Throughout history, the human race has faced various epidemics. For some of these diseases, a cure has been found and multitudes of people have been saved. For diseases with no cure, we see the ailment reappearing during different spans of time, leading to the death of thousands of people. Ebola is one of those diseases with no cure, and its outbreak in 2014 has recently gained worldwide attention.

Ebola is a rare disease that is caused by the spread of the Ebola virus through bodily fluids. The symptoms of Ebola include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, red eyes, rash, abdominal pain, and bleeding. The amount of media attention placed on the 2014 outbreak has caused the public to believe that this was the first Ebola epidemic. Ebola has actually had several severe outbreaks since 1976. The first outbreak in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) had 280 deaths. However, the 2014 Ebola outbreak has been the largest of them all, with more than 27,000 cases and 11,000 deaths. The significant increase in Ebola-related deaths in 2014 could be accounted for by improper hygiene protocol in differ- ent parts of the world. The 2014 Ebola epidemic started in West Africa, which lacked the proper facilities or resources to both treat and quarantine the patients. Such conditions allowed the Ebola virus to spread quickly.

If we were to one day prevent another epidemic from occurring, the best idea would be to enforce strict hygiene protocol for the very first cases. In addition, the other troubles lie with how little is known about the disease itself. The same could be said with many other diseases such as AIDS or Alzheimer’s disease. The exact origin and overall knowledge of how the disease spreads is unclear. This makes it difficult for scientists to find a cure quickly. It also becomes difficult to diagnose probable cases of the disease.

Fortunately, there has been a lot of progress in the research of Ebola. In the past year, travelers feared being placed on planes with individuals infected with Ebola, but they can now be rest assured. It will no longer take days to diagnose whether someone has Ebola because in June 2015, the ReEBOV test was created by the Colorado-based medical diagnostics company Corgenix. The finger prick test gives results in only 15 minutes, so every passenger can be effectively checked for Ebola prior to boarding. This test can also be useful to caretakers in hospitals, as they can quickly determine if a patient is infected and promptly begin treatment. The ReE- BOV test also diagnoses with just a drop of blood and for about $15 a test. Before, a vial of blood would be needed, and it would cost about $100 a test.

This is a great improvement in comparison to the past. Progress has also been made toward creating a vaccine for Ebola, but more trials need to be done. Even if there is no cure yet, technological advancements such as the ReEBOV test are a huge step to handling outbreaks of Ebola. Little by little, the number of cases are lowering. Hopefully, healthcare workers can use what they learned in the most recent Ebola epidemic to help out in future unexpected outbreaks.