Ebola

Some of you at the beginning of this page might have thought of the Ebola virus as the scariest, deadliest microbe you’ve ever heard of. Those of you who did so have probably seen the movie Outbreak or read The Hot Zone, which spotlighted this grisly virus. Ebola is definitely a nasty killer. It is part of a group of viruses that, among other effects on the body, cause the blood to stop clotting. Victims begin oozing blood from their mouths, noses, internal organs, even their eyes. It kills up to almost 90% of those who get infected.

With that kind of death rate, Ebola would be the deadliest microbe of all if it was more common. Fortunately, infections by this virus are pretty rare. There have only been seven outbreaks in humans. It has killed just over 800 people since the first outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly called Zaire) in 1976.

While outbreaks of this virus are rare and relatively small, Ebola is still one mean microbe that I wouldn’t ever want to tangle with. If you want to meet someone who has tackled Ebola, visit the interview with Dr. Ali Kahn in the Careers section.