Outbreak Of Deadly Ebola Virus In DR Congo

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Main Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses
Also Included In: Aid / Disasters;  Blood / Hematology;  Tropical Diseases
Article Date: 12 Sep 2007 - 11:00 PDT

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The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed there is a major outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Kasai province in the African Democratic Republic of Congo.

The WHO said that 166 people are known to have died and they are aware of 372 other cases of the disease, according to BBC News earlier today.

Ebola virus is highly contagious and leads to ebola haemorrhagic fever (EHF), a febrile haemorrhagic illness (fever and internal bleeding) that is fatal in 50 to 90 per cent of cases and for which there is no cure.

The last serious outbreak in DR Congo was in 1995 in Kikwit and killed more than 200 people.

Samples of blood from the people infected in Kasai were sent to laboratories in neighbouring Gabon and also to Atlanta in the United States where the presence of Ebola was confirmed as was another pathogen, the bacterium Shigella, which causes dysentery (where the lining of parts of the bowel are destroyed).

According to the BBC, WHO and Medecins sans Frontieres have sent emergency teams of health specialists, including experts in sanitation and clinical care, to help contain the outbreak in DR Congo.

People started getting symptoms of haemorrhagic fever about three months ago in the area surrounding Kananga, the capital of West Kasai.

While some villages in the affected region are under quarantine, there is no need to restrict travel and trade to and from the DR Congo, said the WHO.

Ebola is transmitted by direct contact with blood, secretions, organs and bodily fluids of people infected with the virus.

Documented cases of infection to humans from handling chimpanzees and gorillas and forest antelopes, dead or alive, have occured in Côte d'Ivoire, DR of Congo and Gabon.

Another source of transmission is believed to be burial ceremonies where mourners may come into direct contact with the body of a person infected with Ebola.

Health care workers are at considerable risk of infection while treating Ebola patients if they don't follow correct infection control precautions.

There are four types of Ebola virus, which belongs to the family Filoviridae (same family as Marburg virus which also causes haemorrhagic fever): Zaïre (former name of DR Congo), Sudan, Côte d'Ivoire and Reston. The first three types are found in the region of Africa in and around the DR Congo, while Reston is usually found in the Western Pacific and does not cause clinical illness.

The natural reservoir of the deadly forms of Ebola is believed to be the rain forests of the African continent.

Ebola has an incubation period of 2 to 21 days.

Symptoms begin with a sudden fever, feeling extremely weak, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is usually followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rash, poor liver and kidney function and sometimes internal and external bleeding.

Samples taken from people infected with Ebola and analysed in the laboratory have revealed lower than normal counts of white blood cells and platelets and high levels of liver enzymes, according to the WHO.

Testing samples is extremely hazardous and can only be done in specialized labs because of the high risk of infection.

New non invasive ways of testing for Ebola are being developed that use saliva and urine samples, or testing samples that have been inactivated, so that more localised and rapid diagnosis can support outbreak control efforts.

As there is no cure and no vaccine, suspected cases should be isolated and treated under strict barrier nursing conditions with close supervision and extreme care in handling of blood, secretions, catheters and suction devices.

Containing an outbreak is a complex procedure involving close monitoring of hospital staff who may come into contact with infected people, their soiled clothing or even bedclothes, education of all hospital and field personnel as to the dangers and necessary precautions such as disinfection procedures, the correct use of gloves, masks, gowns and other barrier equipment.

Community education is also important to keep people well informed about the disease, how to stop it spreading, how to spot it in themselves and others. This extends into culturally sensitive areas such as the importance of correctly handling and promptly burying bodies of people who died while infected with Ebola and not allowing mourners to touch their bodies.

Click here for WHO Fact Sheet about Ebola.

Written by: Catharine Paddock
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today