A new plague is threatening mankind. Most people still treat
it with a nonchalant shrug. “Nothing to worry about. It’s over there in Africa, on the other side of the world.”
Well—I’m worried.
The Ebola virus is not anymore only in Africa.
It is in Spain. It’s come to the USA, and,
possibly, also to Canada.
One man brought it with him on a plane. He neglected to tell anyone that he
helped a woman, who was infected with the Ebola virus, move before he boarded the
plane to the US.
Even though he was infected it didn’t show up when they screened him after getting
off the plane. Four days after he landed he became ill. He had all the symptoms
and yet, the hospital he went to for a check-up, sent him home again. Somebody
goofed up majorly.
The man is dead now. He infected one of the health care
workers in spite of precautions that were taken. There is a good chance he also
infected his girlfriend and others he came in contact with.
This whole incident shows how easily a deadly virus can be
transferred to anywhere in the world. Nobody is safe. The authorities assure us
they have it under control. They are prepared. Prepared for what? An outbreak?
By then it is too late. Thousands have already died from the Ebola virus and
more will die, despite the effort to prevent it from spreading. Researchers are
trying to develop a drug, but even if they are successful to find one, it will
need to be mass-produced. And that’s where the problem lies. Some
pharmaceutical company will want to take advantage of it to make money and some
will get rich. Somebody always gets rich from a disaster, from a war, and from the
outbreak of a disease.
How long will it take to make the drug available to the
public?
So, let’s assume
there is a serious outbreak and there is a drug available by then, how much is
it going to cost the taxpayer to buy the medicine?
What worries me most is the fact that it is difficult to
prevent the spread of the Ebola virus, no matter what the authorities are
trying to make us believe. Infected carriers cannot be detected until it is too
late. They’ve already admitted that much.
One way to stop the spread is to quarantine every country
where the Ebola virus has taken hold. Close the borders. Nobody is allowed to
leave; nobody is allowed to enter, except doctors and health care workers who
understand the risk. No planes fly to those countries and no planes are allowed
to leave those countries. There can be no exception, even for humanitarian
reasons. The risk is too great.
Unchecked, the Ebola virus could kill millions, wipe out
whole populations. It could be the next Bubonic Plague.
Maybe it is nature’s way of controlling the numbers of
humans on Earth. Here is food for thought: According to some scientists, the
cradle of humanity lies in Africa, that’s
where humans began their migration across this planet. Aids, an epidemic still
rampant, originated in Africa. The Ebola virus
comes from Africa. Perhaps the end of humanity
will come from Africa. It would be only
fitting.
Be afraid! Be very afraid!
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