Ebola

This chapter examines the Ebola virus in detail. Since 1976, with the exception of the 2013–2016 epidemic in West Africa, all outbreaks of Ebola virus infection have occurred in central Africa. The initial 1976 eruption of Ebola in Zaire in central Africa provided lessons for how to control future outbreaks of this disease. Unfortunately, those lessons were not well learned or sufficiently applied to the massive Ebola outbreak that followed in 2013–2016 in western Africa. Ebola virus can spread either through the air or by exposure to contaminated blood of infected humans. The clinical course of Ebola virus infection is that of a severe hemorrhagic fever. An Ebola vaccine was developed and administered to over 40,000 individuals for the 2018–2019 outbreak. However, the vaccine’s effectiveness in the outbreak has not been formally assessed, and critical scientific assessment will be difficult to achieve. Ultimately, Ebola virus remains endemic in Africa. Whether the fruit bat is the only natural reservoir for such viruses, how Ebola is transmitted, and where it lurks are still unresolved.