Ebola is a hemorrhagic fever which is a deadly disease caused by one of five known distinguishable subtypes of Ebola. Ebola is a filoviridae which is the only known virus family that we lack knowledge on. Researchers fail to understand how nature maintains itself with viruses like these and researchers know even less about the resulting diseases, pathogens, and the detailed virology (the study of viruses) of Ebola. Of the five strains four are known to cause disease in humans: Ebola virus (Zaire ebolavirus); Sudan virus (Sudan ebolavirus); Tai Forest virus (Tai Forest ebolavirus); and Budibugyo virus (Bundibugyo ebolavirus). The last known strain, Reston virus (Reston ebolavirus), typically causes harm to primates other than humans. As of now
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The Marburg virus or Marburg hemorrhagic fever (Marburg HF) affects both non-human primates and humans and is a zoonotic or animal-born RNA virus of the filovirus family. In 1967, outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever broke out in laboratories in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany, as well as Belgrade and Serbia. Few became ill (only thirty-one people), so initially only a few medical personnel and close family members took care of them. Those that became ill were exposed to imported African green monkeys and their tissues while using them to conduct research. It is said that the host for Marburg is the African fruit bat and sporadic outbursts of cases and isolated cases have popped up in Uganda, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Angola, South Africa, And the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The fact that most of the people infected were mine workers who work in bat infested caves only helped to prove this thought more. Once the mine workers get the virus they go home and it spreads throughout their village like wildfire because the virus become transmitted through cultural practices, under-protected family care settings and under-protected healthcare staff. There were also two more recent case of a Dutch man dying after contracting the Marburg virus in 2008 after returning home from Uganda. He had visited a well known cave there in Uganda known to have fruit bats located within a national …show more content…
New findings suggest that there may be a way to provide therapy for filovirus infections. A simple serum has proven effective in tests with guinea pigs, but not in rhesus monkeys or in mice. There is also the therapeutic antibody made from those survivors of past Ebola outbreaks: the scientists have extracted mRNA from their bone marrow and it has raised the thought that a safe and replenishable source of therapeutic antibodies could be devolved. These two approaches are still in the works and show great promise in the future. As of right now to treat the Ebola strains there are no FDA-approved vaccines or medications. Doctors treat the symptoms as they appear by providing IV fluids and balancing electrolytes and maintaining oxygen status and blood pressure. Recovery from the Ebola virus really seems to depend on the support you have (both nurses and family) and the infected person’s immune system. It’s also unknown if those that recover from one Ebola strain are immune for life or if they can get re-infected by that strain or a different strain. Even after a full recovery people still suffer from long-term complications such as vision and joint problems and the Ebola virus can still be found in body fluids including semen and can take 3 to 9 months to completely leave the
The Marburg virus or Marburg hemorrhagic fever (Marburg HF) affects both non-human primates and humans and is a zoonotic or animal-born RNA virus of the filovirus family. In 1967, outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever broke out in laboratories in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany, as well as Belgrade and Serbia. Few became ill (only thirty-one people), so initially only a few medical personnel and close family members took care of them. Those that became ill were exposed to imported African green monkeys and their tissues while using them to conduct research. It is said that the host for Marburg is the African fruit bat and sporadic outbursts of cases and isolated cases have popped up in Uganda, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Angola, South Africa, And the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The fact that most of the people infected were mine workers who work in bat infested caves only helped to prove this thought more. Once the mine workers get the virus they go home and it spreads throughout their village like wildfire because the virus become transmitted through cultural practices, under-protected family care settings and under-protected healthcare staff. There were also two more recent case of a Dutch man dying after contracting the Marburg virus in 2008 after returning home from Uganda. He had visited a well known cave there in Uganda known to have fruit bats located within a national …show more content…
New findings suggest that there may be a way to provide therapy for filovirus infections. A simple serum has proven effective in tests with guinea pigs, but not in rhesus monkeys or in mice. There is also the therapeutic antibody made from those survivors of past Ebola outbreaks: the scientists have extracted mRNA from their bone marrow and it has raised the thought that a safe and replenishable source of therapeutic antibodies could be devolved. These two approaches are still in the works and show great promise in the future. As of right now to treat the Ebola strains there are no FDA-approved vaccines or medications. Doctors treat the symptoms as they appear by providing IV fluids and balancing electrolytes and maintaining oxygen status and blood pressure. Recovery from the Ebola virus really seems to depend on the support you have (both nurses and family) and the infected person’s immune system. It’s also unknown if those that recover from one Ebola strain are immune for life or if they can get re-infected by that strain or a different strain. Even after a full recovery people still suffer from long-term complications such as vision and joint problems and the Ebola virus can still be found in body fluids including semen and can take 3 to 9 months to completely leave the