Latest Ebola News: Sierra Leone's Vice President on a self-imposed quarantine

After placing hundreds of homes under quarantine Sierra Leone's Vice President is on self-imposed quarantine following the death of one of his close bodyguards.

Sierra Leone has placed hundreds people in the capital under Ebola quarantine. Now, Sierra Leone's Vice President Alhaji Samsumana is on a self-imposed quarantine following the death of one of his close bodyguards, Deputy Minister of Information Theo Nicol said on Saturday. Read more about Ebola virus causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis and prevention

The vice president has decided to quarantine himself for 21 days to make sure he is free of the disease, Xinhua cited Nicol as saying. The bodyguard, John Koroma is reported to have died of the Ebola virus.Deputy government spokesperson Abdulai Baraytay said the vice president is keeping with the 'government's standard operating procedures' that 'irrespective of your position or status as long as you have been exposed to some one diagnosed of the Ebola virus, you must be quarantined'. Here are signs and symptoms of Ebola 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.

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.

With inputs from IANS

Image source: Getty Images

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