The dreaded killer disease Ebola passes easily from person to person, but no one knows where it starts. Ebola was discovered in 1976 and infects humans and monkeys. It’s caused hundreds of deaths in central Africa, and is fatal 50 to 90% of the time. Now scientists think it may be spread by birds.

The Ebola virus is similar to viruses that attack birds, meaning it could have jumped from birds to humans, the way AIDS did from monkeys to humans. If birds spread the disease, there would be no way to stop it from being carried long distances.
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Ebola is back in Africa. It?s one of the most deadly viral diseases known and can incubate for up to three weeks before flu-like symptoms set in. It then starts attacking internal organs, causing bloody diarrhea and vomiting. Within two weeks, the victim usually is dead from massive blood loss. There is no cure. But the virus usually kills its victims faster than it can spread, so it doesn?t spread too far.

The Ebola death toll in West Africa is now 24, the World Health Organization says. The latest fatality occurred in Republic of Congo, where seven people have now died. The disease has killed 17 people in neighboring Gabon.
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History textbooks have got it wrong about the Plague, also known as the Black Death, which they say was caused by bubonic plague spread by rats and their fleas. A new study suggests that it was in fact caused by an Ebola-like virus transmitted directly from person to person.
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