1. Ebola kills about 90% of its victims.
2. The Ebola virus is named for the Ebola River, where the first outbreaks occurred in 1976.
3. Humans are not the natural hosts of the Ebola virus, and it's believed that the first person in any outbreak became infected through contact with an infected animal. Animals that are reported to have spread disease to humans include chimpanzees, gorillas, forest antelopes and cynomolgus monkeys.
4. Since Ebola was discovered, nearly 4,000 cases and more than 2,400 deaths have been reported, according to the WHO.
5. Early symptoms can include fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, sore throat and weakness, followed by diarrhea, vomiting and stomach pain. In some cases, the disease causes rashes, red eyes, hiccups and internal and external bleeding.
6. There are five known strains of the virus. They are named after their outbreak locations: Ebola-Zaire, Ebola-Sudan, Ebola-Côte d’Ivoire, Ebola-Reston, and Ebola-Bundibugyo.
7. A deceased person with Ebola can still transmit the virus.
8. Right now, only supportive therapy is available, which includes maintaining proper fluid and electrolyte balance, maintaining blood pressure and oxygen levels, and treating complicating infections.
9. Clearly, the biggest impact comes in the form of the Americans who have been infected. Two Americans, both stricken with the disease, were brought back home in recent days for treatment.
10. There is a potential treatment that exists: An experimental serum that had previously only been tested on monkeys. Doses of the serum were administered to Brantly and Writebol, and while it is unclear so far whether the serum did anything, initial reports suggest that their conditions did improve after the treatment.
