Description
EBOLA – CLINICAL SYMPTOMS: Ebola was discovered in 1976 in Zaire and Sudan. The virus called Ebola takes its name from the Ebola River, which flows into Zaire, where the virus was isolated for the first time. There are 4 variants of the virus whose differences are due to the type of host they infect: Ebola Zaire, Ebola Sudan, Ebola Tai, that cause disease in humans and primates, and Ebola Reston, which causes the disease only in primates. During the past 30 years have been recorded periodic epidemics of Ebola in central Africa particularly in Gabon, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo-Brazzaville, Sudan and Angola. Probably the virus, present in the bats, was manifested later in the great apes and finally in humans. It is transmitted among humans through contact with bodily fluids (blood, vomit, diarrhea …), which may occur during the care of the sick. This means that during an outbreak of Ebola, the virus tends to spread to health workers and family members of patients. The disease presents as flu. Begins with fever, headache, pain in the muscles, then the patient starts to vomit and to have diarrhea. In the final stage, in the capillaries of the patient, there are tiny clots that produce bruises on the skin and become blisters. After 1-2 days we sees the bleeding arteries and blood flowing from every orifice of the body: eyes, ears, nose. At this point the patient vomits a black liquid, a sign of the disintegration of tissues. Onset of deadly symptoms occurs between 7 and 14 days incubation, varies from 2 to 21 days, but more commonly between 5 and 10. The virus has a high transmissibility and it’s transmitted with the direct contact of the fluids of an infected person (blood, secretions, organ transplantation, sexual intercourse), however, although highly contagious, is not transmitted by air. Up to 90% of people with Ebola dies, depending on the strain of the virus. Crimean fever virus, because of the similarity with the Ebola virus, has been renamed fever virus Crimean-Congo. There is no specific therapy.”
