The Ebola virus causes an acute, serious illness which is often fatal if untreated. Ebola virus disease (EVD) first appeared in 1976 in 2 simultaneous outbreaks, one in Nzara, Sudan, and the other in Yambuku, Democratic Republic of Congo. The latter occurred in a village near the Ebola River, from which the disease takes its name. The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that is concerned with international public health. It was established on 7 April 1948, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland Ebola is an infectious and generally fatal disease.
It is thought that fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are natural Ebola virus hosts. Ebola is introduced into the human population through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals such as chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines found ill or dead or in the rainforest. Ebola then spreads through human-to-human transmission via direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials (e. g. bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids.
Symptoms of Ebola virus disease The incubation period, that is, the time interval from infection with the virus to onset of symptoms is 2 to 21 days. Humans are not infectious until they develop symptoms. First symptoms are the sudden onset of fever fatigue, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, symptoms of impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding (e. g. oozing from the gums, blood in the stools). Laboratory findings include low white blood cell and platelet counts and elevated liver enzymes.
Treatment and vaccines Supportive care-rehydration with oral or intravenous fluids- and treatment of specific symptoms, improves survival. There is as yet no proven treatment available for EVD. However, a range of potential treatments including blood products, immune therapies and drug therapies are currently being evaluated. No licensed vaccines are available yet, but 2 potential vaccines are undergoing human safety testing. The average EVD case fatality rate is around 50% The most recent official figure from the World Health Organization puts the number of deaths at 4,493.
Ebola screening will begin at London’s Heathrow Airport on Tuesday, Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, confirmed today as he warned that the disease will arrive in Britain by Christmas. Due to the nature of the hemorraghic fever that filoviruses cause, little is known about the host immune response to infection. Antibodies that are produced primarily attack the surface glycoproteins of the virus. There is very little or no cross-reactivity and cross-immunity amongst the filoviruses. Researchers are not even sure if antibodies to Ebola Sudan will convey immunity against Ebola Zaire.