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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : October 16, 2014 1:03 PM IST
Recently Dubai airport was on full alert due to an Ebola scare. According to media reports a passenger who arrived at Dubai airport from Liberia via Morocco underwent tests to check for symptoms of Ebola. The passenger who was said to be suffering from diarrhoea, but did not have fever, Arab News reported citing a health ministry statement. All passengers on the same plane underwent the necessary checks for Ebola, the statement added. (Read: How the Ebola virus spreads in humans)
Here are 10 reasons that make the Ebola virus deadly for humans
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.
There is no vaccine or treatment available: What makes this virus deadly is the fact that researchers have not been able to find an effective treatment or preventive technique to combat the virus and the spread of the disease. The experimental drug Zmapp has shown promising results but the safety and efficacy of the drug are to be evaluated. So, as of now, neither do we have an effective form of therapy nor do we have a vaccine to prevent the disease.
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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