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Quick Facts About Ebola

By Alison Bruzek / NPR
Published October 22, 2014 at 5:00 AM PDT
This story was published more than 9 years ago.
A comparison of reproduction numbers, or R0s, for several viruses. R0 is one measure of contagiousness.
Adam Cole NPR
A comparison of reproduction numbers, or R0s, for several viruses. R0 is one measure of contagiousness.

A CDC poster shows ways Ebola isn't spread.
CDC
A CDC poster shows ways Ebola isn't spread.

Medical workers with the Liberian Red Cross carry the body of a victim of the Ebola virus on Sept. 4, in Banjor, Liberia.
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Medical workers with the Liberian Red Cross carry the body of a victim of the Ebola virus on Sept. 4, in Banjor, Liberia.

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Jeff Hulbert of Annapolis, Md., holds up a sign to stop flights in front of the White House last Friday.
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Jeff Hulbert of Annapolis, Md., holds up a sign to stop flights in front of the White House last Friday.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins waits outside a unit at the Ivy Apartments, where Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person to die of Ebola in the U.S., was staying in Dallas.
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Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins waits outside a unit at the Ivy Apartments, where Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person to die of Ebola in the U.S., was staying in Dallas.

Health officials use a thermometer to screen passengers at the arrival hall of Murtala Mohammed International airport in Lagos, Nigeria, on Monday.
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Health officials use a thermometer to screen passengers at the arrival hall of Murtala Mohammed International airport in Lagos, Nigeria, on Monday.

The apartment where Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan stayed when he fell ill remains under quarantine 12 days after his death on Oct. 20 in Dallas.
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The apartment where Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan stayed when he fell ill remains under quarantine 12 days after his death on Oct. 20 in Dallas.

Engineered proteins glow under ultraviolet light on the leaves of N. benthamiana plants, which are being developed by Icon Genetics to produce ingredients for an Ebola treatment called Zmapp.
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Engineered proteins glow under ultraviolet light on the leaves of N. benthamiana plants, which are being developed by Icon Genetics to produce ingredients for an Ebola treatment called Zmapp.

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How big is Africa? This illustration shows how many countries and regions could fit inside "the cradle of humankind."
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How big is Africa? This illustration shows how many countries and regions could fit inside "the cradle of humankind."

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Basic information about Ebola isn't as clear as it probably could be.

A recent poll by the Harvard School of Public Health, for instance, found that 38 percent of Americans are worried that Ebola will infect them or a family member in the next year, despite assurances that the U.S. will stop Ebola in its tracks.

We've put together a primer on what you need to know. We'll update it as new information develops.

Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

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