An analysis of the Ebola Virus (Ebola Hemorragic Fever) its ongoing Essay

An analysis of the Ebola Virus (Ebola Hemorragic Fever) its ongoing epidemiology, and ongoing prevention and control of this BSL - Essay Example The continued outbreak of Ebola in Africa has drawn worldwide attention because of its explosive emergence, high mortality, nosocomial secondary transmission, and ecological mystery. The worst outbreak occurred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) and killed 250 out of 315 who contracted it, while one of the latest outbreaks, lasting through February of 2009, had a 47% mortality rate, killing 15 of the 32 infected (CDC). Safety measures recommended to avoid the contraction of the Ebola virus include the use of personal protective equipment (PPE, including masks, gloves, gowns, and goggles) and, infection control measures including isolation, and complete sterilization of equipment. There is little research at this time regarding control of the infection since there is absence of significant knowledge about Ebola’s ecology. Thus, Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) is perhaps the most virulent virus known to mankind. Background In central Africa, the Ebola virus w as found to be the cause of a hemorrhagic fever with a high mortality rate in the mid-1970s and reemerged there in the mid-1990s (Waigmann, 2003, p. 6). In 1976, epidemics of hemorrhagic disease with very high mortality, up to 90%, broke out simultaneously in a remote area of Northern Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, (DRC) and Southern Sudan (Zuckerman, 2009, p. 755). The outbreaks in these areas were found to be due to two separate but antigenically related filovirus strains, distinct from Marburg virus. After some tests, these viruses were grouped under the name Ebola virus, after a river in Zaire (Zuckerman, 2009, p. 755). Among 318 probable cases, 280 died, a mortality rate of 80% (Zuckerman, 2009, p. 759). A smaller Ebola outbreak occurred in Sudan in 1979 with 34 patients and 22 deaths. There were outbreaks in 1989, when a shipment of monkeys with Ebola virus was imported from the Philippines by a commercial biological supply company in the United States. The 1 989 outbreak was focused in Reston, Virginia, and was thus called Ebola Reston strain. Hundreds of monkeys were killed in 1989 Ebola Reston outbreak to avoid spread of infection to humans. Animal handlers showed signs of infections, but not clinical manifestation. Because of this, it was believed that Philippine monkey strain of Ebola was less virulent for man. In 1992, there was a small monkey outbreak in Italy, and a single case of a Swiss technologist who did an autopsy on a chimpanzee in the Tai forest area of the Ivory Coast. In the early part of May 1995, health authorities noticed a cluster of Ebola cases in Kikwit Hospital, in Democratic Republic of Congo. Most of the cases resulted from close contact with patients and aerosol transmission, the mechanism by which Ebola virus is spread from a reservoir to a human being by means of aerosols (Ebola virus suspensions in air) and usually enters through the respiratory tract. The outbreak was controlled by limiting contact transmi ssions. In June 1995, 315 cases were detected and 77%, or 244, of these died (Evans, 1997, p. 140). In early 1996, an isolated outbreak occurred in Gabon with 37 cases and 21 deaths (Evans, 1997, p. 140). At the same time, a limited monkey outbreak occurred