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Where did the 2014–16 Ebola outbreak in western Africa begin?

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Ebolavirus and Ebola virus disease — 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).

The 2014–16 Ebola outbreak in western Africa began in December 2013, when the virus first sickened people in the village of Méliandou, located in the Guéckédou prefecture of southern Guinea.1

The suspected index case was a two-year-old child who died in Méliandou early that month, followed by similar illnesses among other villagers in the subsequent weeks. The outbreak later spread through the region, primarily affecting Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.12