Discovering Ebola in 1976 - Essay Example

With regard to pathogenicity, the Ebola virus refers to an aggressive pathogen, which leads to high immunosuppression in humans and nonhuman primates. The pathogenicity of Ebola is homogenous across species of the disease since the species are associated with hemorrhagic fever outbreaks. Apparently, the Ebola virus enters host cells via mucous membranes, skin replication, and endocytosis (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). The Ebola virus affects different host cells, blood coagulation, and the immune defense system. As such, the Ebola virus causes significant immunodeficiency that usually results in fatalities.

Ebola has a high virulence. Indeed, World Health Organization confirms that the disease can lead to a 90 % case fatality rate (Kloc, 2014). Ebola virulence rate depends on its host factors like cellular enzymes that split fundamental Ebola viruses (Pozos, n.d). Nevertheless, virulence is always multigenic since Ebola has different stains (Pozos, n.d). This is evident where Ebola had a 90% fatality rate in Sudan and just 1% in Uganda. However, its low infectivity mitigates the high virulence rate (Kloc, 2014). This relates to the fact that pathogens that kill hosts have limited time to spread. As such, the need to establish a balance between Ebola’s virulence and infectivity may lead to a global pandemic (Kloc, 2014). Read More