The New York Giants are briefing their players on the Ebola virus in advance of the team’s trip to Dallas for Sunday’s game against the Cowboys.
Giants team medical personnel were briefed on the disease and then provided information to the players via email this week, with instructions to contact team medical personnel with any questions they might have. There have been three confirmed cases of the disease in Dallas, but for the most part the Giants do not seem overly concerned.
“I’m not worried about myself or the team,” quarterback Eli Manning said. “With what we’re doing and where we’re staying, I think we’ll be fine.”
The team is well aware of the disease and has been following the national coverage, so it is a part of the players’ consciousness as they prepare for their road trip.
“I think guys might think twice if they were planning to bring their wives or their families with them on a trip like this, because why take a chance?” cornerback Prince Amukamara said. “But I think the team is doing a good job making sure we have all of the information we need.”
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In 1976, Ebola (named after the Ebola River in Zaire) first emerged in Sudan and Zaire. The first outbreak of Ebola (Ebola-Sudan) infected over 284 people, with a mortality rate of 53%. A few months later, the second Ebola virus emerged from Yambuku, Zaire, Ebola-Zaire (EBOZ). EBOZ, with the highest mortality rate of any of the Ebola viruses (88%), infected 318 people. Despite the tremendous effort of experienced and dedicated researchers, Ebola’s natural reservoir was never identified. The third strain of Ebola, Ebola Reston (EBOR), was first identified in 1989 when infected monkeys were imported into Reston, Virginia, from Mindanao in the Philippines. Fortunately, the few people who were infected with EBOR (seroconverted) never developed Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF). The last known strain of Ebola, Ebola Cote d’Ivoire (EBO-CI) was discovered in 1994 when a female ethologist performing a necropsy on a dead chimpanzee from the Tai Forest, Cote d’Ivoire, accidentally infected herself during the necropsy.
