EBOLA

 

WHAT IS EBOLA

 

Ebola, first appeared in 1976 also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after becoming infected with the virus.

The disease kills between 25% and 90% of those infected about 50% on average.

Death is often due to shock from fluid loss, and typically occurs between six and 16 days after the first symptoms appear.

Fruit bats are believed to be the normal carrier in nature; they are able to spread the virus without being affected by it.

Control of outbreaks requires community engagement, including rapid detection, contact tracing of those exposed, care for those infected, and proper disposal of the dead through cremation or burial.

After a person recovers from Ebola, their semen or breast milk may continue to carry the virus for anywhere between several weeks to several months. Fruit bats are believed to be the normal carrier in nature; they are able to spread the virus without being affected by it.

As the virus spreads through the body, it damages the immune system and organs.  Ultimately, it causes levels of blood-clotting cells to drop.  This leads to severe, uncontrollable bleeding.

The disease was known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever but is now referred to as Ebola virus.

 

HOW DO YOU GET EBOLA

 

Ebola isn’t as contagious as more common viruses like colds, influenza, or measles.

It spreads to people by contact with the skin, or body fluids of an infected animal, like a monkey, 

chimp, or fruit bat. 

Then it moves from person to person the same way. 

Those who care for a sick person or bury someone who has died from the disease often get it.

Other ways to get Ebola include touching contaminated or surfaces.

For example, it can be spread by:

 

-Directly touching the body of someone who has symptoms

-Or recently died from the disease

-Cleaning up body fluids (blood, poo, urine or vomit) 

-Or touching the soiled clothing of an infected person

 

The virus can survive for several days outside the body.

Studies show traces of Ebola may remain in semen many months after recovery.

You can’t get Ebola from air, water, or food.  A person who has Ebola but has no symptoms can’t spread the disease, either.

Ebola cannot be caught through routine social contact, such as shaking hands, with people who do not have symptoms.

 

WHAT ARE TTHE SYMPTOMSOF EBOLA

 

The symptoms of Ebola may resemble those of several other diseases, including malaria, cholera, typhoid fever, meningitis and other viral hemorrhagic fevers.

Early on, Ebola can feel like the flu or other illnesses. 

Symptoms show up 2 to 21 days after infection and usually include:

 

-High fever

-Headache

-Joint and muscle aches

-Sore throat

-Severe muscle weakness

-Lack of appetite

 

As the disease gets worse, it causes bleeding inside the body, as well as from the eyes, ears, and nose or mouth.

Some people will vomit or cough up blood, have bloody diarrhea, and get a rash, stomach pain and reduced kidney and liver function can follow.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell if a person has Ebola from the symptoms alone.

 

TREATMENT FOR EBOLA

 

There’s currently no treatment for Ebola virus disease, despite drug therapies

Dehydration is common, so fluids may be given directly into a vein.  Blood oxygen levels and blood pressure also needs to be maintained at the right level, 

Ebola virus disease is often fatal, with 1 in 2 people dying from the disease.  The sooner a person is given care, the better the chance they’ll survive.

After a person recovers from Ebola, their semen or breast milk may continue to carry the virus for anywhere between several weeks to several months.

 

WHERE IS THE EBOLA

 

It started in Guinea and spread to Leone, Liberia, and Nigeria.

In two simultaneous outbreaks:  one in Nzara (a town in South Sudan) and the other in Yambuku (Democratic Republic of the Congo), a village near the Ebola River, from which the disease takes its name. Ebola outbreaks occur intermittently in tropical regions of sub-Saharan Africa. Between 1976 and 2012, there were 24 outbreaks of Ebola resulting in a total of 2,387 cases, and 1,590 deaths. The largest Ebola outbreak to date was an epidemic in West Africa from December 2013 to January 2016, with 28,646 cases and 11,323 deaths.

On 29 March 2016, it was declared to no longer be an emergency. Other outbreaks in Africa began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in May 2017 and 2018.