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How did Ebola reach Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, the United States, and Spain during the 2014–16 outbreak?
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Ebola
Numerous filamentous ebolavirus particles (blue) budding from a chronically-infected VERO E6 cell (yellow-green) in this digitally colorized scanning electron micrograph produced by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
During the 2014–16 Ebola outbreak, the virus spread to several countries primarily through the movement of infected individuals.12
- Nigeria: An infected government official traveled by airplane from Liberia to Lagos, where he subsequently died. Health workers who had direct contact with him later contracted the illness.1
- Senegal: The country reported a case involving an individual who had fled from Guinea.1
- Mali: A small number of cases were documented, two of which originated in Guinea.2
- United States: A man who had been living in Liberia traveled to Dallas, Texas, where he fell ill and died. He had been in contact with a sick person in Monrovia shortly before his flight.12
- Spain: A nurse at a Madrid hospital contracted the disease while caring for a missionary who had been flown to Spain from western Africa after becoming infected.12