Dr. Jessica Pelletier and Noah Kronk speak with Dr. Gaston Omba, an emergency medicine resident physician with expertise in international cooperation, humanitarian aid, health management, and ebola epidemic response.

Take-Home Points:

• Ebola virus outbreaks typically occur in Sub-Saharan Africa
• The natural reservoir is thought to be bats, but this isn’t definitive
• Early detection of suspected Ebola cases is crucial to prevent viral spread
• Fever is the most common early symptom, and may be accompanied by headaches, myalgias, GI symptoms, or rash
  • Since these symptoms are non-specific, we need to take excellent travel and exposure histories
• Later symptoms include bleeding, shock, multiorgan failure, and death, which occur in the 2nd week of disease
• Transmission is via direct contact with infected patients or their body fluids
• Healthcare workers need to ensure strict use of PPE to prevent infection of themselves or other patients

You can view the full show notes and references here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1193rLGFHzSXLY2rnUzUc5m0utFjAGCRVUPNG3oULKFw/edit?usp=sharing

Episode art attribution: By BernbaumJG - Own work, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64106638

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