An acute and serious viral illness which is often fatal if left untreated. first appeared in 1976. It occured first in Africa in 2 countries South Sudan and other Democratic Republic of Congo in a village near the Ebola River, from which the disease takes its name.

The virus family Filoviridae includes three genera. Ebola is caused by infection with a virus of the family Filoviridae, genus Ebolavirus

Structure of Ebola virus

Spread of ebola 2014 source

Transmission

Ebola can’t be transmitted through the air or by touch alone.The virus may be transmitted through.

• blood
• diarrhea
• breast milk
• feces
• saliva
• semen
• sweat
• urine
• vomit

Transmission can occur via the eyes, nose, mouth, wounded skin, or sexual contact. Health care workers are more at risk for contracting Ebola because they often deal with blood and bodily fluids.

What Are the Symptoms of Ebola?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) symptoms may take 8-10 days to appear after exposure or even 3 weeks

Symptoms include

• diarrhea
• fever
• headache
• muscle pain
• stomach pain
• unexplained bleeding or bruising
• vomiting

How Is Ebola Diagnosed?

Blood tests can identify antibodies of the Ebola virus. test primarily done are

• antibody-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)
• antigen-capture detection tests
• serum neutralization test
• reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay
• electron microscopy
• virus isolation by cell culture.

Treatment and vaccines

No proven treatment available for EVD.Supportive care-rehydration with oral or intravenous fluids- and treatment of specific symptoms, improves survival.No licensed vaccines are available yet, but 2 potential vaccines are undergoing human safety testing.

Complications

• joint problems
• hair loss
• extreme weakness and fatigue
• delirium
• inflammation of the liver and eyes
• sensory changes
• jaundice

Prevention and control

UNICEF

References

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus
• http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus_disease
• https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/transmission/qas.html
• http://www.healthline.com/health/ebola-hemorrhagic-fever#Prevention7

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