The Ebola virus is a serious, dangerous and deadly disease transmitted by animals and humans. It can cause people to get very sick and even die. This is the biggest problems in western Africa, where it has spread quickly. Ebola symptoms can start with fever and headache kind like flu. But it can also get worse and cause life-threatening symptoms, such as bleeding and trouble breathing.
Ebola does not float through the air. It doesn't spread through food and water, like some other viruses. Instead, its spread when someone touches the body fluids of a sick person. That's why hospital workers is very important to wear a protective equipment that can cover them from head to toe.
Tropical animals in Africa believed to carry the virus include great apes, chimpanzes, gorillas, monkeys, fruit bats, porcupines, and forest antelope.
Ebola gets its name the Ebola River in Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly zaire). The disease was first reported in a village on the river in 1976. Since then, there have been a few outbreaks of the disease in western Africa, Uganda, and Sudan.