Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Researchers develop Ebola vaccine effective in a single dose

An interdisciplinary team from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and Profectus BioSciences, Inc. has developed a quick-acting vaccine that is both safe and effective with a single dose against the Ebola ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Scientists reveal weak spots in Ebola's defenses

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have identified weak spots on the surface of Ebola virus that are targeted by the antibodies in ZMapp, the experimental drug cocktail administered to several patients during ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Monkey study: Ebola vaccine works, needs booster

New monkey studies show that one shot of an experimental Ebola vaccine can trigger fast protection, but the effect waned unless the animals got a booster shot made a different way.

Medical research

Scientists discover new method Ebola virus uses to infect cells

Understanding how viruses travel once inside the human body is critical to develop effective drugs and therapies that can stop viruses in their tracks. Scientists at Texas Biomedical Research Institute (Texas Biomed) recently ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

A new look inside Ebola's 'viral factories'

New research in the journal Nature Communications gives scientists an important window into how Ebola virus replicates inside host cells. The study, led by scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), reveals the ...

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Ebola

Ivory Coast ebolavirus Reston ebolavirus Sudan ebolavirus

Ebola is the common term for a group of viruses belonging to genus Ebolavirus (EBOV), which is a part of the family Filoviridae, and for the disease that they cause, Ebola hemorrhagic fever. The virus is named after the Ebola River, where the first recognized outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever occurred. The viruses are characterized by long filaments, and have a shape similar to that of the Marburg virus, also in the family Filoviridae, and possessing similar disease symptoms.

There are a number of species within the ebolavirus genus, which in turn have a number of specific strains or serotypes. The Zaïre virus is the type species, which is also the first discovered and the most lethal. Ebola is transmitted primarily through bodily fluids and to a limited extent through skin and mucous membrane contact. The virus interferes with the endothelial cells lining the interior surface of blood vessels and platelet cells. As the blood vessel walls become damaged and the platelets are unable to coagulate, patients succumb to hypovolemic shock.

Ebola first emerged in 1976 in Zaire. It remained largely obscure until 1989 with a widely publicized outbreak in Reston, Virginia.

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