Ebola

=**Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever**=

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 * Ebola hemorrhagic fever, or simply ebola, is a very harsh disease that doctors and scientists studying the disease know little about. It can be caused by five different viruses, four of which cause the disease to occur in humans, which include; //Bundibugyo ebolavirus, Sudan ebolavirus, Tai Forest ebolavirus,// and //Zaire ebolavirus.// The fifth ebolavirus is //Reston ebolavirus// which can enter human bodies, but only cause ebola in non-human primates such as gorillas or chimpanzees. Also, the exact places and environments in which the ebolaviruses come from, known in the scientific community as their "natural reservoirs," are unknown, however, the strains that affect humans derived from an area or areas in Africa and the //Reston ebolavirus// is believed to have originated in the Phillipines.**=====

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 * The incubation period of ebola hemorrhagic fever can last from two to twenty-one days and the symptoms begin very rapidly. Typical conditions start with fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, sore throat and weakness which are later joined by diarrhea, vomiting and stomach pain. In some cases a patient can also experience a rash, red eyes and/or internal and external bleeding. Unfortunately, there is currently no real treatment and when doctors do figure out that you have ebola, which may take a few days since the initial symptoms are applicable to many, more common illnesses, all the doctors can do is what's called "supportive therapy." Through this procedure, doctors keep your fluids and electrolytes in check, maintain your oxygen level and blood pressure and treat you for any futher complicating infections. Researchers are working hard to create better ways to diagnose ebola in the early stages of the disease and a cure for ebola may still be several years away, but something that continues to puzzle doctors is the fact that some patients are somehow able to survive the disease, whereas others cannot.**=====

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 * Luckily, as Canadians, the threat of the ebola disease is currently not very significant to us since the only cases of an ebolavirus in North America have come from the //Reston ebolavirus// which was mentioned before as the only strain that does not affect humans. However, if you are planning on visiting some of the countries in Africa influenced by ebola, such as Uganda, Sudan, or Gabon or are planning on becoming a doctor in Africa, it's only right that you should know how to cut down your chances of being infected. Basically, the only way to contract one of the viruses is to come into direct contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person or animal, or by coming into direct contact with the virus in its natural reservoir, which can't really be prevented since nobody knows exactly where that is. Therefore, if you do become an African doctor, make sure you are always wearing the proper protective gear when dealing with suspected ebola patients and if you're a tourist, do not touch or pick up a bleeding person or animal, whether it's dead or alive.**=====