# Do survivors of Ebola and Marburg go on to live normal lives? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 27, 2005, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-survivors-of-ebola-and-marburg-go-on-to-live-normal-lives/301425 "2005-04-27T19:54:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-survivors-of-ebola-and-marburg-go-on-to-live-normal-lives/301425/1 "2005-04-27T19:54:25Z")
These diseases sometimes kill at a 90% rate. But I never hear of what happens to the few survivors. Do they ever fully recover from such horrible diseases? What about some of the other killer diseases like plague, anthrax, etc.? ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-survivors-of-ebola-and-marburg-go-on-to-live-normal-lives/301425/2 "2005-04-27T20:10:23Z")
Unless you’re lucky enough to be infected with one of the strains of Ebola that’s non-lethal to humans, no. Ebola and Marburg cause massive damage to virtually every organ in the body (which is why they have such high fatality rates), and if you survive, you’re looking at such fun things as severe liver damage, crapped-out kidneys, cardiopulmonary problems, blindness, and brain-damage, to begin with. You may survive, but what’s left of you will pretty much have gone through the meat grinder. ---
**Author:** ![NillyWilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@NillyWilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NillyWilly)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-survivors-of-ebola-and-marburg-go-on-to-live-normal-lives/301425/3 "2005-04-27T20:45:09Z")
Interestingly, [this cite](http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic2406.htm) says complete recovery is possible in some patients. I wouldn’t have thought that. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-survivors-of-ebola-and-marburg-go-on-to-live-normal-lives/301425/4 "2005-04-28T00:45:05Z")
> [@](#): > > These diseases sometimes kill at a 90% rate. Sometimes, but as you can see [here](http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/ebotabl.htm) from the CDC, typical mortality rates in large Ebola outbreaks are more in the 50-70% range. The highest mortality rate was 88% in the first outbreak. ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-survivors-of-ebola-and-marburg-go-on-to-live-normal-lives/301425/5 "2005-04-28T04:19:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Sometimes, but as you can see here from the CDC, typical mortality rates in large Ebola outbreaks are more in the 50-70% range. That’s still a hellaciously huge mortality rate. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-survivors-of-ebola-and-marburg-go-on-to-live-normal-lives/301425/6 "2005-04-28T11:32:16Z")
More to the point - are these survivors now immune to these viruses? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-survivors-of-ebola-and-marburg-go-on-to-live-normal-lives/301425/7 "2005-04-28T19:40:09Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > More to the point - are these survivors now immune to these viruses? I don’t know that immunity has ever been tested, but I do know that infected patients have been successfully treated on occasion by injecting them with plasma from recovered patients. > [@yBeayf](#): > > That’s still a hellaciously huge mortality rate. Yes, it is. But my point was that there are a significant number of people out there that have come down with these diseases and fully recovered. It’s not like there are just one or two freaks out there that miraculously pulled through.