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.[1] The pathogens responsible for the disease are the five ebolaviruses recognized by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses: Ebola virus (EBOV), Sudan virus (SUDV), Reston virus (RESTV), Taï Forest virus (TAFV), and Bundibugyo virus (BDBV).[2] [3] [4] 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.[5] [6] RESTV has caused subclinical infections in humans, producing an antibody response but no visual symptoms or disease state manifestations.[7]
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,[8] or duiker.[9] The virus then spreads person-to-person, especially within families, in hospitals, and during some mortuary rituals where contact among individuals becomes more likely.[10]
Learning from failed responses, such as during the 2000 outbreak in Uganda, the World Health Organization (WHO) 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.[11] Outbreaks are also closely monitored by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Special Pathogens Branch.[12]
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.[13] [14] [15]
The information in the following tables comes from the World Health Organization (WHO). This data excludes all laboratory personnel cases, Reston virus cases (since they are all asymptomatic), and suspected cases.[16] For a complete overview, those cases are included below with footnotes and supporting sources.
| Date | Country | Virus | data-sort-type="number" | Human cases | data-sort-type="number" | Human deaths | data-sort-type="number" | Case fatality rate | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun–Nov 1976 | SUDV | 284 | 151 | 53% | Occurred in Nzara (the source town), Maridi, Tumbura, and Juba (cities in present-day South Sudan). 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.[17] | ||||
| Aug 1976 | EBOV | 318 | 280 | 88% | See main article: 1976 Zaire Ebola virus outbreak. Occurred in Yambuku and surrounding areas in what was then Zaire (present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo DRC). It spread through personal contact and by use of contaminated needles and syringes in hospitals and clinics.[18] | ||||
| 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.[19] | ||||
| 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.[20] | |||||
| 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.[21] [22] | ||||
| 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.[23] Victims included Matthew Lukwiya. | ||||
| Oct 2001–Dec 2003 | ROC | EBOV | 302 | 254 | 84.11% | The first strain Occurred on both sides of the border between Gabon and the Republic of the Congo (RC). This outbreak included the first reported occurrence of Ebola virus disease in the RC.[24] The second strain Occurred in the districts of Mbomo and Kelle in the Cuvette-Ouest Department.[25] The third strain Occurred in Mbomo and Mbandza villages, located in Mbomo District in the Cuvette-Ouest Department.[26] | |||
| Apr–Jun 2004 | SUDV | 17 | 7 | 41% | Occurred in Yambio county in Western Equatoria of southern Sudan (present-day South Sudan). This outbreak was concurrent with an outbreak of measles in the same area, and several suspected EVD cases were reclassified later as measles cases.[27] | ||||
| Apr-May 2005 | ROC | EBOV | 12 | 10 | 83% | Occurred in the Etoumbi district of Cuvette Ouest Department of the Republic of the Congo[28] | |||
| Aug–Nov 2007 | EBOV | 264 | 187 | 71% | |||||
| Dec 2007–Jan 2008 | BDBV | 149 | 37 | 25% | Occurred in the Bundibugyo District in western Uganda. This was the first identification of the Bundibugyo virus (BDBV).[29] | ||||
| Dec 2008–Feb 2009 | DRC | EBOV | 32 | 14 | 45% | Occurred in the Mweka and Luebo health zones of the Kasaï-Occidental province.[30] | |||
| Jun–Aug 2012 | SUDV | 24 | 17 | 71% | Occurred in the Kibaale District.[31] | ||||
| Jun–Nov 2012 | DRC | BDBV | 57 | 29 | 51% | Occurred in the Orientale Province.[32] | |||
| Dec 2013–Jun 2016 | Widespread: Limited and local: | EBOV | 28,616 | 11,310 | 70–71% (general)[33] [34] [35] 57–59% (among hospitalized patients)[36] | The dynamics of the stochastic process make it less trivial than simply dividing the two current numbers. (NB: A more valid estimation method would be to divide current cumulative number of deaths by cumulative number of cases 8 days ago. But don't put such numbers here, since it would constitute Original research —) --> | See main article: West African Ebola virus epidemic. This was the most severe Ebola outbreak in recorded history in regards to both the number of human cases and fatalities. It began in Guéckédou, Guinea, in December 2013 and spread abroad.[37] [38] Flare-ups of the disease continued into 2016,[39] and the outbreak was declared over on 9 June 2016. | ||
