First Ebola Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Yambuku, 1976)

Name: First Ebola Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Yambuku, 1976)
Uploaded: 2025-05-20
Duration: 9 min 54 s
Description: The lecture First Ebola Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Yambuku, 1976) by Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum, MD, PhD is from the course Ebola.

by Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum, MD, PhD

Ask Questions

Take Notes

Download Slides

Report Mistake

Comments

show all Show less

My Notes

show all

Learning Material 2

PDF

Slides First Ebola Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo Yambuku 1976.pdf
PDF

Download Lecture Overview

show all

Report mistake

Transcript

00:01 Good morning. I am pleased to present to you a brief history of Ebola virus disease outbreak in Africa. All started with the history of a mysterious disease at Yambuku Mission and Hospital in Zaire, DRC, 1976. Two outbreaks with the same symptoms were observed in Sudan in June and in DRC in September. During the outbreak in in DRC, five Belgian missionaries died of this disease. In total, we have 318 cases with 280 deaths. Case fatality rate of 88%. In September 1976, the mission and its surroundings village were hit by a deadly mysterious disease. The Ministry of Health was alerted on September 21st, 1976. Typhoid fever and yellow fever were suspected of being the cause of this epidemic with high case fatality rate. On September 22nd, 30 people were infected by the mysterious disease, including 22 deaths. Four patients fled the hospital. The disease did not respond to anti-malaria drugs and antibiotics. The international team comprising WHO, CDC, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Institut Pasteur arrived on 18th October and the main mode of transmission was the reused syringes and person to person transmission. And I must say, I must mention the importance of the traditional funerals where people were infected during this outbreak when I came to Yambuku. Without gloves, I collected samples because I was concerned by the diagnosis the etiology of these outbreaks. So I collected samples, blood samples to conduct wider tests for the diagnosis of typhoid fever. So t he samples were processed in my lab in Kinshasa, University of Kinshasa. And, what I we obtained are some results, but were not conclusive to say that the outbreak was caused by typhoid fever. And also I collected five samples for blood culture and all were negative for typhoid fever. So in September 25th, the fragment of liver we took in yambuku were processed at the pathology laboratory at the University of Kinshasa. So three postmortem liver samples were collected on September 24th. The results are as follows. The first samples give the histological appearance compatible with yellow fever. The second sample gives the histological appearance compatible with active liver congestion. And the same for the third samples. So we don't have the conclusion of yellow fever infection. We exclude the yellow fever etiology. Meantime, we receive bad news from clinics where the sister was hospitalized and the sister died after unsuccessfully treatment with antimalarial drugs and antibiotics. And also the Congolese nurse Mayinga who took care of this sister contracted the virus. And also the accompanying Belgian missionary nurse also contracted the virus. So it is why we decided to send blood samples to the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium. And there a virus, a Marburg-like virus was isolated in Vero cells by Professor Piot. And his virus was further characterized in the laboratory, i n CDC laboratory by Carl Johnson. And it was shown that it was a novel virus they called after the river Ebola. So this mysterious disease has now a name. It is Ebola virus and the disease is Ebola disease virus. So this was the first documented outbreak in tropical forest region of Africa. In total, we have 318 cases, 280 deaths with case fatality rate of 88%. The outbreak was amplified by the use of reusable syringes and needles and participation in traditional funeral ceremonies. So we had two simultaneous outbreaks that caused by two different viruses. In Yambuku, the hardware was caused by Ebola. Zaire, but in meridian Zahra in Sudan, the virus is Ebola Sudan. So this is the first outbreak of Ebola disease documented in Yambuku, a small Catholic mission with a hospital run by Belgian sisters. The risk assessment is as follows. So we have two highly, highly lethal outbreaks simultaneously. In Zaire we have in Zaire, Yambuku and in Sudan it was Maridi with different number of cases. And the transmission was by blood, secretion of body of patients and, uh epidemiology was not consistent with airborne infection. Nosocomial transmission drove outbreaks into health workers and through them to community. Outbreak ended spontaneously as community learn how to avoid the transmission. The main motor of transmission, as I said before, is the reuse of glass syringes and reuse of needle. And the hospital was closed because population people thought that the hospital was the place of contamination.

About the Lecture

The lecture First Ebola Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Yambuku, 1976) by Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum, MD, PhD is from the course Ebola.

Included Quiz Questions

What were the case numbers and fatality rate during the first documented Ebola outbreak at Yambuku Mission in 1976?

318 cases with 280 deaths, resulting in an 88% case fatality rate
156 cases with 124 deaths, resulting in a 79% case fatality rate
445 cases with 356 deaths, resulting in a 80% case fatality rate
267 cases with 201 deaths, resulting in a 75% case fatality rate
198 cases with 165 deaths, resulting in a 83% case fatality rate

Which diseases were initially suspected as the cause of the mysterious outbreak at Yambuku before Ebola virus was identified?

Typhoid fever and yellow fever were suspected based on clinical presentation and high mortality
Malaria and dengue fever were the primary differential diagnoses considered
Lassa fever and Marburg virus disease were suspected due to hemorrhagic symptoms
Meningococcal disease and plague were considered due to rapid progression
Cholera and dysentery were suspected based on gastrointestinal symptoms

What were the two main factors that amplified transmission during the 1976 Yambuku Ebola outbreak?

Reuse of glass syringes and needles in the hospital, and participation in traditional funeral ceremonies
Contaminated water sources and overcrowded living conditions in the mission
Airborne transmission in poorly ventilated buildings and contact with infected animals
Shared eating utensils and inadequate food preparation practices
Insect vectors and contact with contaminated soil during agricultural activities

How did healthcare workers contribute to the spread of Ebola during the first outbreak?

Nosocomial transmission infected healthcare workers who then spread the virus to the community
Healthcare workers were protected by isolation protocols and did not become infected
Only non-medical staff at the hospital became infected through environmental contamination
Healthcare workers served as asymptomatic carriers without developing clinical disease
Medical personnel only became infected after the outbreak had already spread to villages

Which institutions collaborated to isolate and characterize the novel Ebola virus from the 1976 outbreak?

Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp isolated the virus, and CDC laboratory characterized it as a novel pathogen
University of Kinshasa laboratory isolated the virus independently without international assistance
WHO laboratory in Geneva was the sole institution responsible for virus identification
Institut Pasteur in Paris conducted all laboratory work for virus isolation and naming
Local Congolese laboratories identified the virus using electron microscopy techniques

Author of lecture First Ebola Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Yambuku, 1976)

Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum, MD, PhD

Customer reviews

(1)
5,0 of 5 stars

5 Stars		5
4 Stars		0
3 Stars		0
2 Stars		0
1 Star		0

Playlist

Show Playlist

Hide Playlist