Ebola's Patient Zero Was Playing Near A Tree With Infected Bats
- 9 years ago
Scientists believe they’re narrowed the locus of the Ebola outbreak down to a tree and a two-year old who played around it.
Scientists believe they’re narrowed the locus of the most recent Ebola outbreak down to a tree and a two-year old boy who played around it.
The scenario they’ve painted involves the young child entering a hollow area in the wood and coming into contact with a colony of fruit bats.
At least one of the animals is thought to have been carrying the virus and transferred it to the boy either directly or through its droppings.
The path to that discovery is outlined in a study published in ‘EMBO Molecular Medicine’.
The current study is based on research published in October that the spread of the virus is believed to have been traced to the small boy previously living in a village in Guinea.
Shortly after, a team went to the location to do some investigating into how he’d gotten it.
As bush meat is a typical source for the transfer of such contagions, they did a thorough examination of a number of larger species.
When none of them proved to be probable sources, the scientists turned their attention to the local bat population.
Though they determined a bat to be the carrier, they were unable to find traces of Ebola in any they tested.
Overall, the occurrence is considered a rarity.
Scientists believe they’re narrowed the locus of the most recent Ebola outbreak down to a tree and a two-year old boy who played around it.
The scenario they’ve painted involves the young child entering a hollow area in the wood and coming into contact with a colony of fruit bats.
At least one of the animals is thought to have been carrying the virus and transferred it to the boy either directly or through its droppings.
The path to that discovery is outlined in a study published in ‘EMBO Molecular Medicine’.
The current study is based on research published in October that the spread of the virus is believed to have been traced to the small boy previously living in a village in Guinea.
Shortly after, a team went to the location to do some investigating into how he’d gotten it.
As bush meat is a typical source for the transfer of such contagions, they did a thorough examination of a number of larger species.
When none of them proved to be probable sources, the scientists turned their attention to the local bat population.
Though they determined a bat to be the carrier, they were unable to find traces of Ebola in any they tested.
Overall, the occurrence is considered a rarity.