History
—Named after the Ebola River in
the Democratic
Republic of the Congo
(formerly Zaire), near the first epidemics.
—Two species were identified in 1976:
¡Zaire ebolavirus
(ZEBOV) and
¡Sudan ebolavirus
(SEBOV)
—Case fatality rates of 83% and 54%
respectively.
—A third species, Reston
ebolavirus
(REBOV), was discovered in November 1989 in a group of monkeys (Macaca
fascicularis)
imported from the Philippines.
—Ivory
Coast
ebolavirus – Only one case. Unlucky scientist.
—A hemorrhagic fever
(severe illness with bleeding) caused by a virus known as Ebola.
—One of the most lethal viral infections with
a high mortality rate (death rate) during outbreaks
—No Vaccine and no treatment is available
—Most people with Ebola die – up to 90% rate
Incidents
—The outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD)
in some countries in Central and West Africa have claimed the lives of over 100
people while others at large are still receiving treatment in various isolated
locations.
—Presently, a suspected case of this
disease involving a Liberian who had recently arrived Nigeria was reported.
—Patrick Sawyer a Liberian, who worked for
the West African nation's Finance Ministry, took an ASKY Airlines flight from
Liberia to Ghana, then on to Togo and eventually to Nigeria where he was
immediately taken into quarantine until his death.
Therefore, it becomes imperative to create awareness and educate all Nigerians
especially residents in Lagos on how to prevent this deadly disease.
Transmission
—Transmitted from infected animals like
fruit bats, monkeys, gorillas etc to people
—Direct contact (through broken skin or
mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of
infected or dead victim.
—Indirect contact with environments
contaminated with such fluids but cannot be transmitted through air
Clinical Observation
—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 do not 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 (bleeding)
- 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 (joint pain)
- 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
Prevention
—Do not travel to areas where the disease
is endemic (avoid traveling to all the affected African Countries)
—Stay away from any patients who may have the
disease if an outbreak is suspected;
—Do not touch an infected person (alive or
dead) or their body fluids, including blood, vomit, faeces, urine etc.
—STOP eating bush meat or any meat which source
you are not sure of
—Adhere strictly to simple hygiene principles
like washing your hands frequently with soap or use a hand sanitizer; washing
fruits and vegetables properly before eating them etc
—Avoid buying foodstuff, clothing and/ or
other personal materials from markets/ shops that share the same vicinity with
live or roasted 'bush meat' dealers or sellers.
—Cull infected animals with close supervision
of burial or incineration
or cremating of
carcasses may be necessary to reduce the risk of animal-to-human transmission
—Gloves and other appropriate protective clothing
should be worn when handling sick animals or their tissues
No comments:
Post a Comment