__ MEDICINE __

   by: Todd Wheatley        11-18-14

   A virus is smaller than a bacterium and can be either 
   DNA or RNa based and requires a host cell to multiply.
   Most people are familar with rhinoviruses that cause the 
   common cold.

   Aides (HIV) is a retrovirus
   -------------
   A retrovirus has a reverse transcriptase enzyme that 
   turns their RNA into DNA once in the host cell.
   
  Ebola Hemmoragic Fever is a filovirus named for the 
  Ebola river in the Democratic Republic of Congo were it 
  was discover in 1976. 
  
  --------------
  A filovirus is a single strand of RNA 

  Due to the 2014 Ebola outbreak and concerns mounting 
  in the United States President Obama appointed Ron 
  Klain as the first Ebola Czar (10-19-14).

  ---------------
   An Introduction to Ebola: The Virus and the Disease
   by: C. J. Peters, J. W. Peters
   (1999)

  Biomedical science first encountered the virus family 
  Filoviridae  when Marburg virus appeared in 1967 -- 
  a hospital in Marburg, Germany. The brief history of
  Marburg virus presages the very similar course of 
  events with Ebola virus. "Ebola," however, is not just
  one Ebola: There are 4 distinguishable subtypes. The 
  subtypes, may even be different virus species, have 
  differing properties.

  Very little is known about the virology of Ebola. For 
  example, this agent has less than a dozen genes. 
  Studies have shown that the virus inhibits gene 
  induction by interferons and double-stranded RNA in 
  endothelial cells

  Côte d'Ivoire subtype (EBO-CI) 
  Zaire subtype of Ebola virus (EBO-Z) 
  Reston virus strain (EBO-R)

  (added post 1999)
  Bundibugyo subtype
  Tai Forest subtype 

  ------------------------
  REFERENCE
  J. Infect Dis. (1999)   179  (Supplement 1):


  ---------------------------------
  CDC  (condensed data)
   
   Ebola hemorrhagic fever 

    year(s)      cases    deaths
   -------------------------------
   1976           603       431
   1977             1         1
   1979            34        22
   1994            53        31
   1995           315       250
   1996-97         99        67 
   2000-03        725       477
   2004            18         8
   2007-09        451       239
   2011-13         55        21
   ------------------------------- 

   1976-2013    2,354   1,547

   -------------------------------- 

    (jan-aug)  2014    14,400+
 
    ----------------------
    REFERENCE
    http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/history/
    chronology.html


   CDC  - diagnosis

   It may take up to three days after symptoms start for 
   the virus to reach detectable levels

  diagnosis tests include 
  * Antigen-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent 
     assay (ELISA) testing
  * IgM ELISA
  * IgM and IgG antibodies
  ----------------------------
  REFERENCE
  http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/diagnosis

  -------------------------------------------------------
   World Health Organization  (W.H.O.)
 
   note experimental Ebola vaccines
 
   (cAd3-ZEBOV) has been developed by GlaxoSmithKline 
   in collaboration with the US National Institute of Allergy 
    and Infectious Diseases

   (rVSV-ZEBOV) was developed by the Public Health 
    Agency of  Canada 
    ---------------------
    REFERENCE
    http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/ebola/
    01-october-2014/en/


    ------------------------------
    Viral hemorrhagic fevers are a group of febrile illnesses 
    caused by several distinct families of viruses, all of which 
    are enveloped and have RNA genomes. 

    the antiviral drug ribavirin can sometimes shorten the 
    course of certainhemorrhagic fevers 
    ------------------------ 
    REFERENCE
    http://www.scripps.edu/florida/philanthropy/action/ebola.html


    **  Brincidofovir, made by Chimerix of North Carolina

    **  Favipiravir, an anti-flu drug made by Japan's Fujifilm 
          Holding Corp

    **  the experimental drug ZMapp. which takes months to 
         manufacture, are now exhausted.
    ---------------------
    REFERENCE
    http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/11/12/
     ebola-clinical-trial/18919401/


     an anti-viral medicine called cidofovir
    --------------------- 
    REFERENCE
    http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/10/15/
    ebola-drug-medication-antibiotics-treatment-funding-
     research-economics-column/17326827/


     antibody cocktail -- 
     Mapp Biopharmaceutical (San Diego) developed ZMapp
     ---------------------
    REFERENCE
    http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-09-24/
    ebola-drug-zmapps-development-delayed-by-pentagon-agency


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