Ebola: The Outbreak
Ebola Ebola is the virus Ebolavirus (EBOV), a viral genus, and the disease Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), a viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF). The virus is named after the Ebola River Valley in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), which is near the site of the first recognized outbreak in 1976 at a mission hospital run by Flemish nuns. It remained largely obscure until 1989 when several widely publicized outbreaks occurred among monkeys in the United States.
The virus interferes with the endothelial cells lining the interior surface of blood vessels and with coagulation. As the blood vessel walls become damaged and destroyed, the platelets are unable to coagulate, patients succumb to hypovolemic shock. Ebola is transmitted through bodily fluids, while conjunctiva exposure may also lead to transmission.
There are five recognized species within the ebolavirus genus, which have a number of specific strains. The Zaire virus is the type species, which is also the first discovered and the most lethal. Electron micrographs show long filaments, characteristic of the Filoviridae viral family.
Ebola Virus History
Ebola-Zaire
Ebola-Zaire, the first-discovered Ebola virus, is also the most deadly. At its worst, it has a ninety percent fatality rate. There have been more outbreaks of Ebola-Zaire than any other type of Ebola virus (³Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever²). The first outbreak took place in 1976 in Yambuku, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo). Mabelo Lokela checked into the local hospital with a fever. One of the nurses assumed Lokela had malaria and gave him a quinine shot. When Lokela returned home from the hospital and died, the women of his family conducted a traditional African funeral for him. In preparation for this funeral, they removed all the blood and excreta from his body with their bare hands. Most of the women in his family died soon afterwards (Draper 19).
Meanwhile, the nurses at the hospital had an Ebola epidemic
The virus interferes with the endothelial cells lining the interior surface of blood vessels and with coagulation. As the blood vessel walls become damaged and destroyed, the platelets are unable to coagulate, patients succumb to hypovolemic shock. Ebola is transmitted through bodily fluids, while conjunctiva exposure may also lead to transmission.
There are five recognized species within the ebolavirus genus, which have a number of specific strains. The Zaire virus is the type species, which is also the first discovered and the most lethal. Electron micrographs show long filaments, characteristic of the Filoviridae viral family.
Ebola Virus History
Ebola-Zaire
Ebola-Zaire, the first-discovered Ebola virus, is also the most deadly. At its worst, it has a ninety percent fatality rate. There have been more outbreaks of Ebola-Zaire than any other type of Ebola virus (³Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever²). The first outbreak took place in 1976 in Yambuku, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo). Mabelo Lokela checked into the local hospital with a fever. One of the nurses assumed Lokela had malaria and gave him a quinine shot. When Lokela returned home from the hospital and died, the women of his family conducted a traditional African funeral for him. In preparation for this funeral, they removed all the blood and excreta from his body with their bare hands. Most of the women in his family died soon afterwards (Draper 19).
Meanwhile, the nurses at the hospital had an Ebola epidemic