Ebola

Ebola is the virus Ebolavirus (EBOV), a viral genus, and the disease Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), a viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF). There are four recognised species within the ebolavirus genus, which in turn have a number specific strains.The Zaire virus is the type species, which is also the first discovered and the most lethal. Electron micrographs show long filaments, characteristic of the Filoviridae viral family. The virus interferes with the endothelial cells lining the interior surface of blood vessels and platelet cells. As the blood vessel walls become damaged and the platelets are unable to coagulate, patients succumb to hypovolemic shock. Ebola is transmitted primarily through bodily fluids and to a limited extent through skin and mucous membrane contact. Ebola first emerged in 1976 in Zaire. It remained largely obscure until 1989 with a widely publicized outbreak in Reston, Virginia.