Diagnosis And Therapeutic Strategies Of Ebola Virus

Historically Ebola has had a serious impact on human health and hygiene and still does due to the fact of no vaccine or treatment being discovered, but thanks to improvements in scientific and medical knowledge the virus itself is now controllable.

In late 2013, Ebola virus disease (EVD), a deadly and lethal disease, remerged in West Africa spreading to various countries in the region. In humans, the disease is spread through contact with infected bodily fluids leading to haemorrhagic fever (World Health Organization [WHO], 2015). Originating in 1976 in equatorial Africa, past outbreaks with a few hundred cases had been contained within rural, forested areas in Uganda and Congo (Piot, 2012). In 2014, a total of 20, 206 cases and 7,905 deaths were reported to have occurred in up to eight countries worldwide. Of all cases and deaths resulting from the disease, 99.8% occurred in three neighbouring West African countries - Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea (WHO, 2014). With a case fatality rate from about 50% to 90%, and the absence of preventative or curative therapies, the Ebola epidemic has led to overall global alarm and further elucidated existing global health disparities that perpetuated the epidemic with these West African countries.

Although Ebola caught the world’s attention during the 1995 outbreak in Zaire, the first outbreak occurred in 1976. As the chart below displays, 71% of the people infected died as a result of Ebola during this first outbreak (Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 56 (2): 247-270, 1978). With the current outbreak, this ratio has dramatically decreased as a result of scientific research leading to early detection, but the current infected population is more than 20 times the amount of any previous outbreak and this number continues to grow as no vaccine exists to prevent the disease.

Ebola was first discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River which is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There are five identified ebola virus species: Ebola virus (Zaire ebolavirus); Sudan virus (Sudan ebolavirus); Taï Forest virus (Taï Forest ebolavirus); and the Bundibugyo virus (Bundibugyo ebolavirus). The fifth, Reston virus (Reston ebolavirus), causes disease in nonhuman primates. There have been ebola outbreaks in Africa starting in 1976 and lasting until 2016. These outbreaks have occurred as a result of human to human contact with bodily fluids which happens mostly during funerals of the deceased and population migration between countries. Patterns between outbreaks could potentially

Ebola Virus is a serious transmitted disease by both humans and animals. The disease first appeared in 1976 in 2 simultaneous outbreaks, one in Nzara, Sudan, and the other in Yambuku, Democratic Republic of Congo. The latter occurred in a village near the Ebola River, from which the virus received its name. Ebola Virus is a member of the negative stranded RNA viruses known as filoviruses. There are currently, five different strains of the Ebola Virus including, Zaire (EBOV), Sudan (SUDV), Bundibuguyo (BDBV), Taï Forest (TAFV) and Reston (RESTV). Each of the strains of the virus are very closely related including Reston which only effects animals. Yet, Ebola Zaire is the most highly virulent subtype, often leading to death. All of the different types of the virus are extremely dangerous and often cause death if untreated.

The diagnosis of Ebola is made by the detection of Ebola antibodies, antigens or genetic material, or by the culture of the virus, in blood or other bodily fluid specimens that are examined in specialized laboratory tests. Such tests present a very extreme biohazard, so they are conducted in special high-containment laboratories to ensure maximum protection for scientists.

Ebola is the global killer and communicable disease of the world with 69 % case fatality rate, whereas only Zaire strain virus has 90% case fatality rate. It attacks Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, especially the west African’s region as

Diagnosis of the Ebola virus is very hard to do. You need a specialized laboratory to perform the blood test. These laboratories are not available commercially, so basically only the government can do it. The lab is an extreme bio hazard. It is conducted under maximum containment conditions.

After confirmation of samples tested by the United States National Reference Laboratories and the CDC, the World Health Organization confirmed the presence of a new species. An epidemiological study conducted by WHO and Uganda Ministry of Health scientists determined there were 116 confirmed and probable cases of the new Ebola species, and that the outbreak had a mortality rate of 34% (39 deaths). In 2012, there was an outbreak of Bundibugyo ebolavirus in a northeastern province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo). There were 15 confirmed cases and ten fatalities. (Wamala, 2010)

“There is no known treatment for Ebola, although immune plasma may be beneficial. Current therapy consists of maintenance of fluid and electrolyte balance and administration of blood and plasma to control bleeding.” (Britannica)

The symptoms of Ebola are a fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, vomiting, stomach pain, sore throat, diarrhea, weakness and occasionally read eyes, rashes, hiccups, and internal and external bleeding and since these symptoms are not specific to Ebola, it is difficult to clinically diagnose and can often be confused with other viruses. The ELISA testing, short for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and virus isolation are a couple of examples of the types of laboratory testing that can be done to diagnose and Ebola patient. Because of how easily it can be transmitted, it is extremely difficult to treat and there is no approved, official treatment. As of now, there is not standard treatment but usually the patients are given fluids and oxygen, have their blood pressure monitored and other necessary treatment. To prevent transmission and spreading the virus, the doctors use extreme caution and wear head to toe protective gear and isolate the patient. Even though the Ebola virus is common in Africa, there has been no known outbreak in the United States. Another difficulty facing scientists and the treatment for Ebola is that the natural reservoir for the virus unknown. The natural reservoir of a virus is it’s long term host of the

Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is a rare and devastating disease that causes a public health crisis every time there is an outbreak. (JAMA) It’s most common victims are humans and primates like monkeys, chimpanzees and gorillas. EVD is caused by being infected with one of the five species of Ebola. Only four of the viruses will cause the disease to develop in people, Zaire ebolavirus, Sudan ebolavirus, Tai Forest ebolavirus, Bundibugyo virus and Reston ebolavirus. The strand of the virus that is heard about the most in the news and is responsible for the most recent out breaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the Zaire species of the Ebola virus (CDC).

EHV is a severe and often fatal disease caused by the ebolavirus. It has an incubation period of 2 days to 3 weeks, during which the patient is not contagious. The patient will become contagious when the first symptoms appear, namely fever, sore throat, muscle pain and headaches, followed by vomiting, diarrhea, decreased kidney and liver function, and finally, internal and external bleeding. The virus can be from wild animals, as well as through human to human interaction. To be specific, contact with bodily fluids (such as blood, urine and feces) is required for transmission (World Health Organization (WHO) Media Centre, 2014). The average fatality rate of EHV through history has been roughly 50%, but it varies greatly from outbreak to outbreak. In this most recent outbreak, there have been 4033 deaths out of 4656 laboratory confirmed cases, for a fatality rate of 86.6%. This includes 2 cases in the United States (US), one of which ended with the patient from Dallas, Texas, succumbing to the disease (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). At the moment, there is no licensed and regulated treatment or vaccine for the diseases. However, several treatments (blood, immunological and drug) and 2 vaccines are undergoing clinical trials as the world’s medical community rushes to find a way to end and prevent the epidemic. Currently, the only course of action for patients with EHV is hydration, and symptom-based treatment (World

Since there is no  preventative treatment for the Ebola virus currently and treatment is only experimental, we have to take careful measures in

Ebola hemorrhagic fever is a severe and often deadly illness named after a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaïre) where it was first identified in 1976 with a high case fatality rate lying between 50 and 90%. Outbreaks between 1972 and 2007 are shown in Table 1. The disease first came into the limelight in 1976 in Zaïre and Sudan in 1976 [17]. Its origin is still unknown and it is widely believed that Ebola virus is transmitted to humans from discrete life cycles in animals or insects, but regardless of the original source. Person-to-person transmission is the means by which Ebola outbreaks and epidemics progress.