UPSC Articles
WHO declares Ebola outbreak in Guinea over
Part of: GS Prelims and GS -II – Health
In news
- Recently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared that the Ebola outbreak that started in February 2021 in Guinea, is over now.
About Ebola Virus Disease (EVD)
- Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) or Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever of humans and other primates caused by ebolaviruses.
- It is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human to human transmission.
- Ebola virus was first discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River (the present Democratic Republic of Congo)
- Transmission: Fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are natural Ebola virus hosts.
- Animal to Human Transmission: Ebola is introduced into the human population through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals such as fruit bats, chimpanzees, gorillas, found ill or dead or in the rainforest.
- Human-to-Human Transmission: Ebola spreads via direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with:
- Blood or body fluids of a person who is sick with or has died from Ebola.
- Objects that have been contaminated with such body fluids (like blood, feces, vomit).
- Symptoms:
- Fever, Fatigue, Muscle pain, Headache, Sore throat, Vomiting, Diarrhoea, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.
- Diagnosis:
- ELISA (antibody-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay)
- Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay, etc.
- Vaccines:
- The Ervebo vaccine.
- In May 2020, the European Medicines Agency recommended granting marketing authorization for a 2-component vaccine called Zabdeno-and-Mvabea for individuals 1 year and older.
- Treatment:
- Two monoclonal antibodies (Inmazeb and Ebanga) have been approved for the treatment of Zaire ebolavirus infection in adults and children by the US.
