Ebola

What is Ebola?

   Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), also known as Ebola Haemorrhagic Fever, is a virus that has been transferred to humans from wild animals.  This disease is extremely fatal if come in contact with.  The symptoms start with fever, fatigue, muscle pain, sore throat, and many other flu-like symptoms.  After this wave of sickness, vomiting, diarrhea, and rash are common.  Another common sign is that of symptoms of liver or kidney damage.  Inside the body, the virus attaches to the inside of the blood vessels.  This action makes the blood less thick, which leads to leaking of blood out of the blood vessels.  In as little as ten days since the start of the symptoms, the individual can go into a coma and lose their life.  So far, there has been no proven vaccine or treatment to cure this horrible disease. 

Where did it come from?

   Ebola was first discovered in 1976 in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.  The name comes from the outbreak of this disease near the Ebola River.  The main outbreaks today are in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Nigeria.  The disease is thought to have come from bats, gorillas, monkeys, or other animals living in the forest.  Once in humans, the disease is spread through bodily fluid of those that are infected.  It is not an airborne disease. The disease has only gotten worse over time with the increased amount of travel around the world.  Even if one person is affected and doesn't get treated properly or quarantined, they can be the cause of a major outbreak.  Those that treat these individuals are also at a higher risk due to such close contact with infected patients.  This disease will only continue to spread if certain precautions aren't taken to ensure that it won't infect others.

Am I at Risk?

   As most illnesses, everyone is at risk for contracting a disease, such as Ebola.  There are many ways to prevent this disease from coming in contact with you or your loved ones.  Overall the main suggestions are to stay clean and sanitized, limit exposure to those who are sick (even if they don't have Ebola), and limiting travel. The list below contains suggestions for ways to prevent this disease from spreading.

• Limiting travel to areas of infection
• Washing hands, or using hand sanitizer 
• Avoiding open wounds or body fluid of others
• Don't eat raw or undercooked meat
• Avoiding those who are sick along with avoiding things they contact
• Stay away from animals that have been known to carry this disease
• Avoid being near and don't touch deceased bodies of those who had Ebola
• Report any unprotected exposure

Sources:

   Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

     http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/2014-west-africa/qa.html

   World Health Organization

     http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/

   HuffPost Healthy Living 

     http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/02/ebola-symptoms-infection-virus_n_5639456.html

Animal Disaster Rescue

What Does This Mean? 

   Animal disaster rescue is becoming more prevalent in today's society.  After large disasters occur, such as a hurricane, not only are the humans in danger but also their animals.  In society today, pet owners are becoming more and more attached to their beloved companions.  Sometimes these individuals will stay in harms way if their pets aren't safe.  This is a major concern for the health and safety of the humans and their pets.  This is not the only need for animal rescue.  There are many cases where the animals are stray or wild, but are still in harms way.  Animal disaster rescue teams, such as DART, Red Rover, and IFAW, are the ones who step in to get the animals into safety.  Many of these teams take trips to disaster locations to help with the damage.  There are many different locations for these different organizations throughout the country.  These organizations are very important for the wellbeing of the overall community and country. 

How Can I Get Involved?

   These teams are always looking for new faces and help!  The more hands they have helping animals, the faster they can get them to safety and move on to the next location.  Disaster Animal Rescue Team (DART), is one of the organizations that works at the local, state, and national levels for disaster response.  There are a variety of ways to get involved with so many different levels of opportunities.  There are many different options, ranging from passing out fliers to spread awareness, setting up fundraisers, or even overall volunteer work on projects.  Even if you don't have the time or ability to put in labor, there is always the option of donations.  Most of these organizations rely on donations and grant money, so every thing is appreciated and put to good use.  If this is something that is interesting to you, you can easily contact the organization of your choice or visit their website for further information!

Sources:

   SPCA-LA

       http://spcala.com/aps/dart_main.php

   Red Rover

       http://www.redrover.org/volunteering-redrover

   International Fund for Animal Welfare

       http://www.ifaw.org/united-states/our-work

    

Polluter Pays Principle

What is it?

