title: Ebola virus antibody prevalence in dogs and human risk.
abstract: During the 2001-2002 outbreak in Gabon, we observed that several dogs were highly exposed to Ebola virus by eating infected dead animals. To examine whether these animals became infected with Ebola virus, we sampled 439 dogs and screened them by Ebola virus-specific immunoglobulin (Ig) G assay, antigen detection, and viral polymerase chain reaction amplification. Seven (8.9%) of 79 samples from the 2 main towns, 15 (15.2%) of 99 samples from Mekambo, and 40 (25.2%) of 159 samples from villages in the Ebola virus-epidemic area had detectable Ebola virus-IgG, compared to only 2 (2%) of 102 samples from France. Among dogs from villages with both infected animal carcasses and human cases, seroprevalence was 31.8%. A significant positive direct association existed between seroprevalence and the distances to the Ebola virus-epidemic area. This study suggests that dogs can be infected by Ebola virus and that the putative infection is asymptomatic.
authors.affiliation: Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville, Franceville, Gabon.
authors.forename: Loïs
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Allela
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Boury
authors.forename: Régis
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pouillot
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Délicat
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yaba
authors.forename: Brice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kumulungui
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rouquet
authors.forename: Jean-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.forename: Eric M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Leroy
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D004285:Dogs / Q000821:virology*; D029043:Ebolavirus / Q000276:immunology; D005681:Gabon / Q000453:epidemiology; D019142:Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral