Ebola Virus Disease- An Overview

Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness, with a case fatality rate of upto 90%. It is a severe contagious zoonotic disease affecting humans and non-human primates. It is caused by a virus belongs to the genus Ebola of Filoviridae family. This virus is a single stranded negative sense RNA consists of four glycoprotein which is required for replication and transcription. It can be transmitted to humans through direct contact with blood, tissue, body fluids and secretions from an infected animal or human. The Ebola virus (EBOV) is the cause of an emerging disease that may be harbored across a much larger geographic range then previously assumed. The present large outbreak of EBOV illustrates how an emerging disease may start and spread, the difficulty of containment and the socio-political factors that may appear during an emerging disease outbreak. There are no licensed specific treatments or vaccine available for use in people or animals.