Preventive Measures against the Ebola Virus

Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a rare but severe, often fatal illness in humans.

Ebola causes an acute, serious illness that is often fatal if untreated. EVD first appeared in 1976 in 2 simultaneous outbreaks, one in what is now Nzara, South Sudan, and the other in Yambuku, DRC. The latter occurred in a village near the Ebola River, from which the disease takes its name.

The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.

The following preventive measures are recommended for people in an area affected by an outbreak:

1. Practice careful hygiene (e.g., wash hands with soap and water, alcohol-based hand sanitizer, or chlorine solution)
2. Avoid contact with body fluids and do not handle items that have come into contact with an infected person’s body fluids (e.g., clothes, medical equipment, needles)
3. Avoid funeral or burial rituals that require handling of the body of someone who has died from confirmed or suspected Ebola virus infection
4. Avoid contact with nonhuman primates and bats, including body fluids or raw meat prepared from these animals
5. Returning travelers (including healthcare workers) should follow local policies for surveillance and monitor their health for 21 days and seek medical attention if symptoms develop, especially fever.
6. Practice proper infection control and sterilization measures
7. Isolate suspected patients from each other if possible, and confirmed patients from suspected patients
8. Avoid direct contact with bodies of people who have died from confirmed or suspected infection. During epidemics, direct contact with any dead body should be avoided
9. Notify health officials if you have direct contact with the body fluids of an infected patient.

10. Avoid Public toilets/ First clean them to be us