Ebola And The Human Body

The Ebola Virus is a very sensitive subject at this time, with an outbreak within Western Africa (Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia most affected) causing panic and fear among many countries across the world. Within this essay, I aim to cover the transmission of the virus and how it replicates within the host cells, whilst briefly looking at the symptoms and dangers of the disease.

In 2003 a vaccine using an adenoviral vector carrying the Ebola spike protein was tested on crab-eating macaques. The monkeys were challenged with the virus twenty-eight days later, and remained resistant.

HIV and Ebola are often compared to each other, but they are very different viruses. HIV also known as human immunodeficiency virus is one of two retroviruses that infect and destroy helper T cells of the immune system, causing a reduction of T cells. Ebola is an infectious and fatal disease that starts with fever and internal bleeding, spread through contact with infected bodily fluids by a filovirus. In The Hot Zone, Richard Preston compared the two viruses together often. HIV and Ebola both have similar methods of transmission, but Ebola is slightly easier to spread. The ways HIV and Ebola developed and came from the rain forest resemble each other.

The mystery of the Ebola virus inspired this article that depicts the search for the virus’s source. Ebola is known as a zoonotic virus meaning it can affect many species of animals. This also means that its source comes from one or more species of animals that carry and transmit the disease without dying. This animal that holds the disease is known as a reservoir host. The article focusses on research on finding the reservoir host. Many cases of Ebola have been reported and studied. All reports have a common source of the initial sick individual having some connection with a cave or forest. This like another similar virus, Marburg, have its beginnings of its outbreaks with hunters or explorers. Marburg’s reservoir host has been determined to be a species of fruit bat. Many researchers agree that some form of bat is the host of Ebola, but with little research and not enough funding to conduct a viable research, this cannot be proven. Signs of bats include the viruses first know victim, Emile Ouamouno. A young boy, Emile was known to have played in and by a tree that later was discovered to be home to Angolan free-tailed bats. Later, research by Leendertz on different species of bats showed that RNA fragments of the Ebola virus were found in several species of fruit bats. While it can be concluded that bats serve as some chain in the Ebola infection,

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.

First discovered in the 1970’s, the ebola virus was contained to West Africa (“About Ebola Virus Disease”). Villagers’ diets consisted primarily of the resources readily available. Among these resources were fruit, vegetables, and animals, namely monkeys. Monkeys carried the ebola virus, and when people ate them, without proper cleaning and cooking techniques, they became infected. Ebola, formally known as Zaire Ebola Virus, is transmitted through bodily fluids like saliva, blood, semen, breast milk, mucus, sweat, tears, feces and urine. ("Ebola in West Africa."). Since it was introduced to a third world country, where hygiene is not regarded as important as survival. Without education, protection and segregated sewage, the virus began to spread. In days people were dying after spreading the virus to those closest to them (Waterman). The bodies, though dead, were still harboring the virus and

It is vital to understand deadly viruses and their history in order to prevent future outbreaks. Ebola leaves very few clues after annihilating its victims, so it is incredibly important to analyze those clues. Ebola’s close relationship to monkeys contains key knowledge that could hold the secret to its success. Paying close attention to how Ebola is spreading and mutating could lead researchers to the answer for preventing the contraction of it. Discovering where and how the virus first emerged could lead to Ebola’s end.

The Ebola virus is deadly, but it will become a major threat to humanity if and only if it becomes airborne and a vaccine is not developed.

The filovirus Ebola consists of 4 families: Marburg, Ebola Zaire, Ebola Sudan, and Ebola Reston. It is a rather simple virus in structure; each contain a single strand RNA strand and 7 different proteins, 3 which are only slightly understood and 4 that are completely unknown. The virus harms the immune system like the HIV virus, but Ebola causes an explosive attack. The virus is associated with the measles and mumps family, pneumonia viruses, parainfluenza viruses which include colds, and respiratory system related viruses. Unlike common viruses which are ball-shaped, Ebola’s shape represents that similar to a shepherd’s crook, a long snake-like thread that looks like a worm. Because the Ebola virus has a distinct structure, it has been classified as a “thread virus” in its own family of viruses, the filoviruses.

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 Zaire, arguably the deadliest known virus strain on earth, held a mortality rate up to ninety percent in the past, and is the hottest type of Ebola Viral Diseases. In addition, there are four other types of Ebola species: Ebola Sudan, Ebola Ivory Coast, Bundibugyo ebolavirus, and Ebola Reston. Notably, the earliest of Ebola outbreaks being from Ebola Sudan and Ebola Zaire, both erupted during 1976 in Africa. Previously known as the Ebola haemorrhagic fever, these virus are known to cause tremors and convulsions in its host, resulting in the splattering of blood which is used as its strategy for transmission. Other ways of contracting Ebola is through contact with patient’s bodily fluids and aerosolized secretions in the air. Furthermore, the novel The Hot Zone written by Richard Preston, along with online sources from Gale’s database also indicates that virus outbreaks are partly aided through factors such as close

The movie “Outbreak” illustrates a deadly virus with the name of Motaba Ebola virus. This virus started in Motaba, Zaire, infecting many of its residents. Initial exposure was with the residents of Motaba and the White-fronted Capuchin monkeys. As the movie continues, the virus develops new strains of infection, changing the mode of

The Ebola Haemorrahagic Fever, or Ebola for short, was first recognized as a virus in 1967. The first breakout that caused the Ebola virus to be recognized was in Zaire with 318 people infected and 280 killed. There are five subtypes of the Ebola virus, but only four of them affect humans. There are the Ebola-Zaire, Ebola-Sudan, Ebola-Ivory Coast and the Ebola-Bundibugyo. The fifth one, the Ebola-Reston, only affects nonhuman primates. The Ebola-Zaire was recognized on August 26, 1976 with a 44 year old schoolteacher as the first reported case. The Ebola-Sudan virus was also recognized in 1976 and was thought to be that same as Ebola-Zaire and it is thought to have broken out in a cotton factory in the Sudan. The Ebola-Ivory Coast was

The Ebola virus (EBOV) is a dangerous virus which has a chance of mortality when infected up to 90%. This makes it one of the most deadly viruses for humans in the world. 1, 2 It does not stop there. Various EBOV outbreaks have fatally infected tens of thousands of chimpan-zees, duikers and gorillas. It those areas it is a great threat to the wildlife.3

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