Ebola virus disease is a severe and often fatal illness in humans that was first identified in 1976. The virus spreads through direct contact with body fluids from infected humans or animals. Early symptoms include fever, fatigue, and muscle pain that can progress to vomiting, diarrhea and internal bleeding. While there is no licensed treatment, supportive care such as rehydration can improve survival. The 2014-2015 outbreak in West Africa was the largest in history, resulting in over 23,000 cases and 9,600 deaths across multiple countries. Controlling the outbreak requires community engagement along with safe practices in healthcare settings and burials.

2. Key facts about Ebola
 Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly
known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever,
is a severe, often fatal illness in
humans.
 The virus is transmitted to people
from wild animals. EVD spreads in
the human population through human
to human transmission.
 The average EVD case fatality rate is
around 50%.
 The first EVD outbreaks occurred in
isolated villages in Central Africa,
near tropical rainforests. The most
recent outbreak in west Africa has
involved major urban and rural areas.
 Community engagement is the key to
successfully controlling outbreaks.
 Good outbreak control relies
interventions, case management,
surveillance and tracing the contact of
Ebola, a good laboratory service, and
safe burials.
 Early supportive care with
rehydration, indicative treatment
improves survival. There is no
licensed treatment proven to
counteract the virus but a range of
blood, immunological and drug
therapies are under development.
 There are currently no licensed Ebola
vaccines but 2 potential candidates
are undergoing evaluation.

3. What Is Ebola?
 The Ebola virus causes an acute, serious illness which is fatal if untreated. Ebola first
appeared in 1976 in two outbreaks which were in Nzara, Sudan, and the other in
Yambuku, The Democratic Republic of Congo. The latter occurred in a village near
the Ebola River, which the disease got its name from.
 The current outbreak in west Africa which the first case was notified in March 2014,
was the largest and most complex Ebola outbreak since the virus was first discovered
in 1976.
 It has also spread between countries starting in Guinea then spreading across land
borders to Sierra Leone and Liberia, by air ,1 traveler only to Nigeria, and by land, 1
traveler to Senegal.
 The most severely affected countries, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have very
weak health systems.

4. How Is Ebola
Transmitted?
 It is thought that fruit bats of the
Pteropodidae family are natural Ebola
virus hosts.
 Ebola is transmitted into the human
population through close contact with
blood, secretions, organs or other bodily
fluids of infected animals such as
chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys,
forest antelope and porcupines found ill or
dead or in the rainforest.
 Ebola then spreads through human to
human transmission via direct contact
through broken skin or mucous membranes
with the blood, secretions, organs or other
bodily fluids such as urine, feces, saliva,
vomit, sweat and semen of infected people,
and with surfaces and materials such as
bedding, clothing contaminated with these
fluids.

5. How Is Ebola
Transmitted?
 Health-care workers have frequently
been infected while treating patients
with suspected or confirmed Ebola
Virus Disease. This has occurred
through close contact with patients
when precautions are not practiced
correctly.
 Burial ceremonies in which mourners
have direct contact with the body of the
deceased person can also play a role in
the transmission of Ebola.
 People remain infectious as long as their
blood and body fluids, including semen
and breast milk, contain the virus.
 Men who have recovered from the
disease can still transmit the virus
through their semen for up to 7 weeks
after recovery from illness.

6. How Is Ebola
Transmitted?
EBOLA IS NOT
TRANSMITTED THROUGH
THE AIR, WATER, OR
FOOD!

7. Symptoms of Ebola
The time from exposure to when signs
or symptoms of the disease appear is the
incubation period which is 2 to 21 days
but the average is 8 to 10 days.
Humans are not infectious until they
develop symptoms.

8. Symptoms Of Ebola
Early signs and symptoms
 Fever higher than 105
degree Fahrenheit
 Fatigue
 Severe headache
 Joint and muscle pain
 Chills
 Weakness
 Sore throat
Severe signs and symptoms
 Nausea and vomiting
 Diarrhea (may be bloody)
 Red eyes
 Raised rash
 Chest pain and cough
 Impaired Liver and Kidney function
 Severe weight loss
 Bleeding, usually from the eyes, and
bruising (people near death may bleed
from other orifices, such as ears, nose
and rectum)
 Internal bleeding

9. Test and Diagnosis
 It can be difficult to distinguish Ebola from other infectious diseases such as
malaria, typhoid fever and meningitis.
Test that are used to detect Ebola are:
 antibody-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)
 antigen-capture detection tests
 serum neutralization test
 reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay
 electron microscopy
 virus isolation by cell culture.

10. Treatment And
Vaccines
 No antiviral medications have proved effective in treating the
Ebola Virus Disease.
Supportive hospital care includes:
 Providing fluids
 Maintaining blood pressure
 Providing oxygen as needed
 Replacing lost blood
 Treating other infections that develop

11. Mapping The Outbreak
 The Ebola outbreak in West Africa was first reported in March 2014, and has
rapidly become the deadliest occurrence of the disease since its discovery in
1976.
 The current epidemic sweeping across the region has now killed more than all
other known Ebola outbreaks combined.
 Up to February 25, 2015 there were 9,675 people that had been reported as
having died from the disease in six countries; Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone,
Nigeria, the US and Mali.
 The total number of reported cases is more than 23,825.
 4,057 deaths in Liberia
 3,490 deaths in Sierra Leone
 2,113 deaths in Guinea
 8 deaths in Nigeria

13. Controlling Infection In
Health-Care Settings
Health-care workers should
always take:
 Standard precautions
when caring for patients,
regardless of their
presumed diagnosis.
 Basic hand hygiene,
respiratory hygiene, use of
personal protective
equipment, safe injection
practices and safe burial
practices.
 When in close contact of
patients with EBV, workers
should wear face protection
(a face shield or a medical
mask and goggles), a clean,
non-sterile long-sleeved
gown, and gloves

15. References
 Ebola: Mapping the outbreak. (n.d.). Retrieved March 1, 2015, from
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-28755033
 Ebola Outbreak: It's Real. It's Here. What Can you do? (2014, August 8). Retrieved March 2,
2015, from http://moviepilot.com/posts/2014/08/09/ebola-outbreak-it-s-real-it-s-here-what-can-
you-do-2174957 http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions
 Ebola: The Food Factor. (n.d.). Retrieved March 1, 2015, from
http://actionagainsthunger.org/blog/ebola-food-factor?gclid=COjOwcikiMQCFdgIgQodxxYAOQ
 Ebola virus disease. (n.d.). Retrieved March 1, 2015, from
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/
 Fink, S. (2015, February 28). Nearly Halted in Sierra Leone, Ebola Makes Comeback by Sea.
Retrieved March 2, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/01/world/africa/nearly-beaten-in-
sierra-leone-ebola-makes-a-comeback-by-sea.html