Travel to and from Ebola-affected countries: What you need to know

• Download the infographic in JPG format
  jpg, 607kb
• Download the infographic in PDF format
  pdf, 136kb

Unlike the common ailments that afflict human beings like flu or measles, Ebola’s transmission does not occur through the air. The disease is transferred if there is direct contact with various bodily fluids of an infected patient. Direct contact denotes fluids touching eyes, wounds, cut, opened skin or mouth, the disease is neither airborne nor does it spread by liquids like water. In this vein, the body fluids which spread Ebola’s virus include various secretions like saliva, urine semen, sweat, stool, mucus, breast milk, and breast milk.

Handshakes     

Shaking hands with a patient would unleash minimal risks; however, body fluids may exacerbate the conditions. Skin contact is not solely risky devoid of fluids. Patients become contagious if they are sick with symptoms. And at that juncture, the patients are hardly outdoors as they are very sick.

Surfaces

If you touch a surface that was in contact with a patient, contamination depends on the duration. The virus only survives few hours on surfaces, once it is desiccated, it is dead. Nevertheless, you can kill the virus using home-based bleach or organic sanitizers. On the other hand, if in body fluids, the viruses may stay alive at normal temperature while semen enables it to survive for a few months.

Coughs and Sneezes

First and foremost, if the victim is symptomatic, chances of viral transmission through a cough or sneeze are heightened. If they literally sneeze on an uninfected person, the contagion is communicable. Finally, the fluids in the cough like mucus and saliva if they land on eyes, nose, mouth or wounds; it is transmittable at that point. Coughs and sneezes do not suffice as symptomatic indications of the disease. Health experts have predicated the virus is wimpy and is poised to die if outside the body like the HIV/AIDS virus.

Animals and Organisms

Unlike the anopheles mosquito that spreads malaria, the virus does not have a microorganism that furthers or spreads it. However, various species like bats alongside monkeys have been identified as potential carriers.

Health Care Workers

Hospitals and quarantine areas where the patients of Ebola are restricted may pose a threat to the workers. Thus, needles and tools contaminated with the virus may suffuse the contagion, meticulous approach is imperative for doctors, nurses and co-workers in these settings. To keep the virus at bay, hospital staff should wear masks, protect eyes and gloves.

Medical equipment ought to be sterilized painstaking before re-use. Similarly, if not properly disposed, the virus can be communicable and amplify the outbreak.

Erstwhile Patients

When a patient infected with Ebola has convalesced fully, they cannot transfer the virus. Nevertheless, health experts have discovered the virus survives in semen for up to three months. Discernibly, abstaining from sex for not less than three months is recommended. Nevertheless, where abstinence is impossible, condoms are crucial to militate against spreading Ebola viruses.

In the view of the probable modes of transmission, body fluids of infected persons when in contact with uninfected people are the principal cause.

Ebola is a lethal disease that is communicable through humans and various animals, specifically a species of primates and bats. Once the virus contaminates the human body, its incubation time to the start of symptoms takes two to twenty one days. Humans are not contagious until the symptoms have bloomed.

Fore symptoms are the erratic onset of muscular pains, headaches, sore throat and fever fatigue. Next the patient starts to vomit, have diarrhea, internal or external bleeding, impaired kidney, rashes and liver malfunction. Laboratory results encompass diminished white blood cells and thrombocyte counts alongside heightened liver enzymes. Preempting Infections in Hospitals and Quarantine Settings Doctors and other medical assistants ought to undertake quintessential precautions when handling patients, despite any presumed pre-diagnosis. These encompass standard hand sanitization, respiratory hygiene, wearing shielding equipment, safe injections and protected burial practices.

Medical workers in interventions expatriated to hotspot areas ought to embrace holistic infection counter techniques to militate against touching with victim’s fluids or contaminated surfaces. If in proximate contact of victims afflicted with Ebola, medical officers must put on facial shield, masks and goggles, clean, anti-sterile lengthy-sleeved gowns and hand-wear gloves. In a similar vein, laboratory researchers are vulnerable to the Ebola virus. Thus, samples obtained from infected patients or animals for analysis of Ebola contamination ought to be dealt with by trained staff while processing in optimally equipped laboratories.

Pragmatic epidemic measures for control are founded on a wide array of interventions, viz. case organization, surveillance and trace of contacts, feasible laboratory services, sanitized burials and mobilizing communities. Societal engagement is imperative for success counter of outbreaks. Wakeup calls for awareness of biohazard risk factors related to Ebola and dissemination of information on the terminal ailment paired with protective techniques is effective to preempt human-to-human transmissions. In a similar vein, countering risks of animal-to-human communication, starting from touching contagious fruit bats or apes and consuming their meat is critical.

Animals must be handled with protective-wear like gloves and clothing. Thus, animal parts ought to be painstakingly cooked prior to consumption. Overcoming patients to uninfected persons spread is attainable if contact with bodily fluids is the hallmark of success. Appropriate protective wear must be provided to health workers and persons handling infectious victims in all settings.

You should clean your hands with organic fluids to keep the virus at bay. However, in case of an outbreak, there are counter-measures encompassing instantaneous and safe burials of victims who have succumbed to the ailment, pinpointing persons who have touched infected people, regulating the health of patients for twenty-one days, establishing quarantines to preempt transmissions, hygienic measures and keeping the environment clean. Supported care-rehydration including oral and bodily fluids, treating symptoms, heightens the survival chances of a victim.

At this juncture, there is no empirical treatment offered for EVD patients. Nevertheless, a wide spectrum of probable treatments encompassing blood packages, immune-based and drug therapeutic cure are undergoing analysis. Suffice to say, there are no approved vaccines provided, however, scientists have predicated twin potential vaccines going through cohort safety tests.