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Ebola Outbreak in Africa Is 'One of Most Challenging Ever Faced'

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(Image credit: The Ebola virus. Credit: CDC/ Frederick Murphy)

The Ebola outbreak in the west African countries of Guinea and Liberia may have now claimed more than 100 lives.

"This is one of the most challenging Ebola outbreaks that we have ever faced," Dr. Keiji Fukuda, an official at the World Health Organization, said in a news conference today (April 8) in Geneva, Switzerland, CNN reported.

The ebola virus spreads from person to person through bodily fluids and close contact, causing high fevers, diarrhea, vomiting, and internal and external bleeding. Ebola virus disease has a fatality rate of up to a 90 percent, according to the WHO.

The outbreak began in the forests of southeastern Guinea in February. Most of the deaths have occurred in the city of Guekedou, and Guinea's capital, Conakry, has had 20 cases, according to CNN.

The virus's rapid spread is due to the wide geographic distribution of cases, as well as its lethality, Fukuda said, according to The Wire. "These kind of outbreaks are often surrounded by a great deal of fear and anxiety, creating rumors and making communications challenging and important."

The virus spreads to humans from wild animals such as chimpanzees, and fruit bats are thought to be its natural host.

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Tanya Lewis
Tanya Lewis
Staff Writer
Tanya was a staff writer for Live Science from 2013 to 2015, covering a wide array of topics, ranging from neuroscience to robotics to strange/cute animals. She received a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a bachelor of science in biomedical engineering from Brown University. She has previously written for Science News, Wired, The Santa Cruz Sentinel, the radio show Big Picture Science and other places. Tanya has lived on a tropical island, witnessed volcanic eruptions and flown in zero gravity (without losing her lunch!). To find out what her latest project is, you can visit her website.