Feature: Ebola Virus and its resurgence

There is still two good news: that the Ebola virus is still not airborne as the Center for Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC) had assured, and that there may indeed be a possible cure for this epidemic.

I remembered the movie Outbreak, which depicts a life-threatening and worst-case scenario of an Ebola outbreak which first started in Motaba River Valley in Zaire, Africa and quickly spread in America. The Ebola virus, which may only be transmitted through fluids like saliva and blood, became airborne in this movie and there came a large-scale scheme to prevent the spread of this disease, which in the end became successful. But Outbreak is just a movie, and now reality faces us square front: the long lost disease that had killed thousands of people since 1976 came to haunt us again: the spread of Ebola virus is at work; and what's worse, fear and misconceptions about the disease has spread in a larger scale more than the truth behind the virus itself.

As of October 17, 2014, international reports have said that there is still no cure or new vaccine for the disease, which was first identified and originated in fruit bats. The World Health Organization defined Ebola virus causes a "severe, often fatal illness in humans". To date, the worst outbreak was in 2000 when 425 people in Uganda were infected and over half of them died. As October 17, 2014, there were over 10, 000 cases of the disease in seven different countries and at most 4, 000 death cases. The epidemic seems to be unstoppable, and the Philippines, according to reports, is already very careful not to be affected by this virus. Philippine Red Cross Chairman Richard Gordon had said that they have been preparing for isolation facilities and private hospitals, according to reports, has braced themselves for the possible entry of the Ebola virus in the country.

However, preparation can only take us so far. The need for a new vaccine that would be used to penetrate and kill the said virus is imperative especially during these times that more and more cases are being reported. 

Generally there are five strains or species of Ebola virus: 1) Ebola virus (Zaire ebolavirus); 2) Sudan virus (Sudan ebolavirus); 3) Taï Forest virus (Taï Forest ebolavirus, formerly Côte d’Ivoire ebolavirus), 4) Bundibugyo virus (Bundibugyo ebolavirus) and 5) Reston virus (Reston ebolavirus), where the first four of them are known to cause disease in humans, while the last one only causes the disease  in nonhuman primates, particularly in monkeys. The Ebola virus (Zaire ebolavirus) is the strain that causes humans to become ill and show signs of the life-threatening disease.

There are two reports which have shed light to the the probable cure for the Ebola virus. One report reveals that there is an experimental vaccine, called cAd 3-ZEBOV, which has began phase 1 trials in Oxford last month. Another report, which was stated by Dr. David B Allen, a retired Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeon, and medical director at Cannabis Sativa Inc. said that cannabis, a component of marijuana, can penetrate the virus and kill it. Basically cannabis have healing properties and best used through juicing or eating, Cannabinoids, on the other hand, are a group of related compounds which include cannabinol with the active components of cannabis. Cannabidiol (CBD) is considered as a new class of antimicrobial which prevents toxic shocks. These toxic shocks, in particular, are exhibited in the Ebola virus strain because it is a complex RNA viral organism which replicates and in turn, involve many mutations that makes it difficult to create a new vaccine. However this could be counterattacked by the cannabidiol compound, and when eaten raw, does not even have any dangerous side effects.

These studies are still subject to further research, but they have provided hope in the current outbreak of the virus in various countries. The government and the international institutions must never lose hope in finding a cure and a new vaccine for the said epidemic.