In the 1989 Ebola outbreak, centered around monkeys imported to the U.S. from the Philippines (the Reston strain), zero human deaths occurred, though several people were exposed and developed antibodies without getting sick, highlighting that this strain wasn't dangerous to humans.
Ebola virus disease outbreaks merit global concern, but worry and response can be hyperinflated. Ebola has killed about 15,266 people globally since 1976.
The Hot Zone, a six-part National Geographic miniseries that premieres Monday night, is based on a true story about Ebola.
Overview. The 2014–2016 outbreak in West Africa was the largest Ebola outbreak since the virus was first discovered in 1976. This was the seventh outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease since its discovery. There were more cases and deaths in this outbreak than all others combined.
Ebola has a mortality rate of 25–90% depending on treatment, and averages a mortality rate of approximately 50%. Death is often due to shock from fluid loss, and typically occurs between 6 and 16 days after the first symptoms appear.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19 illness surpassed a grim milestone in early July. The number of deaths from Covid-19 in Africa—more than 11,950—exceeded the total number of people who died during the largest-ever Ebola outbreak in West Africa, according to the World Health Organization.
Rabies virus has a characteristic bullet-shaped virion structure. Rabies virus infection in mammals is nearly 100% fatal if left untreated.
On September 3, 2025, DRC's national lab – the Institut National de la Recherche Biomédicale (INRB) in Kinshasa – confirmed Ebola virus in samples collected from the first suspect cases. The outbreak was declared over on December 1, 2025, with 53 confirmed cases, 11 probable cases, and 45 deaths.
He died on Dec. 6, 2013, at age 2, and the domino effect of his illness has spiraled into the outbreak currently ravaging three nations in West Africa. His name was Emile Ouamouno. Emile's 3-year-old sister, his mother and his grandmother all died by January, leaving his father behind.
Vaccines Were Developed at Record Speed
While vaccinating those who have had contact with an infected individual and their contacts—known as ring vaccination—has been effective in controlling the spread of the Zaire ebolavirus, the two licensed Ebola vaccines do not offer protection against the Sudan ebolavirus.
Along with Thomas Geisbert, Jahrling puts his life at great risk by unknowingly sniffing a vial that contains Ebola virus, despite his reputation as a careful man. After this exposure, he works tirelessly to study the strain and to decontaminate the monkey house, and he does not become ill.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo
On September 4, 2025, the DRC Ministry of Public Health officially declared an outbreak of Ebola in Bulape health zone in Kasai Province. As of November 5, 2025, there are 64 people with confirmed or probable Ebola, which includes 45 deaths.
The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story is a best-selling 1994 nonfiction thriller by Richard Preston about the origins and incidents involving viral hemorrhagic fevers, particularly ebolaviruses and marburgviruses. The basis of the book was Preston's 1992 New Yorker article "Crisis in the Hot Zone".
While precise numbers are impossible, Tuberculosis (TB) is estimated to have killed the most humans in history, with around 1 billion deaths, followed by Smallpox, which killed hundreds of millions (300-500M in 20th century alone), and Malaria, a persistent killer since antiquity, with some sources suggesting it affected half of all people ever to live, though definitive figures are elusive.
The natural reservoir for Orthoebolaviruses is believed to be fruit bats from the Pteropodidae family. Non-human primates are known to have been a source of human infection in a number of previous EBOD outbreaks. However, they are considered incidental rather than reservoir hosts.
Some people who survive Ebola disease may develop antibodies that can last 10 years or longer. This may provide some protection from the species of orthoebolavirus that made them sick. Scientists don't know if survivors are immune for life, or if they can become infected with a different species of orthoebolavirus.
Marburg virus disease. Marburg hemorrhagic fever is a severe and highly fatal disease caused by a virus from the same family as the one that causes Ebola hemorrhagic fever. Both diseases are rare, but can cause dramatic outbreaks with high fatality.
The World Health Organization Saturday declared Liberia free of Ebola virus transmission, which it called “a monumental achievement for a country that reported the highest number of deaths in the largest, longest and most complex outbreak since Ebola first emerged in 1976.” Liberia's last case was a woman in the ...
The main cutaneous finding of Ebola is a nonspecific maculopapular rash that appears between day four and six of disease. Patients have "ghost-like" features, and the rash initially presents on the upper arms, flexor forearms, and upper legs, sometimes in a centripetal fashion.
Ebola virus disease is a rare illness which can cause death. Early symptoms of Ebola virus disease include sudden fever, headache and muscle pain. Ebola virus disease can lead to severe bleeding and multi-organ failure. The Ebola virus isn't found in Australia.
In support of the view that Ebola virus can be transmitted via semen, a single instance of heterosexual transmission of the related Marburg filovirus, from a male survivor to a female partner, was reported during an outbreak in 1967. Less probable, but theoretically possible, is female to male transmission.
Currently there are two licensed Ebola vaccines prequalified by WHO for Ebola virus disease (EVD) caused by Ebola virus (species Orthoebolavirus zairense). Ervebo® vaccine, administered in one dose. Zabdeno® and Mvabea® vaccine, administered in a two-dose regimen.
The number one killer in the world is cardiovascular disease (CVD), including heart disease and stroke, responsible for about one-third of all global deaths, claiming nearly 18-20 million lives annually, and remains the leading cause across all regions, according to WHO and World Heart Federation. While COVID-19 caused significant deaths in recent years, CVD has consistently held the top spot for decades, with increases seen globally, especially in younger populations.
COVID-19 already ranks among the world's deadliest epidemics, each of which can claim credit for epochal – not just generational – shifts. Granted, absolute figures tell you only so much: COVID-19 arrived on a far more populous planet than the one which was devastated by the Black Death.
The influenza pandemic of 1918 killed more than 50 million people and caused more than 500 million infections worldwide. In the military camps and trenches during the First World War, the influenza pandemic struck millions of soldiers all over the world, causing the deaths of 100,000 troops.