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Ebola History
During the 1970s, there were five confirmed Ebola outbreaks, as the following table explains.
Year
|
Ebola subtype
|
Country
|
No. of human cases
|
Percentage of deaths among cases
|
Outbreak details
|
1976
|
Ebola-Zaire
|
Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo [DRC])
|
318
|
88%
|
Occurred in Yambuku and surrounding area. Disease was spread by close personal contact and by use of contaminated needles and syringes in hospitals/clinics. This outbreak was the first recognition of the disease.
|
1976
|
Ebola-Sudan
|
Sudan
|
284
|
53%
|
Occurred in Nzara, Maridi, and the surrounding area. Disease was spread mainly through close personal contact within hospitals. Many medical care personnel were infected.
|
1976
|
Ebola-Sudan
|
England
|
1
|
0%
|
Laboratory infection by accidental stick of contaminated needle.
|
1977
|
Ebola-Zaire
|
Zaire
|
1
|
100%
|
Noted retrospectively in the village of Tandala.
|
1979
|
Ebola-Sudan
|
Sudan
|
34
|
65%
|
Occurred in Nzara. Recurrent outbreak at the same site as the 1976 Sudan epidemic.
|
Written by/reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD