Ebola: What is the deadly virus?

The Ebola virus disease is a severe, often fatal illness, killing around 90% of people who become infected.

It spreads in the blood and shuts down the immune system at first, causing a high fever, headache and muscle pain.

More than 670 people have died so far in this latest outbreak of the disease.

No specific treatment or vaccine is available for use.

• Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans.

• EVD outbreaks have a case fatality rate of up to 90%.

• EVD outbreaks occur primarily in remote villages in Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests.

• The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.

• Fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are considered to be the natural host of the Ebola virus.

• Severely ill patients require intensive supportive care. No licensed specific treatment or vaccine is available for use in people or animals.