Ebola Virus (EBV)
Dis-ease Prevention, Maintenance, and Cure
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Reducing the risk of Ebola infection in people
In the absence of effective treatment and a human vaccine, raising
awareness of the risk factors for Ebola infection and the protective
measures individuals can take is the only way to reduce human
infection and death.
During EVD outbreaks, educational public health messages for risk
reduction should focus on several factors:
- Reducing the risk of wildlife-to-human transmission from
contact with infected fruit bats or monkeys/apes and the
consumption of their raw meat. Animals should be handled
with gloves and other appropriate protective clothing. Animal
products (blood and meat) should be thoroughly cooked
before consumption.
- Reducing the risk of human-to-human transmission in the
community arising from direct or close contact with infected
patients, particularly with their bodily fluids. Close physical
contact with Ebola patients should be avoided. Gloves and
appropriate personal protective equipment should be worn
when taking care of ill patients at home. Regular hand washing
is required after visiting patients in hospital, as well as after
taking care of patients at home.
- Communities affected by Ebola should inform the population
about the nature of the disease and about outbreak
containment measures, including burial of the dead. People
who have died from Ebola should be promptly and safely
buried.
E.g., Pig farms in Africa can play a role in the amplification of
infection because of the presence of fruit bats on these farms.
Appropriate bio-security measures should be in place to limit
transmission. For RESTV, educational public health messages
should focus on reducing the risk of pig-to-human transmission as a
result of unsafe animal husbandry and slaughtering practices, and
unsafe consumption of fresh blood, raw milk or animal tissue.
Gloves and other appropriate protective clothing should be worn
when handling sick animals or their tissues and when slaughtering
animals. In regions where RESTV has been reported in pigs, all
animal products (blood, meat and milk) should be thoroughly
cooked before eating.
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Once a communicable/infectious dis-sease is contracted/confirmed, it
is important to isololate/quarantine the patient and take additional
preventive precautions when attending to the needs of the patient.
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Controlling infection in health-care settings
Health-care workers should always take standard precautions when
caring for patients, regardless of the their presumed diagnosis.
These include basic hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, use of
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) (to block splashes or other
contact with infected materials), safe injection practices and safe
burial practices.
Human-to-human transmission of the Ebola virus is primarily
associated with direct or indirect contact with blood and body
fluids. Transmission to health-care workers has been reported
when appropriate infection control measures have not been
observed.
It is not always possible to identify patients with EBV early because
initial symptoms may be non-specific. For this reason, it is
important that health-care workers apply standard precautions
consistently with all patients – regardless of their diagnosis – in all
work practices at all times. These include basic hand hygiene,
respiratory hygiene, the use of personal protective equipment
(according to the risk of splashes or other contact with infected
materials), safe injection practices and safe burial practices.
Health-care workers caring for patients with suspected or
confirmed Ebola virus should apply, in addition to standard
precautions, other infection control measures to avoid any
exposure to the patient’s blood and body fluids and direct
unprotected contact with the possibly contaminated environment
(e.g., surfaces or materials such as clothing and bedding). When in
close contact (within 1 metre) of patients with EBV, health-care
workers should wear face protection (a face shield or a medical
mask and goggles), a clean, non-sterile long-sleeved gown, and
gloves (sterile gloves for some procedures).
Laboratory workers are also at risk. Samples taken from suspected
human and animal Ebola cases for diagnosis should be handled by
trained staff and processed in suitably equipped laboratories.
WHO provides expertise and documentation to support disease
investigation and control.
Source: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/;
Retrieved September 27, 2014
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