EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE
The EBOLA VIRUS Disease
Every few years, a new pandemic hits the globe and sends shivers down everyone's spines.
The latest one making headlines is the Ebola virus, that has infected and killed thousands of people in 5 West African countries, since the latest outbreak began in March 2014.
So what is this disease that scientists have yet to find a cure for, and how do people catch it?
Background & History
The Ebola virus causes a serious and severe illness which is often deadly if untreated.
It was first appeared in 1976 in 2 simultaneous outbreaks.
The first 1 was recorded in 1976 in Yambuku, a small village in Congo near the Ebola River, from which the disease takes its name. And the Yambuku hospital spreads the virus quickly due to unhealthy conditions and unsterilized needles.
Later in the same year another outbreak of the Ebola occurred in Sudan. Together, over 500 cases were reported.
On August 8, the WHO Director-General declared this outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
This disease is estimated to have claimed the lives of over 1600 people between 1976 and 2012.
The current outbreak in West Africa, (first cases notified in March 2014), is the largest and most complex Ebola outbreak since it was first discovered.
It has also spread between countries starting in Guinea then spreading across land borders to Sierra Leone and Liberia, by air to Nigeria, and by land to Senegal.
The most severely affected countries have very weak health systems, lacking human and infrastructural resources, having only recently emerged from long periods of conflict and instability.
Infection & transmission
In Africa, fruit bats are believed to be the natural hosts of Ebola virus. The virus is transmitted from wildlife to people through close contact with infected fruit bats, or through intermediate hosts, such as monkeys, pigs, or gorillas that have themselves become infected through contact with bats.
People may then become infected through
Every few years, a new pandemic hits the globe and sends shivers down everyone's spines.
The latest one making headlines is the Ebola virus, that has infected and killed thousands of people in 5 West African countries, since the latest outbreak began in March 2014.
So what is this disease that scientists have yet to find a cure for, and how do people catch it?
Background & History
The Ebola virus causes a serious and severe illness which is often deadly if untreated.
It was first appeared in 1976 in 2 simultaneous outbreaks.
The first 1 was recorded in 1976 in Yambuku, a small village in Congo near the Ebola River, from which the disease takes its name. And the Yambuku hospital spreads the virus quickly due to unhealthy conditions and unsterilized needles.
Later in the same year another outbreak of the Ebola occurred in Sudan. Together, over 500 cases were reported.
On August 8, the WHO Director-General declared this outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
This disease is estimated to have claimed the lives of over 1600 people between 1976 and 2012.
The current outbreak in West Africa, (first cases notified in March 2014), is the largest and most complex Ebola outbreak since it was first discovered.
It has also spread between countries starting in Guinea then spreading across land borders to Sierra Leone and Liberia, by air to Nigeria, and by land to Senegal.
The most severely affected countries have very weak health systems, lacking human and infrastructural resources, having only recently emerged from long periods of conflict and instability.
Infection & transmission
In Africa, fruit bats are believed to be the natural hosts of Ebola virus. The virus is transmitted from wildlife to people through close contact with infected fruit bats, or through intermediate hosts, such as monkeys, pigs, or gorillas that have themselves become infected through contact with bats.
People may then become infected through