What is the Ebola virus disease?
Ebola virus disease
(EVD) or Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) is a disease of humans and other
primates caused by an ebolavirus. Symptoms start two days to three weeks after
contracting the virus, with a fever, sore throat, muscle pain and headaches.
Typically, vomiting, diarrhea and rash follow, along with decreased functioning
of the liver and kidneys. Around this time, affected people may begin to bleed
both within the body and externally.
The virus may be
acquired upon contact with blood or bodily fluids of an infected animal.Spreading through the air has not been documented in the natural
environment. Fruit bats are believed to carry and spread the virus without
being affected. Once human infection occurs, the disease may spread between
people, as well. Male survivors may be able to transmit the disease via semen
for nearly two months. To make the diagnosis, typically other diseases with
similar symptoms such as malaria, cholera and other viral hemorrhagic fevers
are first excluded. To confirm the diagnosis, blood samples are tested for
viral antibodies, viral RNA, or the virus itself.
Prevention includes
decreasing the spread of disease from infected animals to humans. This may be
done by checking such animals for infection and killing and properly disposing
of the bodies if the disease is discovered. Properly cooking meat and wearing
protective clothing when handling meat may also be helpful, as are wearing
protective clothing and washing hands when around a person with the disease.
Samples of bodily fluids and tissues from people with the disease should be
handled with special caution.
No specific treatment
for the disease is yet available.Efforts to help those who are infected are
supportive and include giving either oral re hydration therapy (slightly sweet
and salty water to drink) or intravenous fluids.The disease has a high risk
of death, killing between 50% and 90% of those infected with the virus.EVD was first identified in Sudan(now South Sudan) and the Democratic Republic
of the Congo. The disease typically occurs in outbreaks in tropical regions of
sub-Saharan Africa.From 1976 (when it was first identified) through 2013,
the World Health Organization reported a total of 1,716 cases.The
largest outbreak to date is the ongoing 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak, which
is affecting Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria.As of 18 August
2014, 2,473 suspected cases resulting in the deaths of 1,350 have been
reported.Efforts are under way to develop a vaccine; however, none yet
exists.
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