38 2008 • 1 The recent human cases of Ebola identified in Uganda have brought back into the spotlight the epizootics raging among lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) and common chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Ebola takes its name from the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), where one of the first outbreaks of the disease was observed. The virus belongs to the Ebolavirus genus of the Filoviridae family. There are three different ebolavirus subtypes in Africa: the Ivory Coast ebolavirus, the Sudan ebolavirus and the Zaïre ebolavirus. Filoviridae are endemic in central Africa in the area between the 10th parallel north and the 10th parallel south of the Equator. The reservoir of infection has not yet been fully identified but certain species of fruit-eating bats are thought to play a role. The Ivory Coast ebolavirus was isolated for the first time in West Africa, during an episode of haemorrhagic fever among wild common chimpanzees in the Tai Forest in Côte d'Ivoire. African Ebolaviruses cause haemorrhagic fever in humans; the incubation period is around one week and the disease breaks out suddenly with fever and headaches. Following this, many patients suffer chest pains, vomiting, diarrhoea and a dry throat, followed by maculopapular rashes on the trunk, which spread rapidly to other parts of the body and tend to converge. The disease is often fatal; for example, during the Kikwit episode in 1995 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 245 of the 316 cases resulted in death. In most instances the disease starts as an outbreak that spreads to a large number of contact persons, who are usually either family members or medical personnel. The disease is transmitted from one person to another by direct contact with the blood or other secretions of infected persons. zoonoses Ebola among lowland gorillas and common chimpanzees Lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) Ebolavirus Bull-ANG:boletin INT 10/3/08 21:26 Página 38