An outbreak of the terrifying Ebola virus emerged in the West African nation of Guinea in February and has been spreading ever since, infecting people in Sierra Leonne and Liberia as well. It is now the biggest and deadliest outbreak of Ebola since the virus was identified in 1976.
The disease’s spread seemed to slow down for a while, but has picked up in recent weeks. An estimated 528 people have been infected, and 337 have died in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. While it’s likely that many cases go uncounted, the Associated Press notes that previously, the largest reported death toll was in the Congo in 1976, when 280 people died. (The most widespread outbreak infected 425 people in Uganda in 2000, killing 224.)
“The epidemic is now in a second wave,” Bart Janssens, the director of operations for Doctors Without Borders told the Associated Press. “It is totally out of control.”
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