Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a serious illness that causes haemorrhagic fever, which is bleeding within and from the body. It normally affects people living in or near tropical rainforests. It is introduced into the human population by close contact with the organs, sweat, blood or other bodily fluids of infected animals such as fruit bats, chimpanzees, forest antelope and porcupines. The virus then spreads among humans by direct contact with bodily fluids.
EVD was first identified in 1976 in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC) and Sudan. It was named after the Ebola River in DRC, which is close to where the outbreak occurred. There were no reported cases of Ebola after 1979 and Ebola was not identified again until 1994, when there were outbreaks in Gabon and DRC, causing 97 and 250 deaths respectively. Outbreaks have occurred with increasing frequency since.
Your organisation does not have access to this article.
Sign up today to give your students the edge they need to achieve their best grades with subject expertise
Subscribe
