Doctor Darien Sutton answers questions about Ebola outbreak

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]What do we know about how this outbreak started?

[00:00:01]>> Well, the exact start of this outbreak is difficult to pinpoint, but what's clear is that it likely started weeks before detection. Michael, most outbreaks begin with what's called a spillover event when the virus transfers from an animal host to a human host. And the Ebola virus is actually a family of viruses that naturally lives in fruit bats. And this current outbreak is due to a rare strain of that family of viruses called the Bundy BJO strain.

[00:00:21]It's a majority of adults 20s to 30s and now we've got so far hundreds of cases.

[00:00:25]What's important about this strain is that there is no targeted vaccine.

[00:00:28]There's no targeted treatment and it seems to be spreading quickly.

[00:00:31]>> And how contagious is it? And do people here at home have to worry about this?

[00:00:35]>> Well, the risk to the average American is overall low, but it's important to understand that this is a highly fatal infection. We're talking about as high as 50%, one out of every two people who gets this infection may die. And that's why health officials are defining this as a public health emergency. Now, transmission requires direct contact with bodily fluids. And it can last on surfaces, but again, the overall risk of this transferring all the way to America is low. But the reasoning why we have to control this is because the risk of this spreading beyond its borders is very high and becoming a national emer international emergency is at stake.