Ebola

Why in news?

• The World Health Organization has asked six African countries to be alert for possible Ebola infections, as Guinea reported new cases and Democratic Republic of Congo said its new infections were a resurgence of a previous outbreak.

About Ebola:

• Ebola is a viral haemorrhagic fever of humans and other primates caused by Ebola viruses.
• The disease was first identified in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks: one in Nzara (a town in South Sudan) and the other in Yambuku (Democratic Republic of the Congo), a village near the Ebola River from which the disease takes its name.
• Bombali Ebola virus is a newly discovered strain of Ebolavirus, first reported on 27 July 2018. It was discovered by a research team from the U.S. in the western Africa country of Sierra Leone. The virus was found in the Angolan free-tailed bat and the Little free-tailed bat. Bombali Ebola virus has the capacity to infect human cells, although it had not yet been shown to be pathogenic.

How does Ebola spread?

• Ebola fever spreads from human to human through direct contact with the body fluids of another infected person.
• People are however not the "natural hosts" of Ebola. And in every outbreak, initially, the virus has transferred to humans from another animal species.
• There is no evidence that mosquitoes or other insects can transmit Ebola virus.

Is a vaccine available?

• There is a vaccine developed for Ebola.
• However, the vaccine still hasn't been commercially licensed, so it is being used on the front line of the outbreak in DR Congo only.

PRELIMS QUESTION

Consider the following:
1.The first outbreak of this disease occurred in South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo.
2.Bombali is a newly discovered strain of the disease.
3.Mosquitoes are not known to spread this disease.
Identify the disease described in the above statements.
(a)Nipah
(b)Ebola
(c)Dengue 
(d)H5N1

Answer to Prelims Question