What is Ebola Virus Disease? Signs and Symptoms, Causes

Ebola Treatment- The Game Changer Ebola Vaccine!

The Ebola symptoms and disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DAR) may end soon. Traditional treatment options for this epidemic include quarantine, rehydration with oral or intravenous fluids and various drugs. Scientists have toiled for years, and the discovery of the experimental Ebola vaccine made by Merck, in Mbandaka, a major city in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to 8000 to 10,000 people in the first phase.

It is thrilling and has raised hope to help contain this epidemic. The success of the vaccine hinges on the speed with which people affected with the virus are identified. In this Ebola disease outbreak, if the vaccine works, it will be a paradigm shift in the perspective with which we view Ebola.

What is Ebola?

Ebola or Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever or Ebola disease is severe and often fatal in humans and other nonhuman primates such as monkeys, gorillas and chimpanzees. The virus which causes Ebola disease is mainly in Africa.

It was first discovered in 1976 near the ebola river, in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. The outbreak in West Africa in 2014-2016 was the largest Ebola outbreak.

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What Ebola Causes?

Ebola is caused by Fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family that are considered the natural Ebola virus hosts. Other animals infected with the virus are gorillas, chimpanzees and monkeys. It has infected humans through direct contact with bodily fluids such as blood, urine, tears etc., from an infected person/animal/object or sexual contact.

What are the Ebola Symptoms?

Symptoms may appear anywhere from 2 to 21 days. Initial Ebola virus symptoms include fever, headache, muscle pain, lower back pain and chills. This could be followed by diarrhoea, vomiting, internal and external bleeding, and elevated liver and kidney enzymes.

With the 9th outbreak since its discovery, we hope the new vaccine will be a game changer.

Raising awareness about the causes of Ebola, its symptoms, and its spread amongst the population still remains crucial in an effort to contain the Ebola outbreak.

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