{"id":5647,"date":"2019-04-22T11:10:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-22T11:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simplyhealth.io\/?p=5647"},"modified":"2021-06-03T22:37:51","modified_gmt":"2021-06-03T22:37:51","slug":"14-important-facts-you-should-know-about-ebola","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplyhealth.io\/14-important-facts-you-should-know-about-ebola\/","title":{"rendered":"14 Important Facts You Should Know About Ebola"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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If there\u2019s one virus that scares the living daylights out of anyone on planet earth \u2013 it\u2019s Ebola. Named after the Ebola river that runs through the Democratic Republic of Congo, this aggressive and contagious virus strikes fear into the hearts and minds of anyone that hears its name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For decades, Ebola has made appearances in mainstream media and movies as a killer virus that wipes out communities \u2013 and while Hollywood tends to exaggerate the effects of pandemics, the truth is that this is that their representation of the virus as a killer disease is not far off the mark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ebola is responsible for the deaths of nearly 20,000 people in the last two decades, with an outbreak currently underway in central Africa as of this writing. The virus is incredibly proficient at killing its host, and those infected individuals that do not receive the necessary treatment in time may perish as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are eight important facts about the Ebola virus.
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1. Ebola Transmits from Animals to Humans<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ebola <\/a>virus originates from the Democratic Republic of Congo \u2013 a central African nation. The Ebola river runs through the center of the country, snaking through many of the nation\u2019s provinces, and scientists named the virus after this river, which is thought to be the home of the fruit bats that carry the virus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Animals, such as fruit bats, may carry the virus and shed it through their feces and urine. The fruit bats may shed the virus in feces, that they then drop onto leaves and fruit, which local villagers then consume. After eating the contaminated fruit, the infected person experiences an incubation period that lasts for anywhere between 2 to 21-days before symptoms start to present. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medical science and investigators still are uncertain about the exact cause or delivery mechanism for the virus, and the fruit theory is the top assumption. However, other researchers state that the infection may also transmit through eating the meat of contaminated animals, such as monkeys, bats, and gorillas.
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2. The Virus Spreads through Contact<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Once the virus finds a human host, it spreads readily through contact with the body fluids of an infected person. The incubation phase<\/a> is what makes the virus so deadly and easy to spread. Since infected individuals may not experience symptoms for up to three weeks after initial exposure to the virus, they have the opportunity to infect plenty of people during this phase of the disease before symptoms present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since African populations mostly eat with their hands, the risk of consuming contaminated water and beverages is much higher. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

African people also have a culture where they bury their dead, with the mourners crying over the body as they reminisce about the times spent with their loved ones when they were living. Unfortunately, Ebola remains active for up to a week in a dead body, meaning that any contact with a deceased person may result in transmission of the virus.
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3. The Worst Ebola Outbreaks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The outbreak of Ebola in the Western African country, Sierra Leone, in 2014 was the worst on record to this date, resulting in more than 28,000 infections, and more than 11,000 casualties. The Zaire-Ebola strain was responsible for this contagion, and unfortunately, this is the deadliest and most infectious form of the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many medical experts believe that the severity of the outbreak <\/a>was so bad because of the remote locations of the epidemic, along with a lack of preparation and medical staff trained to deal with the virus. As a result, many people experienced infection due to the burial practices and lack of understanding of how the disease spreads in the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2018 outbreak of the virus is set to become the worst on record, with nearly 800 confirmed cases of the infection. Health officials are currently experiencing issues containing the disease due to the misinformation spread by politicians and locals that don\u2019t have a proper understanding of the workings of the Ebola virus. Many village leaders are telling their community to avoid vaccination or treatment, as the WHO workers are there to infect the people with the virus \u2013 a pure absurdity.
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4. Early Symptoms of the Ebola Virus<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As previously mentioned, it can take up to 21-days to manifest symptoms of the Ebola virus. When the signs of Ebola do eventually start to display in infected persons, they take on the initial appearance of influenza <\/a>infection, with patients experiencing a fever, cough, chills, cramps, and body ache. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of the general symptoms presented by the virus, many people receive a misdiagnosis in the early stages of infection. However, depending on the strain of Ebola responsible for the infection, the symptoms may rapidly escalate, leading to bleeding from the eyes, ears, and mouth, which are the characteristic symptoms associated with the disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People infected with the virus should seek immediate treatment for their symptoms or run the risk of contaminating other people, as well as the hemorrhagic fever killing them, in as little as a few days after developing symptoms \u2013 depending on how aggressive the strain of Ebola is on the body.
