The Ebola Virus

The Ebola Virus

History of, Occurrences, and Effects of

Ebola, a virus which acquires its name from the Ebola River (located in Zaire, Africa), first emerged in September 1976, when it erupted simultaneously in 55 villages near the headwaters of the river. It seemed to come out of nowhere, and resulted in the deaths of nine out of every ten victims. Although it originated over 20 years ago, it still remains as a fear among African citizens, where the virus has reappeared occasionally in parts of the continent. In fact, and outbreak of the Ebola virus has been reported in Kampala, Uganda just recently, and is still a problem to this very day. Ebola causes severe viral hemorrhagic fevers in humans and monkeys, and has a 90 % fatality rate. Though there is no cure for the disease, researchers have found limited medical possibilities to help prevent one from catching this horrible virus.

The Ebola virus can be passed from one person into another by bodily contact. Airborne transmission of Ebola has not yet been confirmed, as there is no substantial evidence of this occurring. Researchers are still to this day observing the ways of transmission of this virus from one person to the next. In previous outbreaks, this infection has often occurred among hospital care workers or family members who were caring for an ill or dead person infected with the virus. Blood and body fluids contain large amounts of virus, thus transmission of the virus has also occurred as a result of hypodermic needles being reused in the treatment of patients. Underfinanced health care facilities in countries such as Zaire, Gabon, and Sudan find reusing needles a common practice. This contributes the vast amount of fatalities of this virus in these cities.

The general geographic region that has been most affected by the different strains of the Ebola virus is Central Africa, namely the cities of Zaire, Sudan, and Gabon. The first known occurrence of Ebola was found in a man by the name of Charles Monet, who had currently taken a trip among Mount Elgon, located along the border of Uganda and Kenya. How he broke down with this disease is unknown because he had already suffered and died as a result of the viral infections caused in his body before researchers identified the unknown virus. Because Ebola was unknown and never seen before, doctors and citizens in Ebola-infected cities did not know what kind of precautions to take when handling an Ebola-exposed person. As a direct effect to this, the virus spread tremendously fast through the city of Zaire, and eventually spread to many other countries due to the lack of knowledge of the infectious disease. Hospital workers dealing with Ebola-exposed patients took few precautions when handling blood and test tubes. Family members held funerals to those who died from the virus, which spread the disease among the family members. In fact, an article was published in the Houston Chronicle on October 19, 2000, stating that the 9 month child of Esther Awete, who died from infection of the Ebola virus, came down with the infection himself, just days after attending her funeral. Her other son, however, did not attend her funeral and ironically did not come down with Ebola. It is believed that if the virus can find a host quickly, then it can still survive after it's previous host dies.

Ebola is classified as a type of viral hemorrhagic fever, filivirus. The natural host for Ebola is still yet to be defined, but in most cases of a viral hemorrhagic fever, arthropods and rodents, such as ticks and mosquitoes, are the common hosts.

Symptoms- there are 2 main stages of symptoms in the duration of the Ebola virus in a body. The first stage begins within a few days of becoming infected with the virus. In this stage, a patient might develop high fevers, headaches, muscle aches, stomach pains, fatigue, diarrhea, sore throat, hiccups, rashes, red and itchy eyes, vomiting blood, and bloody diarrhea. The second stage of symptoms occurs within one week of being infected with the Ebola virus. Patients in this stage commonly experience chest pain, shock, blindness, bleeding, and eventually death. The victims "bleed out" through the nose, mouth, and eyes. Blood and other bodily fluids