Ebola Virus Disease It is a highly infectious virus that can kill up to 90% of the people who catch it, causing terror among infected communities, it says. There is also no vaccination against it. Of Ebolas five sub-types, the Zaire strain -- the first to be identified -- is considered the most deadly. The Ebola virus causes viral hemorrhagic fever, which according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), refers to a group of viruses that affect multiple organ systems in the body and are often accompanied by bleeding. The virus is named after the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), where one of the first outbreaks occurred in 1976. The same year there was another outbreak in Sudan. The WHO says these nonspecific early symptoms can be mistaken for signs of diseases such as malaria, typhoid fever, meningitis or even the plague.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 08:02:15 +0000