Medically Reviewed by Carmelita Swiner, MD on November 30, 2022
What is Ebola?

What is Ebola?

1/10

Ebola is a deadly disease caused by a virus. There are five strains, and four of them can make people sick. After entering the body, it kills cells, making some of them explode. It wrecks the immune system, causes heavy bleeding inside the body, and damages almost every organ. 

The virus is scary, but it’s also rare. You can get it only from direct contact with an infected person’s body fluids.

 

How do you get it?

How do you get it?

2/10

You get Ebola from a person who has the virus, and only while they have symptoms. People pass it to others through their body fluids. Blood, stool, and vomit are the most infectious, but semen, urine, sweat, tears, and breast milk also carry it.

To get Ebola, you’d have to get these fluids in your mouth, nose, eyes, genitals, or a break in your skin. You could also pick it up from items that have fluids on them, like needles or sheets.

How You Won’t Get Ebola

How You Won’t Get Ebola

3/10

You can’t get Ebola from casual contact, like sitting next to an infected person. Air, food, and water don’t carry the virus. But kissing or sharing food or a drink with someone who has Ebola could be a risk, since you might get their saliva in your mouth.

What are the symptoms?

What are the symptoms?

4/10

It can take from 2 to 21 days, but usually 8 to 10 days, after infection for signs of Ebola to appear. Symptoms can seem like the flu at first -- sudden fever, feeling tired, muscle pains, headache, and sore throat.

As the disease gets worse, it causes vomiting, diarrhea, rash, and bruising or bleeding without an injury, like from the eyes or gums.

Where is Ebola?

Where is Ebola?

5/10

There have been 33 Ebola outbreaks since 1976, but the 2014 outbreak in West Africa is by far the largest. The virus has infected thousands of people and killed more than half of them. It started in Guinea and spread to Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Nigeria. A man who traveled to the U.S. from Africa died of Ebola in October. A nurse who helped treat them came down with Ebola. 

Is There a Vaccine for Ebola?

Is There a Vaccine for Ebola?

6/10

The vaccine rVSV-ZEBOV (Ervebo) is the only vaccine approved to prevent the Zaire strain of Ebola. Researchers are studying other vaccines that could prevent Ebola, but they still need to test them in more people to see if they’re safe and if they work.

Treatment

Treatment

7/10

The drug Inmazeb, a mixture of three monoclonal antibodies (atoltivimab, maftivimab, and odesivimab-ebgn), was approved by the FDA in October 2020 to treat the Zaire strain of Ebola in children and adults. 

After Ebola

After Ebola

8/10

Ebola survivors have certain proteins, called antibodies, in their blood that may protect them from the same strain of the virus for 10 years or more. But no one knows if they can get sick from the other strains.

It’s rare, but the Ebola virus can stay in semen for 3 months after a man recovers, so they should avoid sex or use a condom to keep from infecting others. The virus can stay in breast milk for 2 weeks after recovery, so women shouldn’t breastfeed during that time.

 

How Can I Prevent It?

How Can I Prevent It?

9/10

The best way to avoid Ebola is to stay away from areas where the virus is common. If you are in an outbreak area:

  • Avoid infected people, their body fluids, and the bodies of anyone who has died from the disease.
  • Avoid contact with wild animals, like bats and monkeys, and their meat.
  • Wash your hands often.

After you leave the area, watch for changes in your health for 21 days, and get medical help right away if you have any symptoms. 

Controlling an Outbreak

Controlling an Outbreak

10/10

Trained public health workers find every person who might have had contact with an infected person. They watch each of those people for 21 days. If someone shows signs of Ebola, health care teams test them, treat them, and keep them away from others. Then the workers track down everyone that person came in contact with as well. The goal is to stop Ebola from spreading further.