Ebola Outbreak

The cause of an Ebola outbreak is an infection with the Ebola virus. There have been 18 confirmed Ebola outbreaks since 1970. No Ebola outbreak has ever been reported in humans in the United States.

 

Ebola Outbreak: An Introduction

Ebola hemorrhagic fever (Ebola) is a very contagious illness that is often fatal in humans and nonhuman primates (monkeys, gorillas, and chimpanzees). An Ebola outbreak is caused by an infection with the Ebola virus (see Ebola Pictures). Ebola virus got its name from a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), in Africa, where it was first recognized. There are four identified subtypes of Ebola virus. Three of the four have caused disease in humans:
 
  • Ebola-Sudan
  • Ebola-Ivory Coast
  • Ebola-Zaire.
     
The fourth Ebola virus subtype, Ebola-Reston, has caused disease in nonhuman primates, but not in humans.
 
(Click Causes of Ebola for more information on what causes Ebola.)
 
Ebola outbreaks first became recognized in 1976, and have appeared sporadically ever since.
Confirmed cases of Ebola virus infections have been reported in:
 
  • Uganda
  • Sudan
  • Gabon
  • The Ivory Coast
  • The Republic of the Congo
  • The Democratic Republic of the Congo.
     
No case of Ebola in humans has ever been reported in the United States. Several research workers became infected with the virus, but did not become ill, when monkeys were imported to research facilities in the United States and Italy from the Philippines, and Ebola-Reston virus caused severe illness and death in the monkeys.
 
(Ebola Outbreak Continued: Page 2)
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Written by/reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
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