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5. The United States is Not at Risk<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s important to note that you are not at risk of catching Ebola unless you come in direct contact with the body fluids<\/a> and blood of an infected person. Ebola is not an airborne disease, so it\u2019s impossible to contract it through exposure to the air around an infected individual unless they cough or sneeze in your immediate direction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are cases where infected individuals have managed to board planes before identified as carrying the virus, due to the incubation stage. However, there are only a few isolated cases of infected health workers returning from hot zones to America. In all of these cases, the infected person was screened and sent into quarantine until they successfully pass the infection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

People who reside in the United States don\u2019t have to worry about contracting the disease unless they travel to African countries currently experiencing an outbreak, and come in contact with the body fluids of an infected person.
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6. Ebola Induces Bleeding<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ebola falls under the category of hemorrhagic fevers, such as the Marburg virus. Ebola is also incredibly infectious and highly contagious<\/a>, especially when the person reaches the advanced stages of the disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Ebola is in the final stages of the disease, it causes blood vessels to rupture, forcing massive internal bleeding of the organs. The person\u2019s eyes turn red, and their tear ducts swell with blood \u2013 the digestive system starts to hemorrhage, and the patients begin to vomit and cough up blood as it attacks the respiratory system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If left untreated, the patient’s chances of surviving the advanced stages of the disease are limited, depending on what type of strain of Ebola is responsible for the infection. The Zaire-Ebola strain will cause death in almost every example that reaches this stage of the disease, as is the case with the unfortunate victims of the 2014 West African outbreak in Sierra Leone.
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7. Ebola can be Fatal if Untreated<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Data from the World Health Organization (WHO), shows that the chances of dying from Ebola virus infection are about 50-percent, with variations between 25 to 90-percent, depending on the strain and the origin of the outbreak<\/a>. Ebola outbreaks occur in villages in central and Western Africa, where medical care is limited, and most of the regions are unprepared, undersupplied, or under-staffed to handle a massive outbreak of infectious disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, these countries rely on WHO to swoop in and save the day, administering the medical care they need to beat the virus. However, where the virus is left to spread uncontrolled and unabated, it becomes a huge problem for communities.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medical science is still at a loss to explain why some people get infected, while others don\u2019t \u2013 as well as why some survive the disease while others perish. While it largely remains a mystery, initial research shows that it may have something to do with the health of the immune response, as well as the health of the gut biome bacteria found in the digestive system.
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8. There is No Cure<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Like most other hemorrhagic fevers, there is no cure for the Ebola virus. The best health professionals and patients can hope for is a system of \u201csupportive care,\u201d where infected patients receive extra oxygen, hydration fluids, blood transfusions, and blood pressure<\/a> monitoring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Various drugs are on trial in the current DRC outbreak to see if science can find a solution to the Ebola puzzle. So far, the best that the teams have managed to create is a vaccine against the virus, known as rVSV-ZEBOV. So far studies on the vaccine show promise with vaccinated candidates not showing signs of infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, various village leaders and politicians are trying to fool the people into thinking that WEHO workers are merchants of death and that if they allow themselves vaccination, they will contract the disease. Unfortunately, in rural Africa, people\u2019s opinion is easily swayed by those in power, and the outbreak continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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9. A Recent Disease<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The first documented cases of the Ebola virus appear in 1976, with outbreaks coinciding in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan. There are five different strains, with the Zaire type of Ebola being the most aggressive, carrying the highest mortality rate – of over 90-percent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This fact means that the Ebola virus is a relatively new disease when compared to pathogens like smallpox, that have documented cases dating back hundreds of years. However, unlike smallpox<\/a>, there is no known cure for Ebola, and medical science is still experimenting with several vaccines in the ongoing outbreak in the DRC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While that outbreak was the first documented case of the disease, some medical experts believe that Ebola may have had outbreaks in the past, but there was no way to report it to health authorities due to the lack of infrastructure available on the African continent during the early parts of the 1900s.
