Filed at 6:04 p.m. ET

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) -- Contact with an infected gorilla triggered an ebola outbreak that killed a reported 53 people in Gabon, the World Health Organization said.

Health workers traced the outbreak to a gorilla found in the remote north of the central African nation in the Ogooue-Ivindo province.

The remains tested positive for the ebola virus at a lab in France, WHO said Tuesday.

Ebola is one of the deadliest viral diseases, causing death through massive blood loss in up to 90 percent of those infected.

The outbreak struck in a remote area populated by Pygmies and other hunter tribes. Suspicions of medical workers quickly fell upon primates, which also can contract the virus and die of it.

Many in protein-starved central Africa eat monkeys and gorillas. Authorities had urged villagers to avoid bush meat during the outbreak.

Gabon's Health Ministry reported 65 cases, including 53 deaths, WHO said. No new cases have been reported in the area since February.

In neighboring Republic of Congo, authorities reported 43 deaths, and at least 12 other cases of the disease.