The Ebola River ( or ), also commonly known by its indigenous name Legbala, is the

headstream The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

of the

Mongala River The Mongala River in the northern Democratic Republic of the Congo is a right tributary of the Congo River. Course The Mongala River is long, or long if the Ebola tributary is included. It is formed by the confluence of the Dwa River and the E ...

, a tributary of the

Congo River The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharg ...

, in northern

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. It is roughly in length. The name ''Ebola'' is a French corruption of ''Legbala'', its name in Ngbandi which means 'white water'. During the Belgian administration these names were interchangeable along with the French names ''Eau Blanche'' and rarely ''L'Ébola''. In 1976,

Ebola virus ''Zaire ebolavirus'', more commonly known as Ebola virus (; EBOV), is one of six known species within the genus '' Ebolavirus''. Four of the six known ebolaviruses, including EBOV, cause a severe and often fatal hemorrhagic fever in humans and o ...

was first identified in Yambuku, from the Ebola River, but the virologist Karl Johnson decided to name it after the river so that the town would not be associated with the disease's stigma. Thus, the river is eponymous to the terms

, '' Ebolavirus'', and

Ebola virus disease Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after becom ...

(usually referred to as simply "Ebola").

References

External links

Ebola Rivers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo {{DRCongo-river-stub