The West African Ebola epidemic was the largest in history. It started with cases of EVD in the forested rural region of southeastern Guinea, reported by WHO on March 23, 2014. Soon, cases were discovered in Liberia and Sierra Leone, which border Guinea.
In 2014, an EVD outbreak was reported for the first time in West Africa (Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone). During this outbreak, which was ongoing between 2014 and 2016, there was intense transmission in urban areas, resulting in over 28,000 reported cases.
In 2003, an outbreak in the DRC infected 143 and killed 128, a 90% death rate, the highest of a genus Ebolavirus outbreak to date.
There were 280 deaths, and only 38 serologically confirmed survivors. The index case in this outbreak had onset of symptoms on 1 September 1976, five days after receiving an injection of chloroquine for presumptive malaria at the outpatient clinic at Yambuku Mission Hospital (YMH).
The world's second largest Ebola outbreak on record was declared over on 25 June 2020.
Treatment centres and isolation zones were set up to reduce the spread of the virus and face-masks, gowns and gloves were used. Safe burial practices also helped to limit transmission of the virus, as did screening of passengers at international and domestic ports and airports.
Since EVD was first characterized in 1976, there have been 38 country-specific outbreaks, including the outbreak in the DRC. The total estimated EVD deaths from 1976 to 2020 is 15,266. The median number of deaths for all 38 outbreaks is 29 with a range of 0 to 4,809 (Table 1).
Ebola is a severe, often fatal disease (death rates average 50% [range 25-90%]), caused by the Ebola filovirus. There are five different types of Ebola virus, four of which are known to cause disease in humans.
The average EVD case fatality rate is around 50%. Case fatality rates have varied from 25% to 90% in past outbreaks.
Recovery from Ebola disease depends on good supportive care and the patient's immune response. Investigational treatments are also increasing overall survival. Those who do recover develop antibodies that can last 10 years, possibly longer.
Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a rare, severe and often fatal illness that occurs almost exclusively in some countries in east, central and west Africa. The Ebola virus is not found in Australia.
Ebola case fatality rates have varied from 25% to 90% in past outbreaks. However, with the currently available effective treatment, patients have a significantly higher chance of survival if they are treated early and given supportive care.
Comparison Point: Outbreaks of Ebola can have fatality rates up to 90 percent, WHO says. But in the current outbreak, it's about 50 to 60 percent. Rabies is nearly 100 percent fatal if not treated. There are approximately 55,000 deaths each year, primarily in Asia and Africa.
By far the deadliest outbreak occurred in 2014-2016 when more than 11,000 people died (most in west African Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone). More than 2,000 people died during the second largest outbreak to date, from 2018 to 2020, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
ERVEBO® (Ebola Zaire Vaccine, Live also known as V920, rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP or rVSV-ZEBOV) is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the prevention of disease caused by Ebola virus (EBOV; species Zaire ebolavirus) in individuals 18 years of age and older as a single dose administration.
Ebola can only be spread from one person to another when someone has symptoms. Ebola is not spread through air, food, or water. Ebola is not spread through casual contact. In some circumstances, Ebola may be spread from sick or dead wild animals.
There's no cure for Ebola, though researchers are working on it. There are two drug treatments which have been approved for treating Ebola. Inmazeb is a mixture of three monoclonal antibodies (atoltivimab, maftivimab, and odesivimab-ebgn). Ansuvimab-zykl (Ebanga) is a monoclonal antibody given as an injection.
The Problem. Ebola virus is a class A bioterrorism agent, known to cause highly lethal hemorrhagic fever. The mortality rate can be as high as 90 percent.
Coronaviruses past and present
SARS and MERS have significantly higher case fatality rates than COVID-19. Yet COVID-19 is more infectious — the underlying SARS-CoV-2 virus spreads more easily among people, leading to greater case numbers.
The most distinctive feature of this viral family is genome size: coronaviruses have the largest genomes among all RNA viruses, including those RNA viruses with segmented genomes.
Transmission of Human Monkeypox Virus
The MPV spreads in ways comparable to Ebola virus and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) responsible for EVD and COVID-19 disease respectively.
Ebola is spread by contact with bodily fluids of infected animals or humans. The virus spread rapidly where people followed burial practices that included touching or washing bodies.
The largest outbreak of Ebola virus since 1976 occurred in Sierra Leone between 2014 and 2016. The outbreak resulted in 14,124 cases and 3,956 deaths. The outbreak that affected Sierra Leone started in Guinea and spread rapidly to surrounding countries.