EBOLA: Key Facts That You MUST need to know

Ebola virus disease (EVD) or Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) is a disease of humans and monkeys caused by Ebola viruses.

The Ebola virus disease in humans is caused by four of five viruses in the genus Ebolavirus. The four are Bundibugyo virus (BDBV), Sudan virus (SUDV), Taï Forest virus (TAFV), and one called, simply, Ebola virus (EBOV, formerly Zaire Ebola virus).

The spread of Ebola between people occurs only by direct contact with the blood or body fluids of a person after symptoms have developed.

EBOLA Key facts

■ Ebola is spread through direct contact with blood or other body fluids of an infected person, such as saliva, vomit, breast milk and sweat. It can’t be spread through the air.

■  The disease is caused by an infection from one of four Ebola viruses, which attack cells in the body.

■  Symptoms include a fever of at least 100.4 degrees, severe headache, often-fatal illness in humans, sore throat, muscle pain, throwing up. Then, vomiting, bruising, diarrhea and rash usually follows, along with decreased function of the liver and kidneys. At this time, generally, some people begin to cough up blood, chills and stomach pain both. Death, if it occurs, is typically six to sixteen days after symptoms appear and is often due to low blood pressure from fluid loss.

■  After being exposed to Ebola, the incubation period is typically two to 21 days to contract it, although a small number of cases may take longer.

■  Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, all in West Africa, are the three countries that have been hit hardest.

■  The average fatality rate is about 50 percent. There is no vaccine for Ebola. Treatment includes antibodies from patients who have recovered, intravenous fluids and helping patients maintain their blood pressure and oxygen intake.

■  Liberia has had 2,705 Ebola deaths out of 4,665 cases, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

■  Guinea has had 904 deaths out of 1,540 cases. Sierra Leone has had 1,259 deaths out of 3,706 cases.

■  Nigeria, which has had eight deaths, and Senegal, which had one case, but no deaths, are now Ebola-free, says the World Health Organization.

■  Four people have contracted Ebola within the United States, and there has been one death. In Spain, a nurse contracted Ebola from a patient taken there for treatment.

Additional facts about Doctors Without Borders:

■  The humanitarian organization got its start during civil unrest in France in 1968, and was formally created in Paris in 1971, made up of an initial group of 300 volunteers.

■  It now has 30,000 workers in more than 60 countries treating medical emergencies, from Ebola to tuberculosis to cholera. Since founded, DWB has treated more than 100 million patients.

■  The group has treated 1,000 patients for Ebola — and the 1,000th survivor is a Liberian teen named Kollie James.

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How do I protect myself against Ebola?

• Wash hands frequently or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.


• Avoid contact with blood and body fluids of any person, particularly someone who is sick.


• Do not handle items that may have come in contact with an infected person’s blood or body fluids.


• Do not touch the body of someone who has died from Ebola.


• Do not touch bats and nonhuman primates or their blood and fluids and do not touch or eat raw meat prepared from these animals.


• Avoid hospitals in West Africa, where Ebola patients are being treated. The U.S. Embassy or consulate is often able to provide advice on medical facilities.


• Seek medical care immediately if you develop an elevated body temperature or subjective fever and any of the other following symptoms: headache, muscle pain, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain, or unexplained bruising or bleeding.


• Limit your contact with other people until and when you go to the doctor. Do not travel anywhere else besides a health care facility.

The World Health Organization says millions of doses of two experimental Ebola vaccines could be ready for use in 2015 and five more experimental vaccines will start being tested in March.

EBOLA: Key Facts That You MUST need to know