Ebola - the End of Humanity

Ebola is the name of a group of viruses belonging to the genus Ebolavirus, family Filoviridae, and for the disease that these viruses cause, Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever. Ebola, and its close relative Marburg are unique in the microbiological world in that they are the only viruses that are long and stretched, resembling pieces of string or as "spaghetti that had spilled onto the floor," as stated by author Richard Preston of the non-fictional book "The Hot Zone." that a sample of Ebolavirus and Marburgvirus resembles spaghetti that had spilled onto the floor. However, like a majority of viruses that affects humans, the Ebola Virus is composed of a coiled strand of ribonucleic acid (RNA) surrounded by a protein encasing covered with protein spikes; four of the proteins that make up Ebola 's envelope are vaguely understood by scientists in their main function other than the fact that these proteins help break down the structural proteins in the human body. Ebola is a zoonotic virus and disease – it comes straight from animals. Because of this fact, each index case in each outbreak is somehow linked to exposure to an infected animal, many times, an ape or monkey. Thus, the virus has a special affinity to primates, and scientists are not sure at the moment of what animal serves as the host or are involved in the life cycle of the virus. Ebola is named after the Ebola River in the African nation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, near the villages where the first recognized outbreaks had occurred during 1976. There are at least five-known strains of Ebola: Sudan Ebolavirus, Zaïre Ebolavirus, Reston Ebolavirus, Ivory Coast Ebolavirus, and the recently discovered Bundibugyo Ebolavirus. The mortality rates for the Ebola virus varies with strain; patients suffering from Ebola Sudan has a mortality rate of 53%, and the most lethal being Ebola Zaire with a mortality rate of 90%. Ebola Reston, which is frighteningly similar to Ebola Zaire (to the point that virologists

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