Deadly outbreak of Ebola in West Africa

For the second time in the recent past, another deadly outbreak of Ebola is taking hold of West African nations of Sierra Leon, Liberia and Guinea. Scores of people have been infected, few died from the virus and neighboring Nigeria fears the spread of the virus within its borders.

Ebola or Ebola hemorrhagic fever is caused by the Ebola virus that start within two days to three weeks of catching the virus. Fruit bats are known to carry the virus without getting infected. Monkeys and pigs are sources of spreading the virus to humans. It can only be spread in humans from coming into contact of blood and body fluids, and symptoms include fever, sore throat, muscle pain, and headaches. Infected people begin to vomit, feel nauseated followed by diarrhea. This cause liver and kidney to get weaker and some develop bleeding as a result.

There are no proven cure for the disease and immediate isolation of infected can help to prevent the spread of the disease. But due to social factors many infected in the region go underground and family members are more vulnerable to contract it. Lack of proven treatment may result in more deaths of the infected.