Ebola

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Recently a new virus called Ebola came up in the jungles of Zaire and Sedan. This virus was something like the Center for Disease Control and infectious disease centers all over the world had never seen before. This virus was classified as a filovirus, a virus that causes a very nasty disease known as viral hemorrhagic fever.
The natural host for the Ebola virus is not known, as it is with most other viruses that cause hemorrhagic fever. All forms of VHF (viral hemorrhagic fever) begin with fever and muscle aches. Depending on the particular virus, the disease can progress until the patient becomes very ill with respiratory problems, severe bleeding, kidney problems, and shock. The severity of VHF can range from a relatively mild illness to death.
The Ebola virus is a member of a family of RNA viruses known as filoviruses. When magnified several thousand times by an electron microscope, these viruses have the appearance of long filaments or threads. Ebola virus was discovered in 1976 and was named for a river in Zaire, Africa, where it was first detected.
Until recently, only three outbreaks of Ebola hemorrhagic fever among people had been reported. The first two outbreaks were in 1976: one in Zaire and one in western Sudan. These were large outbreaks, resulting in more than 550 cases and 340 deaths. The third outbreak, in 1979 in Sudan, was smaller, with 34 cases and 22 fatalities. During each of these outbreaks, a majority of cases occurred in hospital settings under the challenging conditions of the developing world. These conditions, including a lack of adequate medical supplies and the frequent reusing of needles and syringes, played a major role in the spread of disease. The outbreaks were quickly controlled when appropriate medical supplies and equipment were made available and quarantine procedures were used. The source of the Ebola virus in nature remains unknown. In an attempt to identify the source, investigators test...