Ebola: The History of the Virus and Its Outbreaks

“The Ebola epidemic ravaging parts of West Africa is the most severe acute public health emergency seen in modern times. Never before in recorded history has a biosafety level four pathogen infected so many people so quickly, over such a broad geographical area, for so long.” – World Health Organization, September 2014

It has long been a maxim that it is easy to forget when one is at war who the enemy really is, and that can certainly be said for the Ebola virus, which recently catapulted into headlines and instantly became the most feared disease in the world. In the case of the fight against Ebola, the enemy is not the person who has contracted the disease, nor is it the region where the virus has flourished. The enemy is a microscopic virus that, when seen under sufficient magnification, looks like a piece of loosely knotted rope. While a picture of Ebola under a microscope might look innocuous, it is a living organism that can be killed, but if it is not, it will multiply and evolve much like any other organism, including the human beings it so often kills.