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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : October 21, 2014 6:39 PM IST
An Australian nurse, who was admitted to a hospital in Cairns for symptoms of the Ebola virus, is set to return to lead normal life after three weeks in isolation, Brisbane Time reported. Australian Red Cross aid worker Sue Ellen Kovack was admitted to a Cairns hospital earlier this month days after she returned from Sierra Leone where she was working as a nurse, attending Ebola patients for a month. (Read: How the Ebola virus spreads in humans)
The 57-year-old was twice tested negative for the virus before she was discharged from the hospital Oct 13 to complete the 21-day incubation period for Ebola at home. Kovack has pleaded for greater action to fight the disease, which has killed thousands in west Africa since March 2014. (Read: Ebola virus signs and symptoms you need to watch out for!)
Here s are some interesting facts about the Ebola virus that make it so deadly.
It can kill within seven days: Unlike other viruses (like HIV) that can remain dormant in a person for years without causing the disease, Ebola violently multiplies until the viral particles are amplified to about 100 million viral particles in a droplet of blood. Further, without resting in a dormant stage the virus kills the host to find a new one. The fatality rate of the disease is 60 percent.
Attacks every part of the human body: Ebola only needs a host cell that can help it produce multiple copies of itself. What worsens the condition is the fact that the virus does not need a specific type of cell to multiply (unlike other deadly diseases). According to studies, except for skeletal muscles and bones, the virus is known to infect every part of the human body. Connective tissues, the ones that hold your internal organs in place, are primary targets of the virus.
Disrupts your immune system: Viral proteins present on the outer surface of the Ebola virus are what destroy the immune system. VP35, one of those proteins, interferes with the production of some important components of the human immune system, like interferons. Another protein traps the white blood cells inside the circulatory system by limiting their movement. As a response to the virus, whatever molecules the immune cells release are used by the virus to devastate the vascular system and activate blood clot formation. Read more about 10 reasons that make the Ebola virus deadly for humans
With inputs from IANS
Photo source: Getty images
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