• Question: When was Ebola discovered and what country?

    Asked by 352bera39 to Shikha, Colin, John, Kevin, Triona on 7 Nov 2014. This question was also asked by 424bera32, Stephen, Liam Bannon, AndreaG.
    • Photo: Shikha Sharma

      Shikha Sharma answered on 7 Nov 2014:

      I was actually discussing it with my colleagues yesterday…Let me know if you want to know more. 🙂
      Ebola virus was named after the Ebola River in Zaire and it is one of the 30 known viruses which are capable of triggering viral hemorrhagic fever syndrome. In 1976, it was first discovered in Sudan and Zaire and emerged as a causative agent of major outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever in Sudan and Democratic Republic of the Congo. It infected around 285 people and around 55% patients died.
      Currently researchers have classified it into 5 species,
      1. Zaire Ebola virus- Responsible for current outbreak in West Africa
      2. Reston Ebola virus
      3. Bundibugyo Ebola virus
      4. Tai Forest Ebola virus
      5. Sudan Ebola virus

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