The threat of Ebola outbreaks is likely to increase as greenhouse gases continue to enter the atmosphere, according to researchers. Bats and other animals capable of transmitting the disease to humans are expected to enter fresh territories as temperatures rise.
First identified in 1976, Ebola is thought to pass to humans from bats and other animal hosts. It is one of the many zoonotic or animal-borne diseases that make up 2/3rds of all human infectious diseases on the planet.
Once spread to humans, Ebola can be transmitted from person to person through direct contact. Symptoms in humans include high body temperatures, vomiting and sometimes both internal and external bleeding. The fatality rate is around 50%.
Ebola outbreaks are in the limelight as US billionaire Elon Musk recently highlighted that DOGE accidentally cut Ebola prevention funding for a brief time as an outbreak raged in Uganda, stressing that the department is not going to be perfect.
