Knowledge, Attitudes And Perceptions Of Community Members Toward The Ebola Virus Disease (Evd) In Paga, Kasena-Nankana West District

 INTRODUCTION Background Information According to Sanchez, Geisbert & Feldmann (2006), Ebola Virus Disease, formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever is a severe Zoonotic disease (ECDC, 2014). There are five distinct subtypes of the Ebola virus namely, Ebola Virus (formally known as Zaïre Ebola Virus), Ebola-Sudan Virus, Ebola-Ivory Coast Virus, EbolaBundibugyo Virus and Ebola-Reston Virus. The EVD has mostly occurred in SubSahara Africa since its discovery in 1976. The first cases of EVD were detected in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sudan in 1976. It reoccurred in DRC in 1977, 1995, 2007 and 2008, and in Sudan in the year 1979 and 2004. In Gabon it occurred in 1994, 1996, 2001 and 2002; Uganda in 2000 and 2007. There was another outbreak in the Republic of Congo in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005 (WHO, 2014). The most recent outbreak began in Guinea in December 2013 (Baize et al., 2014; Bausch & Schwarz, 2014) and has subsequently spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria (ECDC, 2014). Compared to all previous outbreaks combined, the recent outbreak of EVD in West Africa (involving Zaire Ebola Virus), is the largest outbreak of EVD in history (CDC, 2014). It is also the first to occur in West Africa, a region outside the previously known range of the Ebola Virus. (David et al., 2014). Fruit bats have been identified to be the likely natural reservoir of the EVD (Leroy et al., 2005), and it is believed that, wildlife, particular the great apes, contract infections with Ebola viruses from infected bats. In Africa, it is believed that wildlife such as chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys of the species Hypsignathus and Epomops, forest antelopes, and porcupines contract the disease from bats (WHO, 2014; Groseth, Feldmann & Strong, 2007). Other possible routes of transmission, as put forward by Feldmann & Geisbert (2011), are person-to-person direct contact with an infected person, secretions (semen and breast milk), organs (ear, mouth and nose), and blood or body fluids (urine, saliva, sweat, faeces, vomit). Direct contact with the body of an infected deceased person during funeral ceremonies plays a significant role in the transmission of the disease. Improper control measures among healthcare workers who come in close contact with infected patients can also expose healthcare workers to the disease (Carvalho, 2014). A person infected with Ebola is not contagious until symptoms appear, usually begining 8 to 10 days after a person has been exposed to an ill Ebola person. However, symptoms may begin anywhere from 2 to 21 days after the exposure. Typical signs and symptoms of Ebola infection are fever (temperature greater than 37.5°C), severe headache, muscle and joint pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, stomach pain, unexplained bleeding or bruising (Martin & Reichelderfer 1994). Currently, there are no specific vaccines or medicines (such as antiviral drugs) that have been proven to work against the Ebola virus. Sick patients are treated by providing relief to their symptoms as they appear. Typical treatment can involve providing intravenous (IV) fluids and monitoring body electrolytes, maintaining oxygen status and blood pressure, and treating other infections as they happen. Ebola vaccine trials will start in West Africa in December 2014, a month earlier than planned, and will involve hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses which will be available by mid-2015 (CDC, 2014). People who recover from Ebola infection develop antibodies that last for at least 10 years, possibly longer. It is not known if people who recover are immune for life or if they can become infected with a different species of Ebola. Some people who have recovered from Ebola have developed long-term complications, such as joint and vision problems (CDC, 2014). According to CDC (2014), the following prevention measures when practiced can help protect an individual from getting infected with EVD: Practicing personal hygiene (washing hands with soap and water/alcohol-based hand sanitizer, and avoiding direct contact with blood and body fluids). Avoid handling items that have come in contact with an infected person‟s blood or body fluids (clothes, bedding, needles, and medical equipment). Avoid attending funerals or engaging in burial rituals that involve direct contact with Ebola dead bodies.