SYMPTOMS:
Symptoms show up 2 to 21 days after infection (although 8-10 days is most common) and usually include:
Many common illnesses can have these same symptoms, including influenza (flu) or malaria. A person infected with the Ebola virus is NOT contagious until symptoms appear.
If you think that you or someone you know may be sick with Ebola, call your health care provider for advice and direction. If you do not have a doctor or cannot reach your doctor, call the emergency department at your local hospital.
It is very important to make these calls ahead of physically going anywhere for treatment. Calling ahead allows hospitals and other health care professionals to have advance notice and make special preparations.
TRANSMISSION:
When an infection does occur in humans, the virus can be spread in several ways to others. Ebola is spread through direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes in, for example, the eyes, nose, or mouth) with:
Ebola is NOT spread through the air or by water, or in general, by food. However, in Africa, Ebola may be spread as a result of handing bushmeat (wild animals hunted for food) and contact with infected bats. There is no evidence that mosquitos or other insects can transmit Ebola virus.
DIAGNOSIS:
Ebola virus infections can be diagnosed definitively in a laboratory through several types of tests.
Other diseases that should be ruled out before a diagnosis of EVD can be made include: malaria, typhoid fever, cholera, plague, meningitis, hepatitis and other viral hemorrhagic fevers.
Ebola: What Parents Need to Know: http://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/infections/Pages/Ebola.aspx
VACCINE AND TREATMENTS:
In December 2019, The United States Food and Drug Administration announced the approval of the first Ebola virus vaccine. Marketed as Ervebo, the single-dose vaccine regimen is protective against the Zaire ebolavirus species of the virus. Recovery though, also depends on good supportive care and the patient’s immune response.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved two treatments for Ebola virus in adults and children. The first, Inmazeb, is a combination of three monoclonal antibodies. The second, Ebanga, is a single monoclonal antibody.
For more information visit the following websites:
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SOURCES: State of Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH); Federal Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Food and Drug Administration
PREPARED BY: 211/mm
CONTENT LAST REVIEWED: March2023