Will Ebola wipe us out?

Throughout history, we have faced outbreaks of sometimes very nasty viruses, diseases or infections.  By far the nastiest and feared of any modern day virus is Ebola.  It kills most of those affected and does so in a terrifying way.  But will Ebola wipe out every human on Earth? It kills most of those affected and does so in a terrifying way. Click To Tweet  

Ebola

Ebola is a hemorrhagic fever that is often fatal in humans with an average kill rate of 87% in those affected.  It is spread through contact with wild animals; however, there is speculation that Ebola may have been created by the CIA according to Wayne Madsen, a former NSA contractor.  If Mr Madsen’s claims are correct Ebola was created and first used in 1976.  The virus can be easily transmitted through human-to-human contact; however basic hygiene practices such as washing your hands can stop the virus in its tracks.  

The spread

Ebola is spread by human-to-human contact where strict sterilization procedures are not being maintained, such as washing your hands after every encounter with people and objects.  During the outbreak of 2014 most West African regions were affected with the infected also making it to several developed countries in the Northern hemisphere.  While the spread of Ebola is relatively easy to control in developed countries it has managed to spread rapidly in less developed regions. Should you contract Ebola but not get sick as a result, the bad news is that you will remain contagious to others for the rest of your life.  The virus has an incubation period of between 2 and 22 days but a victim will not become contagious until symptoms first develop.  Symptoms include:

• Fever
• Fatigue
• Muscle pain
• Headache
• Vomiting
• Rash
• Diarrhea
• Bloody stool
• Bleeding from the eyes/mouth
• General oozing of bodily fluids from the pores

 

Past killer viruses

While Ebola may be bad, there have been far worse viruses that have ravaged mankind.  Some modern ones that are far worse than Ebola are Swine Flu or Bird Flu.  These have killed far more people than Ebola but will never get the coverage as Ebola, but why?  It is because of the gruesome effects of Ebola. Between 1918 and 1919 a Spanish Flu pandemic spread across the globe.  It was originally spread among soldiers in the trenches of WWI as a form of Swine Flu.  The outbreak occurred just as the war was ending so all those soldiers went home and spread the virus even further.  In one year the Spanish Flu killed more people than the Bubonic Plague and all the casualties from WWI combined.  

Will it kill us all?

No, of course not.  The one thing we have learned from all the past killer viruses is that we as a species will live on.  There is a common mode of thinking that suggests only the strongest of us will survive but this is untrue when it comes to killer viruses.  The Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 and the recent Swine Flu outbreak was only killing young healthy people, despite a whole range of ages and health levels being affected. If you are young and relatively healthy it might be best to fear a virus outbreak, however, if you are old and decrepit you should survive just fine.