On Dec. 12, 2001, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed an outbreak of Ebola in Gabon. The WHO reported that more than 1,000 people had died of the disease since the virus was first identified in 1976 in Sudan and the Congo.

Ebola haemorrhagic fever is one of the most virulent viral diseases known to humankind, causing death in 50-90% of cases. The Ebola virus is transmitted by direct contact with the blood or body fluids of infected persons.

Gabon’s first verified Ebola outbreak occurred in December 1994 in gold mining encampments. Investigators studying the outbreak were told of unexplained deaths of great apes, gorillas and chimpanzees, but no dead animals were found. The outbreak ended six weeks later.