Ebola Reston

Named after a strain of Ebola that was discovered in Reston, Virginia (a short distance from our nation's capitol). This strain of the virus killed over 500 lab monkeys within a matter of days and infected 4 human lab technicians (three complained only of headaches and one died of a heart attack in a nearby hosital). This incident occured, I believe, in 1989 and was investigated by both the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the United States Army Medical Research of Infectious Diseases (USAMRID). Neither organization could discover, exactly, WHY Ebola Reston didn't kill humans, like its sister-viruses, but the newly-discovered strain was decidedly and easily one of the most lethal strains known to man. Its incubation period lasted all of less than twelve hours and its run-time lasted anywhere from 24-72 hours until the patient will crash and bleed-out. It is regarded, by the medical community and infectious disease eggheads, as Mankind's most dangerous viral enemy should it ever cross over to our species entirely and prove lethal to humans.

Source: "The Hot Zone"- A book dedicated to the Ebola Reston incident. I cannot recall the name of the author to save my life (got it: Richard Preston).

Since its first appearance in Reston, Virginia, Ebola-Reston has made several other appearances around the world. The fact that this thing seems to be able to get around so easily despite the safeguards put into place after the incident in Reston really scares the daylights out of me.

Outbreaks of Ebola-Reston

Date  | Location                       | Source
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1989    Virginia, Texas, Pennsylvania    Monkeys imported from Philippines
1990    Virginia, Texas                  Monkeys imported from Philippines
1992    Italy                            Monkeys imported from Philippines
1996    Texas                            Monkeys imported from Philippines
1996    Philippines                      ?

There is a distinct pattern here. In addition, it's probably no coincidence that every single outbreak involved monkeys from the same export facility in the Philippines. You'd think they'd have learned a lesson, wouldn't you?

Source:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/ebotabl.htm