This Day in History: February 19, 1996
Additional Date: February 19, 1996
Thirteen people died of an unknown disease in a remote village in Gabon during the month of February 1996. On 19 February 1996, the World Health Organisation confirmed that the disease was in fact Ebola. The deceased included a six month old baby. It was believed that the twelve adults had contracted the disease after eating the meat of a chimpanzee they had found dead in the forest.
Ebola is a severe hemorrhagic fever. It is often fatal and infects humans, monkeys, gorillas and chimpanzees. Much about the disease is still unknown. Ebola cases have been reported in countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Gabon, Ivory Coast and Uganda.