Ebola Virus Disease

  http://www.who.int/en/

Key facts
• Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans.
• The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.
• The average EVD case fatality rate is around 50%. Case fatality rates have varied from 25% to 90% in past outbreaks.
• The first EVD outbreaks occurred in remote villages in Central Africa, near tropical rainforests, but the most recent outbreak in west Africa has involved major urban as well as rural areas.
• Community engagement is key to successfully controlling outbreaks. Good outbreak control relies on applying a package of interventions, namely case management, surveillance and contact tracing, a good laboratory service, safe burials and social mobilization.
• Early supportive care with rehydration, symptomatic treatment improves survival. There is as yet no licensed treatment proven to neutralize the virus but a range of blood, immunological and drug therapies are under development.
• There are currently no licensed Ebola vaccines but 2 potential candidates are undergoing evaluation.
If you want to help with fighting this disease please contribute to the following:
http://www.directrelief.org/emergency/2014-west-africa-ebola-outbreak/?gclid=CKjPgNWYg8ECFZSFfgod3C4Ar
http://www.developafrica.org/ebola?gclid=CMSfv4uZg8ECFRRhfgodYqYA9w
http://plan-international.org/what-you-can-do/emergency-appeals/ebola-outbreak-appeal
https://www.salesianmissions.org/ebola?gclid=CMWzuq2Zg8ECFUZbfgodCXIAjg
http://www.pih.org/blog/partners-in-health-ebola-response?gclid=CKKL57SZg8ECFZSDfgodA5cAPw