THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Footage From 1976 Documents Discovery of Ebola Virus
Vial Sent to Belgian Lab
Containing Mystery Virus Sparked Medical Expedition to Africa
Microbiologist Peter Piot brought Ebola to the world's attention nearly four decades ago. With rarely seen footage from his visit to Zaire in 1976, he describes how his team solved the mystery of the virus. Photo: Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp
In 1976, a group of health workers took a pair of film cameras to what was then known as Zaire and documented their discovery of a new, deadly virus.
Today we know that virus as Ebola.
A 27-year-old Belgian microbiologist named Peter Piot and his colleagues were the first to scientifically identify the Ebola virus.
The Wall Street Journal met Dr. Piot recently and was given access to rare archival footage that chronicled the team’s trip nearly four decades ago.
Dr. Piot described how the medical mystery tour in Zaire—what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo—unfolded. Read article.
