Ebola Virus Disease is sometimes misdiagnosed as Malaria

It has been reported that some patients have been misdiagnosed with Malaria, when in fact the correct diagnosis in their specific case was Ebola Virus Disease.

Ebola Virus is a highly contagious zoonotic disease that spreads from person to person through contract with blood and bodily fluids of the sick person. It occurs mostly on the African continent and it’s most likely that bats or primates are the source of outbreaks. Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, rashes, internal and external bleeding as well as liver and kidney malfunction. Early symptoms of Ebola can be easily be misdiagnosed as malaria or typhoid fever. Later symptoms from the body’s inability to clot causes blood to leak from vessels causing severe inflammation and fever. These can be misdiagnosed as Marburg virus or Lassa fever

Always consult your doctor or health professional, and do not self diagnose.

Symptoms can include:

Pains, joint and muscle pain fever, aches, severe headache, gastrointestinal symptoms, abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, weakness and fatigue, sore throat, loss of appetite, unexplained haemorrhaging, bleeding or bruising

Symptoms are a guideline only and may apply to either the diagnosis or the reported misdiagnosis, or both. Consult your specialist for further information.

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