Ebola

Quick facts about Ebola

1. Discovered in 1976 during simultaneous outbreaks in Nzara (South Sudan) and Yambuku (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Belgian microbiologist Peter Piot and his team named the pathogen after the nearby Ebola River to prevent stigmatizing the village of Yambuku.
2. The largest outbreak in history devastated Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, resulting in 28,616 confirmed cases and 11,310 deaths,exceeding the combined total of all previous Ebola outbreaks recorded since its discovery.
3. Ebola virus disease carries an average case fatality rate of approximately 50%, historical outbreaks have varied from 25% up to 90% depending on the virus species (Zaire ebolavirus being the deadliest) and access to supportive clinical care.
4. In 1989, a novel strain (Reston ebolavirus) infected crab-eating macaques imported from the Philippines to a research laboratory in Reston, Virginia. While airborne transmission occurred among the primates, the Reston species proved non-pathogenic to humans despite triggering widespread panic.
5. In December 2019, the FDA approved Ervebo (rVSV-ZEBOV); a single-dose recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus vaccine demonstrating nearly 100% efficacy in preventing Zaire ebolavirus when administered via "ring vaccination" contact tracing strategies.