Britannica Sources used in this answer

Why was the name Ebola chosen instead of Yambuku virus in 1976?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

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).

During the initial 1976 investigation into the outbreak of the virus, members of an international commission chose the name "Ebola" to avoid attaching a lasting stigma to the village of Yambuku, where the fever was first observed.1

The name was selected by commission members—including Peter Piot, Pierre Sureau, Karl Johnson, and Joel Breman—who identified the Ebola River on a map while staying at a non-governmental organization in Kinshasa. Although the river is located a considerable distance from Yambuku, the name was adopted for the virus and the resulting Ebola virus disease to protect the local community from the negative association that naming the virus after the village would have caused.12