EBOLA In Brief!

By: Ahmed ELNAHAS – Castelfiorentini, October 13^th 2014

The deadly pest has already started knocking the doors of the Nile Valley basin, even if it’s still apparently contained in the African sub-Saharan regions; therefor it is important, even imperative, to know it and to spread our findings to those whom cannot acquire such notion. It’s the least humanly moral thing to do.

First let us review some very frequent asked question about EBOLA; then I’ll try to synthesise some relevant material as simply as I can, in a way that it would turn easier for you to transmit the information and share them with everyone you know.

Ø  What is EBOLA?

EBOLA (EVD) previously known as “Ebola Virus Haemorrhagic Fever”, is a grievous disease; highly fatal having a 90% mortality rate.

Ø  How is it transmitted?

EBOLA is transmitted through direct close contact with the blood, secretions (sweat, tears, saliva, mucous..etc), tissues, organs or corporal fluids of infected individuals (humans or animals).

Ø  Who are the persons at risk of infection?

Health and sanitary operators, families or other persons in close contact with infected subjects, and persons who are in contact with the dead corps of diseased patients.

Ø  When it is not transmitted?

Ebola cannot be contracted while swimming in pools, handling money or food stuff; not even through a casual contact with a carrier that doesn’t show the symptoms.

Ø  What are the main symptoms?

Sudden improvised fever, intense weakness, muscular pains, headache, painful sour throat, vomiting, diarrhoea, renal insufficiency, hepatic internal and external haemorrhage.

The name of the disease originates from one of those first recorded outbreaks in 1976 in Yambuku, Democratic Republic of the Congo (then Zaire), which lies on the EBOLA river.

Symptoms typically start two days to three weeks after contracting the virus, with a fever, sore throat, muscle pains, and headaches. Typically nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea follow, along with decreased functioning of the liver and kidneys. At this point, some people begin to have bleeding problems.

The EBOLA virus may be acquired upon contact with infected animals (commonly monkeys or fruit bats; it is no surprise given that both are the most common species used for biological laboratories experimental activities). However, the virus capability to spread through the air has not been documented in the natural environment. Fruit bats are believed to carry and spread the virus without being affected. Human male survivors may be able to transmit the disease via semen for nearly two months. In order to make the diagnosis, typically other diseases with similar symptoms such as Malaria, Cholera and other Viral Haemorrhagic Fevers. are first excluded. To confirm the diagnosis blood samples are tested for viral antibodies or the virus itself.

Prevention includes decreasing the spread of the disease from infected monkeys and pigs 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.

Ebola virus was first isolated in 1976 during outbreaks of Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Zaire and Sudan. The strain of Ebola that broke out in Zaire has one of the highest Case Fatality Rates of any other human virus, roughly 90%.

In 1990, Hazelton Research Products' Reston Quarantine Unit in Reston, Virginia, suffered a mysterious outbreak of fatal illness among a shipment of crab-eating Macaque monkeys imported from the Philippines. The company's veterinary pathologist sent tissue samples from dead animals to the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) AT Fort Detrick, Maryland, where a laboratory test known as an ELISA assay showed antibodies to EBOLA virus.

Given the lethal nature of Ebola, and since no approved vaccine or treatment is available, it is classified as a Biosafety Level 4 agent, as well as Category ’A’ Bio-Terrorism agent by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It has the potential to be turned into a weapon for use in Biological Warfare.

Pass On The Word.