Tournament of Pandemics - Ebola vs Encephalitis - Part Two

by Lisa Walker · 2009-03-09 17:04:00 UTC
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(photo credit: Ben Brown)

Ebola

Ebola is the darling of dramatic global health prognosticators and a favorite in doomsday outbreak scenarios.  Not without good reason: it's got the blood and gore, the lack of established and effective treatment or prevention procedures, and the poorly understood natural setting.  Ebola represents the ultimate convergence of the contemporary study of emerging infections and the longer tradition of tropical medicine.

Let's face it, historically a deadly, mysterious disease emerging from Africa was always going to strike fear in the hearts of those in the metropole who had a great deal to lose from whatever bugs were found in their colonies.

Ebola has a mean reputation, and it plays mean too.  Head-to-head against viral encephalitis, it boasts much better modes of transmission, via human contact and contact with bodily fluids.  Sure, if masks and gloves are used in the care setting the spread of Ebola is easily contained, but look at where outbreaks occur and tell me whether the use or availability of these simple tools is a given.  The recent outbreak of Ebola in pigs in the Philippines may not give us cause for immediate alarm (it is a non-lethal strain, after all), but it indicates the readiness of the virus to jump to new species and change its behavior to facilitate spread in new ways.

For the Win

In this match-up, Ebola wins easily over viral encephalitis with its loose and innovative play and advances to the next round.

Lisa Walker
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