Multiple Ebola Virus Transmission Events and Rapid Decline of Central African Wildlife
Abstract
Several human and animal Ebola outbreaks have occurred over the past 4 years in Gabon and the Republic of Congo. The human outbreaks consisted of multiple simultaneous epidemics caused by different viral strains, and each epidemic resulted from the handling of a distinct gorilla, chimpanzee, or duiker carcass. These animal populations declined markedly during human Ebola outbreaks, apparently as a result of Ebola infection. Recovered carcasses were infected by a variety of Ebola strains, suggesting that Ebola outbreaks in great apes result from multiple virus introductions from the natural host. Surveillance of animal mortality may help to predict and prevent human Ebola outbreaks.
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The authors thank the national and international teams involved in the control of the Ebola outbreaks that occurred in Gabon and the Republic of Congo. The national teams were members of the Gabonese Health Ministry and the Health Service of the Gabonese Defense Ministry during the Gabon outbreaks, and they were members of the Congolese Health Ministry during the outbreaks in the Republic of Congo. The international teams were mainly scientific and medical experts of the World Health Organization (WHO) and Médecins Sans Frontières. We thank all those involved in sample collection and case reporting. We are also grateful to A. Délicat, P. Yaba, B. Kumulungui, and G. Moussavou for excellent technical assistance, D. Young and P. Telfer for help in preparing the manuscript, D. Drevet and C. Aveling for constant support and encouragement, and C. Chesley for editorial comments. Last, we thank T. G. Ksiazek from the Special Pathogens Branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who generously provided reagents to the Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF). CIRMF is supported by the Government of Gabon, Total-Fina-Elf Gabon, and Ministère de la Coopération Française. This work was also supported by a Fonds de Solidarité Prioritaire grant from the Ministère des Affaires Etrangères de la France (FSP no. 2002005700).
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Science
Volume 303 | Issue 5656
16 January 2004
16 January 2004
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American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Submission history
Received: 14 October 2003
Accepted: 25 November 2003
Published in print: 16 January 2004
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