Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is a rare and deadly disease in people and nonhuman primates. The viruses that cause EVD are located mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. People can get EVD through direct contact with an infected animal (bat or nonhuman primate) or a sick or dead person infected with Ebola virus.
There is no approved vaccine or treatment for EVD. Research on EVD focuses on finding the virus' natural host, developing vaccines to protect at-risk populations, and discovering therapies to improve treatment of the disease.
Outbreaks have been reported sporadically in West African countries since Ebola was first recognized in1976. To date, the largest outbreak began in the country of Guinea in December 2013, and spread to surrounding West African nations, with isolated travel-related cases diagnosed in Spain, Italy, the UK, and the US. In August 2014 the WHO declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). It wasn't until June 2016, after more than 28,000 cases were reported with 11,325 deaths, that all affected countries were declared Ebola-free.
Although the spread of EVD in West Africa was contained in the affected areas, additional cases may occur. On 4 April 2018, the first Ebola case of an on-going outbreak was reported in the Equateur Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The WHO, CDC and other public health organizations are actively monitoring the situation and supporting local response efforts for which Ebola treatment centers have been established and vaccination campaigns utilizing a promising experimental vaccine have been launched. As of yet the outbreak is localized and does not constitute a PHEIC.
