Fruit bats may harbour deadly Ebola

Bats eaten by people in central Africa may host the deadly Ebola virus, according to new research.

The wild reservoir of the killer virus has long been a mystery, despite a number of deadly outbreaks in humans and great apes. Researchers have now found evidence of &to=http://english.pravda.ru/world/2001/10/04/17002.html' target=_blank>Ebola infection in three species of fruit bats. The bats show no symptoms of the disease, indicating that they might be spreading it.

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"Fruit bats are likely the reservoirs [of Ebola]," said Eric Leroy of the Centre International de Recherches Mйdicales de Franceville in Gabon, who led the research. "But we can not exclude definitively that other species may harbor the Ebola virus [too]."

Understanding where the disease hides between outbreaks and how it is spread should help protect both humans and great apes from the virus, reports National Geographic.

According to New York Times, the Ebola virus has caused a small number of deadly outbreaks among people and primates in Africa since 1976 that health workers have contained. But because the virus poses continuous threats scientists are concerned that they do not know the virus's hiding place in nature.

Now an international team of scientists have found evidence of symptomless Ebola virus infection in three species of fruit bats, adding to earlier suggestions that they are the likely reservoir. The international team led by Dr. Eric M. Leroy undertook three trapping expeditions to catch and test 1,030 small animals in areas near where infected gorilla and chimpanzee carcasses were found in outbreaks between 2001 and 2003.

The trapping included 679 bats. The scientists found either evidence of the immune globulin g protein specific to Ebola virus in the blood or fragments of the virus in the liver or spleen of three species of bats: Hypsignathus monstrosus, Epomops franqueti and Myonycteris torquata.

Each of the species has broad geographical range including areas where Ebola outbreaks have occurred, Dr. Leroy's team said. O.Ch.

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