Pregnant women had a high stillborn rate if they were infected with the virus. Patients exhibit mental confusion, agitation and delirium. Patients with primary exposure tended to have a substantially higher mortality rate than those exposed as secondary infections. Secondary infections generally were due to poor hygienic techniques in dealing with patient's bodily fluids or from the use of unsterile hypodermic needles or other unhygienic practices at area hospitals.
Transmission of Ebola.
Ebola virus is spread through close personal contact with a person who is infected with Ebola. In previous outbreaks, person-to-person spread frequently occurred among hospital care workers or family members who were caring for a person infected with Ebola virus. Blood and body fluids contain large amounts of virus, thus transmission of the virus has also occurred as a result of hypodermic needles being reused in the treatment of patients. Unlike the medical facilities in the United States, reusing needles is a common practice in developing countries, such as Zaire and Sudan, where the health care system is underfinanced. Previous outbreaks of Ebola appear to have continued only as long as a steady supply of victims came in contact with body fluids from the infected. The epidemics were resolved by teaching the local population about how to avoid spreading the disease and improving conditions at hospitals in impacted areas (unsterilized needles and syringes were a major factor in the 1976 outbreak in Zaire). Ebola's virulence may also serve to limit its spread: it's victims die so quickly that they don't have a chance to spread infection very far.
Infection of Ebola .
Following incubation periods of 4-16 days, onset is sudden, marked by fever, chills, headache, anorexia and myalgia. These signs are soon followed by nausea, vomiting, sore throat, abdominal pain and diarrhea. When first examined, patients are usually overly ill, dehydrated, apathetic and disoriented.
