Ebola in humans and animals
The Ebola virus was first identified in 1976 and is closely related to the Marburg, Sudan and Reston viruses and other members of the filovirus family. In 2014 alone, one strain of Ebola virus caused the major outbreak in West Africa, a different strain of Ebola virus caused a separate, smaller outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Marburg virus killed in Uganda. The Sudan virus has caused multiple outbreaks over the years in Central Africa, and the Reston virus has been identified in China and the Philippines on multiple ranches of swine being raised for human consumption. Fruit bats are thought to act as the natural reservoir of the Ebola virus; other animals become infected as well. Migration of bats or other animals may have spread the virus to West Africa ten years ago, where it remained until a spillover into the human population in December 2013 triggered the current major outbreak. As of November 2014, Ebola virus has infected over 14,000 people and killed at least 5,000 in West Africa.