Ebola War: The Nurses of Gulu

What is Ebola?

Highly contagious form of viral hemorrhagic fever
Melts internal organs, causes bodily fluids to pour from every orifice
Causes death in up to 90% of all victims
Virus stays alive in bodies of the dead for three days
1st identified in 1976, in Africa.The big unknown – how it lives in nature
Transmitted by direct contact with the secretions of infected persons
No vaccine exists
Complicating factors: Fear, lack of protective equipment, phones and transportation, distance from diagnostic labs
Hosts: Humans, monkeys, chimpanzees, domestic guinea pigs

What does it look like?

The Ebola Virus, as
seen under a microscope

Where is it found?

Mainly in Africa. Primary countries include Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Sudan, The Ivory Coast, Uganda and Zaire

How is it treated?

Patients must be isolated under barrier nursing conditions
No current treatment exists, aside from giving patients supportive therapy. Doctors try to balance a patient's fluids and electrolytes, and keep up their blood oxygen.
Everyone around the patient must wear protective clothing – many layers of protection in most cases.

A nurse 'suits up' outside the Gulu hospital.
©2002 Dr. Bonnie Henry

What's the latest thinking on a cure?

In March 2002, researchers from the United States National Institutes of Health announced a new discovery. Preliminary findings show that the Ebola virus targets tiny platforms of fat called 'lipid rafts'. These 'rafts' float on top of the outer membrane of human cells. The virus uses the lipid raft as a gateway to those cells, and as a base for launching attacks on other cells. Scientists suspect that using anti-cholesterol or anti-fungal drugs might break up these lipid rafts. That would eliminate the base for the cells' attack on a patient's immune system. The research is published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
Find more information in our Further Reading section