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10. Hollywood and Ebola<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ebola has long been a scapegoat for Hollywood. Many movies and TV series feature Ebola in the plot. One of the most memorable films involving hemorrhagic fever was the 1995 thriller, “Outbreak,” starring Dustin Hoffman as a medical professional with an extensive career in treating dangerous infectious diseases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The movie depicts the firebombing of an African village infected with the fever in the opening scene of the film. However, and infected monkey brings the virus <\/a>to the U.S, where it bites an intern, and the virus starts to spread. The movie ends on a positive outcome, with Hoffman’s team developing a vaccine that saves the U.S population. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many movies over-dramatize events, but Outbreak was a reasonably accurate depiction of what would occur if the Ebola virus did reach a populated area like the United States. A 2015 movie, “Ebola 21,” paid homage to the response workers who live and work in the hot zone of an outbreak.
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11. Ebola Vs. Marburg<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While many people have heard about the Ebola virus, not as many are aware of its close relatives that are just as deadly. The Marburg virus is another hemorrhagic fever that’s often confused with Ebola. The virus has all of the same bleeding and influenza <\/a>symptoms, but it is not as aggressive as the Zaire Ebola strain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Marburg can still do extensive internal damage to the body, and all 100 of the patients involved in the first recorded outbreak of Marburg in Angola died as a result of the infection. Other reports show that Marburg is only fatal in 50 to 60-percent of all documented cases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both viruses cause severe internal bleeding and hemorrhaging of the organs. Patients require immediate medical assistance to ensure they have the best chance of surviving the infection. As is with Ebola, there is no known cure or vaccine for the deadly Marburg virus.
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12. Ebola Is Not Airborne or Waterborne<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Ebola virus is the stuff of nightmares \u2013 a fast-acting hemorrhagic fever that causes you to bleed from the eyeballs and orifices. It’s no wonder that Hollywood finds it so appealing as a subject for disaster movies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fantasy can sometimes become a reality and start a panic in people. In the 1995 movie, “Outbreak,” the character played by Dustin Hoffman becomes terrified when he learns that the virus causing the epidemic has gone airborne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An airborne virus means that the pathogen <\/a>can float through the air and infect any person that breathes in the virus or bacteria. Since these pathogens are microscopic, the patient does not realize they have an infection until symptoms start to present. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same goes for a waterborne pathogen that can spread through contact with bodies of water. The virus swims up your nose and infects the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, Ebola infection is limited to contact with the body fluids of an infected person only.
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13. Confusion with other Diseases<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the reasons why Ebola spreads so readily \u2013 is because it’s mistaken for other diseases in the early stages of infection. Ebola is not a common disease, and if there is no current outbreak, then doctors may confuse the initial symptoms of the disease with others such as malaria<\/a>, cholera, typhoid fever, shingles, or leptospirosis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are dozens of other conditions that have similar symptoms as Ebola in the early stages. The bleeding symptoms do not occur until the advanced stages of the disease, so it’s easy for a doctor to misdiagnose a patient and send them back to their family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result of the misdiagnoses, the patient infects the rest of their family, and everyone in the household gets sick. Guidelines set by the World Health Organization for treating infected patients in hot zones require that doctors first rule out all other possible sources of infection before diagnosing the patient with Ebola.
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14. Do You Need to Worry? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Ebola virus has only ever had one case of infection outside of the African continent, and that was in a relief worker returning from the hot zone of the 2106 outbreak. United States health authorities quickly detained and quarantined the patient to avoid them spreading the disease to others. The patient made a full recovery from the virus, and there was no spread of Ebola to the general public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An outbreak <\/a>in the United States would not have the same impact on local populations as it does in <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Africa. Africans have a distrust for western medicine and doctors, as well as many cultural beliefs that cause the spread of the virus and delay treatment in patients. As a result, the African outbreaks are challenging to stop due to the remote locations of the outbreak, as well as resistance from the local populations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should Ebola every occur in the United States, we doubt it would reach the epidemic levels seen in Africa. The health system in America and the population of the country are better prepared to deal with this disease than Africans.
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