Ebola: What You Need to Know

Special Report

As Ebola outbreaks occur again and again, the scramble for answers and medications is ongoing

Public Health

Experimental therapies, shipped to the DRC for its last outbreak, are still in the country

August 1, 2018 — Helen Branswell and STAT

Public Health

The country has been roiled by nine outbreaks of the disease

May 11, 2018 — Dina Fine Maron

Medicine

Public health workers are preparing to roll out inoculations even as the disease has spread to an urban location

May 17, 2018 — Dina Fine Maron

Denial, violence and fear make it difficult to stamp out Ebola in west Africa

November 21, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

A combination treatment of antibodies and virus-fighting proteins prevented death from the Ebola-Zaire strain in some primates, even when administered three days after infection

October 17, 2013 — Jo Adetunji and The Conversation

Health care emergency management expert Kristin Stevens tells us what went wrong in Dallas, and how we can do better

October 23, 2014 — Clara Moskowitz

The newly developed device improves survival in rats after severe infections with everything from E. coli to Ebola

September 14, 2014 — Sara Reardon and Nature magazine

A panel of experts from the World Health Organization says blood plasma and whole blood transfusions should have priority—for now

September 5, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

In the two days since the second U.S. Ebola patient was diagnosed, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has assembled a new team to battle the threat of Ebola.

October 14, 2014 — Katherine Harmon Courage

All last week CDC officials reiterated their conclusion—based on nearly 40 years worth of successfully containing past outbreaks—that you cannot catch the Ebola virus from people who are infected unless they have already begun suffering a fever or started showing other signs of illnesses.

October 6, 2014 — Christine Gorman

An RNA-based treatment may stop the Ebola virus in its tracks

April 1, 2014 — Ferris Jabr

Weeks ahead remain fraught with uncertainty as pathogen jumps borders and appears in Africa’s largest city

July 30, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

David Quammen talks about his latest book, Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic. From his Web site: "The next big and murderous human pandemic, the one that kills us in millions, will be caused by a new disease--new to humans, anyway. The bug that's responsible will be strange, unfamiliar, but it won't come from outer space. Odds are that the killer pathogen--most likely a virus--will spill over into humans from a nonhuman animal"

November 18, 2012 — Steve Mirsky

The animals were spared from Marburg virus even when treated three days after infection

August 22, 2014 — Erika Check Hayden and Nature magazine

As the virus spreads in West Africa, a graphic offers a guide to the case count and transmission figures that matter

October 24, 2014 — Declan Butler, Lauren Morello and Nature magazine

Gaps in immunization could cause as many deaths as the current epidemic itself

March 12, 2015 — Dina Fine Maron

The World Health Organization's announcement could shift the focus to basic public health

August 8, 2014 — Erika Check Hayden and Nature magazine

Virus sickens a nurse's assistant attending to an Ebola patient in Spain

October 7, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

Techniques used in the U.S. to treat symptoms and subdue the virus in patients could work overseas, Bruce Ribner says

August 27, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

Thousands of gorillas in the Republic of Congo fall victim to the nastiest strain of the hemorrhagic virus

December 7, 2006 — Ciara Curtin

The virus spreading in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone has led to food shortages and neglect of other devastating tropical illnesses

October 30, 2014 — David Biello

Scientific American health and medicine correspondent Dina Fine Maron talks about Ebola with tropical medicine and infectious disease expert Daniel Bausch of Tulane University at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

November 5, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron and Steve Mirsky

Everybody and his uncle, it seems, has an idea of something that might work to cure people infected with the deadly virus

December 4, 2014 — Helen Branswell

Infected gorillas and chimps butchered for meat may be behind Ebola outbreaks. David Biello reports

October 13, 2014 — David Biello

“Against stupidity, even the gods strive in vain.” — Fredirich Schiller I've been glued to the Ebola news, riding the roller coaster of emotions.

October 6, 2014 — Judy Stone

Among a group of 82 Ebola survivors in Liberia, nearly all had some neurologic problems six months or longer after they were infected

February 25, 2016 — Agata Blaszczak-Boxe and LiveScience

The virus remains unchecked because of the lack of a global effort to implement emergency public-health measures

September 2, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

The WHO and the CDC have revised guidelines on personal protective equipment for health care workers, but concerns over wearing too much or too little gear persist

November 6, 2014 — Larry Greenemeier

There is little risk of the deadly virus spreading to the U.S., experts say

July 31, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

A Spanish nurse who contracted the virus is just one of hundreds infected while battling the deadly disease, often with substandard equipment and safety protocols

October 10, 2014 — Larry Greenemeier

The lethal virus is killing health care workers and causing ripple effects for pregnant women in west Africa

November 11, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

November 30, 2000 — Kate Wong

The latest outbreak in humans represents not just the most recent but also most deadly among several incidents dating back to 1976

November 26, 2014 — Nicholas St. Fleur and Dina Fine Maron

Why do some viruses go airborne? Will the pathogen causing the west African outbreak be one of them?

September 16, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

Dallas hospital is treating traveler from Liberia

September 30, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

Critical care at Dallas hospital failed to prevent patient from succumbing to virus acquired in Liberia

October 8, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

A German researcher who accidentally exposed herself to the dreaded Ebola virus is apparently in the clear: the virus's three-week incubation period expired yesterday, her supervisor tells ScientificAmerican.com .

April 3, 2009 — Coco Ballantyne

A rush of new research has found evidence that some RNA viruses made their way into vertebrate genomes millions of years ago

July 30, 2010 — Katherine Harmon

Sleeplessness, along with abdominal and joint pain are common even months after recovery from the dreaded virus

September 9, 2015 — Dina Fine Maron

Two people in the southern region of Nzerekore, where the Ebola outbreak began in 2013, have tested positive for the virus

March 18, 2016

The number of Ebola cases appear to be dropping in Liberia—but what will it take to stamp out the disease?

