factors and heparin if disseminated intravascular coagulation develops. Such care must be administered with strict attention to barrier isolation. All body fluids (blood, saliva, urine, and stool) contain infectious virions and should be handled with great care.
Currently, no specific therapy is available that has demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of Ebola hemorrhagic fever. Surgical intervention generally follows a mistaken diagnosis in which Ebola-associated abdominal signs are mistaken for a surgical abdominal emergency. Such a mistake may be fatal for the patient and for any surgical team members who become contaminated with the patient’s blood.
There are no commercially available Ebola vaccines. However, a recombinant human monoclonal antibody directed against the envelope GP of Ebola has been demonstrated to possess neutralizing activity. This Ebola neutralizing antibody may be useful in vaccine development or as a passive prophylactic agent. Work on a vaccine continues.