Ebola: Causes, Symptoms, Transmission, Treatment and Prevention
The Ebola virus is a zoonotic pathogen that causes an acute, severe disease that is often fatal if not treated urgently. Ebola first emerged in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks, one in the Nzara region, South Sudan, and the other in Yambuku, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in a village near the Ebola River, from which it takes its name.
The 2014-2015 Ebola epidemic was the largest in history, affecting several countries in West Africa.
How is the Ebola virus transmitted?
Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with the blood, secretions, tissues, organs, or other bodily fluids of an infected person, living or deceased. The virus can also be transmitted through contaminated materials with such fluids originating from an infected person.
The Ebola virus can also be transmitted through unprotected sexual contact with patients who have recently recovered from the disease. The virus can be present in semen for up to 3 months after actual recovery.
Handling corpses without appropriate protective equipment and funeral rituals play an important role in the transmission of the disease. Airborne transmission has not been demonstrated.
People become contagious once they start showing symptoms. The risk of infection from contact with people in the early stages of the disease is relatively low. The risk of infection increases as the stage of the person diagnosed with Ebola becomes more advanced.
Symptoms
Symptoms can last between 2 and 21 days after infection, but the average duration is 8-10 days. Symptoms include fever (higher than 38.5 °C), severe headache, muscle pain, weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain, and unexplained bleeding or bruising.
Diagnosis
Diagnosing the disease is difficult because early symptoms, such as fever and sore throat, are common to many diseases, such as malaria and typhoid fever. A patient presenting with early symptoms should be cared for and isolated to prevent the risk of infecting those around them.
Contact medical personnel immediately to perform laboratory tests. Such tests represent an extremely dangerous biological risk and must be carried out under conditions of maximum biological isolation.
In most cases, patients experience episodes of fever (over 38.5 °C), headache, asthenia, myalgia, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, or hemorrhage, following travel to a country with a high risk of contracting the disease (Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea) or following contact with an infected person.
Treatment
There is no specific treatment for Ebola, but two drug treatments have been approved to treat the disease: Inmazeb (a mixture of three monoclonal antibodies – atoltivimab, maftivimab, and odesivimab-ebgn) and Ansuvimab-zykl (a monoclonal antibody administered by injection). These help block the virus, preventing it from entering the cell.
Following the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, a vaccine was developed that can help control outbreaks. The rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine was tested and subsequently used in a series of successive Ebola outbreaks in the DRC, as part of the global epidemic control strategy.
It is administered to adults aged 18 and over, as a single dose in the muscle of the shoulder or thigh. The vaccine is intended only for people at high risk of potential exposure, including those who have come into contact with an outbreak, people working in a disease research laboratory, or those working in a treatment center.
Prevention
The Ebola virus is sensitive to disinfectants and bleach and is destroyed by heat.
People living in or visiting countries affected by this infection must avoid contact with symptomatic patients and/or their bodily fluids, avoid contact with corpses and/or bodily fluids from deceased patients, and avoid contact with wild animals (monkeys, forest antelopes, rodents, and bats), both living and dead. Also, regular hand washing using soap or antiseptics is recommended.
References
http://cnscbt.ro/index.php/component/content/article/9-ebola/15-informatii-generale-citeste-mai-departe
https://www.msf.org/ebola
https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/overview/ervebo-epar-medicine-overview_en.pdf
https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/clinicians/vaccine/index.html
https://www.sfatulmedicului.ro/Infectii-cu-streptococi–stafilococi-si-alte-bacterii/ebola-simptome-cauze-tratament-si-preventie_18769
https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/ebola-fever-virus-infection
