EBOLA VIRUS AND ITS HISTORY

EBOLA HEMORRHAGIC FEVER (Ebola HF) is one of
numerous Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers. It is a severe,
often fatal disease in humans and nonhuman
primates (such as monkeys, gorillas, and
chimpanzees).
Ebola HF is caused by infection with a virus of the
family Filoviridae, genus Ebolavirus. When infection
occurs, symptoms usually begin abruptly.
BRIEF GENERAL HISTORY OF EBOLA
In 1976, Ebola (named after the Ebola River in Zaire)
first emerged in Sudan and Zaire. The first outbreak
of Ebola (Ebola-Sudan) infected over 284 people,
with a mortality rate of 53%. A few months later, the
second Ebola virus emerged from Yambuku, Zaire,
Ebola-Zaire (EBOZ). EBOZ, with the highest mortality
rate of any of the Ebola viruses (88%), infected 318
people. Despite the tremendous effort of experienced
and dedicated researchers, Ebola's natural reservoir
was never identified. The third strain of Ebola, Ebola
Reston (EBOR), was first identified in 1989 when
infected monkeys were imported into Reston,
Virginia, from Mindanao in the Philippines.
Fortunately, the few people who were infected with
EBOR (seroconverted) never developed Ebola
hemorrhagic fever (EHF). The last known strain of
Ebola, Ebola Cote d'Ivoire (EBO-CI) was discovered in
1994 when a female ethologist performing a
necropsy on a dead chimpanzee from the Tai Forest,
Cote d'Ivoire, accidentally infected herself during the
necropsy.
The natural reservoir host of ebolaviruses remains
unknown. However, on the basis of available
evidence and the nature of similar viruses,
researchers believe that the virus is zoonotic
(animal-borne) with bats being the most likely
reservoir. Four of the five subtypes occur in an
animal host native to Africa.
A host of similar species is probably associated
with Reston virus, which was isolated from infected
cynomolgous monkeys imported to the United
States and Italy from the Philippines. Several
workers in the Philippines and in US holding facility
outbreaks became infected with the virus, but did
not become ill.

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