Ebola disease - Research Paper Example

It is no secret that the most recent West African outbreaks of Ebola that managed to reach the borders of United States in more than one locale (Bausch, & Schwarz, 2014). This is no small problem and people need to be aware of the truth about Ebola and how best to prevent and infection in the first place. In the end, understanding what Ebola is and where it comes from, as well as, how it manifests and how to address break-outs of such a threatening disease is essential. Ebola Virus Disease was originally discovered in Africa, specifically the Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo, in 1976.

Over the course of the last 35 years fears of outbreaks have remained a major concern for agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The name Ebola was assigned the virus for the Ebola River, near the first initial outbreak. However, other subcategories of the Ebola virus have been indentified in places like, Zaire, Reston, and the Tai Forest (Nall, 2014). At least 4 of the most deadly strains are specifically found in Africa. Ebola is a from a family of diseases called Filoviridae and can manifest a number of symptoms that can be mistaken for less lethal or contagious diseases, like a common influenza (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014).

The Ebola virus invades the body and will remain unnoticed during the incubation period, which can be between 2 and 21 days. Ebola manifests as a severe, hemorrhagic fever, fatigue, muscle aches and pains, damages liver and kidneys, and impedes normal function, and severe vomiting. However, it is the bleeding that is often, both, internal and external, and can be seen exuding from the gums or in their stool samples that is unique to the virus (World Health Organization, 2014). Again, because many of the symptoms of Ebola its presence it is often mistaken for a less virulent, more common, virus.

That said Ebola may go misdiagnosed until the outbreak