Ebola Timeline - Timeline

Amid a multitude of deadly diseases, Ebola spreads without being noticed.

The World Health Organization publishes notification of a “rapidly evolving” Ebola outbreak in Guinea involving 49 patients and 29 deaths. Suspected cases in Sierra Leone and Liberia are being investigated.

The WHO reports that two Liberians tested positive for the Ebola virus after traveling to Guinea, including a 35-year-old woman who died March 21.

Dozens of mourners attend the funeral of a traditional healer who contracted Ebola while treating patients. The funeral, in Koindu, Sierra Leone, helps the virus spread and may be linked to 365 Ebola deaths, local health authorities say.

Sierra Leone health authorities confirm their first Ebola case, a young woman admitted to a government hospital in Kenema after a miscarriage.

An international research team sequences the genome of the Zaire strain of the Ebola virus. Researchers around the world begin studying it for clues about how to treat patients or develop drugs.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the outbreak appeared to be running out of steam in Liberia and Guinea in late April, only to resurge in late May and spread to Sierra Leone.

Liberian American Patrick Sawyer ignores the advice of medical officials and flies from Monrovia to Lagos, spreading Ebola to Nigeria. He dies five days later, and the virus goes on to sicken 19 and kill eight, the WHO says.

Reviving a practice common during the medieval Black Death, the leaders of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone announce plans to set up a cordon sanitaire. Troops are deployed to seal off the area where the three countries meet, a region that accounts for about 70% of the Ebola cases so far.

Nancy Writebol, a 59-year-old American missionary who contracted the virus while working in Liberia, arrives at Emory University Hospital. Both Writebol and Brantly make full recoveries after being treated with the experimental drug ZMapp, though it is unclear whether the drug was helpful.