ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Espionage, Intelligence, and Security Volume ...

Ebola Virusfrom 1954 to 1964. In 1964, the navy phased in the E-2Hawkeye, the first aircraft designed to be carrier-basedand serve an all-weather airborne early warning and commandand control function. Nine years later, in 1973,Grumman introduced the E-2C model. Over the next threedecades, the E-2C underwent five major changes, with thefifth, known as Hawkeye 2000, introduced in October 2001.Using computerized sensors to provide early warning,the E-2C is a high-wing aircraft whose rotating domecontains stacked antennae. The airflow over and aroundthe dome necessitates the second most distinctive of itsdesign features, a multiple-surface tail unit.In addition to their service in Vietnam, Hawkeyesdirected F-14 Tomcat fighters on combat air patrol duringstrikes against terrorist-related Libyan targets in 1986.They also directed both land attacks and combat air patrolmissions over Iraq during the Persian Gulf War, providingcontrol for the shootdown of two Iraqi MiG-21 fighter jetsby carrier-based F/A-18s in the first days of the conflict.E-2Cs have also served with the Drug EnforcementAdministration and other law-enforcement agencies forthe interdiction of smuggled drugs. The governments ofEgypt, France, Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan have purchasedE-2Cs, which are engineered in Bethpage, NewYork, and produced and modified in St. Augustine, Florida.❚ FURTHER READING:BOOKS:Chant, Christopher. An Illustrated Data Guide to ModernReconnaissance Aircraft. London: Tiger Books International,1997.Hardy, M. J. Sea, Sky, and Stars: An Illustrated History ofGrumman Aircraft. New York: Sterling, 1987.PERIODICALS:Dietrich, Bill. “Engineering—Here’s What You Can ExpectNext Century.” Seattle Times. (December 15, 1992): D1.Wilson, George C. “Drug-War Radar Picks up a FundingBlip.” Washington Post. (April 14, 1987): A21.“Young Defends $13 Billion CVN-21 Development Investment.”Defense Daily 217, no. 32 (February 19, 2003): 1.ELECTRONIC:E-2C Hawkeye. United States Navy Fact File. (March 9, 2003).SEE ALSOJ-STARSPersian Gulf War❚ BRIAN D. HOYLEEbola VirusThe Ebola virus is one of two members of a family ofviruses that is designated as the Filoviridae. The name ofthe virus comes from a river located in the DemocraticRepublic of the Congo, where the virus was discovered.Although naturally occurring, some public health expertsworry that the lethality of the virus makes it an attractivepotential bioterrorism agent. Under natural circumstancesEbola induced hemorrhagic fever carriers have such highdeath rates that their rapid death actually acts to limit thespread of the virus. Deliberate spread of the virus wouldcounteract this natural limiting factor.The species of Ebola virus are among a number ofviruses that cause a disease, hemorrhagic fever, that istypified by copious internal bleeding and bleeding fromvarious orifices of the body, including the eyes. The diseasecan be swiftly devastating and results in death in over90 per cent of cases.To date, four species of Ebola virus have been identified,based on differences in their genetic sequences andin the immune reaction they elicit in infected individuals.Three of the species cause disease in humans. These areEbola-Zaire (isolated in 1976), Ebola-Sudan (also isolatedin 1976), and Ebola-Ivory Coast (isolated in 1994). Thefourth species, called Ebola-Reston, causes disease inprimates. The latter species is capable of infecting humansbut so far has not caused disease in humans. Ebola-Reston is named for the United States military primateresearch facility where the virus was isolated, during a1989 outbreak of the disease caused by infected monkeysthat had been imported from the Philippines. Until thenon-human involvement of the disease was proven, theoutbreak was thought to be the first outside of Africa.The appearance of the Ebola virus only dates back to1976. The explosive onset of the illness and the underdevelopedand wild nature of the African region of thevirus’s appearance have complicated the definitive determinationsof the origin and natural habitat of Ebola. Thesource of the Ebola virus is still unknown. However, giventhat filovirus, which produce similar effects, establish alatent infection in African monkeys, macaques, and chimpanzees,scientists consider the possibility that the Ebolavirus likewise normally resides in an animal that lives inAfrica. A search for Ebola virus in such primates has so farnot revealed evidence of the virus.Almost all confirmed cases of Ebola from 1976 to2002 have been in Africa. In the latest outbreak, which hasbeen ongoing since late in 2001, 54 people have died in theGabon as of February of 2002. In the past, one individual inLiberia presented immunological evidence of exposure toEbola, but had no symptoms. As well, a laboratory worker368 Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security