The disease was first identified in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks, one in Nzara, and the other in Yambuku, a village near the Ebola River from which the disease takes its name.[7] EVD outbreaks occur intermittently in tropical regions of sub-Saharan Africa.[1] Between 1976 and 2013, the World Health Organization reports a total of 24 outbreaks involving 1,716 cases.[1][8] The largest outbreak to date was the epidemic in West Africa, which occurred from December 2013 to January 2016 with 28,657 cases and 11,325 deaths.[9][10][11] It was declared no longer an emergency on 29 March 2016