Infectious diseases

Name: Ebola

Year: since 1976

Contagions: 2387

Dead: 1590

The ebola epidemic is one of the best known thanks to the media coverage it has received. The pathogen is a virus called “filovirus” because of its filamentous appearance under the microscope.

6 viral strains belonging to ebolaviruses are known, named according to the place of isolation of the strain, of these 4 are pathogenic to humans (Ebola Zaire has a mortality that reaches 90%), while the rest cause disease in others primates.

The initial symptoms make it difficult to distinguish from a banal flu; later among the symptoms appear nausea, diarrhea and abdominal pain, sometimes hiccups.

Bleeding is caused by a weakening of the cell walls which become more delicate; usually affects the mucous membranes, causing vomiting, blood in the stool, coughing up blood, petechiae, bruising and bruising (usually at the injection site), bleeding from the sclera (the white part of the eye) is less common. Death is caused by excessively low pressure caused by fluid loss.

Those who heal develop an immunity estimated at 10 years thanks to the development of specific antibodies.

Source: web