What is Ebola?

About Ebola:

• It is a severe and often deadly disease caused by a group of viruses, known as orthoebolaviruses (formally ebolavirus).
• Orthoebolaviruses were discovered in 1976 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and are found primarily in sub-Saharan Africa.
• It gets its name from the Ebola River, which is near one of the villages in the Democratic Republic of Congo where the disease first appeared.
• Ebola can occur in humans and other primates (gorillas, monkeys, and chimpanzees).
• Transmission:
  • 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 fruit bats, chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, forest antelope, or porcupines found ill or dead or in the rainforest.
  • Ebola then spreads through human-to-human transmission via direct contact with the body fluids of an infected sick or dead person.
• Ebola Symptoms:
  • Symptoms of Ebola can start two to 21 days after being infected by the virus.
  • It includes fever, diarrhea, vomiting, bleeding, and often, death.
• The average Ebola case fatality rate is around 50%.
• Treatment:
  • There is no known cure for Ebola. Experimental treatments have been used, but none have been fully tested to see if they work well and are safe.
    • For example, there are two FDA-approved monoclonal antibody treatments for the Ebola Zaire strain (Inmazeb and Ebanga).
  • Recovery seems to depend in part on how much virus a person was initially exposed to, how early treatment is started, and the patient’s age and immune response. 
  • Current therapy consists of maintenance of fluid and electrolyte balance and the administration of blood and plasma to control bleeding.

Q1: What is a Virus?

Viruses are microscopic organisms that can infect hosts, like humans, plants or animals. They’re a small piece of genetic information (DNA or RNA) inside of a protective shell (capsid). Some viruses also have an envelope. Viruses can’t reproduce without a host.

Source: NM