Ebola virus is a disease occur by Ebola virus. It is a serious disease which occurs in human and nonhuman. Ebola is one of the many viral hemorrhagic fevers that occur due to infection caused by a virus called genus Ebolavirus which belongs to Filoviridae family. It is a contagious disease that spreads by coming in contact with infected bodily fluids and blood.
Ebola virus disease was discovered in 1979 in Sudan and Zaire. After this virus discovery, they found many Ebola outbreaks, initially restricted to distant villages near tropical rainforests in West and Central Africa. During 2014 the Ebola virus detected in a broad group of people in the documented history in terms of geographical extent and the cases.
How Ebola virus infect people?
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Ebola virus has a kind genetic substance describe as RNA which is like DNA, and it has the blueprint for joining new virus particles.
Similar to plants and animals use DNA as storage of information. The viruses are technically not alive because they don’t have the capacity to replicate without any help. The existing virus has to enter a living cell to create a new virus where it attacks the host cell’s machinery to satisfy own purposes.
The Ebola virus has to travel by the cell membrane to enter the cell which is a block to protect the cell from its surroundings. However, every cell requires nutrients for which they have a way to enter the cell and virus also get a chance to enter into the cell through established nutrient. Ebola virus takes the support of a non-specific deluge process to describe as macropinocytosis which makes the virus be eaten by a specific wave motion of the cell membrane.
Once the virus enters the cell, it will create more duplicate infected cells. The process of cell replication can be risky and leads to the death of the cell or reduce the functions of the cell. After forming the new virus-cell, the bud from cell to use own cell membrane to create a capsule for its safe transfer to nearby cells.
How does Ebola virus infection spread cell-by-cell in the full-body?
Ebola virus shows several symptoms starting from fever, muscles pain and headache and continues with diarrhea, vomiting, and internal bleeding.
The Ebola virus target particular cell types in your body. It targets liver cells, endothelial cells, immune system cells which are present in the entire body in the blood vessels.
The Ebola virus creates proteins describe as Ebola virus-Glycoprotein after entering in the cells. The glycoprotein completely modifies the cell’s ability to stick with other cells which is important for healthy cells, therefore cells are unable to connect and infect the blood vessel cells. The virus leads to the leakage of blood vessels result in internal bleeding and hemorrhaging.
Symptoms of Ebola virus
Initially, you may feel like flu symptoms or general illness but here are the main symptoms which last for 2 – 21 days after getting an infection.
Fever
Ebola hemorrhagic is a viral disease that has a symptom of viral fever in the initial days. During this time, you may have external and internal bleeding as your condition grow. This fever is one of the most harmful viral disease which increase the chances of the death rate. According to the report, the outbreaks range from 50% to 100% of infected people which depend on the Ebola strain. As a result, the survival rate starts to range from around 50% to zero because in most cases the outbreaks occur in areas where the service not available and the survival rate decrease.
A severe headache
Ebola disease is constraining health problem which is recently grown across West Africa. As you get exposed to the pathogen, you will likely to develop a headache. The Ebola virus directly attacks your immune system and leads to bleeding which causes to weaken your immune system and shows headache symptoms.
Joint and muscle aches
Joint and muscles are an important part of your body. The joints connect your bones and make you sit, walk and be flexible with the help of muscles.
The Ebola virus leaves a long-lasting impact on survivors. According to emerging discoveries few people are able to recover from this disease in West Africa. As your condition increase, you will experience joint pain in the following joints such as
- Shoulders
- Hips
- Elbows
- Knees
When Ebola virus spread in your body, it will create discomfort, soreness, and pain in the above joints regions. If you don’t have particular bone or joint injury or illness, you can detect Ebola virus attack by comparing other symptoms.
A sore Throat
Nearly everyone gets a sore throat at some point due to some ailment in the body. A sore throat occurs during the winter season because of excess cold, or if your respiratory part has an allergy or cold.
A sore throat feels like scratchy, raw, and burning feeling at the back part of your throat which is always a first sign that either you are getting cold or some disease developing in your body and it can also be a symptom of Ebola disease.
Weakness
Weakness is one of the symptoms of Ebola disease. It occurs due to a lack of muscle strength or limited physical activity. When you are suffering from Ebola-virus disease, your body may get weakness because of insufficient energy and strength.
Other symptoms include:
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
- Pain in stomach
- Loss of appetite
Ebola virus disease outbreaks
According to research, scientists have discovered evidence of fatal Ebola virus in a bat in the areas of Liberia. For the first time, the virus presents in a bat in West Africa.
The research team doesn’t find a human case of Ebola virus disease during this discovery. Liberia also reported there is no new human case after the 2014 to 2016 epidemic that overwhelmed West Africa for the death of more than 11,000 people in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
The bats are the main reason to suspect for being a natural storage for the Ebola virus. It means the Ebola virus can live and develop in the skin of animals without making a problem for them but more than 40 years and over many outbreaks came into light and Ebola emerged in Central Africa. However, research not found how animal carries this virus and how it spread in human.
The research added the evidence suggests that bats are the main thing to serve natural wildlife to carry Ebola. The research team discovered genetic material of antibodies and viruses in the blood of bat which indicates the immune response against infection in animals.
