Ebola 101: Know the facts Published Nov. 6, 2014 By 19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. -- Military members and their families remain constantly in tune with current events across the globe, as it is their duty to respond at a moment's notice to serve their Nation. At Little Rock Air Force Base this has not changed with the news of the Ebola crisis and the current and impending military response efforts. The Ebola epidemic has sparked concerns, controversy, but mostly questions. With all the information congestion on the internet, through the media and on different social media platforms, it is hard to know what is actually true and what is not. The following information may help dispel some myths, improve your understanding of the virus, and assist yourself and your family in proper preventative measures: What is Ebola? According to the Center for Disease Control, Ebola also known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a rare and deadly disease caused by infection with one of the Ebola virus strains. Ebola can cause disease in humans and nonhuman primates such as monkeys, gorillas and chimpanzees. Ebola was first discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. How do people get Ebola? Ebola is spread through DIRECT contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with · Blood or body fluids · Objects such as needles or syringes that have been contaminated with the virus · Infected animals · Ebola is NOT spread through the air or by water, or in general, food What are the symptoms of Ebola? · Fever greater than 101.5 degrees and is almost always the first symptom · Severe headache · Muscle pain · Weakness · Diarrhea · Vomiting · Abdominal/stomach pain · Unexplained hemorrhage(bleeding or bruising) What is the military's role in West Africa? Although military service members are performing missions in Africa, most service members will not be performing missions that place them at risk to catch the virus. The National Center for Medical Intelligence has deemed the risk to nonmedical DOD personnel to be low, and Force Health Protection teams are taking all appropriate measures to ensure that all personnel will comply with personal protection measures and use appropriate personal protective equipment. The CDC is consistently monitoring the situation and will determine if changes in PPM are required. Can Ebola mutate and become an airborne disease? No known virus has ever changed its basic mode of transmission. In other words, viruses that spread from person-to-person through body contact or contact through blood and body fluids have never changed to become spread through airborne contact, which means that the Ebola virus cannot be transmitted through infected particles that remain in the air when a person sneezes or coughs. If it transmits by blood, can it be transmitted through mosquitoes? Diseases that travel through other animals have to be able to survive in the other animal to be able to transmit it to humans. Malaria, for example, can only be transmitted to humans through certain types of mosquitoes. Ebola only lives in certain mammals and cannot live in mosquitoes; therefore it is not transmitted by mosquitoes. For more information on the virus, protective measures, visuals and testing procedures, visit http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/about.html or http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/. Through these two websites, updates and the latest information on the Ebola virus are available.