Should You Be Worried About Ebola?
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Hey there. Welcome to Paging Dr. Gupta. Thanks so much for joining us. We have another outbreak to talk about. First, we talked about hantavirus back in April. That struck a small cruise ship in the South Atlantic. It does appear to be winding down, but now you've certainly heard about Ebola. So today, we're going to be pivoting to Ebola and the developing situation in Central Africa. This is a place in the world where I've spent a lot of time, specifically the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring Uganda.
What is the current Ebola outbreak and why is it concerning?
Here's the headline. The World Health Organization has declared this a public health emergency of international concern, but importantly, at the same time, the global risk remains low. The risk is high in that region, and for now, the outbreak appears to be spreading quickly. My producer Andrea is back with me. So what are people asking about? Yeah, listeners have many questions and concerns about Ebola, what it is, how it's spread, and just how deadly is it? All right, we'll have those answers. I'm also going to explain why global health experts are concerned about this, even though, again, the global risk remains low. We'll have all that when we come back from a short break. Welcome back to Paging Dr. Gupta.
Today we decided to unpack the Ebola outbreak that is now unfolding in Central Africa. So first things first, what is Ebola and how is it spread? So Ebola disease, sometimes called Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a disease caused by one of a small handful of different Ebola viruses. It is primarily transmitted to humans when they interact with animals, when they're hunting, when they're handling, when they're eating infected bushmeat, for example. And keep in mind, in this part of Central Africa, wildlife can be a resident's main source of protein. And that vital source of nutrition is a gateway for animal-to-human transmission. Now, we've been reporting on Ebola for a long time. The first human outbreaks are thought to have occurred in 1976, relatively near to where today's outbreak is centered.
Three virus types are believed to be behind most of the largest human outbreaks. One of these three, the Bundy Bugio virus, is driving the current epidemic. Now, part of the reason Ebola gets so much attention, why it's so frightening for people, is the high fatality rate. Global average, around 50%. The disease itself, if people do get sick, usually starts with what are known as dry symptoms. Fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headaches, sore throat. And then it progresses to so-called wet symptoms. vomiting, diarrhea, and sometimes internal and external bleeding can occur as the disease progresses. That's where it gets its name, the hemorrhagic fever. Now, the time between exposure and the onset of symptoms, this is called the incubation period, something we talked about with hantavirus as well.
That incubation period ranges from 2 to 21 days. So just think about that. You could be exposed and then not develop symptoms for three weeks, and therein lies part of the problem. Someone may not know that they are carrying the Ebola virus. They're not sick. They could travel around the world within that time. Now, people are not believed to be contagious until they show symptoms of the disease. Very important. We'll come back to that point. But until you're sick, you're probably not going to be spreading this to other people. There is no specific treatment or vaccine for this particular Ebola type. Now I do want to explain a couple of terms. This is a very infectious virus, but not very contagious. Highly infectious, not very contagious.
Let me explain. Infectious basically means that just a little bit of the virus can make you sick. versus contagious, which describes how transmissible it is. In the case of Ebola, it's not that contagious. It's not airborne, for example. You really have to be in direct contact with bodily fluids of an infected person, such as vomit or blood, or come in contact with contaminated materials on a person who has died of the disease. That is why you see health care workers and others dressed head to toe in what essentially look like spacesuits.
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