Pathways of Ebola Transmission
Studies indicate that the main risk factors of Ebola are associated with recent travels of people to endemic places, direct contact with a person infected with Ebola without the use of personal protective equipment, and exposure to body fluids of asymptomatic patients. The exposure risks for Ebola virus disease are categorized into five levels, which include high risk, some risks, low risks, and non-identifiable risks. According to the World Health Organization, the high risks for Ebola virus disease include a person’s exposure to body fluids or blood of the symptomatic patient. In this case, the mucous membrane or percutaneous of a healthy person gets in direct contact with an Ebola patient’s body fluids, increasing the risk of transmission (Claude, Underschultz & Hawkes, 2018). Processing the body fluids such as blood of a person infected with Ebola without the use of personal protective equipment. In countries with massive outbreaks of Ebola, direct contact with the dead bodies of Ebola patients was also confirmed to be a high risk of Ebola transmission.
The risk factors of Ebola considered to be some risks include direct contact with the patient while using appropriate personal, close contact in healthcare facilities, households, and community. Low or no risk levels exposure to Ebola virus disease include having brief contact with an Ebola patient in the early stages of infection. According to the study, shaking hands for a short period of time with an Ebola patient is less risky. Other practices that are considered low-risk for Ebola transmission are brief proximity, traveling on aircraft with a symptomatic person, and being in a country with cases of Ebola outbreaks for a short time without any known exposures. Recent studies show that factors such as age, gender, individual’s lifestyle, and community of residence are less likely to increase the risk of contraction of the Ebola virus disease (Claude, Underschultz & Hawkes, 2018).
Pathways of Ebola Transmission
Since the first cases of Ebola virus disease were discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan in 1976, several outbreaks have occurred in Africa. According to the World Health Organization, improper nursing techniques, and the use of contaminated needles were the modes of transmissions. The study conducted by scientists on Reston ebolavirus revealed that the virus spread one monkey to another through air droplets. The research targeted the monkey population; however, the airborne transmissions have not been proved for the Ebola virus disease (Claude, Underschultz & Hawkes, 2018). The countries that had reported cases of Ebola virus disease after the Democratic Republic of Congo developed measures such as the use of face masks, and gloves by nurses to prevent themselves from contracting the virus. It was later revealed that the Ebola virus does not spread through the air and casual contacts. The majority of Ebola virus disease transmission occurred between family members in the community; this confirmed that direct contact was the main mode of spreading the disease.
During the discovery of the Ebola virus disease, most affected regions experienced delays in the detection of cases. For instance, some individuals who had contracted the disease never showed the symptoms, and this delayed them from being taken to the hospital. As a result of this delay, the rate of transmission of the Ebola virus disease from one person to another increased, leading to more distribution of the cases. The length of hospital stays for some patients also increased the risks of transmission to nurses and patients in the facility. Studies show that the largest delays between the onset of symptoms to notification and hospitalization occurred in the Ebola outbreak in Kikwit, a region in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Rosello, Mossoko, Flasche, Van Hoek, Mbala, Camacho & Piot, 2015).