Microsoft Co-founder, Chairman of Vulcan Inc., and owner of the Portland Trail Blazers, Paul Allen, announced that he will donate over $100 million to fight Ebola. He has also launched the website, tackleebola.com, to educate people about the virus and encourage further donation. Yesterday, Allen told the New York Times that “everybody feels called sometimes to really pursue a certain thing that resonates with them, and this resonated with me.”
I'm committing at least $100M to #TackleEbola. Join me in helping those responding to this outbreak at http://t.co/6Nd1JWfPEF
— Paul Allen (@PaulGAllen) October 23, 2014
According to tackleebola.com, Allen’s $100 million donation will provide:
- 60,000+ protection kits in West Africa
- 8,500+ people trained to help
- 20,000 pounds of equipment
- Support to 250 healthcare clinics
- 20 aid flights to West Africa
- 3 emergency operation centers built and staffed
One week prior to Allen’s official donation announcement, Vulcan Inc.’s YouTube account published this video featuring Damian Lillard, Nicolas Batum, and LaMarcus Aldridge to rally support and raise awareness:
You can choose to donate to the cause on the ‘Tackle Ebola’ website. Every donation will be matched. As of writing, 98 people have raised $8,335 toward the overall goal of $2,500,000. Considering that we are not terribly far from a global pandemic, you may find this to be a worthy cause. To learn more about how your money could be spent fighting the Ebola virus, visit tackleebola.com and click on the specific cause to which you wish to contribute.
It is always a good idea to educate yourself about such things in order to better understand what we are up against. This is not a call to fear, but a call to action. For more news about the Ebola outbreak and information on how the virus spreads visit doctorswithoutborders.org. Here is just a taste:
"What causes Ebola?Ebola can be caught from both humans and animals. It is transmitted through close contact with blood, secretions, or other bodily fluids.Health care workers have frequently been infected while treating Ebola patients. This has occurred through close contact without the use of gloves, masks, or protective goggles.In areas of Africa, infection has been documented through the handling of infected chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope, and porcupines found dead or ill in the rainforest.Burials where mourners have direct contact with the deceased can also transmit the virus, whereas transmission through infected semen can occur up to seven weeks after clinical recovery.No specific treatment or vaccine is yet available for Ebola.Symptoms of EbolaEarly on, symptoms are nonspecific, making it difficult to diagnose.The disease is often characterised by the sudden onset of fever, feeling weak, muscle pain, headaches, and a sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and, in some cases, internal and external bleeding.Symptoms can appear from two to 21 days after exposure. Some patients may go on to experience rashes, red eyes, hiccups, chest pains, difficulty breathing, and swallowing.Diagnosing EbolaDiagnosing Ebola is difficult because the early symptoms, such as red eyes and rashes, are common.Ebola infections can only be diagnosed definitively in the laboratory by five different tests.Such tests are an extreme biohazard risk and should be conducted under maximum biological containment conditions. A number of human-to-human transmissions have occurred due to a lack of protective clothing.“Health workers are particularly susceptible to catching it so, along with treating patients, one of our main priorities is training health staff to reduce the risk of them catching the disease while caring for patients,” said Henry Gray, MSF’s emergency coordinator, during an outbreak of Ebola in Uganda in 2012.“We have to put in place extremely rigorous safety procedures to ensure that no health workers are exposed to the virus—through contaminated material from patients or medical waste infected with Ebola.”Treating EbolaNo specific treatment or vaccine is yet available for Ebola.Standard treatment for Ebola is limited to supportive therapy. This consists of hydrating the patient, maintaining their oxygen status and blood pressure, and treating him or her for any complicating infections.Despite the difficulty of diagnosing Ebola in its early stages, those who display its symptoms should be isolated and public health professionals notified. Supportive therapy can continue with proper protective clothing until samples from the patient are tested to confirm infection.MSF contained an outbreak of Ebola in Uganda in 2012 by placing a control area around the treatment center.An Ebola outbreak is officially considered at an end once 42 days have elapsed without any new confirmed cases."