Ebola virus disease is a rare and deadly disease caused by an infection with one of the Ebola virus strains. The Ebola virus is generally found in several African countries and is  starting to spread to other countries across the world.

Ebola was discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River in what is now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since the discovery, outbreaks have appeared sparingly in several African countries.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention the 2014, the Ebola epidemic is the largest in history. It has had an affect on multiple countries in West Africa.

It was officially confirmed on September 30, 2014 that Thomas Eric Duncan has become the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in American territory.

According to CNN News, witnesses have said Duncan was involved with helping Ebola patients back in Liberia. The Liberian community leader Tugbeh Chieh Tugbeh told reporters that Duncan was caring for an Ebola-infected patient at a residence in Paynesville City.

Before being diagnosed with the virus, the sick are screened several times which involves a health questionnaire generally involving questions about the passenger’s recent contact with Ebola patients, and the symptoms that are being experienced.

Duncan was screened three times before he boarded his first flight to the United States.

Duncan passed away on October 8 at 10:42 a.m.

Health officials reached out to about 100 people who may have come into contact with Duncan. These people have been screened and monitored by public health worker. There are generally a required two visits a day, where then they take the contact’s temperature and  evaluates their experiencing symptoms.

Recently, health officials have cleared these patients releasing them from temporary containment.

“I think that the containment that we have for these patients that show symptoms of Ebola is so much better than Africa’s form of containment,” Kaneland High School health teacher Cindy Miller said.

Governor, Rick Perry announced to the public on October 21, a new Ebola Containment Center will be opening in Houston, Texas.

The facility will be operated by healthcare providers from the UT Southwestern Medical Center, the Methodist Hospital System and the Parkland Hospital System.

President Barack Obama plans to send 3,000 military personnel to create Ebola treatment centers in Liberia.

In a recent interview, Obama stated that Ebola is not an issue of health care, but also a national security problem.

According to the LA Times, some Ebola experts worry that the virus may spread more easily than officials initially assumed.

“I think anything is possible. We didn’t think 9/11 would ever happen to us either, but I think that this is just one more case that people need to be more conscientious about,” Miller said.

Although there have only been eight confirmed cases of the disease, the government has still highly advised that the nation takes precaution.

“As school nurses we have received notification from the CDC and the U.S. Department of Human Services in regards to what we should know about the disease,” Kaneland High School nurse Barbara Giese said.

Like the majority of the nation, many students at Kaneland have taken a concern about the virus. Student’s twitter accounts have been buzzing with subject since the outbreak.

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