Ebola can be stopped — but only if world leaders prioritize public health The deadly disease was identified half a century ago in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is unacceptable that it continues to take lives.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01630-5 Half a century ago, researchers and policymakers joined together to identify an unknown disease and bring it under control. That first Ebola outbreak took 280 lives from 318 cases in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). After it was reported in September 1976, rapid action — an organized campaign of surveillance, contact tracing, isolating cases and safe burials — meant that the outbreak was over within four months1.