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Written By: Editorial Team | Updated : October 13, 2014 11:15 AM IST
A healthcare worker in the US tested positive for the deadly Ebola virus that has claimed more than 3,700 lives since march this year. The health worker, an employee of Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, helped treat Thomas Eric Duncan, the first US patient diagnosed with the Ebola virus. Texas health authorities revealed that the worker has tested positive for the disease in the preliminary test, who has been isolated since the worker reported low-grade-fever.(Read: What is the Ebola virus disease survival rate?)
A preliminary test done at a state public health laboratory in Austin, capital of Texas, showed that the worker had contracted the virus, the statement said. Another test to confirm the diagnosis will be conducted by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. If test results hold, it would be the first case of Ebola contracted in the country. Earlier, a sheriff's deputy who visited the apartment where Duncan stayed, was hospitalised after showing Ebola-like symptoms but later tested negative. The deputy has been discharged from hospital. Officials are now tracking down those who may have had contact with the health care worker since the person began showing symptoms and have placed them under observation. (Read: What is the Ebola incubation period?)
Ebola is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids of an infected person only when he is symptomatic. The health care worker is among some 50 people who are being monitored for possibly having had contact with Duncan, a Liberian visitor. Duncan arrived in Dallas Sep 20 and fell ill several days later. He had already been showing symptoms during his first visit to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Sep 25 but the hospital did not weigh his case until his second visit Sep 28. (Read: Ebola facts frequently asked questions (FAQ))
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.
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. 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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