Newly published research shows that a percentage of fruit bats in Bangladesh were found to have Ebola virus antibodies, suggesting that they are a reservoir for Ebola or an Ebola-like virus.
The study by EcoHealth Alliance, a global, nonprofit organisation dedicated to protecting wildlife and safeguarding human health from the emergence of disease, extends the range of this lethal disease further than previously suspected to now include mainland Asia. The virus was first detected in Congo.
The research is published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention journal, Emerging Infectious Diseases for February 2013.
The study by the EcoHealth Alliance found Ebola virus antibodies circulating in ~4% of the 276 Rousettus fruit bats scientists screened in Bangladesh.
“Research on filoviruses in Asia is a new frontier of critical importance to human health, and this study has been vital to better understand the wildlife reservoirs and potential transmission of
Ebola virus in Bangladesh and the region,” said Kevin Olival, senior research scientist at EcoHealth Alliance, who led the study, the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases reported.
Filoviruses are zoonotic pathogens (diseases that are transmitted from animals to humans) that cause lethal hemorrhagic symptoms among humans and non-human primates with case fatality rates up to 80 percent. Natural reservoirs of filoviruses have remained elusive for decades but current literature suggests that bats may be the primary natural hosts of Ebola virus.
“Bats tend to have a bad reputation and that’s unfortunate since they provide services that are vital for maintaining healthy ecosystems.Increasingly, spillover of viruses from bats and other wildlife occurs due to increased human activities that bring people into closer contact with wildlife, such as land-use change and agricultural practices.
” The next step is to determine whether this Ebola virus is actually causing disease in people, and if so, work to develop strategies that reduce contact with bats to protect human health, without harming bats,” said Dr Jonathan Epstein, co-author and Associate Vice President at EcoHealth Alliance.bdnews24.com
