Ebola Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Ebola - Essay Example The four species that cause infections in humans include Zaire ebolavirus, Sudan ebolavirus, Tai Forest ebolavirus and Bundibugyo ebolavirus (CDC, n.d). On the other hand, Reston ebolavirus is known to bring about infections among nonhuman primates. Most of the virus species highlighted above are believed to exist in large numbers across several African states, a fact that has been corroborated by the high incidence of the disease in most West African countries. It is imperative to note that the virus was first discovered in 1976, near the Ebola River in the present day Democratic Republic of Congo. According to the CDC, virologists have not yet precisely identified the natural reservoir host of Ebola virus, nonetheless, evidence has overtime pointed towards the fact that the virus is animal borne, with bats being suggested as the most likely reservoir. Ebola is generally characterized by fever, severe headache, muscle pain, paleness and lethargy. Similarly, those infected by the virus suffer from unexplained bleeding, abdominal discomfort, nausea and diarrhea. According to the CDC, the symptoms highlighted always appear between two to twenty one days after exposure to the virus, with most of the affected patients likely to show signs of the disease after eight to ten days. Given that researchers have not been able to identify major reservoir host of Ebola virus, virologists have customarily found it challenging to pinpoint the start of Ebola outbreak. Nonetheless, it is believed that the patient zero normally gets into contact with an infected animal such as a bat and a primate or an infected fruit in an incidence termed as a spillover event. Patient to patient transmission normally follows once the virus has infected the patient zero and an outbreak can occur in case the situation is not controlled early enough (CDC, n.d). It is imperative to note that Ebola outbreaks are normally worse in some regions such as Africa when the virus affects primates, for