The international humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders has treated hundreds of people with the disease and helped contain numerous threatening epidemics.
"I was collecting blood samples from patients. We did not have sufficient protective equipment and I developed the same symptoms, "says a Ugandan nurse. "On November 19, 2007, I received confirmation from the lab. I had contracted Ebola. "
The Background of Ebola
The first time was the Ebola virus emerged in 1976 in simultaneous outbreaks in Nzara, Sudan, and Yambuku, the Democratic Republic of Congo, a region located near the Ebola River, which gives its name to the disease.
Frutívoros bats are considered the natural host of the Ebola virus. The fatality rate of the virus varies from 25 to 90% depending on the strain.
"MSF for Bundibugyo and was administered a treatment center. Many patients received care. Thank God I survived. After my recovery, I joined MSF, "Kiiza account.
It is estimated that by January 2013, more than 1,800 cases of Ebola have been diagnosed and nearly 1,300 deaths.
First, the Ebola virus has been associated with an outbreak of 318 cases of hemorrhagic disease in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1976 Of the 318 cases, 280 people died quickly. In the same year, 284 people in Sudan were also infected with the virus and 156 died.
There are five species of Ebola virus: Bundibugyo, Côte d'Ivoire, Reston, Sudan and Zaire, names of local data from their places of origin. Four of these five strains caused disease in humans. Even if the Reston virus can infect humans, no sickness or death have been reported.
MSF treated hundreds of people affected by Ebola in Uganda, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Gabon and Guinea. In 2007, MSF completely contained an outbreak of Ebola in Uganda.
What causes Ebola?
Can be contracted Ebola both humans and animals. The virus is transmitted through contact with blood, secretions, or other bodily fluids.
Health workers are often infected while treating Ebola patients. This can occur due to contact without the use of gloves, masks or goggles appropriate.
In some areas of Africa, the infection was documented through contact with chimpanzees, gorillas, frutívoros bats, monkeys, antelopes and wild contaminated porcupines found dead or sick in the rainforest.
Funerals where people have direct contact with the deceased can also transmit the virus, whereas transmission via infected semen may occur up to seven weeks after clinical recovery.
No treatment or vaccine for Ebola.
What are the symptoms?
At first, the symptoms are nonspecific, which makes diagnosis difficult.
The disease is often characterized by sudden onset of fever, weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhea, itching, deficiency in liver and kidney functions, and in some cases internal and external bleeding.
The symptoms may appear two to 21 days after exposure to the virus. Some patients may have skin rashes, red eyes, hiccups, chest pains and difficulty breathing and swallowing.
How is Ebola Diagnosed?
Ebola is difficult to diagnose because early symptoms such as red eyes and skin rashes are common.
Ebola infections can only be definitively diagnosed in the laboratory, after performing five different tests.
These tests are of great biological risk and should be conducted under conditions of maximum restraint. The number of human to human transmission occurred due to lack of protective clothing.
"Health workers are particularly susceptible to contracting the virus, then, for the treatment of patients, one of our main priorities is to train health staff to reduce the risk of contamination by disease while they are caring for infected people," says Henry Gray, MSF emergency coordinator during an outbreak of Ebola in Uganda in 2012.
"We have to adopt very strict security procedures to ensure that no health worker is exposed to the virus, either through contaminated material by patients or medical waste infected with Ebola."
What is the Treatment?
No specific treatment or vaccine for Ebola.
The standard treatment for the disease is limited to supportive care, which consists in hydrating the patient, maintaining their oxygen levels and blood pressure and treating any infections. Despite the difficulties in diagnosing Ebola in the early stages of the disease, those with symptoms should be isolated and the public health officials reported. The supportive therapy can continue as long as the protective clothing appropriate to that patient samples are tested to confirm infection are used.
MSF contained an Ebola outbreak in Uganda in 2012, installing a control area around the treatment center.
The end of an Ebola outbreak is officially declared only after the expiration of 42 days without any new confirmed case.
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