Ebola virus disease /ēbō″lə/ [Ebola River District, Congo] , an infection caused by a species of ribonucleic acid viruses of the Filovirus genus. There are four identified subtypes of Ebola virus: Côte d’Ivoire, Sudan, and Zaire, which have been associated with human disease, and Reston, which causes fatal hemorrhagic disease in nonhuman primates and originated in the Philippines. Also called African hemorrhagic fever, Ebola hemorrhagic fever. See also Marburg virus disease. ▪ OBSERVATIONS: The incubation period ranges from 2 to 21 days. Initial symptoms include high fever, headache, chills, myalgia, sore throat, red itchy eyes, and malaise. Later symptoms include severe abdominal pain, chest pain, bleeding, shock, vomiting, and diarrhea. Maculopapular rash may occur in some patients. ▪ INTERVENTIONS: Treatment is supportive; in nearly 90% of cases, death occurs within 1 week. It is not known why some patients are able to recover from the Ebola virus while others are not, but the latter have no detectable immune response to the infection. ▪ PATIENT CARE CONSIDERATIONS: The natural reservoir and method of transmission of primary infections are unknown, but secondary infection is by direct contact with infectious blood or other body secretions, in research settings, or by airborne particles.
