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Twenty years ago Ebola virus first emerged in simultaneous outbreaks in Sudan and Zaire. Two following outbreaks have occurred, but transmission among human populations has not been sustained. Despite considerable progress in our understanding of Ebola we have no ....

Middle of Essay
.... with secondary spread to other health workers and to family members acting as carers. Two thirds of the deaths have been among health workers. Until the outbreak provoked a response, Kikwit General Hospital was short of barrier nursing supplies and disinfectants. The current outbreak resembles earlier African out breaks, in which the first cases were found in hospitals where infection control mechanisms were not in place because of economic controls. Ebola virus was spread to health workers in contact with body fluids, and also from patient to patient by the reuse of unsterilized needles. Secondary transmission occurred also among family members who ....