Ebola virus disease (EVD) or Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF)
is a disease that infects mammal, including humans caused
by the Ebola virus. 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 diarrhea follow, along with decreased functioning of the liver and kidneys.
At this point, some people begin to have bleeding problems.
The virus may be
acquired upon contact with blood or bodily fluids of an infected
animal (commonly monkeys or fruit bats). 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. Once human infection
occurs, the disease may spread between people as well. 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 hemorrhagic fevers are first excluded. To confirm the diagnosis
blood samples are tested for viral antibodies, viral RNA, or the virus itself.
Prevention includes decreasing the spread of 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.
There is no specific
treatment for the disease; efforts to help persons
who are infected include giving either oral rehydration therapy (slightly sweet
and salty water to drink) or intravenous fluids. The disease has high mortality
rate: often killing between 50% and 90% of those infected with the virus. EVD
was first identified in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The
disease typically occurs in outbreaks in tropical regions of Sub-Saharan Africa.
From 1976 (when it was first identified) through 2013, fewer than 1,000 people
per year have been infected. The largest outbreak to date is the ongoing 2014
West Africa Ebola outbreak, which is affecting Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia
and Nigeria. As of August 2014 more than 1750 suspected cases have been reported.
Efforts are ongoing to develop a vaccine; however, none yet exists.
