Ebola Transmission

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Introduction

The Ebola virus is a severe disease-causing pathogen that poses a huge threat to human health mostly within central Africa due to its high mortality⁴. Ebola is considered a Biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) agent; classifying it among the most threatening pathogens that exist in the world today. Agents within this category pose severe threats to human health and can be fatal due to the lack of treatments and/or available vaccines. There are five known Ebola species within the family Filoviridae and all of the species within the family cause varying degrees of viral hemorrhagic fever illnesses.

Virus Structure

The Ebola virus has an RNA genome that codes for ^{Feldmann, Heinz, Steven Jones, Hans-Joachim Schnittler. "Ebola virus: from discovery to vaccine 3}

A closeup photo of the Ebola virus.

Containment and Transmission

Workers from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) demonstrating proper attire worn in BSL-4 labs.

Include some current research in each topic, with at least one figure showing data.

A map indicating the locations of Ebola outbreaks throughout Africa.

Possible Treatments

Include some current research in each topic, with at least one figure showing data.

Conclusion

In today's world Ebola is still a huge problem that faces many developing nations within Africa. In 2012 alone there were 5 outbreaks of Hemorrhagic Fevers around the world and 3 of them were due to the Ebola virus.⁷