[Ebola: virus, disease, transmission--and preparedness in Finland]

Ebola virus has been transmitted from its reservoirs to a human at least about twenty times, established limited human-to-human transmission chains and caused severe generalized infections, often with symptoms involving hemorrhagic fever. Of the five viruses belonging to the genus Ebolavirus, four have been described to have caused human disease, three of them having caused epidemics (25 to 90% mortality). The present epidemic started in December 2013, evidently from a two-year-old child in Guinea, and spread to the neighboring countries as well. The causative agent of the epidemic is a Zaire ebolavirus strain having undergone a cross-species transfer. By October 25, 2014, the epidemic has caused 4,912 deaths in the epidemic region. The report reviews the background information on the virus, disease and its current spread, as well as describes the ebola preparedness currently in Finland.