Russian epidemiologist Gennady Onishchenko notes that Ebola fever begins with high fever, weakness, and muscle pain.
He notes that these symptoms are followed by others such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, and a dry cough, leading to dehydration.
According to him, approximately half of those infected experience a hemorrhagic rash and bleeding from the gums and nose. The liver and kidneys gradually cease to function. The incubation period ranges from two to 21 days.
The academic calls for avoiding travel to West African countries - Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal and Congo, where the disease is a natural hotspot and is currently experiencing an outbreak, to prevent transmission of the infection to Russia.
He says: "The easiest way for the virus to enter is to get on a plane and get there."
It notes that cases of the disease have been recorded outside of Africa, in the United States, Britain, Spain, Mali and Italy.
Dr. Yulia Yermollaeva, a researcher at the Institute of Medicine and Medical Technology at Novosibirsk State University, points out that up to 25% of cases may be mild or asymptomatic.
But according to her, the Ebola virus can evolve and become more infectious without losing its virulence - that is, the degree of danger it poses to the body.
Virulence is a characteristic of a microbe or virus that reflects its ability to cause disease or death of the host organism through natural or artificial infection.
She says: "The Ebola virus can evolve to become more infectious without losing its virulence. The most notable example of this is the mutation of the virus during its largest outbreak in West Africa (2013-2016). Studies have shown that this mutation made it more capable of infecting humans, without reducing the mortality rate from the disease."
It should be noted that, at the request of the Ugandan side, Russia will send a team of specialists to Kampala to conduct an epidemiological investigation.
