How is Ebola Diagnosed?

Hey m&m! Cant’ wait to see you in a couple of hours =)

This entry will be about how Ebola is diagnosed. I will talk about what procedures or tests are done to confirm that someone has Ebola rather than something else. I’ll cover a little bit on signs and symptoms but I won’t go too much in detail because my next post will be all about Ebola signs and symptoms!

It is hard to diagnosis a newly infected individual because the early symptoms presented, such as fever, are seen in other more common diseases such as malaria and typhoid fever. Other common early symptoms include muscle pain, fatigue, headache and sore throat. See below for comparisons between Ebola and other diseases! (Hint: click to make bigger) 

If someone is presenting early symptoms of Ebola and has had known contact with body fluids of an infected person or objects that were contaminated by an infected person then it is recommended for them to be isolated until they can confirm or rule out Ebola.

 Blood samples are taken in order to perform diagnostic testing for the Ebola virus.

Below are lab tests used to detect Ebola virus in the blood.  The virus is only detected in the blood after symptoms start; it also may take a few days for the virus to reach levels that are high enough to be detected. (Hint: click to make bigger) 

Click here to read a nice one page handout with good visual aids and text information about Ebola virus testing!


Resources: 

Ebola virus disease. (2014, September 1). Retrieved April 4, 2015, from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/

Ebola (Ebola Virus Disease): Diagnosis. (April 9, 2015 ). Retrieved April 11, 2015, from http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/2014-west-africa/distribution-map.html