Britannica
Sources used in this answer
When was Ebola first identified in the Democratic Republic of the Congo?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Ebola
Numerous filamentous ebolavirus particles (blue) budding from a chronically-infected VERO E6 cell (yellow-green) in this digitally colorized scanning electron micrograph produced by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
Ebola was first identified in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then known as Zaire) in 1976. The virus was named after the Ebola River, which is located in the northern part of the country, following an international commission's investigation into the initial outbreak.123