EpidemicsWhat you need to know about Ebola

More West African nations are alerting health officials and citizens about the potential for the deadly Ebola disease to spread by individuals traveling from Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, where more than 700 people have died in recent weeks. Nigerian health officials reported last Friday that a Liberian man sick with the disease had traveled to Togo and then Nigeria before dying in a hospital. “We call on all Nigerians to be calm and not panic and do hereby assure them that both the state and federal governments are up in arms to ensure that the virus did not escape and that no Nigeria is infected with it,” said Lagos state health commissioner Jide Idris.Here are five points to understand about Ebola and how it spreads:

• The current Ebola outbreak is the largest in history with a total of 1,201 cases reported as of last week, according to the World Health Organization.
• The fatality rate for Ebola can be as high as 90 percent, but some people who have contracted the disease have recovered with a 30 percent chance of survival. There is no specific treatment for the disease, but Ebola survivors sought immediate medical attention and received supportive care to prevent dehydration in the early stages of the disease.
• Early symptoms of Ebola can often resemble other diseases. Fever, headaches, muscle aches, and sore throat, all of which are also symptoms of malaria, typhoid fever, or cholera - common diseases in West Africa. It is in the later stages of the disease that people with Ebola begin bleeding internally and externally, often through the nose and ears.
• The Ebola virus is spread through bodily fluids, and not airborne. Individuals who have contracted the virus have come into contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person.
• Misinformation about Ebola has increased the probability that more individuals in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, will fall ill to the virus. Health workers in all three countries have come under attack from residents who blame foreign doctors and nurses for bringing the virus to remote communities.

CBS News reportsthat an American doctor, Kent Brantly, working in Monrovia, Liberia with Ebola patients has contracted the disease. “We’re trying to figure out what went wrong because he was always very careful,” said Tolbert Nyenswah, an assistant health minister in Monrovia. Brantly’s wife and two children left Monrovia for Abilene, Texas days before he felt ill. Though they are not subject to quarantine, City of Abilenehealth officials assured that the family is being closely monitored.

For now, Brantly remains in an isolated clinic in Monrovia. Efforts to evacuate him into Europe have failed because of fears that he poses a threat to health and security.