. The Ebola virus then spread human-to-human through direct contact with an infected person’s body fluids, such as blood, feces, and vomiting.

The Virus reservoir is a fruit bat species, and any contact with the bats or their body fluid resulted in human infection. The portal of entry is the mucus membrane and breaks in the skin. Death from the Ebola virus happens secondary to septic shock within ten days of symptoms. The patient isn’t considered contagious until the onset of symptoms (usually fever) (Boling & March 2018).

According to WHO, there were 28,000 cases and 11,000 deaths (50% of cases) from Ebola in West Africa. Ebola virus disease symptoms are fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, acute kidney and liver insufficiency, and internal and external bleeding. Clinical diagnosis of Ebola virus disease is difficult because the symptoms are similar to malaria, typhoid fever, and meningitis. Laboratory tests are required to identify the Ebola virus and differentiate the virus from other infectious diseases that present with similar symptoms.

There is no cure as of yet for the Ebola virus. Supportive care such as rehydration is suggested. An experimental vaccine was developed in 2015 and had high effectiveness. The vaccine was used in the 2018-2019 Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (WHO, 2020). Containing the new epidemic with vaccination is essential in preventing a future global pandemic.

Boling, B., & March, P. (2018). Ebola. CINAHL Nursing Guide. https://eds-b-ebscohost-com.chamberlainuniversity.idm.oclc.org/eds/detail/detail? (Links to an external site.) vid=7&sid=f4b5e718-935a-46f1-a34e-2b1df53fd5ce%40pdc-v-sessmgr02&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=T906071&db=nup

World Health Organization. (2020). Ebola virus disease. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact- (Links to an external site.) sheets/detail/Ebola-virus-disease

Kwai, E., & Mclean, R. (2021). Guinea declares an Ebola outbreak with at least three deaths. The New York Times.