October 31, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

New Ebola guidelines for hospitals may help, but workers need training and support to be adequately prepared for new cases

October 25, 2014 — Katherine Harmon Courage

Howard University Hospital in D.C. is the latest facility to report a suspect patient in isolation, but so far only a Dallas visitor has tested positive for the virus

October 3, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

Health authorities scramble to figure out what went wrong with containment

October 15, 2014 — Katherine Harmon Courage

What we can learn from the boot leather, organization and quick response times that stopped Ebola from spreading in this African nation

October 18, 2014 — Katherine Harmon Courage

An Ebola patient produces up to 40 times more waste than other patients. This and other challenges, including too-small airstrips, complicate the fight against the virus

November 7, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

No new cases have been reported for two weeks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

June 23, 2018 — Dina Fine Maron

Scientists report that domestic pigs harbor Reston ebolavirus, the only Ebola species that has not caused disease in humans

July 9, 2009 — Brendan Borrell

As fewer people get sick, the trials may need to include more participants than planned to deliver usable results

November 17, 2014 — Helen Branswell

By attacking the body's first responders, the virus cripples the immune system before it can mount an effective defense

November 7, 2014 — Helen Branswell

Why scientists continue to be perplexed by how to define the outbreak that has killed 7,000

December 29, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

When the World Health Organization recently named blood transfusions from Ebola survivors as its priority experimental therapy for the disease ravaging west Africa there was only one major problem: no data indicating that such transfusions work.

December 1, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

Although the virus is exerting a heavy toll in West Africa, it does not spread easily

August 2, 2014 — Declan Butler and Nature magazine

As more patients recover from the infection, what risk do they pose to their sexual partners?

October 31, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

Organizers of tropical medicine meeting to offer refunds, swap out speakers

October 31, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

The World Health Organization is testing a handful of experimental vaccines. Hundreds of thousands of doses could be available before the end of June

October 27, 2014 — Lauren Morello and Nature News Blog

Material from deadly pathogens triggers alerts directly, and could speed detection

July 21, 2014 — Melissae Fellet and Chemistry World

Transporting patients to care facilities may be exacerbating the Ebola epidemic in west Africa

September 17, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

April 2, 2001 — Kate Wong

Can beefed up U.S. aid stem the tide of Ebola deaths in the months ahead?

September 23, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

By pinpointing the virus’s source, a new report validates steps health care workers are taking to battle the disease

August 28, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

Diagnostics, vaccines and new drugs could vastly improve the way future Ebola outbreaks manifest in Africa, according to emerging infectious disease expert Jeremy Farrar. Steve Mirsky reports

October 31, 2014 — Steve Mirsky

What rules are in place to prevent pandemics?

October 16, 2014 — David Biello

The airplane transport isolators being used to fly Ebola patients for treatment have origins in the 2003 SARS epidemic

September 18, 2014 — Jeremy Hsu

Finding could lead to new therapies to thwart spread of this contagious, and mostly fatal disease

July 10, 2008 — Nikhil Swaminathan

Health officials scale-up efforts to trace infected traveler’s contacts

October 2, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

Texas health authorities report a second health care worker who treated Thomas Eric Duncan has tested positive for Ebola

October 15, 2014 — Christine Gorman

Web sites devour piles of disease-related information but still keep a person in the loop to help make sense of the data glut

September 24, 2014 — Larry Greenemeier

Health authorities in Spain have confirmed that a health worker at the Carlos III Hospital in Madrid, Spain has been infected with the Ebola virus.

October 6, 2014 — Debbie Ponchner

The coverage of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa by U.S. media has often seemed unremittingly grim. So it was with some trepidation that I boarded a plane for Sierra Leone.

October 23, 2014 — Melvin Kohn, M.D., M.P.H.

A World Health Organization official says scenes from the epidemic will stay with him for years to come

March 24, 2015 — Dina Fine Maron

New findings are informing how to care for Ebola survivors and their communities

August 7, 2015 — Dina Fine Maron

Supplies are limited, and deciding who gets treatment is difficult

August 12, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

President Obama has pledged up to 3,000 personnel as well to stem the outbreak in West Africa

September 17, 2014 — Sara Reardon and Nature magazine

The new strategy will cover 94 percent of passengers arriving from virus-laden countries in Africa

October 8, 2014 — Todd J. Gilman and Dallas Morning News

What would it take to hijack the virus in west Africa and turn it into a bioterror agent elsewhere?

September 25, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

Health care is decimated, leaving the region more vulnerable than ever to infectious diseases

March 23, 2015 — Dina Fine Maron

How New York City’s Bellevue Hospital prepared to treat a potential Ebola patient

October 23, 2014 — Nicholas St. Fleur

Mathematical epidemiology projects more than half of the Ebola infectious will have to be isolated to prevent the disease's long growth tail

October 3, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

It will take international support and winning the public’s trust to stop the Ebola outbreak in west Africa

August 6, 2014 — Tolbert Nyenswah

New clues from Guinea yield tantalizing pieces of the puzzle

December 30, 2014 — Dina Fine Maron

Fruit bats are the most likely carriers of Ebola but it is human-to-human transmission that matters most now

October 14, 2014 — David Biello

Just as the CDC’s and other experts’ thoughts on Ebola and infection control have evolved with experience, mine have taken a slight twist as well.

October 23, 2014 — Judy Stone

From Liberia in an exclusive Scientific American report, victims say they are tormented by brain deficits and more. A new study hints at hidden virus remnants or immune system overreactions

February 29, 2016 — Seema Yasmin