Upwards of 800 people have died to date.
Ebola has taken the reigns again and is spreading itself in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The outbreak is the tenth of its kind in the country in the last 40 years, and marks the second-biggest Ebola epidemic ever recorded in history, the largest being the West Africa outbreak of 2014-2016.
What are the current stats? So far, there have been 1,290 total reported cases, 1,224 confirmed cases and 833 confirmed deaths.
Many readers may have questions, when it comes to this highly fatal illness. Many may wonder where it comes from, and that’s a valid concern. Unfortunately, scientists aren’t sure where this illness that causes severe and fatal hemorrhagic fever in humans and other mammals originates.
Related: Ground Beef Appears to be Behind This Recent E Coli Outbreak
What’s known is this: Ebola was first discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River in the DRC. It’s believed the virus could be jumping from bats to humans, but the evidence isn’t conclusive.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC), bats could be spreading the illness to primates, and people could be catching it by being in contact with the bodily fluids and tissues of infected bats and primates. Ebola is spread person-to-person through contact with bodily fluids from an infected person, including through sex.
The symptoms of Ebola vary depending on the stage of the illness but they include fever, headache, vomiting, diarrhea and organ failure.
There have only been eleven cases of Ebola in the United States. Just 2 of those were contracted on American soil, and nine of the total eleven patients survived.
