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The first Filovirus (Marburg) was identified in 1967 when about 30 laboratory workers in Germany and Yugoslavia developed hemorrhagic fever and seven died. The workers had handled kidney tissues from infected African green monkeys imported from Uganda when they were preparing primary cell cultures for polio vaccine production.
Ebola virus disease was initially discovered in 1976 after two separate outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever occurred in different areas of Central Africa. The first occurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo, near the Ebola River, and the second occurred approximately 500 miles away in South Sudan.
Outbreaks of Ebola were sporadic and primarily confined to Africa until a large outbreak originating in Southeast Guinea began in March 2014. Most cases occurred in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, but cases were also detected in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Italy, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States. There were 28,616 confirmed, probable, and suspected cases and 11,310 deaths in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. An additional 36 cases and 15 deaths occurred when the outbreak spread outside these three countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) ended the Ebola virus public health emergency on March 29, 2016.
In August 2018, health officials from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) reported that an outbreak of Ebola virus disease had occurred in the North Kivu province. WHO declared an end to this outbreak on June 25, 2020. A total of 3,470 cases and 2,287 deaths were linked to this outbreak. An additional outbreak was declared on June 1, 2020 in the Mbandaka, Equateur Province of western DRC. There were 130 cases and 55 deaths associated with this outbreak. The outbreak was declared over on November 18, 2020.
On February 7, 2021, officials from the DRC announced that an outbreak of Ebola virus had occurred in the North Kivu Province. According to health officials, a female presented with symptoms of illness in late January and died on February 4, 2021. One week later, health officials in Guinea reported an outbreak of Ebola virus disease had occurred for the first time since 2016. The initial case was believed to have originated in a nurse who infected five family members and a traditional practitioner whom she consulted for assistance. Five of the seven cases were fatal. This outbreak was declared over in May 2021.
Another outbreak in the DRC occurred between October and December 2021, with 11 reported cases and 6 associated deaths. Health officials believe this outbreak was caused by an Ebola virus survivor with a persistent infection.