Ebola: What Are The Symptoms?

Public fear of the Ebola virus has begun to spread far beyond West Africa, where it has taken the lives of at least 887 people. Medical institutions in the U.S. and beyond are on alert to identify and immediately isolate any patient who presents with symptoms that may be related to the illness.

What exactly are doctors looking for when they suspect a patient may have the Ebola virus?

Ebola, which has a mortality rate between 60 and 96 percent, is a systemic virus, meaning it impacts all organs that control various functions in the body. But before it attacks the gastrointestinal, respiratory, vascular, muscular, neurological and immune systems, Ebola starts off looking a lot like the flu.

At its onset, a patient may experience fatigue, fever, headache, sore throat and pain in the joints and muscles. The initial symptoms are so common that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says cases are often misdiagnosed.

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