This virus is classified among the family Filoviridae, which gives rise to a hemorrhagic fever that could lead to death in a few days. The Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is a rare infectious disease that affects both humans and non-human primates (chimpanzees, gorillas, and monkeys). The major symptoms of EVD are fever, severe headache, fatigue, muscle aches, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhoea. A prevailing fallacy is that Ebola is a mosquito-borne disease but, the Ebola virus is transmitted to people from wild animals (fruit bats or non-human primates) and spreads within human populations by person-to-person transmission. The virus is zoonotic and has a potential to spread from animal to humans, along with its transmission from animal to animal and human to human.
Ebola virus is transmitted to humans by direct contact in the following ways:
1. By direct contact with infected fruit bats or non-human primates (including apes, monkeys, and gorillas)
2. By touching the blood or body fluids (i.e. urine, saliva, sweat, faeces, vomit, breast milk, or semen) of a person who is sick with or has died from EVD.
3. While hunting or cutting meat from animals that are infected with the Ebola virus.
4. By using needles and syringes contaminated with body fluids or blood from a person who is sick with or has died from EVD
5. By having sex with a man who has recently had symptoms of EVD
For almost 50 years, the Ebola virus has been repeatedly reemerging across the vast equatorial belt of the African continent
The disease has spawned several epidemics for more than 40 years now but in 2014, the disease transformed into pandemic as an Ebola epidemic spread from Africa to other continents. The relatively unique structure of the virus, its lethality, the difficulty in controlling its spread, and the lack of an effective treatment captured the world’s attention. For almost 50 years, Ebola viruses and related filoviruses have been repeatedly reemerging across the vast equatorial belt of the African continent to cause epidemics of highly fatal hemorrhagic fever. The 2013-2015 West African epidemics were by far the most geographically extensive, most fatal, and longest-lasting epidemic in Ebola’s history. They presented an enormous international public health challenge. According to the World Tourism Organization’s latest yearbook of tourism statistics (2013-17), 56 million tourists visited Africa in the first eight months of the year 2017. According to the GeoSentinel surveillance network, 23 per cent of the tourists consulted doctors with fever as a cardinal symptom after returning from a trip, which was the second-highest reason after diarrhoea. There are reports from Uganda where a family visited DRC and a five-year-old child was detected with Ebola infection on their return.
Yet, there is no specific treatment for Ebola infection. However; early supportive care can improve the chances of survival, which include ensuring proper hydration, managing fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and treating any secondary infection that may arise during this course of time. During an outbreak, the virus can spread quickly within healthcare settings such as clinics or hospitals. Clinicians and other healthcare personnel providing care should use dedicated medical equipment, preferably disposable. Following the new outbreak of the Ebola infection cases in DRC, Rwanda’s health ministry on Monday, July 15, 2019, has issued a travel warning to its citizens and urged them to avoid unnecessary travel to DRC. Based on the currently available information, the World Health Organization (WHO) advises against any restriction of travel to the DRC. Still, the WHO urged health ministries of the countries to closely monitor the situation. Straightaway, no country, except neighbouring Rwanda, implemented travel measures to and from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. But taking into account the current situation of Ebola virus infection in DRC and other African countries, it is indispensable that the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination, in conjunction with the Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan, verifies travel and trade measures concerning this event. It is the responsibility of travellers as well that they should seek medical advice before travelling; practice good hygiene and follow safe sex guidelines.
The writer works in the Lab of Vector and Vector-borne Diseases, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, China