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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.
