Ebola

October 23, 2017 Know Public Health Communicable Diseases, Epidemiology 0

EBOLA
Knowpublichealth: Image courtesy CDC

Introduction

Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is a deadly disease. Ebola mostly affects people and non-human primates. EVD was formerly known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever. Ebola virus disease first appeared in 1976 involving 284 cases in which there were 151 deaths, centered in Sudan, and 318 cases with 280 deaths recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo near Ebola River.

Transmission

The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human to human transmission. Ebola virus is transmitted through contact with blood or body fluids of a person who contracted or died from EVD, contaminated objectives like needles, clothing, and infected animals or bush meat. EVD has an incubation period of 2-21 days, and the infection has an acute onset without any carrier status.

Symptoms and Signs

  • Abrupt onset of fever, chills, malaise, anorexia, severe headache
  • Some may develop a diffuse maculopapular rash by days 5-7 of illness, mainly on the trunk.
  • There can be gastrointestinal symptoms like vomiting, nausea, diarrhea and abdominal pain.

 



Prevention and control

There is no specific vaccine available to prevent Ebola infection. The major aim of all the prevention measures is to avoid contact with the body fluids of an infected person. Practicing careful hygiene, avoid or handle carefully in funeral or burial rituals that require handling the body of some who have died from Ebola. Avoid from contact with infected fruits bats or monkeys and the consumption of their raw meat.

 

 

Ebola

 

 

 

 

References

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/

https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/about.html

Laupland KB, Valiquette L. Ebola virus disease. The Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases & Medical Microbiology. 2014;25(3):128-129.

https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/symptoms/index.html

SFCDCP

Kadanali A, Karagoz G. An overview of Ebola virus disease. Northern Clinics of Istanbul. 2015;2(1):81-86. doi:10.14744/nci.2015.97269.

https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/prevention/index.html

Kourtis AP, Appelgren K, Chevalier MS, McElroy A. Ebola Virus Disease: Focus on Children. The Pediatric infectious disease journal. 2015;34(8):893-897. doi:10.1097/INF.0000000000000707.