BACKGROUND INFORMATION Ebola Haemorrhagic Fever
Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness
affecting humans and other primates
The first EVD outbreaks occurred in remote villages in Central Africa, nent tropical rainforests. The 2014-
2016 outbreak in West Africa was the largest and most complex Ebola outbreak since the virus was firs
discovered in 1978. There were more cases and deaths in this outbreak than all other combined
Taxonomy and viral structure
EVD is caused by the Ebolavirus, one of three filovirus genera belonging to the taxonomio family of viruse
called Filoviridae. There are four species of the Ebolavirus known to cause disease in humans viz Zair
Sudan: Tal Forest; and Bundibugyo. Structurally, filoviruses contain single-stranded RNA, housed with
a capsid and enveloped in a lipid membrane. They usually appear as long, sometimes branched, flamen
Recent outbreak: 2018-2020
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) declared their tenth outbreak of Ebola in 40 years on 1 Aug
2018. The outbreak is centred in the northeast of the country.
With the number of cases having surpassed 3,000, it is now by far the country's largest ever Ebola outbre
It is also the second biggest Ebola epidemic ever recorded, behind the West Africa outbreak of 2014-20
The national laboratory (INRB) confimed on 7 August 2018 that the current outbreak is of the Zaire E
virus, the deadliest species and the same one that affected West Africa during the 2014-2016 outros​