Ebola virus disease is a serious and fatal disease caused by the Ebola virus of the filoviridae family, with a mortality rate of up to 90%.
Ebola was first identified in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks, one in a village in the Democratic Republic of Congo near the Ebola River and the other in what is now Nzara, South Sudan.
The origin of the virus is not known, and from the available evidence, it appears that fruit bats may be a host for Ebola.