LIFESCI 3AA3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: West African Ebola Virus Epidemic, Reston Virus, Ebola River
9 Dec 2018
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Highly contagious (esp. when get to unconscious state) Can transfer disease through any physical contact, so person must be isolated. Virus spreads through neighbourhoods w/ poor sanitation and healthcare. Hemorrhagic fever is lethal for some patients but not all. Discovered in 1976 in rural areas of ebola river (congo) & sudan. Ebola-related deaths worldwide: july 2014: >1500 people; <3000 infections, after august 2014 outbreak in sierra leone, africa: >11000 deaths (death rate = 50-90%, estimated rate of infection = 5 people/hour. 5 characterized species based on region where each was originally identified: bundibugyo ebolavirus *large outbreak, reston ebolavirus, sudan ebolavirus *large outbreak, tai forest ebolavirus, zaire ebolavirus *largest outbreaks, highest mortality rate (2014) Sierra leone most affected and neighbouring countries also very affected incl. Nigeria, senegal, spain, us, mali, uk, italy (all fewer cases) Who identified as global pandemic bc spread to countries where it was never expected (europe, us)
