Health: The Ebola Virus What You Must Know

The Ebola Virus is spreading like wild fire across the continent with cases being reported in Ghana our next door neighbor of recent and just this week an alert was raised in Lagos,Nigeria. 

In view of this,we bring to you a little info about the virus and what we can do to avoid this deadly disease that kills faster than HIV/AIDS.

Introduction :
Ebola is a rare but deadly infection that causes bleeding inside and outside the body. Ebola strikes mainly in remote villages of Central Africa and West Africa,but it has spread to some other African Cities too.
The disease also known as Ebola Hemorrhage Fever or Ebola Virus disease,kills up to 90% of the people who are infected.

How Do You Get Ebola?
You can get Ebola by coming into contact with the blood or body fluids of an animal or person who is infected.

People often get sick with Ebola when they care for or bury a person who has the disease. Someone also can catch the virus by touching contaminated needles or surfaces.

Symptoms :
Symptoms of the Ebola virus show up 2 to 21 days after someone is infected. As the virus spreads through the body's cells, it damages the immune system and organs. Ultimately, Ebola causes levels of blood-clotting cells, called platelets, to fall, which can lead to severe bleeding.

Many of the early symptoms of Ebola look like the flu or other mild illnesses. They include:

*Fever
*Headache
*Muscle aches
*Sore throat
*Weakness
*Diarrhea
As the disease gets worse, people who are infected may develop:

*Bleeding inside and outside of the body
*Rash
*Trouble breathing

How Can You Tell if Someone Has Ebola ?
Doctors may first test for other diseases that have the same symptoms as Ebola, such as:

*Cholera
*Hepatitis
*Malaria
*Meningitis
*Typhoid fever
Tests of the blood and tissues, such as the ELISA test, also can help diagnose Ebola.

If someone might have Ebola, they should be isolated from the public immediately to help prevent the spread of Ebola.

Treatment :
Right now there is no real treatment or cure for Ebola. Doctors try to manage people's symptoms by giving them:

*Fluids and electrolytes through a vein
*Nutrition
*Oxygen

Prevention :
There is no vaccine to prevent Ebola. People can avoid catching the disease by not traveling to areas where the virus is found.

Health care workers can prevent infection by wearing masks, gloves, and goggles whenever they come into contact with people who may have Ebola.

**** Most importantly to we Nigerians,we should be careful with eating of "Bush Meat" (Eran Igbe) as the source of the virus has been traced to infected animals such as Monkeys,Chimps,Fruits Bats,Antelopes,Porcupines,Pigs etc. They must be THOROUGHLY cooked if we must eat.
***** Please endeavor to educate our local hunters on this. A mere contact with blood or body fluid of infected animals is enough for one to be infected.
Hand gloves and other preventive gadgets MUST be worn when attending to an Ebola infected patient at home. So also when burying a dead victim of the virus.
Such dead victim should be properly buried to avoid the spread of the virus.
Regular washing of our hands after EVERY visit to the hospital is also very important as a means of prevention.
Once a person is infected,he/she can spread it to others !