Question: What causes Ebola?

Ciarán O'Brien answered on 21 Nov 2014:

Ebola is caused by a virus.

As far as we know, ebola is found naturally in fruit bats, which aren’t affected by the virus. Fruit bats are a common food in some African countries, and one of the main ways of catching ebola virus is eating infected meat. The virus is also spread easily through bodily fluids. I mean, really easily.

It’s a nasty little fellow once it takes hold, too. It’s very infectious, it is often fatal (an outbreak in the Republic of Congo killed 90% of people who caught it, but on average the death rate from ebola is 50%), and tends to kill quickly (You can start showing symptoms 2 days after infection, and can die within a week of it). There are 5 strains of ebola virus. They’re all dangerous to primates (apes and humans), but one, called Reston virus, doesn’t affect humans.

As viruses go, that’s not very smart: The faster a virus kills its host, the less chance it’ll have to spread to other hosts. That’s why most ebola outbreaks have stayed in a few countries in Africa, with a few cases showing up elsewhere because someone didn’t bother being careful before getting on a plane.

As long as people in areas with ebola stay careful, we’ve nothing to worry about. And scientists are working on a vaccine, so sooner or later nobody will have to worry about it again. 🙂