Background
EVD is a viral haemorrhagic fever caused by ebolaviruses. Ebola virus was first identified in 1976 in the village near Ebola River of Democratic Republic of Congo. EVD outbreak occurs from time to time in several African countries. The 2014-2016 EVD outbreak in West Africa was the largest Ebola outbreak so far. 28616 cases of EVD have been reported in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leona and 11310 patients was died. The fatality rate for EVD is almost 50%.
Symptoms
Symptoms of EVD may start anywhere from 2 to 21 days after infecting with the virus. The primary symptoms include fever, fatigue, muscle, pain, headache, and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rash, symptoms of impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases internal and external bleeding (e.g. oozing from the gums, blood in the stools).
Transmissions
It is believed that the Ebola virus is originated from fruit bat and spread to other animals, including chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, forest antelope or porcupines, before reaching humans. The virus is then spread through person-to-person transmission via direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with:
- Blood or body fluids of a person who is sick with or has died from EVD
- Object that has been contaminated with body fluids of EVD patients
- Semen from a man who recovered from EVD
Treatment
There is currently no antiviral drug approved by U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat EVD. Only supportive cares used to relieve the symptoms are available.
Infection Control
The first Ebola vaccine rVSV-ZEBOV has been approved by U.S. FDA on December 19, 2019.
Hand hygiene is an important way to prevent the spread of EVD. Hands with visibly blood or other blood fluids shall be washed with soap and water. Alcohol-based hand sanitizer shall be used when hands are not visibly soiled. Contaminated surface shall also be disinfected using surface disinfectant.
Ebola virus is an enveloped virus and they can be inactivated by 70% ethanol. Hisept has a range of products, including hand sanitizers, antiseptic solution, surface and instrument disinfectants that can effectively inactivate virus, including ebola viruses. The virucidal activity of these products have been proved by EN 14476 tests.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ebola-virus-disease