On August 7, 2014, Ebola-chan was posted to the /pol/ thread on 4chan. The first known image of the 'Ebola-chan' meme was originally published on Pixiv on August 4, 2014. The epidemic would go on to receive widespread, world-wide media coverage, with increased public awareness and concern over the virus and its transmission. Subsequently, the outbreak spread to the neighbouring countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone, with addition outbreaks in Nigeria and Mali. The first cases of the outbreak were recorded in Guinea in December 2013. In 2014, ebola virus epidemic broke out in West Africa. Main article: Western African Ebola virus epidemic