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.