Ebola Outline

Plot Outline: Ebola is very much a hardy virus that can live outside of the human body, unlike
HIV. It can be found in trace amounts in tears, blood, and even on the surface of the skin. The virus operates by attacking the vital organs, causing massive bleeding internally and externally.
There is no cure, no treatment, and death usually occurs within 10 days.
A close relative of Ebola was first seen in Europe in 1967 when workers at a pharmaceutical plant in Marburg, Germany began to mysteriously die. headache to death was usually one week. The disease was believed to have been contracted by handling the blood and tissue of African monkeys.
Ebola was first seen in the United States in Reston, Virginia in 1989. The breakout began
in
The members officially greet each other with the

“Kikwit” handshake – elbow to elbow in order to minimize contact.

researchers and Zairian doctors must strategize and plan how they will respond to this outbreak.

Their first priority is to find every case and isolate it.

Epidemiologists from the CDC establish the protocols for finding and documenting every

case. This unfortunately entails the entire team breaking apart and fanning through the city,

sometimes going door to door in order to find and secure all of the patients.

In a city with no mass media (not even a newspaper), the international team found it hard

to organize a meaningful informational campaign. In the center of commerce, they draped signs

saying, “The disease that makes your blood flow, this disease has no vaccine and no cure. You

must protect yourself.” Medical students arrived in Kikwit to begin their door to door campaign.

The international

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Villagers were wary of coming forward because of the stigma attached to the disease. The sick

will be taken from their home and family to die in the hospital ward.

Ebola is thought to be carried by an animal of the rainforest, but it is unknown which
Almost his entire family is now dead. Epidemiologists use this data and begin to scour

the area of his last work site, taking samples of insects and all other animals from the area.

A CDC Epidemiologist has coined the term “chain of death” to refer to the mode of

operation for the disease. The “chain of death” begins at the primary host who then infects their

caregiver, who in turn infects their caregiver, killing entire families. Due to this chain, families

must be separated, affecting how the villagers take care of their sick and honor their dead as

traditional burial ceremony rituals involve touching the corpse.

Various scenes depict the grim task of removing patients from their homes and later

corpse disposal handled by the Red Cross. During removal of patients from their homes, one

member of the Red Cross must spray down the hut of the patient while she is placed onto a

stretcher and loaded into the back of a pick up truck. Corpse disposal involves mass burial of

those who have succumbed to the disease. The dead are buried in sealed body bags deep in the

Onlookers from the community can only cover their faces with their t-shirts.

Occasionally, bodies are found dead in their homes to be discovered by the medical team.