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Ebola, one of the deadliest viruses, has spread from a remote forested corner of southern Guinea to the country's seaside capital of Conakry, killing at least 78 people in its wake since January.
The virus, which causes severe internal and external bleeding, has a fatality rate of up to 90 percent, according to the World Health Organization. It has killed more than 1,500 people since it was first recorded in 1976 in what is now Democratic Republic of Congo, but the Guinea outbreak is the first fatal one in West Africa.
There is no vaccine and no known cure for Ebola, which initially induces fever, headaches, muscle pain and weakness. In its more acute phase, Ebola causes vomiting, diarrhea and external bleeding, symptoms which facilitate the rapid spread of the virus. Human-to-human contact, directly or via exposure to such secretions, are most often behind the transmission of the virus.
Grieving relatives can also contract the virus when they are in contact with the victims' bodies at communal funerals, health officials say. Men who have recovered from Ebola can still transmit the virus through their semen for almost two months after recovery.
Natural hosts of the virus are specific fruit bat species. Monkeys and apes have also carried the virus. Health officials warn against the handling of those animals and their raw meat.