Ebola by LUCAS GOLDENBERG

What is Ebola

lucasgoldenberg2023 — 2017-02-15 14:52:27 UTC

Ebola is an infectious virus. This virus is deadly and according to the CDC, about 50% of people who are infected with ebola die from it. There have been a total of 33 outbreaks since 1976 and 11,315 people have died from this disease.

How Did We Discover Ebola?

paulvlahos2023 — 2017-02-16 14:11:56 UTC

Watch this video to find out:

Ebola symptoms

josephmarshall2023 — 2017-02-16 14:32:15 UTC

Fever
Severe headache
Muscle pain
Weakness
Fatigue
Diarrhea
Vomiting
Abdominal (stomach) pain
Vomiting blood
Unexplained hemorrhage (bleeding or bruising)

Ebola Symptoms

paulvlahos2023 — 2017-02-16 14:39:23 UTC

Ebolas Impact on Cells

lucasgoldenberg2023 — 2017-02-17 14:27:19 UTC

Ebola impacts animal cells when it enters through the cell membrane. Then it hijacks the cell and steals all of it's nutrients. Next, it uses it to make copies of itself. These copies go to other cells and do the same, so more cells are infected, which makes the disease spread quickly.

Recovery and Death

paulvlahos2023 — 2017-02-17 14:32:00 UTC

Typically recovery begins in one to two weeks. If death occurs, it happens in 6 to 16 days. Mostly the cause of death is because of decreased blood pressure as a result of fluid loss. In general, bleeding often indicates a worse outcome for a patient. People with Ebola in a coma are at the end of their lives.

Those who survive have problems with muscle, joint pain, liver inflammation (hepatitis), decreased appetite, weakness, and many other symptoms. Some Ebola survivors might have problems with their vision.

Ebola survivors have antibodies that help them become immune to the virus. But, the antibodies last for only about ten years and it is unclear whether the patient can get infected again.

Transmission

paulvlahos2023 — 2017-02-17 14:39:19 UTC

Between people, Ebola spreads only by making contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. Examples of bodily fluids include blood, vomit, feces, urine, and semen.

Entry points for Ebola germs include the nose, the mouth, and open cuts.

Contact with infected objects like needles and syringes can spread the virus.

Dead bodies can also be contagious so that is why special burial teams are called in when someone dies of Ebola.

Healthcare workers are at the greatest risk for Ebola because workers can put their protective clothes on incorrectly or dispose their clothes improperly.

Ebola Virus in Cured Patients

paulvlahos2023 — 2017-02-17 14:46:23 UTC

The Ebola virus can stay in the semen of formerly infected persons for more than three months, which can lead to infection through sexual intercourse. Presence of the Ebola virus over a year in semen has been recorded in a national screening programme.

The Ebola virus has also been found in breast milk and it is unknown when a formerly infected person's breast milk could be safe for a baby to drink again.

Other than contact with semen or breast milk, former patients are not infectious.

How to prevent Ebola

josephmarshall2023 — 2017-02-17 14:48:58 UTC

Avoid areas of known outbreaks
Wash your hands frequently. ...
Avoid eating meat from infected areas
Avoid contact with infected people
Follow infection-control procedures
Don't handle remains

Piktochart

nshapkarov2023 — 2017-02-17 14:49:22 UTC

Treatment Options

lucasgoldenberg2023 — 2017-02-17 14:55:05 UTC

There is currently not way to cure Ebola but treatment is available. This treatment includes pain medicine and fluid iv's. Doctors and nurses who treat people with Ebola must wear protective gear like hazmat suits so they do not become infected.

What Ebola Does to Your Body

lucasgoldenberg2023 — 2017-02-21 14:10:18 UTC

When patients are infected with Ebola, they will suffer from chronic bleeding inside and outside of their body. It also does severe damage to the immune system, when it kills off a ton of antibodies.

How Does Ebola Hurt the Immune System?

paulvlahos2023 — 2017-02-21 14:16:47 UTC

Ebola affects the immune system because when Ebola enters the body, it directly attacks and kills the T-Lymphocytes (T-Cells) like HIV/AIDS does. That is why Ebola is so deadly and kills people very quickly.

How Does Your Body React to Ebola

josephmarshall2023 — 2017-02-21 14:17:53 UTC

When your body becomes infected with Ebola, the immune system makes an army of antibodies to fight it off.

