Ebola is a rare but deadly virus that causes fever, body aches, and diarrhea, and sometimes bleeding inside and outside the body. As the virus spreads through the body, it damages the immune system and organs. Ultimately, it causes levels of blood-clotting cells to drop. This leads to severe, uncontrollable bleeding.
Does Ebola cause hemorrhaging?
Some reports suggest that hemorrhagic manifestations appear to be even less common in the current outbreak, which is caused by EBOV. Schieffelin and colleagues, who reported on the outbreak in Sierra Leone in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2014, noted that bleeding occurred in just 1 of 87 Ebola patients.
What originally caused Ebola?
Scientists do not know where Ebola virus comes from. Based on similar viruses, they believe EVD is animal-borne, with bats or nonhuman primates being the most likely source. Infected animals carrying the virus can transmit it to other animals, like apes, monkeys, duikers and humans.
