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Science 16 January 2004:
Vol. 303. no. 5656, pp. 387 - 390
DOI: 10.1126/science.1092528
Prev | Table of Contents

Reports

Multiple Ebola Virus Transmission Events and Rapid Decline of Central African Wildlife

Eric M. Leroy,1* Pierre Rouquet,2{dagger} Pierre Formenty,3{dagger} Sandrine Souquière,2 Annelisa Kilbourne,4 Jean-Marc Froment,5 Magdalena Bermejo,5 Sheilag Smit,6 William Karesh,4 Robert Swanepoel,6 Sherif R. Zaki,7 Pierre E. Rollin7

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.

1 Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, UR034, Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville, BP 769 Franceville, Gabon.
2 Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville, CIRMF, BP 769 Franceville, Gabon.
3 Global Alert and Response Team (GAR), Department of Communicable Diseases Surveillance and Response (CDS/CSR), World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
4 Wildlife Conservation Society, 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY 10460, USA.
5 Programme de conservation et utilisation rationnelle des Ecosystèmes Forestiers en Afrique Centrale (ECOFAC), BP 15115 Libreville, Gabon.
6 National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Special Pathogens Unit, Private Bag X4, Sandringham 2131, South Africa.
7 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Special Pathogens Branch, 1600 Clifton Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA.



{dagger} These authors contributed equally to this work.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: Eric.Leroy{at}ird.fr

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