The third outbreak took place in Sudan in the same area as before, resulting in 34 cases and 22 deaths. More recently, outbreaks have occurred in Kikwit, Zaire in 1994, and Gabon in 1994 and 1996. The most recent outbreak may have possibly taken place in Congo in early 1999; a virus similar to Ebola killed 63 people. There has only been one recorded case of Ebola Tai infection: in 1994, a Swiss researcher caught the virus after conducting an autopsy on a chimpanzee in the Tai Forest, Ivory Coast. She was given intensive treatment in Switzerland, and survived. In total, there have been 1100 cases and 793 deaths officially resulting in Ebola since its discovery. (Tables I and II)The viruses in this family range from 800 to 1000 nanometers in length. Marburg and Ebola are distinguished by their length after purification. Infectivity depends on particular lengths: the longer, the more infectious. All Ebola viruses measure up to about the same length. Each virus particle consists of a helical-coiled tube made of four virally encoded proteins. This strand of RNA is found in an envelope formed from the host’s plasma cell membrane, which is now spiked with another carbohydrate-coated viral protein. Differences in gene sequence and very small differences in serological nature are what make each Ebola virus unique from each other, with its own antigenic and biological properties.The time needed for Ebola virus replication in infected body cells takes less than eight hours. Hundreds to thousands of new viral particles can be produced and released from the host cell within days or even hours before the host cell dies. This replication process is repeated several times in an Ebola patient before symptoms begin to show. The diagnosis of Ebola is made by the detection of Ebola antibodies, antigens or genetic material, or by the culture of the virus, in blood or other bodily fluid specimens that are examined in specialized laboratory tests. Suc...
