E·bo·la (?-b??l?, ?-, ?-)n.1. A filovirus that causes disease in humans and nonhuman primates and spreads through contact with bodily fluids of infected people and animals. Bats are thought to be the host reservoir for the virus. Also called Ebola virus.2. An acute, usually fatal form of hemorrhagic fever that is caused by this virus and is characterized by fever, headache, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea, and bleeding, especially from the mucous membranes and gastrointestinal tract. Also called Ebola disease, Ebola hemorrhagic fever, Ebola virus disease.[After the Ebola River in northwest Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the disease was first observed.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.