| Aug–Nov 2014 | DRC | EBOV | 66 | 49 | 74% | See main article: 2014 Democratic Republic of the Congo Ebola virus outbreak. Occurred in Équateur province. Outbreak detected 24 August and, as of 28 October 2014, the WHO said that twenty days had passed since the last reported case was discharged and no new contacts were being followed.[40] [41] Declared over on 15 November 2014.[42] | |||
| May–Jul 2018 | DRC | EBOV | 54 | 33 | 61% | See main article: 2018 Équateur province Ebola outbreak. On 8 May 2018, the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo reported two confirmed cases of Ebola infection in the northwestern town of Bikoro.[43] On 17 May, a case was confirmed in the city of Mbandaka.[44] Health authorities were planning to ring vaccinate with rVSV-ZEBOV, a recently developed experimental Ebola vaccine, to contain the outbreak.[45] The outbreak was ongoing as of 24 June 2018, in 2014 a different area of Equateur province was affected[46] [47] On 24 July 2018 the outbreak was declared over.[48] [49] [50] [51] | |||
| Aug 2018–Jun 2020 | Widespread: DRC Limited and local: | EBOV | 3,470[52] [53] | 2,280 | 66% | See main article: Kivu Ebola epidemic. On 1 August 2018, the Democratic Republic of the Congo Ministry of Health declared an outbreak when 4 individuals tested positive for the Ebola virus.[54] [55] [56] [57] On 11 June 2019, the WHO confirmed that a five-year-old boy in Uganda died after being diagnosed with Ebola.[58] [59] On 25 June 2020, the second biggest EVD outbreak ever was declared over.[60] | |||
| May 2020–Nov 2020 | DRC | EBOV | 130 | 55 | 42% | On 31 May 2020, the DRC Health Minister Eteni Longondo announced an additional Ebola outbreak, separate to the ongoing Kivu Ebola epidemic. The outbreak originated in Équateur province (which was also the location of the 2018 Équateur province Ebola outbreak).[61] [62] [63] By 17 October 2020, the case count was 128 with 53 fatalities.[64] By 18 November 2020, the World Health Organization and the Congolese government had not received reports of any cases of Ebola in Équateur province or all of the DRC for 42 days.[65] When the outbreak was declared over, there were 130 reported cases and 55 reported fatalities due to the virus.[66] | |||
| Feb–May 2021 | EBOV | 12 | 6 | 50% | On 6 February 2021, an outbreak was declared in Butembo in the North Kivu province by the Ministry of Public Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[67] By 3 May 2021, the outbreak was declared over.[68] | ||||
| Feb–Jun 2021 | EBOV | 23 | 12 | 52% | First Ebola cases and deaths in the country since 2016.[69] The first cases were confirmed on 14 February 2021, and by 9 April 2021, there were 23 reported cases of the virus, with 12 fatalities and 9 recoveries.[70] Scientists concluded that the likely source of the outbreak was a man who had survived the 2013-2016 West African epidemic but had unknowingly harbored the Ebola virus in his body, eventually transmitting it to somebody in his community, although the first known case of this current outbreak was a female nurse who had died on 28 January 2021.[71] The outbreak was declared over on 19 June 2021.[72] | ||||
| Oct–Dec 2021 | EBOV | 11 | 9 | 82% | On 8 October 2021, the Ministry of Public Health for the Democratic Republic of the Congo reported a new laboratory confirmed case of Ebola virus disease, ten more related cases were later confirmed.[73] On 16 December the outbreak was declared over.[74] | ||||
| Sept 2022–Jan 2023 | SUDV | 164 | 77 | 47% | See main article: 2022 Uganda Ebola outbreak. On 20 September 2022 an outbreak was declared in Mubende District, Uganda. Seventy-seven people died, with a total of 164 cases detected. The outbreak was declared over in January 2023.[75] |
| Date | Country | Virus | data-sort-type="number" | Human cases | data-sort-type="number" | Human deaths | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | SUDV or EBOV | 1 | 0 | Laboratory infection by accidental stick of contaminated needle.[76] [77] | |||
| 1977 | EBOV | 1 | 1 | Noted retroactively in the village of Tandala.[78] [79] | |||
| 1989–1990 |  Philippines | RESTV | 3 | 0 | The Reston virus (RESTV) was first identified when it caused high mortality in crab-eating macaques in a primate research facility responsible for exporting animals to the United States.[80] Three workers in the facility developed antibodies to the virus but did not get sick.[81] | ||
| 1989 | RESTV | 0 | 0 | RESTV was introduced into quarantine facilities in Virginia and Pennsylvania by monkeys imported from the Philippines. No human cases were reported.[82] | |||
| 1990 | RESTV | 4 | 0 | Monkeys imported from the Philippines introduced RESTV into quarantine facilities in Virginia and Texas. Four humans developed antibodies but did not get sick.[83] | |||
