What you need to know:
- Ebola damages blood vessels and causes severe, internal bleeding
- It spreads from animals to humans, and among humans, through close contact with blood, organs, secretions and other bodily fluids from infected people
- Some forms of Ebola can be prevented with vaccines and treated with medicines
remains an ongoing challenge for people and authorities in affected regions. Vaccine development could help lessen the burden.
Most often, Ebola outbreaks have been caused by the Zaire type of the Ebola virus (Zaire ebolavirus) and the Sudan type (Sudan ebolavirus).
During the most recent outbreaks, among which have been the highest numbers of infected people, researchers have used these live situations to test vaccines in development.
What have been the most severe Ebola outbreaks?
The largest Ebola outbreak came four decades after the disease was originally identified.
Between 2014 and 2016, Ebola spread from the (DRC) in Central Africa to , and in the west of the continent. There were more than 28,600 infections, and 10,000 deaths.
From 2018 to 2020, Ebola spread again from the DRC to . There have been further outbreaks in Gabon, , , , Mali and Senegal, killing at least 2,000 people.
What is the difference between the Ebola virus and Sudan virus?
Ebola was discovered near the Ebola River, during two simultaneous outbreaks in 1976 — in Zaire, now DRC, and South Sudan.
Ebola virus disease (EVD) — named after the river — is the . It has a survival rate of 10% of cases.
Sudan virus disease (SVD) causes death in about 50% of cases.
The third most-common variant in Africa is Bundibugyo virus and was discovered in 2007.
Symptoms are similar: fever, nausea, weakness, loss of appetite and unexplained bleeding. Chest pain can occur with SVD, but less so with EVD.
How is Ebola virus treated?
If caught early, hospital treatment, with oral and intravenous fluids, and medicines, can help and reduce the risk of fatality.
One is Ebanga — an antibody-based drug that prevents the virus from entering cells, thus slowing its spread through the body.
A second drug is Inmazeb — a cocktail of three antibodies.
In both cases, patients should avoid using live virus vaccines at the same time.
The (WHO) advises against treating people at home, especially without professional healthcare. The virus is highly contagious and other people in the home will likely get sick.
Other treatments include blood transfusions, medicines to treat the symptoms — pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea — or coexisting illnesses, such as malaria.
Are there vaccines against Ebola?
Ervebo has been approved for use in the US and European Union.
It can be used to protect adults and children against EVD. The regulations vary, however — Ervebo is approved for use in Europe from the age of one, while the US has only approved it for people 18 years of age and older.
Drug and vaccine approvals by the peak US and European agencies (FDA and EMA, respectively) are considered the global standard, so Ervebo may also be used in Africa.
It is also necessary for people visiting regions affected by Ebola to get vaccinated before they travel.
What is Ervebo?
Ervebo is a live-attenuated vaccine.
That means it contains a weakened protein from EVD, which is not strong enough to cause a full infection, but it is just enough to trigger an immune response.
Then, if the vaccinated person ever encounters the real virus, the body knows how to react and defend itself against the viral attack.
In February 2025, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, Uganda’s Ministry of Health, Makerere University in Kampala and the WHO launched a trial for a candidate vaccine against SVD.
It was the first trial to be conducted during a live outbreak — Uganda’s sixth outbreak of the Sudan type of the virus.
The Sudan vaccine is similarly designed vaccine to Ervebo. It is said to be one of the most promising types of vaccine against Ebola and other so-called filoviruses, including .
Edited by: Matthew Ward Agius
Sources:
Groundbreaking Ebola vaccination trial launches today in Uganda, World Health Organization (WHO) https://www.who.int/news/item/03-02-2025-groundbreaking-ebola-vaccination-trial-launches-today-in-uganda
An overview of Ervebo and why it is authorized in the EU, European Medicines Agency https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/overview/ervebo-epar-medicine-overview_en.pdf
Ebola outbreak history, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) https://www.cdc.gov/ebola/outbreaks/index.html
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