Ebola Outbreak: Source, Transmission, Vaccination, and Control

Ebola Outbreak 1
EBOLA OUTBREAK
Name
Institution

Ebola Outbreak 2
Introduction
Ebola is a deadly viral disease that has caused the highest mortality rates in the recent
past when it broke out. The virus is said to originate from wild animals and has the capability to
infect humans. The genesis of the disease is deep in the African continent and modes of
transmission occur due to indirect interaction with wild animals which are the carriers of the
disease. The condition has taken long to get vaccines an aspect that has continued to see its
outbreak after many years. The prevalence of Ebola tends to increase in places which are densely
populated. The public health management and disease prevention has curbed the situation of
Ebola though it has left a lasting impact in people’s lives. This will look at the source,
transmission, vaccination against and control of Ebola.
Source of Ebola
Ebola is named after an outbreak in a village near the Ebola River in 1976. At least two
simultaneous outbreaks of the acute and fatal illness were reported from Nzara in the current
South Sudan and another in Yambuku which is in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Jin Li,
Brewer & Ley, 2017). From 2014 to 2016, there emerged a complex outbreak since the first
discovery of the virus. It occurred in West Africa where the cases and related deaths were more
than all the other cases combined. The virus had quickly spread out beyond the countries
demarcations beginning from Guinea, to Sierra Leon and then to Liberia. The family of the virus
has been found to belong to five different species which are all responsible for the outbreaks in
Africa. The species which is associated with the latest outbreak in West Africa is the Zaire
Ebola-virus species.

Ebola Outbreak 3
Transmission of Ebola
Ebola virus has been transmitted to human beings by considerably close contact with
infected fluids of wild animals. The fluids which have potential transmission ability are blood,
secretions and body fluids of infected animals. The animals may be found ill or dead in the forest
and in the process of observing, people get into contact with the fluids which then transmit the
virus to them (Kelly, Worden, Wannier, Hoff, Mukadi, Sinai, Porco, 2019). The natural carrier of
the Ebola virus is a fruit bat which belongs to the family of pteropodidae. The virus is then
transmitted from one person to another through direct contact with blood, saliva, mucus, sweat,
infected organs and other body fluids of infected persons. Sharing of materials such as bed
sheets, mattresses, pillows and other clothing which might have been in contact with these fluids
also spread the viral infection. Medical practitioners and healthcare providers have been
constantly infected in the process of attending to the patients with suspected or known Ebola
cases. This is because appropriate infection control measures are not adhered to strictly. In some
cultures where direct body contact between the deceased and the living is contacted, the
prevalence of Ebola remains high since the body is infectious as long as Ebola is the cause of the
death.
Ebola can also be sexually transmitted because the semen can contain the virus. This has
prompted the World Health Organization to give various recommendations to minimize the
chances of transmission (Abbate, Murall, Richner, & Althaus, 2016). The survivors with their
partners are counseled and urged to practice safe sex until the semen test negative. Provision of
condoms has also been employed as a measure to curb the spread. Semen testing for the men
who survive the pandemic is provided to advise them on the appropriate measures to reduce the
risk of spread. Survivors are encouraged to practice good hygienic practices and safe sex in a bid