Last year, a toddler named Emile Ouamouno, from a rainforest village in southern Guinea, is believed to be the origin of the current Ebola outbreak, according to CNN.
Emile had a fever, black stool and vomiting in December 2013, according to CNN. Within four days, he was dead. His four-year-old sister, his mother and grandmother were next.
Humans can contract Ebola from animals through infected tissue or fluids.
"In Africa, infection has been documented through the handling of infected chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines," according to the World Health Organization.
The fruit bat may be the main culprit for animal-to-human transmission of the virus, according to The Independent. A bat could have bitten or defecated on fruit lying on the ground. Whoever ate that fruit would contract the virus.
Areas rife with Ebola are also rife with fear. Those presenting fever and vomiting are shunned, according to CNN. Orphans are turned away.
"We noticed that with this crisis, which is almost a humanitarian catastrophe, people flee their villages, and abandon their families and their children," said a UNICEF child protection officer, according to CNN. "They reject the infected children and the other infected family members."
The economies of Ebola-stricken areas are suffering, too. No one wants to buy products that may be infected and the residents of these villages have burned their belongings, causing an increase in poverty, according to CNN.
