Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever
Anderson Coates
Michael Mastropole
Discovery
• Three initial outbreaks
• 1976 in Sudan
– E. Sudan
• 1976 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
– E. Zaire
• 1979 in Sudan
– E. Sudan
– Outbreak occurred in the same factory as first
outbreak
Virus Strains
• 5 different strains
– E. Sudan
– E. Zaire
– E. Ivory Coast
• Only one confirmed case
– E. Reston
• Non pathogenic to humans
– E. Bundibugyo
Ebola virus
• Member of Filoviridae
– Pleomorphic
• RNA virus
• Genome has seven open reading frames
– Code for structural proteins, glycoproteins,
nucleoproteins, and polymerase
Transmission
• Through blood to
blood contact
•Undersupplied and
undertrained healthcare staff
•Reusing needles and
bloody gloves in
hospitals
Natural Reservoir
• Currently unknown
• Sub-Saharan Africa non-human primate
population
• Possibly local bat population
Symptoms (Days 1-10)
• Replication period
• Inside the body’s monocytes, macrophages,
and dendritic cells
• No visible symptoms, but contagious
Symptoms (Days 11-14)
• Body recognizes infection and responds
• fever, headache, muscle pain, conjunctivitis,
and abdominal pain
• Virus attaches to blood vessel walls
Symptoms (Days 15-19)
• Virus attacks connective tissue
• Blood pools under skin
• nausea, blood in vomit and diarrhea, and
hemorrhaging from the mouth, nose, and other
body openings
• Hypovolemic shock causing death
Ebola Documentary Trailer
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0n5dLiBJ
L8
Sources
• (2009). ViralZone. Retrieved Apr. 9, 2010, from Swiss Institute of
Bioinformatics, Switzlerland. Web site:
http://www.expasy.ch/viralzone/all_by_species/23.html.
• (2009). Questions and Answers about Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever. Retrieved
Apr. 8, 2010, from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Atlanta,GA. Web site:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/Spb/mnpages/dispages/ebola/qa.
htm.
• (2010). Syndromic Surveillance as an Early Warning System for Biological
Attacks. Retrieved Apr. 8, 2010, from Medscape CME. Web site:
http://cme.medscape.com/viewarticle/456526_11.