Ebola virus disease

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Ebola" redirects here. For other uses, see Ebola (disambiguation).

Ebola virus disease
Classification and external resources
1976 photograph of two nurses standing in front of Mayinga N., a patient with Ebola virus disease; she died only a few days later due to severe internal hemorrhaging.
ICD-10	A98.4
ICD-9	065.8
DiseasesDB	18043
MedlinePlus	001339
eMedicine	med/626
MeSH	D019142

Ebola virus disease (EVD) or Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) is the human disease caused by ebola viruses. Symptoms start 2 days to 3 weeks after contracting the virus with a fever, throat and muscle pains, and headaches. There is then nausea, vomiting and diarrhea along with decreased functioning of the liver and kidneys. At this point some people begin to have problems with bleeding.^[1]
The disease is first acquired by a population when a person comes into contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected animal such as a monkey or fruit bat. Fruit bats are believed to carry and spread the disease without being affected by it. Once infected the disease may be spread from one person to another. Men who survive may be able to transmit the disease sexually for nearly 2 months. To make the diagnosis, typically other diseases with similar symptoms such as malaria, cholera and other viral hemorrhagic fever are excluded. The blood may then be tested for either antibodies to the virus, the viral DNA, or the virus itself to confirm the diagnosis.^[1]
Prevention involves decreasing the spread of the disease from infected monkeys and pigs to humans. This may be done by checking these animals for infection and killing and properly disposing of the bodies if the disease is discovered. Properly cooking meat and wearing protective clothing when handling meat may be helpful, as may wearing protective clothing and washing hands when around someone sick with the disease. Samples from people with the disease should be handled with an extra degree of caution.^[1]
There is no specific treatment for the virus with efforts to help people including giving the person either oral rehydration therapy or intravenous fluids. The disease has a high rate of death possibly up to 90%. It typically occurs in outbreaks and occurs in tropical regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. Between when it was first identified in 1976 and 2012 less than 1000 people a year have been infected. The disease was first identified in the Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Efforts are ongoing to develop a vaccine; however, none exists as of 2014.^[1]