Ebola virus disease is a severe and often fatal illness that causes hemorrhaging. Outbreaks primarily occur in central and west Africa near rainforests, with case fatality rates up to 90%. The natural reservoir of the Ebola virus is unknown but believed to be bats. People become infected through contact with infected wildlife or other humans. No licensed vaccine exists but several experimental vaccines are in development. Treatment focuses on rehydration and symptom management as there is no specific treatment.

1. EMANI APARNA
I M PHARM
DEPT OF PHARMACOLOGY

2. Ebola virus disease (EVD)formerly known as
Ebola haemorrhagic fever,is a severe ,often
fatal illness in humans.
EVD outbreaks have a case fatality rate of upto
90%.
EVD outbreaks occur primarily in remote villages
in central and west Africa ,near tropical
rainforests.
Ebola first appeared in 1976 in 2 simulataneous
outbreaks in Nzara,Sudan,and in Yambuku.The
latter was in a village situated near ebola river
from which the disease takes its name.

3.  Genus Ebola is of 1 of 3 members of the
filoviridae family (filovirus)along with genus
Marburgvirus and Cuevavirus.
 The natural reservior host of the ebola virus
is unknown
 However on the basis of the evidence
available and the nature of similar virus
,researchers believe that the virus is
zoonotic with bats being the most likely
reservior.

6.  Ebola is introduced through the human
population through the close contact with
the blood,secretions,organs or other body
fluids of infected animals.
 In Africa, infection has been documented
through the handling of
chimpazees,gorillas,fruit bats,monkeys
forest antelope and porcupine found dead
or ill or in rainforest.

7.  Ebola also spreads in the community through
human-human transmission with infection
resulting in direct contact with the blood
,secretions,organs or the fluids of infected
people and indirect contact with environments
contaminated with such fluids.
 Transmission through burial ceremonies.
 Men who have recovered from the disease can
still transmit the virus through their semen for
upto 7 weeks after recovery from illness.

10.  EVD is a severe acute viral illness often
characterized by the sudden onset of
fever,intense weakness,muscle
pain,headache,and sore throat.
 Vomiting,diarrhoea,rash,impaired kidney and
liver function and in some cases both internal
and external bleeding.
 People are infectious as long as their blood and
secretions contains the virus.
 Ebola virus was isolated from semen 61 days
after onset of illness in a man who was infected
in a laboratory.

11.  The incubation period that is the time interval
from infection with the virus to onset of
symptoms is 2 to 21 days.

12.  No licensed vaccine is available
 Several vaccine is available but none of the
them are available for clinical use.
 Patients frequently gets dehydrated and
require oral rehydration with solution
containing electrolytes or intravenous
fluids.
 No specific treatment is available

13.  Ebola virus infections can be diagnosed
definitively in a laboratory through several
types of tests:
1.ELISA
2.ANTIGEN DETECTION TESTS
3.SERUM NEUTRALIZATION TESTS
4.ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
5.VIRUS ISOLATION BY CELL CULTURE

14.  Decreasing the spread of disease from infected
animals to humans.
 Checking such animals for infection and killing
and properly disposing the bodies if the
disease is discovered,
 Properly cooking meat and wearing protective
clothing when handled meat may be helpful
 Wearing protective clothing and washing hands
when a person is around with the disease.
 Samples of bodyfluids and tissues from people
with the disease should be handled with special
caution.

15.  due to lack of proper equipment and
hygienic practices,large scale epidemics
have occurred mostly in poor,isolated areas
without modern hospitals or well educated
medical staff.
 Burial rituals especially those requiring
washing and embalming of bodies should
be discouraged or modified.