Are You Sick?

Ebola Exposure

Overview

  • Ebola virus disease(EVD or Ebola) is an infection caused by the Ebola virus.
  • It is a rare disease in North America, but the death rate can be around 50%.
  • The infection is spread human-to-human.
  • There are two approved vaccines for one of the Ebola virus diseases at this time. They are used as part of an outbreak response and often given to front-line healthcare workers (World Health Organization).

Symptoms

Symptoms show up 2 to 21 days after exposure to Ebola. The average is 8-10 days. Symptoms are:

  • Fever over 101.5 F (38.6 C)
  • Muscle pain
  • Weakness and/or fatigue (tiredness)
  • Headache. severe
  • Sore throat
  • Loss of appetite

These may be followed by:

  • Abdominal pain
  • Diarrhea
  • Vomiting and nausea
  • Bleeding and bruising

How is it Spread?

Ebola can be spread to others. Ebola is spread through direct contact with:

  • Blood or body fluids of a person who is sick with Ebola. Body fluids include breast milk, saliva, semen, stool, sweat, urine, and vomit.
  • Contact with the dead body of a person who died from Ebola.
  • Objects like dirty clothes, bedding, needles and syringes that have blood or body fluid on them.

Ebola can start when infected fluid gets into the eyes, nose or mouth. This mainly happens if infected fluid gets on the hands. Then, the healthy person touches their face with dirty hands. Thus, frequent hand washing is helpful. Rarely, the virus may pass through an open cut on the skin.

People with Ebola do not spread the disease until they become sick and get a fever.

In general, coughing and sneezing are not Ebola symptoms. Therefore, Ebola is usually not spread this way. But, a sick person's cough or sneeze may contain the virus in the spray. If the spray gets into the eyes, nose or mouth, it could transmit the disease.

Ebola is not spread in the water nor in food. There is no evidence that it is spread by mosquitoes or other insects.

One can also get Ebola from infected animals, such as bats and primates (apes, monkeys) in countries where there has been an outbreak of Ebola.

The virus can stay in certain body fluids after a person recovers from Ebola. These include semen and fluids in the eye and around the brain and spine. It is possible for a man who has recovered from Ebola to spread the virus to others through sex.

What Countries have Ebola Outbreaks?

Most patients with Ebola Virus Disease have been to countries in and around the East and Central Africa. They have either lived in or have traveled recently to one of these countries.

The following websites have information on the disease and the countries where Ebola is occurring: