Ebola Virus Outbreak Symptoms: Is it the End of the World?

The World Health Organization has officially declared the Ebola Virus as one of the world's deadliest diseases to date. WHO has also declared an international health emergency earlier in the month, with more than 2,100 people dying of the disease in West Africa.

Numbers have since soared higher.

So what is Ebola?

In a report by BBC, Ebola is a viral disease that infects humans who are in close contact with animal carriers, including chimpanzees, fruitbats, and antelopes.

Initial symptoms of the virus include fever, weakness, muscle pain, and sore throat. Later stages include vomiting, diarrhea, and internal and external bleeding. Incubation period lasts from two days to three weeks, and because its initial symptoms are very common, it is difficult to diagnose the disease.

Ebola spreads by direct contact with infected blood, bodily fluids or organs, or indirectly through contact with anything contaminated. The BBC report said that even funerals are not safe, because the disease can spread through mourners if they had direct contact with the deceased body.

What is happening now?

In a report by Foreign Policy, Ebola in Liberia has spread to more than 3,000 cases, most of which has occurred in the capital.

International experts have predicted that more deaths and infections will occur in the broader West African region, cases that will reach to probably hundreds of thousands in numbers. In a report by USA Today, WHO predicted that the number of cases will reach around 21,000 by November. WHO's director of strategy, Christopher Dye, noted that the number of cases reported doubles every three weeks.

A research fellow from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Adam Kucharski, expressed his concern, as the response for the disease in the next few months is considered crucial. "The window for controlling this outbreak is closing," he said.

Other people are starting to think that Ebola may cause the end of the world. The Daily Mail described the disease as "the nightmare scenario which inspires Hollywood disaster movie writers and keeps public health officials awake at night."

Another thing that is cruel about Ebola is the fact that victims' loved one's are all the more likely to contract the disease, and the ones who handle the corpses are nowhere near safe, either.

So is Ebola the disease that will cause the end of the world as we know it?

Hopefully not. But with only a ten percent survival rate, researchers and medical practitioners should step up to help find a cure lest it becomes the disease to wipe out humanity.

World War Z, anyone?