Ebola is running out of control in parts of Africa, warns the group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), known in the English-speaking world as Doctors without Borders.
The disease has already affected more than 300 people living in western Africa. The total number of patients has gone down in recent years, but new patients have been diagnosed in Sierra Leone and Guinea. In those nations, MSF is working with health officials to contain the virus and caring for victims.
Sierra Leone reports one confirmed case of ebola, and health officials say they suspect at least 18 cases in the country, including six deaths.
"Ebola is a disease that scares people and that is perceived as mysterious, but people can overcome it. Earning people's trust is essential in efforts to fight the epidemic," Marie-Christine Ferir, Emergency Coordinator for MSF, said.
In Guinea, the Ministry of Health has confirmed 178 cases reported through the end of May. Of that number, 63 percent - 113 people - have perished.
Families in the region often personally transport dead bodies from one town to another for funerals. The virus can be spread by cadavers, and travel with the deceased and their entourage.
Filoviridae, the family of virus including the one that causes ebola, can be spread through body fluids. It can infect both humans and monkeys, and has a one-week incubation period in human beings.
Early symptoms are very much like a bad cold or the flu, which hinders early treatment. Effects of the disease in its later stages include bleeding from the eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and rectum. A hemorrhagic rash, containing blood, can form all over the skin, which develops an increased sensitivity to pain. There is no known cure for the disease, and anti-viral medications are ineffective against the infection.
"The patient is usually hospitalized and will most likely need intensive care... As many as 90% of patients die from the disease. Patients usually die from low blood pressure (shock) rather than from blood loss," NIH officials stated on a Web page describing the infection.
Fruit bats in the Pteropodidae family are believed to be the natural hosts of the bacteria. The disease was first identified in humans in 1976, in a pair of outbreaks, located in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The latter of these villages was located near the Ebola River, giving the disease its name.
The group has around 300 personnel in the area, and have already sent over 44 tons of supplies to the region to battle the outbreak.
