Extreme poverty
Ebola virus disease (commonly known as "Ebola") was first described in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and what is now South Sudan. The 2013–2016 outbreak, caused by Ebola virus (EBOV) was the first anywhere in the world to reach epidemic proportions. Previous outbreaks had been brought under control in a much shorter period of time. Extreme poverty, dysfunctional healthcare systems, distrust of government after years of armed conflict, and the delay in responding for several months, all contributed to the failure to control the epidemic. Other factors, per media reports, included local burial customs of washing the body and the unprecedented spread of Ebola to densely populated cities.