Ebola, It's Back!

Another outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever as been reported in Africa. This disease is caused by a virus called the Ebola virus. The outbreak started in a small town of Kabede Opong in northern Uganda. A woman, Esther Awete died. The family ceremonially washed her and then cleaned their hands in a basin together as a sign of family unity. Unfortunately, for this family this practice of washing the body and washing their hands together in the basin resulted in their deaths due to the ebola virus as well.

The Ebola virus is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, secretions, organs or semen of infected people. The semen of a person who survives the disease can transmit the virus up to seven weeks after they recover.  One way humans get the ebola virus is by handling ill or dead infected chimpanzees. No one knows how Esther Awete got the ebola virus. She did not harvest animals. She made a living by selling ground corn and home-brewed cassava beer. How Ebola hemorrhagic fever initially infects humans is still a mystery.

Ebola hemorrhagic fever is one of the most dangerous viral diseases known to man, resulting in death in 50 to 90 percent of all clinically ill cases. Ten different outbreaks of ebola virus infection have occurred in humans since 1976. The first outbreak was identified in a Zaire. Ebola virus infections have also been reported in South Africa, Ivory Coast, Gabon, and Sudan. The virus is believed to originate in the jungles of Africa and Asia, but specifics remain unknown.

Ebola takes two days to three weeks to incubate and is characterized by the sudden onset of fever, weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat, followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rashes, kidney and liver damage, and both internal and external bleeding. Death is due to the loss of blood. There is no specific treatment or vaccine for Ebola hemorrhagic fever, severe cases require treatment in intensive care. To prevent people from going into shock from the loss of blood they require intravenous fluids. Hospital staff treating Ebola cases must wear protective clothing to protect themselves from this deadly virus. Masks, goggles and protective jumpsuits are required when caring for the sick.

The World Health Organization is sending protective clothing to the workers in the hospitals and is also sending persons to trace the outbreak and contain the spread of the disease. The ceremonial burial practices have been discouraged in Uganda until this particular outbreak of ebola has been eliminated.

For more information on this subject:
CNN article (Nov. 1st, 2000)
CDC article on Ebola virus.

Take Care and Think Microbiologically! For more article on microbiology

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