Muamba was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, then known as Zaire, and came to England in 1999 at the age of 11 after being granted political asylum.

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He labelled the end of the contest in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), which underdog Ali won by knockout in the eighth round to reclaim the world heavyweight crown at the age of 32 - as "the most extraordinary few seconds that I have ever seen in a boxing ring".

BBC: Harry Carpenter

Ebola was first identified in equatorial Sudan following significant outbreaks in northern Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) and southern Sudan in the mid 1970s.

BBC: Africa's emerging virus threat

He has been on missions in Liberia, Yemen and Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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The Ebola virus was first detected in 1976 in the central African nation of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo).

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Muhammad Ali went to Africa in 1974, knocking out George Foreman in a fight in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) billed as the "Rumble in the Jungle" which became one of boxing's biggest upsets.

BBC: Ali daughter's battle for hope postponed

The anecdotal evidence, however, is there for all to see: even tiny village markets in central Africa often sell smoked ape meat, particularly in Congo and the former Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, where it is regarded as a delicacy.

ECONOMIST: The bushmeat trade

In 1987, Mr. Gilman sent John Lukas, a zoologist who heads White Oak's conservation program, to Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) to work with pygmy tribes to capture an okapi, an extremely rare animal that resembles a cross between a giraffe and a zebra.

WSJ: Hard Times Force Famed Southern Refuge's Sale