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Personal Protective Equipment for Ebola virus disease Ebola virus disease is a severe illness, with a death rate of up to 90%. The illness affects humans and nonhuman primates (monkeys, gorillas, chimpanzees and bats). The current Ebola outbreak is centred on three countries in West Africa: Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, although there is a potential for further spread to neighbouring African countries.

How do people become infected with the virus?

  • Within the community it can spread from human to human by direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, or other bodily fluids or secretions (stool, urine, saliva, semen) of infected people.
  • Infection can also occur if broken skin or mucous membranes of a healthy person come into contact with environments that have become contaminated with an Ebola patient’s infectious fluids such as soiled clothing, bed linen, or used needles.
  • Direct contact with dead body of Ebola virus disease. Ebola is introduced into the human population through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals.

The signs and symptoms, starts to appear from 2 to 21 days after getting the infection. Symptoms include; sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat are typical signs and symptoms. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.

You can now learn more about the disease through the information available in the files below:

General Information (Health Education)



Weekly Global Update Files