What Is Ebola and Its Transmission and Symptoms

Ebola, previously known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a rare

and deadly disease caused by infection with one of the Ebola virus
species. Ebola can cause disease in humans and nonhuman primates
(monkeys, gorillas, and chimpanzees).

Ebola is caused by infection with a virus of the family Filoviridae,

genus Ebolavirus. Ebola viruses are found in several African countries.

People get Ebola through direct contact (through broken skin or

mucous membranes in, for example, the eyes, nose, or mouth) with
blood or body fluids (including but not limited to urine, saliva, sweat,
feces, vomit, breast milk, and semen) of a person who is sick with or
has died from Ebola, objects (like needles and syringes) that have been
contaminated with body fluids from a person who is sick with Ebola or
the body of a person who has died from Ebola, infected fruit bats or
primates (apes and monkeys), and possibly from contact with semen
from a man who has recovered from Ebola (for example, by having
oral, vaginal, or anal sex).

Ebola is not spread through the air, by water, or in general, by

food. However, in Africa, Ebola may be spread as a result of handling
bush meat (wild animals hunted for food) and contact with infected
bats. There is no evidence that mosquitoes or other insects can
transmit Ebola virus. Only a few species of mammals (e.g., humans,
bats, monkeys, and apes) have shown the ability to become infected
with and spread Ebola virus.

The symptoms of Ebola include, fever, severe headache, muscle

pain, weakness, fatigue, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal (stomach) pain,
and unexplained hemorrhage (bleeding or bruising).

Symptoms may appear anywhere from 2 to 21 days after

exposure to Ebola, but the average is 8 to 10 days.

Recovery from Ebola depends on good supportive clinical care

and the patient’s immune response. People who recover from Ebola
infection develop antibodies that last for at least 10 years.
Glossary

a. hemorrhagic : of, relating to, or producing hemorrhage.

b. primate : a mammal of an order that includes the lemurs, bush

babies, tarsiers, marmosets, monkeys, apes, and humans. They
are distinguished by having hands, hand-like feet, and forward-
facing eyes, and are typically agile tree-dwellers.

c. Filoviridae : a family of single-stranded RNA viruses that infect

vertebrates, that have a pleomorphic usually bacilliform or
filamentous shape with a helical nucleocapsid and a lipoprotein
envelope with glycoprotein projections, and that include the
Ebola viruses and the Marburg virus.

d. genus : a class of things which have common characteristics and

which can be divided into subordinate kinds.

e. contaminate : make (something) impure by exposure to or

addition of a poisonous or polluting substance.

f. ape : a large primate that lacks a tail, including the gorilla,

chimpanzees, orang-utan, and gibbons.

g. bush meat : the meat of African wild animals as food.

h. severe : (of something bad or undesirable) very great; intense.

i. fatigue : extreme tiredness resulting from mental or physical

exertion or illness.

j. diarrhea : a condition in which faeces are discharged from the

bowels frequently and in a liquid form.