Loading...
Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a zoonotic viral infection that was first recognized in 1976 near the Ebola River in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Several outbreaks have occurred since then, but the largest is now occurring in the West African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, where >8000 cases have been diagnosed and the estimated case-fatality rate is 70%.
The index case in the current outbreak is thought to be a 2-year-old child in Guinea; however, the proportion of children among current cases is uncertain. The virus is transmitted through close contact with body fluids, and transmission risk is highest toward the end of the illness when viral loads are highest. Because children are less frequently in conta…