Bacteria are often maligned as the causes of human and animal disease (like this one, Leptospira, which causes serious disease in livestock)

Ebola Virus Hemorrhagic Fever... Where does Ebola hide?liver and spleen symptoms reservoir done...  The link between human infection by the Ebola virus and their proximity to primates i

Ebola Virus

Hemorrhagic Fever

Outbreak (ZEBOV)

(SEBOV)

 www.cdc.gov for more information

Where does Ebola hide?

liver and spleen

symptoms

reservoir

done

 The link between human infection by the Ebola virus and their proximity to primates is clear

-Outbreaks occurred in countries that house 80 percent of the world’s remaining wild gorilla and chimpanzee

populations

- The outbreaks coincided with the outbreaks in wild

animals

- The same distinct viral strains were isolated in animal carcasses and in the bodies of those who handled those carcasses

- These outbreaks were preceded by an abnormally large death in wild Gorilla populations

Clinical Observations

 Incubation period: 2-21 days

 Stage I (unspecific):

-Extreme asthenia (body weakness)

-diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, anorexia

abdominal pain

- headaches

- arthralgia (neuralgic pain in joints)

- myalgia (muscular pain or tenderness), back pain

- mucosal redness of the oral cavity, dysphagia (difficulty in

swallowing)

- conjunctivitis.

- rash all over body except in face

** If the patients don’t recover gradually at this point, there is a high

probability that the disease will progress to the second phase, resulting in complications which eventually lead to death (Mupapa et al., 1999).

 Stage II (Specific):

- Hemorrhage

- neuropsychiatric abnormalities

- anuria (the absence of urine formation)

- hiccups

- tachypnea (rapid breathing)

** Patients who progressed to phase two EHF almost always die (Ndambi et al., 1999)

 Late Complications:

-Arthralgia

- ocular diseases (ocular pain, photophobia and hyperlacrimation)

- hearing loss

- unilateral orchitis( inflammation of one or both of the testes)

** These conditions are usually relieved with the treatment of 1% atropine and steroids

 Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever was first found in 1976

 It struck two countries within that year

 a Sudan – in a town called N’zara

 b Zaire, now known as the Democratic Republic of

Congo

 In these two instances the mortality rate was between

50 –90%

 Following those epidemics, Ebola hit Africa in many other instances the worst yet being in the year 2000 when it

struck Uganda infecting more than 400 people

individual’s body fluids

Ebola HF prevention poster used in Kikwit outbreak

Controlling the spread of Ebola

 a Hospitals must follow precautionary methods, such as:

1 wearing gloves

2 isolating infected individuals

3 practicing nurse barrier techniques

4 proper sterilization and disposal of all equipment

 b Burials must be done correctly

1 no washing or touching carcass

2 put into body bags and bury outside city

 c Report any questionable illness to officials

Ebola Subtypes

(ZEBOV)

(SEBOV)

(ICEBOV)

(REBOV)

MOLECULAR STRUCTURE

 Characterization of the virus

– Order: Mononegavirales

– Family: Filoviridae

– Genus: Ebolavirus

– Species: Ebola-Zaire, Ebola-Sudan, Ebola-Cote d-Ivoire, Ebola-Reston

 Morphology under electron microscope

– filamentous, enveloped RNA virus

– approx 19 kb in length (1 kb = 1000 RNA

bases/nucleotides) or 60-80 nm in diameter

– single-stranded, linear, non-segmented

– negative-sense RNA (encoded in a 3’ to 5’ direction)

– appears to have “spikes” due to glycoprotein on

outside membrane

 Structure of Ebola genome and proteins

– Transcribed into 8 sub-genomic mRNA proteins: 7 structural and 1 nonstructural

– 7 structural proteins:

– nucleoprotein (NP) – 4 viral/virion proteins (VP35, VP40, VP30, VP24) – glycoprotein (GP)

– RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (L protein)

replication

Proteins

based on ideas of right and wrong when dealing with the geographical distribution of animals and plants

 This concept of can be used to explain the world’s shockingly small response to the Ebola Virus

 Because there was little travel to that region by

people of more developed countries, there was not much economic drive for a vaccine, treatment, and aid in prevention

United States, the locality of this virus has become less isolated as the threat of

bioterrorism looms large

 The Ebola virus is now on the “A” list for

hopeful vaccination development.

how Ebola can be used as a bioterror agent