What is Ebola and why does it kill?

                                                                                                                                                                                     An outbreak of Ebola virus has killed at least 62 people in Guinea since its symptoms were first observed last month.

In a statement Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said the total number of suspected cases was 86.

UNICEF earlier said at least three of the victims were children.

"In Guinea, a country with a weak medical infrastructure, an outbreak like this can be devastating," the UNICEF representative in Guinea, Dr. Mohamed Ag Ayoya, said in a statement.

Why does Ebola generate such fear?

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) describes Ebola as "one of the world's most deadly diseases."

"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 Ebola's five sub-types, the Zaire strain -- the first to be identified -- is considered the most deadly.

The WHO says preliminary tests on the Ebola virus in Guinea suggest that the outbreak there is this strain, although that has not been confirmed.                                                                                                                

What is Ebola?

The Ebola virus causes viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF), 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 there are five different strains of the virus -- named after the areas they originated in. Three of these have been associated with large outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever in Africa.

These are the Bundibugyo -- an area of Uganda where the virus was discovered in 2007 -- Sudan and Zaire sub-types.

There has been a solitary case of Ivory Coast Ebola. This subtype was discovered when a researcher studying wild chimpanzees became ill in 1994 after an autopsy on one of the animals. The researcher recovered.

Finally, Reston Ebola is named after Reston in the U.S. state of Virginia, where this fifth strain of the Ebola virus was identified in monkeys imported from the Philippines.

The CDC says while humans have been infected with Ebola Reston, there have been no cases of human illness or death from this sub-type.

What are Ebola's symptoms?

Early symptoms of the Ebola virus involve sudden onset of fever, weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat. These symptoms can appear two to 21 days after infection.

The WHO says these non-specific early symptoms can be mistaken for signs of diseases such as malaria, typhoid fever, meningitis or even the plague.

MSF says some patients may also develop a rash, red eyes, hiccups, chest pains and difficulty breathing and swallowing.

The early symptoms progress to vomiting, diarrhea, impaired kidney and liver function and sometimes internal and external bleeding.

Ebola can only be definitively confirmed by five different laboratory tests.

How is it treated?

There are no specific treatments for Ebola. MSF says patients are isolated and then supported by health care workers.

"This consists of hydrating the patient, maintaining their oxygen status and blood pressure and treating them for any complicating infections," it says.

There have been cases of healthcare workers contracting the virus from patients and the World Health Organization has issued guidance for dealing with confirmed or suspected cases of the virus.

Carers are advised to wear impermeable gowns and gloves and to wear facial protection such as goggles or a medical mask to prevent splashes to the nose, mouth and eyes.

MSF says it contained a 2012 outbreak in Uganda by placing a control area around its treatment center. An outbreak is considered over once 42 days -- double the incubation period of the disease -- have passed without any new cases.

How does it spread?

The WHO says it is believed that fruit bats may be the natural host of the Ebola virus in Africa, passing on the virus to other animals.

Humans contract Ebola through contact with the bodily fluids of infected animals.

The WHO says in Africa there have been documented cases of humans falling ill after contact with dead or ill chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines.

It says Ebola later spreads from human-to-human via contact with bodily fluids containing the virus. The virus can be spread through contact with an object contaminated with infected secretions.

Direct contact with the corpses of Ebola victims can also result in infection and the virus can be transmitted via infected semen up to seven weeks after clinical recovery.

How many cases have there been?

The CDC estimates there have been more than 1,800 cases of Ebola and more than 1,300 deaths.

The last recorded outbreaks before the current one in Guinea were in 2012 -- in Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Uganda outbreak involved a total of 24 probable and confirmed cases, and 17 deaths, according to the WHO, which declared it had ended in October 2012.

MSF said the Uganda outbreak had been the Sudan strain, while the virus found in DRC was the Bundibugyo sub-type.

According to the CDC, the most deadly outbreak was the 1976 outbreak in then Zaire, when 280 of 318 infected people died. In 2000, there were 425 cases of Ebola Sudan in Uganda, which resulted in 224 fatalities.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             posted by Emanto Ngaloru  March 27, 2014.