Ebola Chain of Infection Research Paper JC and Obioma Ebola, also known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a viral disease

that causes harm to humans. The first ever outbreak recorded began in a town called in a town called Nzara in Sudan within a man who was working a factory. The doctors of the region had never this type of disease before. Without a clue to what the infection was, they resultantly had no clue for any type of cure or treatment. By the time the outbreak subdued, there were 151 deaths and 284 infected persons overall. This new disease made up what is now called the Ebola-Sudan strand. After the first outbreak in 1976, many more strands have been detected in Africans nations like the Zaire, Bundibugyo, and Ta Forest strands. Ever since that first fatal outbreak, there has 26 more spread out in West African nations and even in places like Russia and the US. Through all of these outbreaks, the untreatable Ebola disease has undergone the chain of infection and the breaks in that chain that have acquired after time. The first bracket in the chain of infection is the infectious agent. It has concluded that the disease is a viral form of Filovirus called the Ebola virus. These types of diseases cause severe symptoms to happen in not only humans but nonhuman primates in the form of hemorrhagic fever. In the same year that the disease was recorded, the chain was also broken through to identification of EBOV or ebola virus. Next on Ebola on its chain of infection is the reservoir or the organism in which the infectious microbes reside in. Researchers dont have an exact reservoir picked out for the Ebola disease but they have mainly focused it on animals that have contracted the disease and water resources where the disease is present. To stop the reservoir continuing the chain, human cannot travel to places of the virus outbreaks, and were the proper PPE as a healthcare professional around Ebola infected patients. After this chain comes the portal of exit which I s the path the Ebola takes out of the reservoir. This happens through blood secretions, body excretions, and the touching of skin from infected animals of other people. If someone come in contact with another person or animal with Ebola, then they are likely to have the pathogen passed on to them. Doctors and researchers in West and Central African nations have found out the wearing protective face gear and gloves around their environmental habitats really aid in the breaking of this detrimental chain to Ebola death. Going on to the fourth step of the chain, the infection comes to means of transmission. Ebolavirus happens only with direct and close contact of infected people and animals. Ingestion of Ebola contaminated water will also aide in the transmission of the disease. The isolation of ones self from these situations will stop the travelling of this disease as many have done during outbreaks after 1976. If the disease doesnt have a person to latch on to then the infection will be broken. Next is the portal of entry which is how it gets to the host. Ebola enters the host through broken skin and mucous membranes of animals and humans. To break this part in the chain of infection, proper care of wounds in the skin and aseptic techniques to protect the entries should be assessed. The last chain that Ebola comes in contact with is the susceptible host. The poorer regions of West and Central Africa are the main attractions of this disease. Proper sanitization techniques are not common in these nations and thats the type of environment that the Ebola virus thrives upon. Also the people who work with animals, dead people, and healthcare professionals are vulnerable to Ebola due to the fact that they

dont know that the animals and people in their profession have the disease. To break this chain diagnosis will do the job but the problem is that its very hard to find. The Mayo Clinic has reported that the symptoms of hemorrhagic fever are of other infectious diseases that have the same symptoms. Ebola is a very deadly and contagious viral infection that is sweeping populations of people in West and Central African nations. Over the years, thousands of people have suffered from the effects of the Ebola virus taking its course. If the populations can start to break way at the Ebola chain of infection, less and less outbreaks will happen and less and less people will have to undergo the effects of this fatal pathogen. REFERNCES 1. WHO, Ebola virus disease, April 09, 2014 2. Intervirology 1982, Vol. 18, No. 1-2,Filoviridae: a Taxonomic Home for Marburg and Ebola Viruses, April 09, 2014 3. About.com 20th Century History, Ebola Outbreaks in Sudan and Zaire, April 09, 2014 4. National Center for Biotechnology Information, Result Filters, US National Library of Medicine, April 09, 2014 5. WebMD, Ebola Virus: Symptoms, Treatment, and Prevention, April 09, 2014