Ebola hygiene information sign. Sign produced by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) emphasising the importance of washing hands in the battle to control the 2014 ebola outbreak in West Africa. Ebola virus disease (EVD), or ebola haemorrhagic fever (EHF), is caused by the ebola virus. It is a severe and often fatal disease with symptoms including fever, fatigue, muscle aches, vomiting, diarrhoea and haemorrhaging (internal bleeding). There is no cure, but three quarters of patients can recover if provided with sufficient medical support. The 2014 outbreak in Western Africa was the largest ever recorded and was declared an international public health emergency. Hand washing stations that supply hyperchlorinated water, as a sterilizing fluid, are a common site throughout West Africa, in an attempt to curb the spread. Photographed in Guinea, in 2014.