1. The current Ebola outbreak is confined to West Africa.
The countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Nigeria have reported 2,473 cases of Ebola as of August 20, 2014, according to the World Health Organization(WHO). People who are most at risk are those in close physical contact with an infected person, like family members and the healthcare workers taking care of the patient.
2. Travel warnings have been issued for Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
Because of the increasing numbers of Ebola cases in these West African countries,the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises against all “nonessential” travel to these countries while the Ebola outbreak is ongoing.
3. Few entry points to the United States screen for Ebola cases.
The CDC is not screening people who travel from the countries affected by Ebola,their travel advisory notes. However, screening could be implemented by checking for fever in any passengers to airports whose flights began in West Africa, says David C. Pigott, MD, professor of emergency medicine at the University of Alabama, Birmingham (UAB). Dr. Pigott published a 2005 review of the virus in Critical Care Clinics journal.
4. Ebola is caused by an RNA virus.
The CDC is not screening people who travel from the countries affected by Ebola,their travel advisory notes. However, screening could be implemented by checking for fever in any passengers to airports whose flights began in West Africa, says David C. Pigott, MD, professor of emergency medicine at the University of Alabama, Birmingham (UAB). Dr. Pigott published a 2005 review of the virus in Critical Care Clinics journal.
5. Early Ebola symptoms are also symptoms of other viral infections.
Early symptoms include fever, headache, body aches, cough, stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. Because these could be symptoms of other diseases, it's difficult to diagnose Ebola early on. The time it takes from exposure to Ebola to actually getting sick, known as the incubation period, is anywhere from 2 to 21 days, says UAB's Pigott. Most people who are infected with Ebola will develop early symptoms eight to nine days after exposure to the virus, according to the CDC. Tests for antibodies against Ebola and viral DNA help doctors make a conclusive diagnosis.
6. Bleeding is common in the later stages of Ebola.
Later symptoms of Ebola can appear quickly, within a few days after onset of early symptoms. Due to internal and external bleeding, the patient's eyes may become red, and they may vomit blood, have bloody diarrhea, and suffer cardiovascular collapse and death, explains Pigott. The only treatment doctors can provide is supportive care — they give the patient fluids and oxygen, and keep their blood pressure steady.
7. Ebola is often fatal.
Most cases of Ebola viral infection have resulted in death, based on WHO data. Of the 2,473 cases in the current outbreak, 1,350 people have died, as of Aug, 20, according to WHO statistics. Saudi Arabia reported the death of a man suspected of having become infected with Ebola during a trip to Sierra Leone. If confirmed, it would be the first Ebola death outside of Africa
Health workers often succumb to the disease because of close contact with sick patients. Among those infected with Ebola was the doctor who was the head of Ebola virus treatment in Sierra Leone, Dr. Sheik Umar Khan, who died on July 29. The head doctor for Ebola treatments in Liberia, Dr. Samuel Brisbane, died from the diseasethree days earlier.
8. New Ebola medications are in development.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved any treatments for Ebola, notes Pigott, who adds that there is “nothing that’s been tried in humans at all.” But two American health workers who were infected in Liberia, Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, are being treated with a drug that’s still under study.
The drug is called ZMapp, and it's made by Mapp Biopharmacuetical Inc. “It’s an experimental, antibody-based medication,” explains Pigott, but it has not been tested in human trials for effectiveness. Developed in early 2014, ZMapp is produced in plants and has not yet been found to be safe for use in people, according to the manufacturer.
9. There is no vaccine to prevent Ebola.
Vaccines in development have been effective at preventing Ebola infections in animal studies, researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) report. But the research, on apes in particular, is controversial because ape populations are dwindling and in danger of extinction. It would be very difficult to test an experimental vaccine in people, Pigott says, because it's unlikely anyone is going to let you inject them with Ebola to see whether or not they get the infection.
10. Ebola is not a risk to the general public in the United States.
You are not at risk for infection unless you are in contact with someone who recently came from West Africa and has viral symptoms such as fever, vomiting, and cough. “If you don’t have early viral symptoms, you’re probably not contagious,” says Pigott. New infections come from being in close contact with an infected person, especially with blood or body fluids late in the disease when viral levels are high.
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