Editorial: Tragedy of Ebola hits home in Hampshire County

A local face was put on the terrible Ebola epidemic centered in West Africa with the news last week that a popular Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School drumming and dance teacher is grieving the deaths of his mother and two other relatives to the disease in his native Guinea.



The virus killed Alpha Kabinet Kaba’s mother, nephew and sister-in-law and led to the hospitalization of two of his brothers and a sister. Kaba is supported here by colleagues and students, including some who accompanied him in January when he returned to the Guinea capital of Conakry for a three-week visit with his extended family, his first in 15 years. He brought nearly a dozen students from his Wofa Drum & Dance Company.



None knew then that the largest Ebola epidemic in history, and the first in West Africa, would break out about a month after they returned home. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are at least 5,864 confirmed cases, with most in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea and a few in Nigeria and Senegal. More than 2,811 people have died.



Here in Hampshire County, people are stepping forward to help one family dealing with the effects of the disease by donating to an online fund established to pay for medical expenses and other necessities for Kaba’s relatives in Guinea. It can be found at www.gofundme.com/ektg8k.



Many also showed support at a memorial service Sunday to honor members of Kaba’s family, held at the World War II Club in Northampton.



Ebola, first identified in 1976, is a virus spread through direct contact with bodily fluids from infected people. Scientists believe it originates in bats. It is not an airborne disease, like the flu, so it is unlikely that Ebola is transmitted simply by being near someone with the disease. However, the virus can survive on objects, such as latex gloves, which contributes to spreading the disease. Health care workers, especially those without protective gear and the training to use it properly, are particularly at risk.



Symptoms, which usually begin within two days to three weeks after exposure, include headache, fever, general aches and pains, diarrhea and vomiting. In about half the victims, hemorrhaging follows and blood vessels leak fluids, causing such low blood pressure that the heart, kidney, liver and organs fail, which is ultimately the cause of death. There is no vaccine to protect against the disease or sure-fire drug to treat it, and between 60 percent and 90 percent of victims in past outbreaks have died.



Conventional treatment includes isolating victims in hospitals where they receive intravenous fluids to stabilize their blood pressure. There are also experimental medications now being given to some Ebola patients, but their availability remains scarce. Among those treated successfully with them are the three American health care workers to come down with the disease in Africa, including Dr. Richard Sacra, who had worked in Worcester.



Ebola can spread quickly through families and health care facilities where patients are treated. According to the Centers for Disease Control, reversing an epidemic requires quick identification of cases so victims can be isolated, combined with proper protective equipment for health care workers and infection-control measures. A CDC report last week estimated that under a worst-case scenario, there could be 1.4 million cases of Ebola by Jan. 20 in Liberia and Sierra Leone if there is not an effective response to contain the disease. The best-case scenario, with the proper response, is to virtually end the epidemic by Jan. 20.



The United States, working with the United Nations, has responded rapidly with a massive infusion of aid — $175 million has been committed — and resources from a variety of medical, humanitarian and military agencies.



The CDC has more than 100 “disease detectives” in West Africa finding “emerging cases to identify contacts and stop further transmission with isolation and improved infection control practices.”



The U.S. Agency for International Development is targeting the 400,000 most vulnerable households in Liberia with a “community care campaign” providing protection kits and education about how to use them to slow the disease’s spread.



And the U.S. military has established a command headquarters in Monrovia, Liberia, to coordinate relief efforts, including the deployment of engineers to build Ebola Treatment Units.



Those steps are critical to combating the Ebola epidemic on a global scale.