However, the is a need for more research because, after the test of 150 Miniopterus inflatus bats in northeastern-Liberia, only one of those bats found positive said by Epstein.
Prevention
If you belong to the region of Ebola outbreaks, you need to maintain good hygiene including keeping your hand clean by frequent washing with good hand wash and clean water because the Ebola virus disease develops by close contact with an infected individual.
The important prevention measure involves avoiding
- Areas with high-risk exposure
- High-risk activities which involve eating or handling animal such as sick or dead including bushmeat.
- Unsafe contact with sick people
Avoid direct contact
The Ebola outbreaks reported avoiding direct contact with the body fluids of ill people especially with people or animals who died from Ebola virus including blood, feces, urine, vomit, saliva, sweat, semen, breast milk, vaginal fluid.
Avoid unprotected intercourse with an infected person. As Ebola virus continues to months in semen of an infected individual and occurs by vaginal, anal, and unprotected sex. You can use precautions for 12 months.
Try to avoid direct contact with safe burial practice:
When you have a situation where someone died with Ebola virus disease than you need to be careful. Don’t touch any fluid of the dead person or animal. Even you should not directly touch the clothing or bedding of an infected person. If you are participating in the burial process of an infected person, use a protective gown, masks, gloves, and goggles to maintain personal hygiene.
Avoid contact with infected wild animals
Be careful while living in a region of animals and wild dead animals because these animals may have Ebola virus. The animals include
- Monkeys
- Gorillas
- Fruit bats
- Chimpanzees
- Porcupines
- Forest antelope
Health professionals
If you are a health worker, then check with concern department and health support worker to find out in-depth information to prevent getting the Ebola virus.
Make sure to take strict steps to measure the infection control if you are handling anything directly such as Ebola virus disease patients or dead bodies.
This precaution includes detaching significant individuals for safe burial process and using protective things such as masks, gowns, gloves, goggles.
Make sure to dispose of the contaminated equipment, instruments, surfaces, needles, scalpels and thermometers to avoid getting infected.
Returning travelers
If you were in the Ebola virus disease area, then make sure to monitor yourself and notice the symptoms because if you were unprotected there is a chance of getting the disease.
While traveling to return your place inform the flight attender so that they will inform the specialist to assess your health.
If you come to know that you had high exposure to the Ebola virus or you notice the symptoms are growing, then check with your doctor immediately. Make sure to discuss your symptoms properly and get appropriate arrangements.
How you can have low exposure to Ebola virus disease
- The people who maintain good quality hygiene while residing in Ebola virus disease affected area and maintaining general contact with the sick or dead people with virus or animals.
- To reduce the Ebola virus exposure, avoid touching an affected person or animal fluid directly. Avoid sharing seat, bed and other things with an affected person.
Who are at the risk of high exposure to Ebola virus
- The people who stay and travel to Ebola virus affected area are more likely to get the Ebola virus disease if having unprotected close contact with an infected sick or dead person or wild animal.
There are more chances of getting Ebola virus disease to the people including:
- Laboratory staff, hospital staff, and humanitarian aid workers.
- Direct contact of a family member with affected patient.
- The people unknowingly come in contact with infected wild animals by butchering, hunting or preparing meat (bushmeat).
- The people having unprotected intercourse with an infected person.
Diagnosis of Ebola virus
It is difficult to conclude that if the person is undergoing from Ebola virus disease. Sometimes it is confusing, and the diagnosis ends up with malaria or cholera. The test of blood and tissues can help to find the Ebola virus.
If you find that you have Ebola virus disease, then immediately stop going out in public to prevent the disease from spreading.
Treatment of Ebola virus disease
The scientists are finding many ways for the treatment of Ebola. Several drug companies have developed vaccines, but still, those are not yet approved. The world health organization has strictly said to avoid unapproved drugs for Ebola victims.
Ebola virus disease doesn’t have a cure, but research is still going on. There are some treatment options involve the use of serum to kill the infected cells. Your doctor can manage your Ebola virus disease symptom with help of following methods:
- Oxygen
- Fluids and electrolytes
- Blood transfusions
- Blood pressure medication
- Treatment for other infections
Use of siRNAs
Another treatment has developed the use of a tiny particle of genetic substances described as small-interfering-RNAs (siRNAs). This tiny RNA is designed to resemble the specific pieces of the virus RNA. It is similar like Velcro piece holding together when the siRNA meets a similar viral piece of RNA and hold it. Once the siRNA sticks together, it will stop creating new Ebola virus cell and slow down the replication process.
Recently, the FDA has been approved the siRNA therapy for the treatment of Ebola outbreaks.
Y-shaped proteins/ZMapp
There is one more treatment suggested by many health experts. The Ebola-infected person can use antibodies. The antibodies are large, Y-shaped proteins designed to detect and offset the foreign bodies such as viruses and bacteria.
Presently the well-developed drug is known as ZMapp it is a type of cocktail of 3 antibodies. The antibodies have a lock on its tips of Y which is recognized as a specific key. Once the antibodies stick with glycoprotein, it will help to keep the virus out of the cell. ZMapp is the best drug for the treatment of the Ebola virus outbreaks, but not similar to a vaccine which does not provide lifelong immunity to the Ebola virus.
However, trying both drugs and vaccines under expert guidance is the most helpful way to reduce the Ebola virus.