THE BASICS ABOUT EBOLA
What Is Ebola?
Ebola is a name originating from the Ebola River where one of the first outbreaks occurred. Ebola is a virus that causes a fever. This fever is called hemorrhagic fever or VHF. Hemorrhage is basically another term for bleeding and so this means that this virus and fever affect many body organ systems usually accompanied by bleeding.
Where Does It Come From?
The most recent and largest Ebola outbreak was located in West Africa in 2014 with over 3,000 deaths. With no vaccine currently available.
You CANNOT get it through water, air, or food! Only through touching blood or body fluids from an infected individual, this includes animals.
Am I at Risk?.....What Are The Symptoms...? Is There Treatment?
These are very common questions from a scared population. Ebola presents most of the time with either flu like symptoms, headache, vomiting, muscle pains and/or it can cause severe illness with symptoms like bruising, bleeding, organ failure, and death. There is about a 50% survival rate but the chance of anyone in the US getting Ebola is very low.
References:
Ebola Virus Disease. (2014, October 27). Retrieved April 3, 2015, from http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1915432
MedShare. (2014, July 1). Retrieved April 3, 2015, from http://www.medshare.org/donate/urgent-relief/ebola-basics
