Disaster : Biological

Perspective
Ebola Virus Disease (EVD)

Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a severe disease caused by

Ebola virus, a member of the filovirus family, which
occurs in humans and other primates. The disease
emerged in 1976 in almost simultaneous outbreaks in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Sudan
(now South Sudan). 2
Over 28, 000
cases
The largest outbreak to date took place in West
Africa between March 2014 and June 2016,
affecting primarily Guinea, Liberia and Sierra
Leone.
3
79 Confirmed
and Probable
cases
The most recent EVD outbreak has been ongoing in
the Democratic Republic of Congo (Equateur
Province) since June 2020. As of 9 August 2020,
there had been 79 confirmed and probable cases.
4
Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) Early
Symptoms
➢ Fatigue
➢ Fever
➢ Muscle Pain
➢ Headache
➢ Sore Throat
➢ Weakness
5
Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) Later
Symptoms
➢ Nausea
➢ Diarrhea
➢ Stomach Pain
➢ Unexplained Bruising or Bleeding, such
as Bloody Nose, Bloodshot Eyes, or
Bloody Urine or Diarrhea
6
Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) Causes
The exact cause of EVD is unknown. Scientists believe
that it is animal-borne and most likely comes from
bats, which transmit the Ebola virus to other animals
and humans. There is no proof that mosquitos or other
insects can transmit the virus. Once infected, a person
can spread the virus to other people.
7
The Ebola virus is spread through:
▸ Blood of a person infected with the virus.

▸ Body fluids, such as breast milk, stool, saliva, semen, sweat,

urine, or vomit, of a person infected with the virus.

▸ Objects, such as needles or syringes, that are contaminated

with the virus. 8
The Ebola virus is spread through:
▸ Animals, such as bats and primates, that are infected with
the virus.

▸ Direct contact means that a person’s eye, mouth, nose, or

broken skin touches contaminated blood, fluids, or an
object. Broken skin may be a cut, scratch, scrape, or open
wound
9
Dengue Virus
The dengue viruses are members of the genus
Flavivirus in the family Flaviviridae. Along with the
dengue virus, this genus also includes a number of
other viruses transmitted by mosquitoes and ticks that
are responsible for human diseases. Flavivirus includes
the yellow fever, West Nile, Japanese encephalitis, and
tick-borne encephalitis viruses. 10
Dengue Virus
In 1943, Ren Kimura and Susumu Hotta first isolated
the dengue virus. These two scientists were studying
blood samples of patients taken during the 1943
dengue epidemic in Nagasaki, Japan

11
Dengue Virus
A year later, Albert B. Sabin and Walter Schlesinger
independently isolated the dengue virus. Both pairs of
scientists had isolated the virus now referred to as
dengue virus 1 (DEN-1).

12
DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, and DEN-4
These four viruses are called serotypes because each has different
interactions with the antibodies in human blood serum. The four
dengue viruses are similar — they share approximately 65% of
their genomes — but even within a single serotype, there is some
genetic variation. Despite these variations, infection with each of
the dengue serotypes results in the same disease and range of
clinical symptoms.
13
Are these four viruses all found in the same regions of the
world?
In the 1970s, both DEN-1 and DEN-2 were
found in Central America and Africa, and
all four serotypes were present in
Southeast Asia.

14
Are these four viruses all found in the same regions of the
world?
By 2004, however, the geographical distribution of
the four serotypes had spread widely. Now all four
dengue serotypes circulate together in tropical and
subtropical regions around the world.

15
Where did the dengue viruses first come
from?
Scientists hypothesize that the dengue viruses evolved in
nonhuman primates and jumped from these primates to
humans in Africa or Southeast Asia between 500 and
1,000 years ago.

16
Dengue Virus
The clinical picture of “breakbone fever” became more
serious in the 1960s as cases of severe dengue (dengue
hemorrhagic fever; DHF) and dengue shock syndrome
occurred during epidemics in Southeast Asia.

17
Dengue Virus
Dengue is endemic in at least 100 countries in Asia,
the Pacific, the Americas, the Caribbean and Africa,
with estimates that 50 to 100 million infections occur
yearly, resulting in 500,000 DHF cases and 22,000
deaths, mostly among children.

18
Dengue Virus
Successful efforts to eliminate urban yellow fever
in the Americas by controlling the A. aegypti
mosquito in the first half of the 20th century
virtually eliminated dengue fever there.

19
Dengue Virus
Dengue reappeared in the Caribbean in the early
1960s, spread through the islands and then into
tropical and subtropical mainland countries of the
Americas, becoming a significant public health
problem starting in the early 1980s.

20
Dengue Virus
The efforts to eradicate A. aegypti ended about this
time, and the mosquito rapidly became
reestablished in the American tropics and subtropics
and was transmitting all four dengue virus serotypes
(DENV-1, -2, -3 and -4).

21
Dengue Virus
Brazil reported 1.2 million dengue cases in the first 4
months of 2016. Both classical dengue fever as well
as DHF occurred across the Americas and continue to
the present time.

22
Symptoms
When symptoms do occur, they may be mistaken
for other illnesses — such as the flu — and usually
begin four to 10 days after you are bitten by an
infected mosquito.

23
Symptoms
▸ high fever — 104 F (40 C)
▸ Headache
▸ Muscle, bone or joint pain
▸ Nausea
▸ Vomiting
▸ Pain behind the eyes
▸ Swollen glands
24
▸ Rash
Severe Dengue
Most people recover within a week or so. In some
cases, symptoms worsen and can become life-
threatening. This is called severe dengue, dengue
hemorrhagic fever or dengue shock syndrome.

25
Severe Dengue
Severe dengue happens when your blood vessels
become damaged and leaky. And the number of clot-
forming cells (platelets) in your bloodstream drops.
This can lead to shock, internal bleeding, organ
failure and even death.

26
Symptoms
▸ Severe stomach pain
▸ Persistent vomiting
▸ Bleeding from your gums or nose
▸ Blood in your urine, stools or vomit
▸ Bleeding under the skin, which might look like bruising
▸ Difficult or rapid breathing
▸ Fatigue
▸ Irritability or restlessness 27
Polio
▸ Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a disabling and life-threatening
disease caused by the poliovirus

▸ The virus spreads from person to person and can infect

a person’s spinal cord, causing paralysis (can’t move
parts of the body).
28
Polio
1894, first outbreak of polio in epidemic form in the
U.S. occurs in Vermont, with 132 cases. 1908, Karl
Landsteiner and Erwin Popper identify a virus as the
cause of polio by transmitting the disease to a
monkey. 1916, large epidemic of polio within the
United States.
29
Non-paralytic Polio
▸ fever
▸ sore throat
▸ headache
▸ vomiting
▸ fatigue
▸ back and neck pain

30
Non-paralytic Polio

▸ arm and leg stiffness

▸ muscle tenderness and spasms
▸ meningitis, an infection of the membranes
surrounding the brain

31