Hmmm, how is it that we never heard of this sort of disease from the annals of the early explorers?
When was the first case documented?
Ebola has always been prevalent among African animals. They have acquired a natural immunity to it. Unfortunately, few human beings have it and that is why its nearly almost lethal.
The bubonic plague on the other hand can be treated with antibiotics.
“Hmmm, how is it that we never heard of this sort of disease from the annals of the early explorers?”
There weren’t any early explorers. The African continent is a plateau making its rivers, other than the Nile, unnavigable from the sea.
Parts of Africa were never explored until 1900 and that includes the Congo, where ebola lives. The first known case occurred in 1976.
I think about 1976
Back in 1980 or '81 I spoke with an American doctor named Bruce Johnson, IIRC, in Nairobi, who was doing research on hemorrhagic fevers - Ebola, Marburg, etc. Not much was known at the time and he needed specimens from victims in order to do his research.
He gave me several articles to pass along to the various bush medical personnel I worked with and asked that they notify him of any possible cases. I volunteered to fly the specimens back to Nairobi. (Note to self: Not such a bright idea, in retrospect!)
There had been an outbreak in Southern Sudan in the late 1970's that killed 126, IIRC. The effects were so horrendous that the entire hospital staff ran away.
There was also an outbreak in Marberg, Germany in the 1970's related to a shipment of monkeys from Central Africa. Also, a schoolgirl in Western Kenya who fed the monkeys developed acae, but I believe that she recovered. There is also a milder Rift Valley Hemorrhagic Fever. They had a case near Kijabe, Kenya
Early explorers didn’t live long enough to document diseases like this.
Prior to the advent of modern vaccines and antibiotics, the life expectancy of a European in Subsaharan Africa was under a year.
That’s why slaves sold out of western African into the New World slave trade were captured and sold by other Africans.