   Pollution is when harmful chemicals or hazardous waste has been introduced into the land, water, or air.  The polluter pays principle basically states that those who inflict the pollution must pay to prevent and fix the issue.  This was put into place to prevent people from mindlessly polluting the environment.  The money that is forced to be paid makes the individual or business think twice about polluting.  This is a way to ensure that the environment is left better that it was found and to set good habits for the future generations.  Although this sounds like a great idea, there are many issues that have come up when attempting to implement this principle. 

Issues When Implementing Polluter Pays Principle 

   Although this principle may seem to work and be a great idea for prevention, there are many reasons why this is something that is hard to target and implement.  One of the main issues of this principle is the fact that the source of pollution may not be easy to track.  The big business or company that is doing the polluting may have been hiding the fact that they are the ones polluting.    This leads to another issue of who is going to go around tracking down all the damages.  The time and money put into tracking down the source may not be worth the damage.  Another issue could be that the damages inflicted are too much for the company to afford, which would send them out of business.  This could cause a domino affect and plenty of businesses could lose their funding.  Overall, this principle changes the way that many businesses function, and people don't like change.  This is something that could cause many more issues in the future, although it is only trying to preserve the environment.  

   Environmental pollution may not be something that is commonly talk about now, but for the future this is a growing issue. The growing population only leads to more possibilities for pollution in the future.  Overall, this is an issue that needs to be addressed before the damage is too much to handle.  People need to be aware of the surroundings and want to make their environment a better place for the future.  

Sources:

Economic Help

   http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/6955/economics/polluter-pays-principle-ppp/

The Guardian 

   http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/jul/02/polluter-pays-climate-change

The Encyclopedia of Earth 

   http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/155292/

Noise Induced Hearing Loss

What is Noise Induced Hearing Loss?

  Currently ten million people in the United States suffer from hearing loss cause by noise.  This damage can come from many different sources ranging from attending concerts or being near explosions.  The damage acquired tends to come from either moderately loud noises heard over a long period of time, or brief bursts of extra loud noise.  The longer that an individual is exposed, or the louder the noise, the more likely the person is to be diagnosed with noise induced hearing loss.  In many cases, both ears are harmed, but it's possible to only have one ear lose hearing.  The noise causes damage to the hair cells inside the inner ear.  Overuse of these important cells causes them to slowly die and are never able to be repaired.  The hairs are used to transmit electrical impulses to the brain to be interpreted as sound.  When these hair cells die, they are no longer in use and the brain never receives these signals, resulting in hearing loss.  After the damage, there is no way to surgically correct this loss.

Who is Effected?

   Many of these cases are diagnosed in the work setting.  The reason for this being that many of these individuals are exposed to the same loud noise for an eight-hour shift.  Work is not the only place that this damage tends to occur.  In recent research, more young teenagers are reporting signs of noise induced hearing loss.  There are as many as 12.5% of children with reported noise induced hearing loss.  This increased loss of hearing in children is said to be due to the new age technology and ability to turn up the volume on personal headphones without anyone else hearing.  This is proof that noise induced hearing loss effects anyone, no matter their age.  

How Can I Prevent Noise Induced Hearing Loss? 

  Good news is that this damage is preventable!  There are many precautions that can be taken to avoid noise induced hearing loss.  The main way to prevent hearing loss is to educate yourself and be aware of your surroundings.  Many simple fixes include turning down the volume on loud music, or moving away from the source, if the option of turning it down isn't available.  A way to avoid damage in the work place specifically would be to use earplugs or wear noise-canceling headphones.  Another way to avoid hearing loss is to limit the exposure to these damaging loud noises.  It's important to implement these techniques early to prevent any possible noise induced hearing loss.

Sources:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

   http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/noise/

US Department of Health and Human Services

   http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/pages/noise.aspx

American Hearing Research Foundation 

   http://american-hearing.org/disorders/noise-induced-hearing-loss/