What does the ebola virus do?

Not Medical Advice: The Ebola virus causes hemorrhagic fever, an infection marked by severe bleeding, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat, followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rash, organ failure, and in many cases, death. The worst outbreak of Ebola virus in history is happening now in West Africa.

Once the Ebola virus enters the body, it gets in the body's cells and duplicates itself. "Then it comes bursting out of our cells and produces this protein that wreaks havoc," according to Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, M.D., the associate hospital epidemiologist at Boston Medical Center and director of Infection Control at Boston University's National Emerging Infectious Disease Laboratories, as reported by The Huffington Post.

The protein, called ebolavirus glycoprotein attaches to the cells on the inside of the blood vessels. This increases permeability of the blood vessels leading to blood leaking out of the vessels. "The virus causes derangement in the body's ability to coagulate and thicken the blood," Dr. Bhadelia said. Even people who don't show hemorrhagic symptoms will experience this leaking of blood from the vessels.

Ebola virus also attacks the body's immune system by blocking the signaling to white blood cells, called <neutrophils, which are responsible for raising the alarm for the immune system to come and attack. In fact, Ebola virus infects immune cells and travels in those cells to other parts of the body, including the liver, kidney, spleen and brain.

Three West Africa nations are struggling to control an outbreak of Ebola. The virus was first discovered nearly four decades ago in Congo in a village near the Ebola River. Since then there have been sporadic outbreaks. Discover five things to know about Ebola and how it is spread, at ABC News.