As the Ebola virus continues to cause massive death in Africa, here are some tips to help avoid it.

ebola

  1. Wash your hands regularly with soap and clean water and use clean towels to dry them.
  2. Do not touch your face, mouth, lips, eyes or nose.  These are common vectors for the deadly disease, as it is not airborne.  This should be generally avoided as it is common for many diseases and viruses to be transmitted this way.
  3. No Touching, Avoid touching anyone who you suspect is ill, let alone has Ebola. Ebola is spread through bodily fluids, including sweat, blood, urine, excrement, vomit and other discharge.  In general you should try to avoid this in the first place, but with the hand shake and the business culture, perhaps the bow would be more appropriate?
  4. Avoid public areas and large crowds.  This should go without saying, but where there are more people, the chances of contact increase.
  5. Do not panic

Avoid dead bodies.  While America and most of the civilized world tends to do this, in many parts of the globe people have to deal with their own dead loved ones.

 

  • Symptoms include high fever, bleeding and central nervous system damage
  • Fatality rate can reach 90% – but current outbreak has mortality rate of about 55%
  • Incubation period is two to 21 days
  • There is no vaccine or cure
  • Supportive care such as rehydrating patients who have diarrhoea and vomiting can help recovery