Ebola Virus Essay Research Paper Ebola hemorrahagic

Ebola Virus Essay, Research Paper

Ebola hemorrahagic febrility is a 20 twelvemonth old virus that, with a mortality rate of 50 % to 90 % , is one of the universe & # 8217 ; s deadliest viruses. Its causative being is called Ebola virus. Ebola virus is a member of Filoviridae, a household of negative-strained RNA viruses. The filoviridae household consists of five known members, Marburg, Ebola Zaire, Ebola Sudan, Ebola Reston, and Ebola Tai. Ebola virus is spread in a figure of ways. An eruption starts when an infected animate being or insect, called a vector, transmits the virus to a human. Scientists know that monkeys are both a vector and victim of Ebola, but other vectors are unknown. The natural reservoir for the virus, or being that is immune to it and carries it is besides unknown. A hunt for the reservoir will take a long clip because there are so many possibilities, since Africa is in the Torrid Zones. Another manner that worlds can acquire Ebola is by eating an septic animate being or imbibing the milk of an septic animate being. Ebola is spread from human to human by contact with septic blood, infected organic structure fluids, or through sexual contact. Even after a individual recovers wholly from Ebola, it may remain in the seeds for up to seven hebdomads. In the African eruption it has besides been transmitted by the reuse of acerate leafs because the wellness attention systems are so under financed. Ebola wasn & # 8217 ; t thought to be an airborne virus, but recent surveies by the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and the CDC found that monkeys showed Ebola like symptoms after being exposed to aerosolized Ebola. The surveies besides found that the virus is many times present in the respiratory systems of Ebola victims. Although the 1989 eruption in Reston, Virginia wasn & # 8217 ; t harmful to worlds, it was found that droplet and puke transmittal played a major function in distributing the disease through the quarantine installation. The oncoming of the Ebola virus is really speedy. The incubation period ranges anyplace from two yearss to 21 yearss. After marks of the virus appear, the victim can decease within yearss, or at the most, a hebdomad. There are a few phases after being infected with the virus. The symptoms of the first phase include concerns, fever, musculus hurting, weariness, icinesss, and loss of appetency. The 2nd phase consists of purging, diarrhoea, abdominal hurting, sore pharynx, and chest hurting. The last phases are really ugly. They consist of terrible curdling and hemorrhaging. The clots signifier throughout the organic structure and shut of blood to many variety meats, particularly the encephalon, liver, and lien. These variety meats that don & # 8217 ; t have blood Begin to disintegrate. Blood leaks into tissues, fills internal pits, and stops coagulating. Blood leaks through the tegument and all other gaps. The skin becomes really easy ripped and the victim can shed blood abundantly merely by being touched. Then the organic structure & # 8217 ; s connective tissues lose their stretchability and go really squashy. Bleedings and blood coagulums in the encephalon cause the individual & # 8217 ; s face to go deadpan and frozen. The Ebola virus spreads to all fluids in the organic structure and the victim finally dies from blood loss and daze. When the victim dies all that is left is a rotten organic structure filled with virus atoms. Ebola virus is diagnosed in merely one manner. It is diagnosed in specialised research lab trials on blood specimens. These trials look for Ebola antigens, antibodies, or the stray virus in the specimens. Since the virus is so lifelessly, these diagnostic trials are an utmost biohazard and are performed merely with utmost cautiousness. The Ebola virus is the universe & # 8217 ; s 3rd deadliest infective disease, behind HIV, and hydrophobias, which has a vaccinum. The lone intervention that can be given to Ebola victims is support. They are normally really dehydrated and need direction of fluid and electrolyte balance. Victims may sometimes necessitate IV provenders to replace liquids. Before daze occurs it may be helpful to replace plasma albumen. There

is currently no cure or vaccine for the Ebola virus., although it is recorded that someone in the United Kingdom was infected with Ebola Zaire and was injected with the plasma of a recovered Ebola Zaire victim and recovered fully. The opposite was also shown when recovered Ebola Reston monkeys were infected with Ebola Zaire and died faster than monkeys infected with just the Ebola Zaire strain. Therefore, it is thought that plasma injections only work on common strain victims. The first occurrence of the Ebola virus was discovered in July of 1979 near the Ebola River in Northern Zaire after a worker in a cotton factory in Nzara, Sudan became very ill. Later that year a similar virus spread through more than 50 villages along the river in Zaire. This outbreak caused about 500 deaths. Scientists from the CDC in Atlanta named the new virus Ebola, subtype Zaire. The virus that caused the outbreak in Sudan was later called Ebola Sudan. In 1977 a child in Tandala, Zaire died of a hemorrahagic fever. In 1977 another outbreak occurred in Sudan and the first case was pinpointed to the same room in the cotton factory that the victim in 1979 had worked in. In 1989 another strain of Ebola was found in Reston, Virginia. This strain was named Ebola Reston. This outbreak was traced to monkeys that had been imported from the Philippines. The monkeys infected four humans, but this strain of Ebola was found only to give humans flu-like symptoms. From January through August of 1995 there was a major outbreak in and around Kikwit, Zaire. In this outbreak there was a mortality rate of 77%, with 315 cases and 244 deaths. In May of 1995 the city was put under quarantine and troops monitored it. On July 14, 1995 the last reported victim of Ebola was discharged from the hospital. Health officials waited twice the maximum incubation period and on August 24, 1995, 42 days after the last reported victim recovered, the outbreak was declared over and the quarantine was lifted. On December 19, 1995 a small Ebola scare in the Cote d’Ivoire/Liberia border region was declared over. In this small outbreak only one person was infected, but he survived. Mr. Jasper Chea was infected with the virus while dissecting a dead monkey. He recovered in a local hospital. This new strain of Ebola was called Ebola Tai. The most recent Ebola outbreak was officially declared over after two incubation periods without any other new cases on April 23, 1996. This outbreak of the disease occurred in Gabon, Africa. This outbreak resulted in 21 deaths out of 37 cases, a 57% fatality rate. An interesting side-note to the history of Ebola is that from 430-425 BC a deadly plague killed 300,000 in Athens. Scientists from the CDC suggest that this ancient plague was actually Ebola. Scientists found many similarities between this plague and the recent Sudan and Zaire outbreaks. They also found paintings on Greek islands near Athens that have pictures of green monkeys. This theory is questioned by Kevin DeCock, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine because he says that “one of the main symptoms of Ebola is copious quantities of blood, which does not feature in Thucydide’s (ancient Athenian who recorded the plague) account.” Since Ebola is still an active virus and there is no cure or vaccine there is a lot of research being done. Most of the research focuses around pinpointing the reservoir organism. Two major institutions are taking up this research, the WHO and the CDC. The CDC is starting this research by collecting animals and insects to experiment with. The WHO is looking for the reservoir in Cote d’Ivoire. In Cote d’Ivoire the chimpanzees get infected with Ebola every other Autumn, but there has never been enough money to research this. The WHO is doing this research and raising money to do other research on Ebola. There is also research for a possible cure or vaccine. ————————————————————–