New Ebola Outbreak: Previous Infection May Have Reignited Disease Epidemic In West Africa 03/13/21 AT 12:24 PM Experts at the World Health Organization suspect the Ebola outbreak in West Africa may have been sparked by survivors from the 2014 epidemic. Guinea has reported at least 18 cases of Ebola since the previous outbreak, which lasted until 2016, Reuters reports. During a press briefing on Friday, Dr. Mike Ryan, a top emergency official at the WHO, claimed the outbreak could be the result of the virus lingering in the bodies of those who were previously infected. Due to the genetic sequencing found, Ryan revealed the virus was passed from human to human as opposed to an animal to human, which is typically how an Ebola outbreak starts.