Nairobi — When alarming reports of a deadly disease outbreak landed on the desk of Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe - the leading virologist in what was then known as Zaire - he sent an employee from the capital of Kinshasa to Kikwit, a city in the southwestern part of the country.
The lab technician returned with blood and stool samples taken from people with the mystery illness. Back in Kinshasa, tests ruled out common diseases. Muyembe's team then sent the samples to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, where tests confirmed his suspicion.
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