Ongoing Ebola outbreak traced to hollow tree

Resident bats may have infected a two-year-old boy, the

outbreaks first victim

More than 21,000 people have been stricken by the ongoing

Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Of these, 8,400 have died.
That epidemic may have started in a hollow tree, scientists
now report.
Two-year-old Emile Ouamouno appears to have been the
massive outbreaks first victim. The boy, who died of Ebola in
December 2013, lived in the remote village of Meliandou in
Guinea. He and his friends often played in a hollow tree near
his home. But that tree also was home to a species of insect-

eating bat (Mops condylurus), scientists report in the

January issue of EMBO Molecular Medicine. Previous studies
had pointed to that species as a possible carrier of the Ebola
virus.
These insect-eating bats often dwell near people. They may
even roost in homes. Because of this close contact, Fabian
Leendertz worries that the next Ebola outbreak can start
anywhere that these bats live. Leendertz works at the Robert
Koch Institute in Berlin, Germany. As an epidemiologist, he
investigates where a new disease might have started and its
source.
In seeking the roots of the new Ebola outbreak, Leendertz
and his team traveled to Emiles village four months after the
boy had died. They wanted to find the source animal, or

reservoir, of the virus to figure out how people had first

come into contact with it. But when the researchers arrived,
the hollow tree had already been burned. Its bats were gone.
So the scientists interviewed villagers and studied nearby
wildlife.

Many people in Africa eat bush meat wild animals such as

bats, monkeys, great apes and antelope. Fruit bats had been
a prime suspect for triggering the Ebola outbreak. People
come into contact with the virus by eating infected fruit bats
or fruit that had been in contact with an infected bat. But
the scientists determined that these bats likely were not to
blame. No fruit bats roosted in Emiles village. The scientists
also found no evidence that the boy or his family had eaten
fruit bats.
In fact, they found no infected bats of any kind in or near
Emiles village. The researchers did learn, though, that
insect-eating bats used to live in that hollow tree where the
children had played. Such bats had been linked to earlier
Ebola outbreaks. That makes them the most likely suspects
in the recent outbreak, Leendertz and his colleagues
concluded.
The case isn't closed. Leendertz says he cannot yet
completely rule out fruit bats as the source of the virus
spread into people. And Tony Schountz told Science News
that the new evidence for these insect-eating bats is largely

circumstantial. That means it points to a connection but

falls short of being solid proof. Still, it's a start for sure,
Schountz said. He's an immunologist at Colorado State
University in Fort Collins and has studied viruses in bats.
Because people can be warned to avoid contact with certain
animals, such as bats, Schountz told Science News that it's
important to identify which species may carry dangerous
diseases. We have a good chance of modifying human
behavior, he said. We have no chance of changing the
bats.

Power Words
bush meat Wild mammals eaten by people, including not only cats,
Chinese bamboo rats, squirrels, badgers and civets but also primates, such
as monkeys, chimps and gorillas.
carrier (in medicine) A person or organism that has become infected with
an infectious disease agent, but displays no symptoms. The infamous
typhoid Mary was a well-known example an individual who could
infect others with a killer disease but showed no signs of disease herself.
Ebola A family of viruses that cause a deadly disease in people. Most cases
occur in Africa and Asia. Its symptoms include headaches, fever, muscle
pain and extensive bleeding. The infection spreads from person to person
(or animal to some person) through contact with infected body fluids.
epidemic A widespread outbreak of an infectious disease that sickens many
people in a community at the same time.
epidemiologist Like health detectives, these researchers figure out what
causes a particular illness and how to limit its spread.
outbreak The sudden emergence of disease in a population of people or
animals.
reservoir A large store of something. People who study infections refer to
the environment in which germs can survive safely (such as the bodies of
birds or pigs) as living reservoirs.
virus Tiny infectious particles consisting of RNA or DNA surrounded by
protein. Viruses can reproduce only by injecting their genetic material into
the cells of living creatures. Although scientists frequently refer to viruses as
live or dead, in fact no virus is truly alive. It doesnt eat like animals do, or
make its own food the way plants do. It must hijack the cellular machinery
of a living cell in order to survive.