Sources

nshapkarov2023 — 2017-02-21 14:23:12 UTC

Works Cited

"About Ebola Virus Disease." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 18 Feb. 2016. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

"Ebola Virus Disease." World Health Organization. World Health Organization. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

"VIROLOGY:." ScienceWriters (www.NASW.org). Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

"The Cells in Your Body." The Cells in Your Body - Science NetLinks. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2017.

Ross, Philip. "How Ebola Kills: What The Deadly Virus Does To The Human Body."International Business Times. N.p., 17 Oct. 2014. Web. 22 Feb. 2017.

"Ebola Virus: How It Infects People, and How Scientists Are Working to Cure It." Science in the News. N.p., 14 Oct. 2014. Web. 22 Feb. 2017.

"How Does the Body Fight off a Virus?" BBC News. BBC, 19 Apr. 2013. Web. 22 Feb. 2017.

"30 Interesting Ebola Facts." Facts Legend. N.p., 20 June 2015. Web. 22 Feb. 2017.

Ebola Virus Structure

paulvlahos2023 — 2017-02-21 14:25:36 UTC

VP40 Proteins:
The VP40 protein is a Viral matrix protein (a protein in viruses) and is mostly found in the Ebola virus. VP40 plays a major role in budding (a type of asexual reproduction) at the cell membrane.

VP24 Proteins:
The VP24 protein helps form fully functional and infectious viral particles and helps the Ebola virus suppress the immune system, a reduction of the activation of the immune system.

Viral Envelope:
A viral envelope keeps the capsid of the virus safe. When a virus is being attacked by the host's immune system, the viral envelope protects the inside of the virus from the immune system. When the virus attaches to the cell membrane, the virus fuses with the host's membrane, allowing the capsid and viral genomes (the genetic material) to enter and infect the host.

Nucleoproteins:
Nucleoproteins are any proteins structurally associated with nucleic acids. Some examples of nucleoproteins are DNA, RNA, ribosomes, nucleosomes, and viral nucleocapsid proteins.

RNA:
RNA is a molecule essential in many biological roles including coding and decoding. Like DNA, RNA is assembled as a chain of nucleotides but unlike DNA, RNA is more often single-stranded while DNA is a paired double-strand.

Glycoproteins:
Glycoproteins are proteins floating in or around the cell membrane. They can move and interact with the cell's environment. The root "glyco" means 'sugar' so to put it simply, the glycoproteins are proteins that make sugar.

The system that Ebola impacts

lucasgoldenberg2023 — 2017-02-21 14:29:56 UTC

Ebola impacts the immune system when the immune system creates an army to stop ebola. But ebola takes over some of these antibodies and make them fight against their own body. This usually results in the immune system dying or becoming severely damaged.

What Happens When You Get Ebola?

paulvlahos2023 — 2017-02-22 14:31:35 UTC

When you first get Ebola, you probably don't feel so well. You have little to no appetite, a headache, and maybe a slight fever. These are signs that Ebola is starting to attack your immune system, wiping out T-Lymphocytes (T-Cells) that are crucial for the immune system to fight Ebola.

The cells that Ebola attacks are the same cells that HIV/AIDS attacks but Ebola kills them more aggressively. Most of the time, it takes two to twenty-one days for the Ebola symptoms to kick in.

In a few days, Ebola will affect you even more. You have aches, chronic abdominal pain, your body temperature rises, and you start to vomit and have diarrhea. After about a couple days to a week, you will start to feel better or, your immune system will go through a cytokine storm, a kamikaze-like attack where the immune system launches all of it's resources to attack a virus. A cytokine storm can be fatal.

As the immune system attacks the Ebola virus, Ebola makes you bleed a lot (which could kill you), your vomit and diarrhea are bloody, and large blood blisters develop under your skin.

Outbreaks in West Africa

kbroton — 2017-02-22 14:33:09 UTC

Sources

paulvlahos2023 — 2017-02-22 15:14:24 UTC

Doucleff, Michaeleen. "How Ebola Kills You: It's Not The Virus." NPR. NPR, 26 Aug. 2014. Web. 22 Feb. 2017. .

Derek Gatherer Lecturer, Lancaster University. "What Happens to Your Body If You Get Ebola?" The Conversation. N.p., 31 Jan. 2017. Web. 22 Feb. 2017. .