Disease

Ebola Outbreak Spreading in Africa

An Ebola outbreak has killed up to 59 people in Africa.

The outbreak, which has been going on in the southeastern region of Guinea since February, has infected at least 80 people so far, and may have spread to neighboring Sierra Leone, according to the government.The World Health Organization is sending a team to do additional testing, as well as sending more than 30 tons of medical supplies, including isolation chambers and medicine for treating fever, Reuters reported.

Ebola is a hemorrhagic virus that spreads through bodily fluids and can cause high fevers, diarrhoea, vomiting, and internal and external bleeding. There is no vaccine or cure for the virus and it can be fatal up to 90 percent of the time, according to the National Institutes of Health. Animals are thought to be the natural hosts for the disease, which has been transmitted to humans via chimpanzees, gorillas and monkeys.