The risk of contracting Ebola virus and its prevention

Abstract

Ebola is a severe, acute viral disease, characterized by the sudden onset of fever, vomiting, and profuse diarrhoea, leading to severe dehydration, haemorrhagic diathesis, signifi cant blood loss, shock, often with a fatal outcome. The disease is transmitted by either direct contact with blood or other bodily fl uids of live or deceased infected people. Transmission may also occur by unprotected sexual contact or by direct contact with the blood or body fl uids of animals. Before 2013, the maximum number of infected people in a single outbreak of Ebola was 425. This fi gure was signifi cantly exceeded during the largest wave of Ebola that began in December 2013 in West Africa. The epidemiological situation is being closely monitored by the states of the European Union. The World Health Organization has issued recommendations for travellers to countries aff ected by the Ebola virus.