Fruit Bats Serve as Ebola Reservoir

PCR and immunologic studies of animals trapped in central Africa suggest that fruit bats may be reservoirs of Ebola virus.

Outbreaks of Ebola virus infection occur intermittently among humans and nonhuman primates in Africa. The natural reservoir of the virus, however, remains unknown. Now, investigators have tested for Ebola virus in 1030 animals (679 bats, 222 birds, and 129 other small vertebrates) trapped during three excursions to areas of Gabon and the Republic of the Congo where outbreaks had recently occurred among gorillas and chimpanzees.

Only bats showed evidence of infection. IgG antibody to Ebola virus was found in bats of three species (4 of 17 Hypsignathus monstrosus, 8 of 117 Epomops franqueti, and 4 of 58 Myonycteris torquata). Ebola virus nucleotide sequences were detected in the liver and spleen by PCR in 4 of 21, 5 of 117, and 4 of 141 differ…

Reviewing Author

Bradley E. Britigan, MD