If you were thinking of travelling to northern Congo
to see the gorillas – don’t. At least 48 people are believed
to have died in a suspected outbreak of Ebola in the north of Congo-Brazzaville,
near the border with Gabon. Ebola is reported to have killed 43 people
in Congo and 53 others in neighbouring Gabon between October 2001 and
February 2002. The WHO says more than 1,000 people have died of Ebola
since the virus was first identified in 1976 in western Sudan and in a
nearby region of Congo. There is no cure for Ebola, which causes up to
95% of its victims to bleed to death.

The authorities were first alerted to a possible outbreak
of Ebola when a clan of gorillas in the region began to die in December.
Tests carried out on the bodies confirmed that the gorillas had died from
the Ebola virus, which has now claimed more than 80% of that gorilla clan.
According to on the scene World Health Experts, it seems likely that eating
bush meat such as gorilla, gazelle and antelope caused the human deaths.