sunshineandhealthcare: THE EBOLA VIRUS

Ebola virus disease, EVD has started to spread in Africa after its outbreak earlier this year in forested areas in southeastern part of Guinea.

Reports said those infected remained undiagnosed for months until the Ministry of Health of Guinea took a move alerting the World Health Organization, WHO about the outbreak.

WHO, in its press release, published on March 23 a total of 49 cases, including 29 deaths, have been recorded as of March 22.

The numbers increased in the span of weeks as EVD caused 83 deaths and 127 confirmed cases as of April 3 and spreading not only in Guinea but also Liberia and Sierra Leone. Now, several cases are observed in Mali and Ghana.

The EVD outbreak begins to create panic to different parts of Africa. Although there were no cases from the west or other parts of the world, WHO warns everyone to know the facts and be keen and be aware of the viral disease.

EVD is caused by ebola virus that can cause up to 90% fatality rates in humans. The disease is usually transmitted from wild animals, especially fruit bats to humans.

The disease first appeared in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976. The village where it has its first outbreak is near the ebola River, hence its name.

The virus can be transmitted from animals to human through direct contact with blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals. It is transmitted from human to human through infection resulting from direct contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people. It could also spread through indirect contact with environments contaminated with such fluids.

Signs and Symptoms of Ebola Virus

An individual who is infected with the virus will experience

muscle pain
sore throat
headache
intense weakness
Sudden fever in the first stages of infection.
Soon the person will experience diarrhoea rash, vomiting and this may result to something worse like impaired kidney and liver function and bleeding. The white blood cells and the platelet count will become low.

In late 2012, Canadian scientist discovered that the deadliest form of the virus could be transmitted by air and between species. They managed to prove that the virus was transmitted from pigs to monkeys without any direct contact between them,leading to fears that airborne transmission could be contributing to the wider spread of the disease in parts of Africa.

Health authorities are therefore warning travellers and residents to avoid eating bush meat, because wild animals are carriers of the virus and it is important to note that there is no cure for the Ebola virus at the moment but Doctors try to manage people’s symptoms by giving them