title: Potential for Ebola transmission between gorilla and chimpanzee social groups.
abstract: Over the past decade Ebola hemorrhagic fever has emerged repeatedly in Gabon and Congo, causing numerous human outbreaks and massive die-offs of gorillas and chimpanzees. Why Ebola has emerged so explosively remains poorly understood. Previous studies have tended to focus on exogenous factors such as habitat disturbance and climate change as drivers of Ebola emergence while downplaying the contribution of transmission between gorilla or chimpanzee social groups. Here we report recent observations on behaviors that pose a risk of transmission among gorilla groups and between gorillas and chimpanzees. These observations support a reassessment of ape-to-ape transmission as an amplifier of Ebola outbreaks.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. walsh@eva.mpg.de
authors.forename: Peter D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Breuer
authors.forename: Crickette
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sanz
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Doran-Sheehy
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018420:Ape Diseases / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000635:transmission*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D002488:Central African Republic; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious / Q000662:veterinary*; D006071:Gorilla gorilla; D019142:Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary*; D019370:Observation; D002679:Pan troglodytes; D012919:Social Behavior