By Sept. 10, 2014, the death toll had risen to 2,296, per The Washington Post<\/a>, in what would become the worst-ever outbreak of the virulent disease, with a total of 28,610 sickened, and 11,308 people dying, per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>.<\/p>\n As gruesome images circulated of health workers in protective equipment tending to bloody patients, headlines fueled a global panic. Dr. Thomas Frieden, the then-director of the CDC, said the outbreak was “spiraling out of control<\/a>.” President Barack Obama called it a “potential threat to global security.”<\/a> Children were pulled from schools<\/a> in Queensland, Australia, after a man was thought to have Ebola, but then tested negative for the disease.<\/p>\n Workers carry a stretcher during the Ebola outbreak in 2014 The virus spreads through contact with bodily fluids of an infected person \u2014 alive or dead. But as Johns Hopkins Medicine<\/a> explains, it can also spread by touching items, like clothing or bedsheets, that have been in contact with body fluids.<\/p>\n The disease is not considered to be airborne<\/a>, and is not thought to be particularly contagious; however, it is infectious \u2014 meaning, it takes a small amount of contact with the virus to contract Ebola. According to the CDC<\/a>, someone infected with Ebola doesn’t spread the disease until they’re symptomatic.<\/p>\n Symptoms<\/a> can appear as late as 21 days after contact with an infected person, and begin with what are called “dry” symptoms of Ebola, like fever, joint and muscle pain, headaches and fatigue. The disease then progresses to the “wet” symptoms, which, along with vomiting and diarrhea, include bleeding from the eyes, mouth, nose and rectum.<\/p>\n Pictures of bloody patients contributed to the he panic. As Eric S. Halsey wrote in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene<\/a>, “the word “Fearbola” was popularized as a description of the public’s reaction to the intensity and nature of the initial press coverage.”<\/p>\n Ebola crews clean a house in 2014 Take PEOPLE with you! Subscribe to PEOPLE magazine<\/a> to get the latest details on celebrity news, exclusive royal updates, how-it-happened true crime stories and more \u2014 right to your mailbox.<\/p>\n The World Health Organization<\/a> declared the outbreak over on Jan. 9, 2016, after the final patient tested negative for the disease.<\/p>\n The current outbreak of Ebola<\/a> in the Democratic Republic of Congo has already surpassed the September 2014 milestone, with 6,843 confirmed cases and 3,310 related deaths, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.<\/a><\/p>\n The DRC outbreak is now the fastest-growing outbreak of Ebola on record. Per CDC<\/a> data, it took just 40 days to surpass 1,000 cases.<\/p>\n![\"Workers](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/people_218\/5aa25aecf4056d0b8a2105c240311b13.jpg\"\/)
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Credit: Mohammed Elshamy\/Anadolu Agency\/Getty<\/p>\n![\"Ebola](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/people_218\/6d48fad5e91c600d1ab97c2e110ac4bf.jpg\"\/)
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Credit: FLORIAN PLAUCHEUR\/AFP via Getty<\/p>\n