By AFPMore by this AuthorMost of the people infected with Ebola in the West Africa epidemic that began in 2014 got sick through contact with a small number of "superspreaders" with the disease, researchers said Monday. The study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows such "superspreaders" can be extremely dangerous when it comes to infectious disease outbreaks. The West African Ebola epidemic was the largest in history and killed more than 11,300 people, with many of the cases involving people infected while caring for a sick person or burying a body. At the time, researchers counted cases according to those seen in medical centers, but they later realized these were a small fraction of the total. If superspreading had been completely under control about two-thirds of Ebola cases could have been avoided, the report said.

Source: Daily Nation February 14, 2017 07:44 UTC