Published in:
01-03-2016 | Forum
Assessing the Evidence Supporting Fruit Bats as the Primary Reservoirs for Ebola Viruses
Authors:
Siv Aina J. Leendertz, Jan F. Gogarten, Ariane Düx, Sebastien Calvignac-Spencer, Fabian H. Leendertz
Published in:
EcoHealth
|
Issue 1/2016
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Excerpt
Since their discovery 40 years ago, Ebola viruses (in the following: EBOV; family
Filoviridae, genus
Ebolavirus) continue to emerge unpredictably and cause Ebola virus disease (EVD) in humans and susceptible animals in tropical Africa (Leroy et al.
2004; Feldmann and Geisbert
2011). The scale of the current epidemic in West Africa demonstrates the impact that a single spillover event can have (Baize et al.
2014; Gire et al.
2014). Meanwhile, the reservoir(s) and ecology of EBOV remain largely unknown (Groseth et al.
2007; Feldmann and Geisbert
2011), hampering prediction of future outbreaks. …