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How soon can death occur after Ebola symptoms begin?
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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).
Following the onset of symptoms, death from Ebola typically occurs within 8 to 17 days.1
The illness begins suddenly and harshly after an incubation period of 2 to 21 days. As the disease progresses, patients experience severe symptoms including hemorrhaging, disseminated intravascular coagulation, and spontaneous bleeding. Death is generally caused by shock, renal failure, or severe hemorrhaging. Early supportive care and targeted antibody therapies are critical for improving survival outcomes.12