Ebola in The Hotzone :: Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever

Back in 1980 a certain Frenchman resided near the slopes of Mount Elgon. Mount Elgon and its slopes are an island of vegetation surrounded by savannah. And at the center of this island, being part of the mountain, lies a certain large cavity, Kitum Cave. It is this cave that our Frenchman one day decided to visit, bringing a paid â€Å"friend† along with him. It is speculated that it was during this trip that our Frenchman first contracted the virus Ebola. A few days later he is not feeling well. He is suffering from headaches, fever, and pain behind his eyes. His appearance has become similar to one who has not slept in days. Eventually his coworkers began to worry about him, and upon finding him in such condition, sent him to the local hospital. The hospital was unable to cure him and was mystified. And so our Frenchman was sent to the more advanced hospital of Nairobi, traveling by public airways, likely making contact with many. Before his death at the Nairobi hospital, th e Frenchman managed to infect his doctor by vomiting upon him. Death was expected for the doctor, Dr. Musoke. However, after ten days after the event, his health began in improve and he managed to pull through. Ebola, a filovirus related to Marburg, had now become recognized by the modern world. Four years earlier in Sudan a worker of a cotton factory somehow contracted Ebola. He contracted the virus to a coworker, and from that coworker Ebola spread throughout and devastated parts of Sudan with a fatality rate of 50 percent. First, small clots would appear in the victim’s bloodstream, resulting in a slowed down and thickened bloodstream. Various parts of the victim’s body would lose their once constant and expected supply of blood. Skin begins to acquire spots of red which later develop bubbles of white blisters. The skin is now soft and pulpy and easily tears. The victim’s mouth is not spared from this fate. It begins to bleed painfully, the surface of the tongue as well as victim’s windpipe slough off and are later expelled from the body via vomit. The heart bleeds into itself, the brain clogs with dead cells, and the liver begins to turn to mush. Eyes turn red from blood and the face becomes a droop because of the loss of connective tissue. T he victim’s appearance is zombie like. Before death strikes, the victim begins a series of wild convulsions, spreading blood all over the place.