Author Jeff W. Horton
April 18, 2025
Technical Discussion: Dodging the Bullet- Ebola in the United States
From a World Health Organization Article dated February 10, 2020
Ebola virus disease
Key facts
- Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a rare but severe, often fatal illness in humans.
- The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.
- The average EVD case fatality rate is around 50%. Case fatality rates have varied from 25% to 90% in past outbreaks.
- Community engagement is key to successfully controlling outbreaks.
- Good outbreak control relies on applying a package of interventions, namely case management, infection prevention and control practices, surveillance and contact tracing, a good laboratory service, safe and dignified burials and social mobilization.
- Vaccines to protect against Ebola are under development and have been used to help control the spread of Ebola outbreaks in Guinea and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
- Early supportive care with rehydration, symptomatic treatment improves survival. There is no licensed treatment proven to neutralize the virus but a range of blood, immunological and drug therapies are under development.
- Pregnant and breastfeeding women with Ebola should be offered early supportive care. Likewise vaccine prevention and experimental treatment should be offered under the same conditions as for non-pregnant population.
The Ebola virus causes an acute, serious illness which is often fatal if untreated. EVD first appeared in 1976 in 2 simultaneous outbreaks, one in what is now Nzara, South Sudan, and the other in Yambuku, DRC. The latter occurred in a village near the Ebola River, from which the disease takes its name.
The 2014–2016 outbreak in West Africa was the largest Ebola outbreak since the virus was first discovered in 1976. The outbreak started in Guinea and then moved across land borders to Sierra Leone and Liberia. The current 2018-2019 outbreak in eastern DRC is highly complex, with insecurity adversely affecting public health response activities.
The virus family Filoviridae includes three genera: Cuevavirus, Marburgvirus, and Ebolavirus. Within the genus Ebolavirus, six species have been identified: Zaire, Bundibugyo, Sudan, Taï Forest, Reston and Bombali. The virus causing the current outbreak in DRC and the 2014–2016 West African outbreak belongs to the Zaire ebolavirus species.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ebola-virus-disease
The Hot Zone & Monkeys
The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story is a best-selling[1] 1994[2] nonfiction thriller by Richard Preston about the origins and incidents involving viral hemorrhagic fevers, particularly ebolaviruses and marburgviruses. The basis of the book was Preston’s 1992 New Yorker article “Crisis in the Hot Zone”.[3]
The filoviruses—including Ebola virus, Sudan virus, Marburg virus, and Ravn virus—are Biosafety Level 4 agents, extremely dangerous to humans because they are very infectious, have a high fatality rate, and most have no known prophylactic measures, treatments, or cures.
Along with describing the history of the devastation caused by two of these Central African diseases, Ebola virus disease and Marburg virus disease, Preston described a 1989 incident in which a relative of Ebola virus, named Reston virus, was discovered at a primate quarantine facility in Reston, Virginia, less than 15 miles (24 km) away from Washington, D.C.
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hot_Zone
The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story (1999)
https://www.amazon.com/Hot-Zone-Terrifying-Paperback-Richard/dp/B00ENTVN14/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=the+hot+zone&qid=1586997733&sr=8-5
In my humble opinion, you cannot call yourself a true fan of the horror genre until you have read this true, biographical account of an actual outbreak of Ebola in Reston Virginia of what turned out to be one of the most deadly viruses on the planet, Ebola. As you can see above, the most you can hope for should you ever contract this merciless pathogen is 50%. The brought side, if there is one, is that even with the worst case you still have a 10% chance of living.
Now with the above-average intellects most of you, my readers, possess, you are probably aware that a handful of Americans came down with Ebola in recent years. Now all were, to the best of my knowledge, medical personnel who’d been engaged in helping victims of Ebola in Africa during the latest outbreak there. This strain of Ebola is commonly referred to as Ebola-Zaire. As noted above there are four strains that have been identified so far. I’m only concerning myself with two for the purpose of this post, Ebola-Zaire (which has killed so many in Africa and the American medical personnel), and Ebola-Reston, which is written about in the book, The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story.
Ebola-Reston gained notoriety among those in the field when, in the year 1989, an outbreak of Ebola occurred in Reston, VA. You may well be asking yourselves about now, “Why didn’t I hear about this outbreak? How could I have missed it?” Well, that’s probably because only monkeys died during this attack by Ebola. “So why is this important?” you may continue asking. Because, unless I’m mistaken, every monkey in primate quarantine facility in Reston, Virginia, less than 15 miles (24 km) away from Washington, D.C., I repeat, every monkey in this facility died.
Now, my astute readers, I’m confident a number of you are now thinking, if not actually vocalizing, “How would monkeys have spread the disease among themselves, given they were probably in cages, and the only way to spread Ebola is by physical contact with the blood?” Ah! A noteworthy observation, my dear friend. Well, that is because Ebola-Zaire, the most well-known strain of Ebola, is a virus that requires physical contact. What killed the monkeys in Reston, in exactly the same, ugly, violent manner in which Ebola-Zaire kills by the way, is air-borne.
Now if you’re paying attention as you read this, the hairs on the back of your neck just stood up and a cold chill traveled down your spine. That’s right, dear reader, Ebola-Reston is airborne mutation of Ebola. It is nearly genetically identical to Ebola-Zaire. Now as you might expect, by the time this all came out the human beings who worked in the facility did, in fact, contract Ebola-Reston, through the air. Very fortunately for them, it manifested much like the flu or, perhaps, like the milder versions of the Wuhan Virus now plaguing the world.
And lest I forget, there was a National Geographic film made “based” on the book. From what I could see in the trailer, however, I would recommend reading the book first because it doesn’t seem to jive with the book very much.
