Ebola is a viral hemorrhagic fever and one of the deadliest diseases known to humanity.

<a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/Images/2014/3/30//20143302515961734_20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/Images/2014/3/30//20143302515961734_20.jpg" width="400" /></a>The Ebola virus disease is a viral hemorrhagic fever that was first discovered in Africa in the 1970s.<br /> <br /> The current outbreak in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone is the largest in history and has sickened more than 1,700 people and killed more than 900 this year.<br /> <br /> With a death rate of up to 90 percent, Ebola is described as "one of the world's deadliest diseases" by Doctors Without Borders (MSF).<br /> <br /> Many of those infected with the virus quickly get flu-like symptoms such as fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.<br /> <br /> MSF says that the symptoms are non-specific, making the disease difficult to diagnose. The symptoms can appear from two to 21 days after exposure.<br /> <br /> No vaccine<br /> <br /> There is no vaccine or cure available for the disease. The most serious cases require intensive care and a drip to combat dehydration.<br /> <br /> Ebola can be caught from both humans and animals. It spreads by direct contact with blood, body fluids or tissues of the infected.<br /> <br /> Funeral rituals in which relatives and friends touch the body of the dead play an important role in transmission, as does handling dead or living animals carrying the virus.<br /> <br /> In Africa, particular species of fruit bats are considered possible natural hosts for Ebola virus. Infected bats are thought to transmit the disease to humans, or indirectly through other animals which are hunted for their meat.<br /> <br /> Ebola first appeared in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks, in Sudan and in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The DRC outbreak was near the Ebola River, from which the disease takes its name.<br /> <br /> The disease has since killed more than 1,600 people in parts of Africa.<br /> <br /> The outbreak that began in Guinea in early 2014 is the first among humans in West Africa. The virus strain detected is Zaire, the most virulent.

Ebola Ebola Virus Disease Ebola is a viral hemorrhagic fever and one of the deadliest diseases known to humanity.

The Ebola virus disease is a viral hemorrhagic fever that was first discovered in Africa in the 1970s. The current outbreak in Liberia, Gu...

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Ebola outbreak in West Africa

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa to be an international public health emergency that requires an extraordinary response to stop its spread.<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div> WHO declared similar emergencies for the swine flu pandemic in 2009 and for polio in May.<br /> <br /> The WHO chief, Dr Margaret Chan, said the announcement on Friday is "a clear call for international solidarity" but acknowledged that many countries would probably not have any Ebola cases.<br /> <br /> "Countries affected to date simply do not have the capacity to manage an outbreak of this size and complexity on their own,'' Chan said at a news conference in Geneva.<br /> <br /> "I urge the international community to provide this support on the most urgent basis possible," she added.<br /> <br /> The agency had convened an expert committee this week to assess the severity of the ongoing epidemic - the largest and longest in history.<br /> <br /> The current outbreak of Ebola began in Guinea in March and has since spread to Sierra Leone and Liberia.<br /> <br /> The WHO said the situation is likely to get worse in the coming months.<br /> <br /> There is no licensed treatment or vaccine for Ebola and the death rate has been about 50 percent.<br /> <br /> Unclear impact<br /> <br /> The impact of the WHO declaration is unclear; the declaration about polio does not yet seem to have slowed the spread of virus.<br /> Stopping the world's worst Ebola outbreak?<br /> <br /> During a WHO meeting last week to reconsider the status of polio, experts noted countries had not yet fully applied the recommendations made in May, that there have been more instances of international spread and that outbreaks have worsened in Pakistan and Cameroon.<br /> <br /> Meanwhile, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan declared a national state of emergency on Friday over the Ebola outbreak in Africa's most populous country.<br /> <br /> He approved 1.9bn naira ($11.6m) of emergency funds to contain Ebola in the country, where seven cases have been confirmed since a man fell sick on arrival from Liberia, two of whom have died.<br /> <br /> In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have already elevated their Ebola response to the highest level and has recommended against travelling to West Africa.<br /> <br /> On Thursday, CDC director Dr Tom Frieden told a Congressional hearing that the current outbreak is set to sicken more people than all previous outbreaks of the disease combined.<br /> <br /> "I don't know what the advantage is of declaring an international emergency," said Dr David Heymann, who directed WHO's response to the SARS outbreak and is now a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.<br /> <br /> "This could bring in more foreign aid but we don't know that yet," he said.

Africa Doctor Who Doctor Who Magazine Ebola Ebola Virus Disease West Africa WHO Ebola outbreak in West Africa

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa to be an international public health emergency that requi...

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