The Ebola virus passes into the eyes through the optic nerve. It leaves lesions on the peripheral part of the retina.
While a new outbreak of the Ebola virus has been identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo, affecting 17 people and already killing 3, scientists continue to learn lessons from the previous epidemic. Between 2013 and 2015, in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, it affected almost 30,000 people, of whom more than 11,000 had died.
Researchers at the University of Liverpool (UK) studied the eyes of 82 Ebola survivors in Sierra Leone. In the review Emerging Infectious Diseases, they report that in 15% of them, a characteristic scar is present on the retina.
“The distribution of these scars on the retina is the first observational evidence that the virus enters the eye through the optic nerve to reach the retina, in a manner similar to West Nile virus,” says Dr. Paul Steptoe, ophthalmologist at the University of Liverpool and lead author of the study. Fortunately, they spare the central part of the eye, and vision is therefore preserved. “
Hidden virus
The eye, like the brain or spinal cord, is indeed a fallback zone for the virus, which can remain hidden there by exploiting a vulnerability in the immune system, scientists explain. These organs benefit from what doctors call the immune privilege, which also concerns the uterus: they can accommodate a foreign body, without triggering an immune reaction.
The testes are also one of the organs for which the immune response is different. The Ebola virus can therefore hide there. Its presence seems to persist in semen for 9 months to over a year, according to studies.
Ebola virus disease causes sudden, non-specific, flu-like symptoms: fever, body aches and headaches, diarrhea, vomiting, fatigue. After a few days, organ failure (kidneys, liver) is added to the picture, and possibly internal bleeding, and on the mucous membranes. It kills in 25 to 90% of cases.
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