False-colour transmission electron micrograph of the Ebola virus, one of the group of filoviruses & the cause of Ebola fever. Two major outbreaks of this severe & frequently fatal viral haemorrhagic fever have occurred in equatorial Africa since 1976. The virus is morphologically similar to, but antigenically distinct from, the Marburg virus, the cause of green monkey disease. The illnesses produced by these two viral strains are virtually indistinguishable, with high fever, diarrhoea, haemorrages & a distinctive skin rash. Both viruses are also responsible for an illness in monkeys which in many ways resembles that found in man. Magnification: x64,000 at 6x4.5cm size.