Ebola historical perspective

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Michael Maddaleni, B.S., Guillermo Rodriguez Nava, M.D. [2]

Overview

The first description of Ebola virus was made by Ngoy Mushola in Yambuku, Zaire during the 1976 outbreak. During the outbreak, Peter Piot was the first to analyze blood samples of an infected Belgian nun in Zaire and to describe the virus morphology using electron microscopy. The Ebola virus was named after the Ebola River Valley in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaïre).[1] Since the initial discovery of the virus, five subtypes have subsequently been identified.

Historical Perspective

Discovery

  • The Ebola virus was first discovered in 1976 following outbreaks of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in Zaire and Sudan.
  • The fist description of ebola virus disease was made by Ngoy Mushola, who reocrded the first case in Yambuku town in Zaire. In Dr. Mushola's daily log, he stated
The illness is characterized by a high temperature of about 39 °C, hematemesis, bloody diarrhea, retrosternal abdominal pain, prostration with "heavy" articulations, and rapid evolution death after a mean of three days...
  • During the outbreak, blood samples of infected Belgian nuns in Zaire were refrigerated in non-secure thermos and sent to Europe for analysis. Following analysis, Peter Piot was the first to describe Ebola virus morphology using electron microscopy. He noted the presence of long, worm-like agents that resemble the Marburg virus that was associated with the death of laboratory workers in Germany.
  • The virus was named after the Ebola river located in the town Yambuku, Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), which is the site of the first recognized Ebola outbreak.
  • The first outbreaks occurred almost simultaneously in Sudan on June - November 1976 due to the so-called Sudan ebolavirus and in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) on August - November 1976 due the so-called Ebola Zaire.
  • Ever since the initial discovery, 5 strains of Ebola virus have been identified.

Famous Cases

  • Nurse Mayinga N'Seka was the index case in an Ebola epidemic in Democratic Republic of the Congo. She is believed to be the only patient infected via airborne transmission of the ebola virus.
  • The non-fatal case of a Swiss 34-year-old female ethologist in the Taï National Park at Ivory Coast was due to an infection by what was later recognized as a new strain of ebola virus. She contracted the disease following exposure to a dead chimpanzee with signs of hemorrhage during necropsy.[2]
  • On September 2014, Thomas Eric Duncan was the first patient to be diagnosed with Ebola virus in USA following a recent travel to Liberia. He died 9 days after the onset of symptoms in Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, Texas.

References

  1. Bardi, Jason Socrates (2002). "Death Called a River". Scribbs Research Institute. 2 (1). Retrieved 2006-12-08.
  2. Formenty P, Hatz C, Le Guenno B, Stoll A, Rogenmoser P, Widmer A (1999). "Human infection due to Ebola virus, subtype Côte d'Ivoire: clinical and biologic presentation". J Infect Dis. 179 Suppl 1: S48–53. doi:10.1086/514285. PMID 9988164.