Facts you need to know about Ebola
Here are some facts you need to know about the virus that has claimed thousands in West Africa, the Ebola virus.
THE Ebola virus has claimed the lives of thousands of people in Africa since its outbreak earlier this year. But are you at risk?
According to a report on the Health24 website, an outbreak is theoretically possible anywhere in the world which receives regular visitors from the affected countries. This includes South Africa.
Wikipedia states that the Ebola virus disease (EVD), or Ebola hemorragic fever (EHF), is a disease that affects humans and primates.
It is a hemorrhagic fever, which means victims may bleed inside the body or externally. The virus has one of the highest mortality rates, killing between 50 and 90 per cent of victims.
There is currently no cure for the virus, but patients are often given either oral re-hydration, intravenous fluids, oxygen and doctors manage their pain, try to prevent other infections and manage the thickness of blood and clotting.
What to look out for:
Symptoms can start eight to 10 days after contracting the virus.
Symptoms include:
- Fever.
- Sore throat.
- Muscle pain.
- Headaches.
- Nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea typically follow, along with decreased functioning of the liver and kidneys.
- Hemorrhaging (bleeding) may also begin around this time.
How is the virus contracted?
People who come in contact with blood or bodily fluids of an infected animal (commonly monkeys or fruit bats), can aquire the virus.
But there has been no documented evidence that the virus can spread through a natural environment’s air.
It is believed that fruit bats carry and spread the virus without being affected. Once human infection occurs, the disease may spread between people as well.
According to Wikipedia, men who survive the virus can transmit the disease via semen for nearly two months. In order to make the diagnosis, other diseases with similar symptoms such as malaria, cholera and other viral hemorrhagic fevers are first excluded.
To confirm if a person has been infected, blood samples are tested for viral antibodies, viral RNA or the virus itself.