“Thanks a lot, scumbag,” you may now be thinking about your lowly author. “I was already depressed as hell about the effect the Wuhan Virus has had on the world, the victims, and the economy. Now I’m at the bottom of the barrel; thanks a lot!”
Now hold on a minute, valued and treasured reader, just as in my novels I intend to bring some light to the darkness. No, I’m not referring to prayer at the moment, though I do believe that is the most powerful weapon we have in or arsenal. While I strive to be a devout Christian, and I fail…often, I’m not here to push my views on you (unless you ask me to of course). No, I’m referring to a number of valuable technologies, some of which were mentioned in the report developed and distributed by scientists, doctors, and staff at Johns Hopkins a year-and-a-half ago, around October of 2018. The report suggests there are a number of steps that can be taken today, and some that can be developed or are already being developed, but are not yet ready for implementation, or even testing. This is important because if we learn the lessons from this recent pandemic, along with the Johns Hopkins report and others like it, perhaps we can channel the resources and monies needed to stop a pandemic in its tracks next time, whether it’s a strain of the Wuhan virus, a mutated for of tuberculosis, or a mutated form of Ebola-Reston which does kill human beings. Let’s write our congressmen, the president, and state and university leaders, insisting they pursue these technologies for stopping the next pandemic; as in business we must act now while the current pandemic is front and center of everyone’s mind. It pains me to repeat this, but the squeaky wheel gets the grease.”
Future Pandemics (and how to prevent them)
It is, I’m afraid, inevitable that yet another pandemic is on the horizon. There are many reasons for this, greater human contact with the natural habitats of the creatures carrying these pathogens, and greater travel worldwide are probably at or near the top of the list of reasons why it will happen sooner rather than later.
The study published by Johns Hopkins offer 15 different ideas for improving how we combat these pandemics. I’ll list them here, with a brief description of each, but I strongly encourage you to read this study, and direct others to do the same. It’s always better to read these yourself rather than allowing a talking-head, with his or her agenda always front-of-mind.
Oh yes, please review the following charts listing how various pandemics have taken so many lives. Check out the death-rate of the Bubonic Plague during the Middle Ages, and you may have some idea of what an airborne version of Ebola-Zaire could do to present-day humanity, if we don’t take action that is.
Technologies to Address Global Catastrophic Biological Risk
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-work/pubs_archive/pubs-pdfs/2018/181009-gcbr-tech-report.pdf
“Infectious disease emergencies can arise with little notice and have serious detrimental and lasting effects on health and society. In the past century, we have seen global emergencies like the 1918 influenza pandemic, which killed 50-100 million people; the emergence of the deadly SARS and MERS coronaviruses; and the 2013-2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, which resulted in more than 28,000 cases and 11,000 deaths and had devastating impacts on that region, as just a few examples.
As a subset of infectious disease emergencies, global catastrophic biological risk (GCBR) is a special category of risk involving biological agents—whether naturally emerging or reemerging, deliberately created and released, or laboratory- engineered and escaped—that could lead to sudden, extraordinary, widespread disaster beyond the collective capability of national and international organizations and the private sector to control. While rare, the risks of severe pandemics and GCB events are increasing because of factors like climate change, population growth and urbanization, and rapid affordable global travel. In addition, advances in biotechnology that enable easier and more targeted manipulation of biology increase the chances that microbes may be misused or will become the accidental cause of a pandemic.
Yet, while biotechnology does pose some societal risk, investment in the technologies described here, and others, is also an important component in helping to safeguard the world from a devastating biological event. When applied thoughtfully, technology can improve our ability to recognize and address emerging biological problems. Technologies to Address
Goals of the Report
- Pinpoint areas of need for technological solutions to address severe pandemics and GCB events
- Identify technologies that have significant potential to reduce GCBRs; and
- Provide context for those technologies, demonstrating their promise, limitations, and conditions under which they might be developed and employed successfully
DISEASE DETECTION, SURVEILLANCE, AND SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
1. Ubiquitous Genomic Sequencing and Sensing
2. Drone Networks for Environmental Detection
3. Remote Sensing for Agricultural Pathogens: (Satellites)
INFECTIOUS DISEASE DIAGNOSTICS
1. Microfluidic Devices: Microfluidic devices are “lab on a chip”
2. Handheld Mass Spectrometry:
3. Cell-Free Diagnostics:
DISTRIBUTED MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURE MANUFACTURING
1. 3D Printing of Chemicals and Biologics
2. Synthetic Biology for Manufacturing MCMs:
MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURE DISTRIBUTION, DISPENSING, AND ADMINISTRATION
1. Microarray Patches for Vaccine Administration:
2. Self-Spreading Vaccines (Author’s Note: This one is a really cool concept)
3. Ingestible Bacteria for Vaccination:
4. Self-Amplifying mRNA Vaccines: SAM vaccines use the genome of a modified virus with positive sense RNA, which is recognizable to our human translational machinery.
5. Drone Delivery to Remote Locations:
MEDICAL CARE AND SURGE CAPACITY
1. Robotics and Telehealth:
2. Portable, Easy-to-Use Ventilator
Here is the link again:
https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-work/pubs_archive/pubs-pdfs/2018/181009-gcbr-tech-report.pdf
I encourage you to check it out, along with the book, The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story as well!
Contact your elected officials and tell them to allocate funding to prevent and/or stop future pandemics!
Contact President Trump:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
Contact your US Representative:
https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
Contact your US Senator:
https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?OrderBy=state&Sort=ASC
Jeff W Horton strives to write fun, exciting, revealing, and widely entertaining fiction with a slight Christian flavor.
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