Ebola outbreak: how it spreads and prospects for a vaccine
5/21/20260 min
The World Health Organization has declared a public health emergency of international concern over an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
How does the disease spread, how can it be treated and how concerned should we be?
Further Information:
- Why is there no vaccine for this Ebola outbreak?
- Ebola vaccine could take nine months as death toll rises further, WHO warns.
- Ebola disease in DRC and Uganda.
- Epidemic of Ebola Disease caused by Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda determined a public health emergency of international concern.
- Absence of USAID likely slowed Ebola detection and response, former officials say
Clips
Transcript
23 sentencesNorman Swan· Host0:00
[gentle music] Welcome to a bonus episode of The Health Report, which is on Ebola virus, given the current outbreak in the Congo and Uganda.
Priya Alexander· Host0:10
It's probably worth us just starting with Ebola virus.
Norman Swan· Host0:13
The basics.
Priya Alexander· Host0:13
Yes. What we are discussing, because we're talking about a group of viruses, the Ebola virus family.
Norman Swan· Host0:19
A family of three probably.
Priya Alexander· Host0:21
Well, six, but four are known to cause issues in humans.
Norman Swan· Host0:25
[laughs] Well, the Australian CDC says three, and a lot of the publicity. So it's a question of just how many variants there might be.
Priya Alexander· Host0:33
Yes. Okay.
Norman Swan· Host0:33
But you're right. I think, I think the problem is v- virus, families of viruses have lots of relatives, and some are disease-causing and some are not. And coronavirus is a classic example of that.
Priya Alexander· Host0:44
And it's worth pointing out that when you've heard about Ebola virus outbreaks before in Congo and other places before, it's often been the strain called Zaire or Ebola virus strain, and this is not what is causing issues in the Democratic Republic of Congo at the moment, and that is part of the issue here. But it's a group of viruses, very nonspecific symptoms. Fevers- To start off with anyway ... chills. Yes, people can have disruption of their coagulation or clotting pathways later, and they can develop clotting and bleeding. But it is a group of viruses that has a high fatality rate.
Norman Swan· Host1:22
Up to 50%. But you can save people's lives with supportive care. So it's not inevitable, even when