Ebola?

Ebola started in Guinea and spread to Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Nigeria is a deadly scary, but it’s also rare disease which gets only from direct contact with an infected person’s body fluids. It is in five strains, and four of them can make people sick. After entering the body, it kills cells, spoils the immune system, causes heavy bleeding inside the body, and damages almost every organ, making some of them explode. People get infected through the infected body fluids in their mouth, nose, eyes, genitals, or a break in their skin. Also you get through needles or sheets. Not only blood, stool, and vomit are the most infectious, but semen, urine, sweat, tears, and breast milk also carry it.

You can’t get Ebola from casual contact, like sitting next to an infected person. Air, food, and water don’t carry the virus. But kissing or sharing food or a drink with someone who has Ebola could be a risk, since you might get his saliva in your mouth.

Symptoms can seem like the flu at first -- sudden fever, feeling tired, muscle pains, headache, and sore throat. As the disease gets worse, it causes vomiting, diarrhea, rash, and bruising or bleeding without an injury, like from the eyes or gums. It can take from 2 to 21 days, but usually 8 to 10 days, after infection for signs of Ebola to appear.

Since there aren’t any drugs to fight the virus, health care teams treat the person’s symptoms and offer basic support care. Keep the person hydrated with fluids through an IV, give oxygen, maintain their blood pressure and treat any other infections they have. A person’s survival depends on how well his immune system works. The sooner he gets medical care, the better the chances he’ll recover. Ebola virus can stay in semen for 3 months after a man recovers, so he should avoid sex or use a condom to keep from infecting others. The virus can stay in breast milk for 2 weeks after recovery, so women shouldn’t breastfeed during that time.

The best way to avoid Ebola is to stay away from areas where the virus is common. Avoid infected people, their body fluids, and the bodies of anyone who has died from the disease. Avoid contact with wild animals, like bats and monkeys, and their meat. Wash your hands often.