First Cuban to Contract Ebola

`21/11/2014

The first Cuban to have contracted the deadly Ebola virus in the most recent outbreak has been confirmed. Doctor Felix Baez was working in Sierra Leone, treating civilians in the area who had potentially contracted the virus.

Dr Baez had been treating people in the clinic since early october and is one of 256 medical staff sent from Cuba to the West African region, where the outbreak has seen its most terrifying results.

Ebola, though not easily transferable, is highly contagious when circumstances present themselves. The virus can only be passed through an exchange of bodily fluids or direct contact with an infected surface, but when these situations are present the disease is almost always passed on.

It has only been documented in humans and other primates, with fruit bats though to be the primary carrier of the disease and are not affected by its presence. Once a person or primate comes into direct contact with an infected fruitbat or with the remains of an infected animal transfer occurs and the virus spreads rapidly through cummunities.

Western Africa has been a target region for this disease due to a severe lack of sanitation, close living quarters with others, communal amenities as well as a culture of high interaction and intimacy, a lack of sexual protection, and a primitive health system available to community members.

By Erin Lawson 

After displaying signs of a fever on Sunday Dr. Baez was tested for the virus on Monday, the results of which returned positive. He was then transported to a facility in geneva where a small team of British doctors and nurses have begun treating Baez, and his condition is so far stable.