List of Ebola outbreaks
This list of Ebola outbreaks records the known occurrences of Ebola virus disease, a highly infectious and acutely lethal viral disease that has afflicted humans and animals primarily in equatorial Africa. The pathogens responsible for the disease are the five ebolaviruses recognized by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses: Ebola virus, Sudan virus, Reston virus, Taï Forest virus, and Bundibugyo virus. Four of the five variants have caused the disease in humans as well as other animals; RESTV has caused clinical symptoms only in non-human primates. RESTV has caused subclinical infections in humans, producing an antibody response but no visual symptoms or disease state manifestations.
Transmission of the ebolaviruses between natural reservoirs and humans is rare, and outbreaks of Ebola virus disease are often traceable to a single case where an individual has handled the carcass of a gorilla, chimpanzee, bats, or duiker. The virus then spreads person-to-person, especially within families, in hospitals, and during some mortuary rituals where contact among individuals becomes more likely.
Learning from failed responses, such as during the 2000 outbreak in Uganda, the World Health Organization established its Global Outbreak [Alert and Response Network], and other public health measures were instituted in areas at high risk. Field laboratories were established to confirm cases, instead of shipping samples to South Africa. Outbreaks are also closely monitored by the United States Centers for [Disease Control and Prevention] Special Pathogens Branch.
Nigeria was the first country in western Africa to successfully curtail the virus, and its procedures have served as a model for other countries to follow.
Events
The information in the following tables comes from the World Health Organization. This data excludes all laboratory personnel cases, Reston virus cases, and suspected cases. For a complete overview, those cases are included below with footnotes and supporting sources.Major or massive cases
| Date | Country | Virus | Human cases | Human deaths | Case fatality rate | Description |
| Jun–Nov 1976 | SUDV | 284 | 151 | 53% | Occurred in Nzara, Maridi, Tumbura, and Juba. The index cases were workers in a cotton factory. The disease was spread by close contact with an acute case, usually from patients to their nurses. Many medical care personnel were infected. | |
| Aug 1976 | EBOV | 318 | 280 | 88% | Occurred in Yambuku and surrounding areas in what was then Zaire. It spread through personal contact and by use of contaminated needles and syringes in hospitals and clinics. | |
| Aug–Sep 1979 | SUDV | 34 | 22 | 65% | Occurred in Nzara and Maridi. This was a recurrent outbreak at the same site as the 1976 Sudan epidemic. | |
| EBOV | 52 | 31 | 60% | Occurred in Makokou and gold-mining camps deep in the rainforest along the Ivindo River. Until 1995, the outbreak was incorrectly classified as yellow fever. | ||
| May–Jul 1995 | EBOV | 315 | 254 | 81% | Occurred in Kikwit and surrounding areas. The outbreak was traced to a patient who worked in a forest adjoining the city. The epidemic spread through families and hospital admissions. | |
| Jan 1996–Mar 1997 | EBOV | 91 | 66 | 72.53% | The first strain Occurred in the village of Mayibout 2 and neighboring areas. A chimpanzee found dead in the forest was eaten by villagers hunting for food. Nineteen people involved in the butchery of the animal became ill, and other cases occurred in their family members. The last strain Occurred in the Booué area with transport of patients to Libreville. The index case-patient was a hunter who lived in a forest timber camp. The disease was spread by close contact with infected persons. A dead chimpanzee found in the forest at the time was determined to be infected. | |
| Oct 2000–Jan 2001 | SUDV | 425 | 224 | 53% | Occurred in the Gulu, Masindi, and Mbarara districts of Uganda. The three greatest risks associated with Sudan virus infection were attending funerals of case-patients, having contact with case-patients in one's family, and providing medical care to case-patients without using adequate personal protective measures. Victims included Matthew Lukwiya. | |
| Oct 2001–Dec 2003 |  Republic of the CongoSUDMinor or single casesList of other Filoviridae outbreaks |