Research narrows spread of Ebola

Most of the people infected with Ebola in the West African epidemic that began in 2014 got sick through contact with a small number of people with the disease, researchers said on Monday.

The study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows such "superspreaders" can be extremely dangerous when it comes to infectious disease outbreaks.

The West African Ebola epidemic was the largest in history and killed more than 11,300 people, with many of the cases involving people infected while caring for a sick person or burying a body.