| 1992 | RESTV | 0 | 0 | RESTV was introduced into quarantine facilities in Siena by monkeys imported from the same facility in the Philippines that was the source of the 1989 and 1990 U.S. outbreaks. No human cases resulted.[84] | |||
| 1994 | TAFV | 1 | 0 | This case was the first and thus far only recognition of Taï Forest virus (TAFV). Approximately one week after conducting necropsies on infected western chimpanzees in Taï National Park, a scientist contracted the virus and developed symptoms similar to those of dengue fever. She was discharged from a Swiss hospital two weeks later and fully recovered after six weeks.[85] | |||
| 1995 | Unknown | 1 | 0 | One person, fleeing the civil war in neighboring Liberia, was identified as an Ebola case in Gozon. This is considered as a suspected case, excluding from the WHO outbreak counts.[86] [87] | |||
| 1996 | EBOV | 1 | 1 | n/a | |||
| 1996 | RESTV | 0 | 0 | RESTV was again introduced into a quarantine facility in Texas by monkeys imported from the same facility in the Philippines that was the source of the 1989 and 1990 U.S. outbreaks. No human cases resulted.[88] | |||
| 1996 | Philippines | RESTV | 0 | 0 | RESTV was identified at a monkey export facility in the Philippines. No human cases resulted.[89] | ||
| 1996 | EBOV | 1 | 1 | Laboratory contamination.[90] | |||
| 2004 | EBOV | 1 | 1 | Laboratory contamination.[91] | |||
| 2008 | RESTV | 6 | 0 | First recognition of RESTV in pigs. Strain very similar to earlier strains. Occurred in November. Six workers from the pig farm and slaughterhouse developed antibodies but did not become sick.[92] [93] | |||
| 2011 | SUDV | 1 | 1 | n/a | |||
| 2012 | SUDV | 7 | 4 | n/a | |||
| 2015 | RESTV | 0 | 0 | On 6 September 2015, the Philippine health secretary reported an outbreak of RESTV in a primate research and breeding facility. Twenty-five workers subsequently tested negative for the virus.[94] | |||
| 2017 | EBOV | 8 | 4 | See main article: 2017 Democratic Republic of the Congo Ebola virus outbreak. On 11 May 2017, the Ministry of Public Health for the Democratic Republic of the Congo notified the WHO of an Ebola outbreak in the Likati health zone (LHZ) in Bas-Uele province, in the northern part of the country. Suspected infections were reported from Nambwa, Mouma, and Ngay. The LHZ borders the Central African Republic, which made this outbreak a moderate risk to the region.[95] [96] | |||
| 2018 | N/A | 0 | 0 | On 20 April 2018, a laboratory accident led to a single worker being exposed to the Ebola virus, though he did not develop symptoms.[97] [98] | |||
| 2022 | EBOV | 5 | 5 | An outbreak in DRC began on April 23, and has killed 100% of those infected.[99] | |||
| 2022 | EBOV | 1 | 1 | A single case was confirmed in North Kivu.[100] | |||
| Year | Country | Virus | data-sort-type="number" | Human cases | data-sort-type="number" | Human deaths | data-sort-type="number" | Case fatality rate | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | MARV | 31 | 7 | 23% | See main article: 1967 Marburg virus outbreak in West Germany. In 1967 outbreaks in Marburg, Germany where the virus was first identified (historically) and the subsequent naming of the virus per the location[102] | ||||
| 1975 |  South Africa | MARV | 3 | 1 | 33% | Individual had traveled to Zimbabwe | |||
| 1980 | MARV | 2 | 1 | 50% | Individual(s) traveled to Kitum Cave | ||||
| 1987 | RAVV | 1 | 1 | 100% | Ravn virus (RAVV) one of two members of the species Marburg marburgvirus[103] | ||||
| 1990 | MARV | 1 | 1 | 100% | Laboratory incident | ||||
| 1998–2000 | MARV & RAVV | 154 | 128 | 83% | Occurred in Durba | ||||
| 2004–2005 | MARV | 252 | 227 | 90% | Largest Marburg virus outbreak ever occurred in Angola[104] | ||||
| 2007 | MARV & RAVV | 4 | 1 | 25% | Occurred in Kamwenge | ||||
| 2008 | MARV | 2 | 1 | 50% | - | ||||
| 2012 | MARV | 15 | 4 | 27% | Occurred in Kabale | ||||
| 2014 | MARV | 1 | 1 | 100% | - | ||||
| 2017 | MARV | 3 | 3 | 100% | See main article: 2017 Uganda Marburg virus outbreak. Uganda has had five outbreaks of the virus[105] | ||||
| 2021 | MARV | 1 | 1 | 100% | See main article: 2021 Marburg virus disease outbreak in Guinea. In August 2021, two months after the re-emergent Ebola epidemic in the Guéckédou prefecture was declared over, a case of the Marburg virus disease was confirmed by health authorities through laboratory analysis.[106] This is the first-ever case of the Marburg virus disease in West Africa.[107] On August 2, the patient succumbed to the illness.[108] | ||||
| 2022 | MARV | 3 | 3 | 100% | First time Ghana has had cases of Marburg virus disease[109] [110] | ||||
| 2023 | MARV | 17 | 12 | 70% | See main article: 2023 Marburg virus disease outbreak in Equatorial Guinea. First time Marburg virus disease was detected in the country. | ||||
| 2023 | MARV | 9 | 6 | 67% | First time Marburg virus disease was detected in the country.[111] [112] |