Ebola is a deadly virus that kills almost 90% of those who contract this illness. Ebola is also known as Ebola virus or Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever. The reason that Ebola is so deadly is due to the bleeding that this disease causes on both the inside and outside of the body. The immune system is damaged, along with the organs, and this leads to the blood clotting cells to drop in numbers. In turn, the person suffers bleeding that is deadly and uncontrollable. This article explains ebola virus history like the causative virus strain, Ebola outbreaks and fatality rate, etc.
A Brief Overview of Ebola Virus History
Origin of Ebola
The origin of Ebola dated back to 1976 and was given its name due to the area in which it was discovered, the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of Congo located in Africa. Since it was first discovered, there have been several Ebola outbreaks.
Sub Types of the Ebola Virus
Since its discovery, there have been 5 identified sub types of the Ebola Virus. These are:
Zaire Ebolavirus /Ebola Virus (EBOV)
Sudan Ebolavirus (SUDV)
Tai Forest Ebolavirus (TAFV)
Reston Ebolavirus (RESTV)
Bundibugyoebolavirus (BDBV)
Confirmed Ebola Outbreak Areas
The outbreaks of Ebola do not follow any path, as they have appeared in different areas at different times. Some of the confirmed areas in which outbreaks have happened are:
Gabon
The Democratic Republic of Congo
The Ivory Coast
Sudan
Uganda
Republic of Congo
Since the first case of ebola, there have been multiple Ebola virus disease outbreaks in history, mostly in western Africa. Note that the following timeline of Ebola virus history contains both Ebola virus disease and those infections caused by Ebola virus strains that did not lead to Ebola Virus Disease.
Cases Caused by Different Strains of Ebola Virus
The following table shows more details of Ebola virus history, including cases caused by different strains of ebola virus:
Year(s) | Country | Ebola Sub Type | Cases Reported | % of deaths | Cause/Situation of Outbreak |
March 2014-present | Multiple countries | Ebola virus | 5481 | 2946 (54%) | Situation is still being investigated, and numbers continue to increase. |
November 2012 - January 2013 | Uganda | Sudan virus | 6 | 3 (50%) | Occurred in the Luwero District. CDC collected samples to determine why outbreak occurred. |
June - November 2012 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Bundibugyo Virus | 36 | 13 (36.1%) | Occurred in the Province Orientale. No link to the outbreak in Uguda was found. |
June - October 2012 | Uganda | Sudan Virus | 11 | 4 (36.4%) | Occurred in the Kibaale District, testing was performed by the CDC. |
May 2011 | Uganda | Sudan virus | 1 | 1 (100%) | The patient was diagnosed via blood sample and confirmed positive after death. |
December 2008 - February 2009 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Ebola Virus | 32 | 15 (47%) | Occurred in the Mweka and Luebo zones in Kasai. |
November 2008 | Philippines | Reston Virus | 6 | 0 | First diagnosis of Ebola in pigs, humans associated with the pigs developed antibodies but did not develop the virus |
December 2007 - January 2008 | Uganda | Bundibugyo virus | 149 | 37 (25%) | This is the first time that the Bundibugyo strand was recorded and happened in the western side of the country. |
2007 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Ebola Virus | 264 | 187 (71%) | The outbreak started on November 20th, with the last case reported on October 4th, and the last death occurring on October 20th. |
2004 | Russia | Ebola Virus | 1 | 1 (100%) | Infection was due to contamination that occurred in laboratory settings. |
2004 | Sudan | Sudan Virus | 17 | 7 (41%) | Occurred in the Southern Sudan area in which was experiencing an outbreak of measles as well. Many of the Ebola cases were later labeled measles. |
November - December 2003 | Republic of Congo | Ebola Virus | 35 | 29 (83%) | Occurred in two villages, the Mbomo and Mbandza. |
December 2002 - April 2003 | Republic of Congo | Ebola Virus | 143 | 128 (89%) | Occurred in the Mbomo and Kéllé districts. |
October 2001 - March 2002 | Republic of Congo | Ebola Virus | 57 | 43 (75%) | This was the first time in which Ebola Virus was seen in the Republic of Congo and occurred right across from the border of Gabon. |
October 2001 - March 2002 | Gabon | Ebola Virus | 65 | 53 (82%) | This outbreak spread from the Gabon border to Republic of Congo. |
2000 - 2001 | Uganda | Sudan Virus | 425 | 224 (53%) | One of the worst epidemics of Ebola, most contamination was blamed on improper funeral processes, spreading this to family members and medical care that was not adequate. |
1996 | Russia | Ebola Virus | 1 | 1 (100%) | This infection and death was due to a contamination in a laboratory setting. |
1996 | Philippines | Reston Virus | 0 | 0 | A monkey export facility was diagnosed with the virus, but no humans were infected. |
1996 | USA | Reston Virus | 0 | 0 | A monkey taken from the Philippines to a quarantine facility in Texas was diagnosed with the virus. |
1996 | South Africa | Ebola Virus | 2 | 1 (50%) | A doctor who treated Ebola patients is infected, traveling to South Africa after being in Gabon. The nurse who treated him caught the virus and died, while the doctor survived. |
July 1996 - January 1997 | Gabon | Ebola Virus | 60 | 45 (74%) | A hunter who lived in the forest was traveling for medical purposes, and ended up infected others. It was believed that a dead chimpanzee was infected with the virus. |
January - April 1996 | Gabon | Ebola Virus | 37 | 21 (57%) | People ate a dead chimpanzee whose meat was not thoroughly cooked and passed the virus to these people. The people then passed it on to family members. |
1995 | Democratic Republic of Congo | Ebola Virus | 315 | 250 (81%) | A patient worked in the forest and then traveled to the Mayibout area, passing the virus onto families and in the hospitals. |
1994 | Cote d’lvoire (Ivory Coast) | Tai | 1 | 0 | A scientist was conducting an autopsy on a chimpanzee, and contracting the virus. |
1994 | Gabon | Ebola Virus | 52 | 31 (60%) | Was first thought to be yellow fever, but it was later diagnosed as Ebola. Occurred in gold mining camps in the rain forest. |
1992 | Italy | Reston Virus | 0 | 0 | A facility in Sienna had monkeys imported from Philippines, the same facility that the US utilized. |
1989-1990 | Philippines | Reston Virus | 3 | 0 | The three humans involved with the primate facility developed antibodies to the virus, but never were infected. |
1990 | USA | Reston Virus | 4 | 0 | In Virginia and Texas, monkeys were transported from the Philippines that were positive for Reston Virus. 4 humans developed antibodies, but never shown signs of the virus. |
1989 | USA | Reston Virus | 0 | 0 | Monkeys transported from the Philippines were put into quarantined facilities. |
1979 | Sudan | Sudan virus | 34 | 22 (65%) | This was in the same area as the 1976 Sudan epidemic. |
1977 | Zaire | Ebola Virus | 1 | 1 (100%) | Occurred in the Tandala village. |
1976 | England | Sudan Virus | 1 | 0 | Accidental needle contamination affected laboratory worker. |
1976 | Sudan | Sudan Virus | 284 | 151 (53%) | Virus spread through hospitals with many medical professionals becoming infected. |
1976 | Zaire | Ebola Virus | 318 | 280 (88%) | First time the virus was recognized and occurred in the hospital setting in which contaminated needles and other supplies were used by several patients. |
Source: Center for Disease Control and Prevention
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