Until recently, scientists thought new Ebola infections start when a virus jumps from an animal host to a human. But the virus causing a new outbreak in Guinea matches the strain seen 5 to 6 years ago leaving more than 11,000 people dead in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
After a 51-year-old nurse died in late January, several people who attended her funeral fell ill and four of them died. Researchers discovered Ebola in the blood of her husband. His virus matches virus samples from the 2013–16 epidemic.
Another ongoing outbreak of Ebola in the Congo was also started by transmission from someone infected during a previous outbreak. Now researchers believe humans are as likely the source of a new outbreak of Ebola as wildlife.
