Ebola is a very deadly viral infection that causes death in humans and in primates. It’s scientific name is Ebolavirus, but derives other names depending on the region of its outbreak such as Ebola-Sudan whose outbreak was in Sudan, Ebola-Zaire(EBOZ) in Zaire, Ebola Reston(EBOR) discovered in Reston, Virginia and Ebola Cote d’Ivoire (EBO-CI). Other names include EBO, Ebola virus, Ebola virus EBO and unidentified Ebola virus Ebola The real source of the deadly virus is not well known though its origin is traced to primates.
Ebola was first discovered in Zaire 1976 and named after the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire) (Johnson 1988). The EBOZ had the highest mortality compared to all other strains. The EBOR first discovered in 1989 when monkeys where imported from Mindanao, Philippines to Reston, Virginia. These strain infected few people but never became Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) (Feldmann, Klenk, and Sanchez. 1993). Ebola is caused by Filoviridae family of viruses. Three of the four types of the virus cause disease in humans: Ebola-Zaire virus; Ebola-Sudan virus; and the Ebola-Ivory virus.
The fourth has caused diseases in non-human primates. Ebola can be passed from infected animals to human beings. Transmission is mainly through contact infected blood, body fluids and semen. Injection needles can also transmit the Ebola virus (Johnson 1988). Ebola’s incubation period can range between 2days to 21 days . Upon infection symptoms appear within four to six days. Symptoms during the one week of incubation include: sore throat, vomiting, Nausea, Headache, Fatigue, Diarrhea, and even Arthritis.
At its advanced stages Ebola has severe symptoms that include: excessive bleeding through all the body openings such as the eyes, ears, nose, mouth and the rectum, breathing becomes problematic and at times the kidney fails. The entire body develops a rash, the skin feels pain, the genitals swell and the person feels depressed and finally goes to a coma. Miscarriage is also common in pregnant women. It’s estimated that only 10% of all the infected people survive the disease, due to massive loss of blood (Heymann 1978). Conclusion.
Currently, Ebola has neither known cure nor treatment but incase of outbreaks separation techniques came in force to prevent its rapid transmission thus reducing its fatality. Travelers are also advised to avoid areas with outbreaks which help in Ebola management (1988).
References
H. Feldmann, H. D. and Klenk, A. Sanchez. 1993. Molecular biology and evolution of filoviruses. Arch. Virol. D. L. Heymann, J. S. Weisfeld, P. A. Webb, K. M. Johnson, T. Cairns,H. Berquist. 1978. Ebola hemorrhagic fever. Tandala. Peters C J and LeDuc JW. 1999. Ebola: the virus and the disease. J Infect Dis. 179(Suppl 1). .