page_title: Ebola
section_title: Caregivers
hierarchical_section_title: Ebola / Prevention / Infection control / Caregivers
caption_attribution_description: Senior Sister Donna Wood has been nursing for 29 years. She's one of the many medics from across Britain's National Health Service who are joining the UK's fight against Ebola in Sierra Leone. "I'd been following the stories on the news and I felt I had to do this straight away: I could use the skills I’ve got to make a difference and join a team to help bring the disease under control." The medics - who include GPs, nurses, clinicians, psychiatrists and consultants in emergency medicine - will work on testing, diagnosing and treating people who have contracted the deadly virus. "I'm feeling very prepared. We’ve had gold standard training – second to none. Now I just want to get out there and use my skills. You don’t think of it as being heroic. It’s just what we do." Find out more about the medics behind the mask in our special feature: bit.ly/medicsbehindthemask Picture: Simon Davis/DFID Free-to-use photo This image is posted under a Creative Commons - Attribution Licence, in accordance with the Open Government Licence. You are free to embed, download or otherwise re-use it, as long as you credit the source as 'Simon Davis/DFID'.
context_page_description: Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease or Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a viral hemorrhagic fever of humans and other primates caused by ebolaviruses. Signs and symptoms typically start between two days and three weeks after contracting the virus with a fever, sore throat, muscular pain, and headaches. Vomiting, diarrhoea and rash usually follow, along with decreased function of the liver and kidneys. At this time, some people begin to bleed both internally and externally. The disease has a high risk of death, killing 25% to 90% of those infected, with an average of about 50%. This is often due to low blood pressure from fluid loss, and typically follows six to 16 days after symptoms appear.
  The virus spreads through direct contact with body fluids, such as blood from infected humans or other animals. Spread may also occur from contact with items recently contaminated with bodily fluids. Spread of the disease through the air between primates, including humans, has not been documented in either laboratory or natural conditions. Semen or breast milk of a person after recovery from EVD may carry the virus for several weeks to months.
context_section_description: People who care for those infected with Ebola should wear protective clothing including masks, gloves, gowns and goggles. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommend that the protective gear leaves no skin exposed. These measures are also recommended for those who may handle objects contaminated by an infected person's body fluids. In 2014, the CDC began recommending that medical personnel receive training on the proper suit-up and removal of personal protective equipment (PPE); in addition, a designated person, appropriately trained in biosafety, should be watching each step of these procedures to ensure they are done correctly. In Sierra Leone, the typical training period for the use of such safety equipment lasts approximately 12 days.
caption: British woman wearing protective gear
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