So how at all is Ebola transmitted? Series Two

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Transmission of Ebola Virus.

There has been so much media hype and scare about the transmission of the Ebola virus. Ebola is not airborne and so containment is very possible. The situation is not as bleak as the hype puts it.

The first contact leading to an outbreak is believed to be zoonotic – from an infected animal (mostly bats) to human. This is tentative though as researchers have not yet been able to pin down on this hypothesis. It thus remains hypothetical for now.  

Following a successful zoonotic transmission, the remainder of the epidemic remains human to human though fresh zoonotic transmission is still possible. Once EVD is established, the possible routes of transmission are;

• ·         direct contact with the blood or secretions of an infected person
• ·         exposure to objects (such as needles) that have been contaminated with infected secretions.

Friends and family are the nearest at high risk of contracting the virus in the home setting as they are closer to the patient. The patient’s contacts in bus stations and public gatherings are also at risk but depend on the stage of the progression of the virus in the patient’s body. It takes approximately three weeks within which one can break down with EVD. You are less risky to the public if you have the virus and do not bleed or secrete body secretions or have family and friends come into contact with your body fluids. 

Health workers need to up their emergency response protocols. Adequate protective clothing are essential to gaping the spread of Ebola in health care workers.

Avoid body contact with travelers in the outbreak belt.

Stay tuned.

Introduction to The Ebola Virus Disease. Series One

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Disclaimer: I have gleaned information from several sources to bring this information to you. I respect copyright and uphold academic honesty. Please attribute your citations to the original sources I will provide at the end of this series. Thank you.

The Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) or Ebola Haemorrhagic Fever (EHF) is not a new disease in sub-Sahara Africa, but it is the latest viral threat – without known and readily available vaccine(s) or cure – on public health in West Africa. The first cases of Ebola simultaneously broke out in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan. The former’s outbreak occurred along the Ebola River hence its name – Ebola Virus.

The Ebola virus belongs to a family of viruses known as the Filoviradae. This family of viruses has three sub-families or genera which comprise a), b), and c). There are five species of the Ebolavirus as denoted by I, II, III, IV and V.

1)      Filoviradae

a)      Marburgvirus

b)      Cuevavirus

c)       Ebolavirus

                                                              I.      Bundibugyo ebolavirus (BDBV)

                                                            II.      Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV)

                                                          III.      Reston ebolavirus (RESTV)

                                                          IV.      Sudan ebolavirus (SUDV)

                                                            V.      Taï Forest ebolavirus (TAFV) formerly Cote d’Ivoire ebolavirus

Since its first outbreak in 1976, all five save Reston ebolavirus has been implicated in causing human disease. And, the first and only case in West Africa was reported in Cote d’Ivoire in 1994. The current species of the West African bane has been identified by the Pasteur Institute, Lyon, France through polymerase chain reaction and viral sequencing as the Zaire ebolavirus. EVD has registered a case fatality rate of up to ninety percent in the past. What does this mean for the lay person? It means that, out of ten confirmed cases of the disease, nine people have died and only one person survived. That is the reason why the World Health Organization and nation governments are very concerned about the virus leaping borders.

West Africa has one of the most porous borders in the world hence the need for you and me to take personal and collective responsibility in bringing this disease under control. 

The natural reservoir host of ebolaviruses remains unknown. However, on the basis of available evidence and the nature of similar viruses, researchers believe that the virus is zoonotic (animal-borne) with bats being the most likely reservoir. Four of the five subtypes occur in an animal host native to Africa. [CDC, 2014]

The World Health Organization Regional Office in Africa, 2014, technically defines a suspected case of Ebola as;

“Illness with onset of fever and no response to treatment for usual causes of fever in the area, and at least one of the following signs: bloody diarrhoea, bleeding from gums, bleeding into skin (purpura), bleeding into eyes and urine.” 

And a confirmed case as;

“A suspected case with laboratory confirmation (positive IgM antibody, positive PCR or viral isolation).” 

For the complete guideline, please follow this link: http://who.int/csr/resources/publications/ebola/ebola-case-definition-contact-en.pdf

 

Please leave your comments below and visit again for the next in this series.