title: Investigating the zoonotic origin of the West African Ebola epidemic.
abstract: The severe Ebola virus disease epidemic occurring in West Africa stems from a single zoonotic transmission event to a 2-year-old boy in Meliandou, Guinea. We investigated the zoonotic origins of the epidemic using wildlife surveys, interviews, and molecular analyses of bat and environmental samples. We found no evidence for a concurrent outbreak in larger wildlife. Exposure to fruit bats is common in the region, but the index case may have been infected by playing in a hollow tree housing a colony of insectivorous free-tailed bats (Mops condylurus). Bats in this family have previously been discussed as potential sources for Ebola virus outbreaks, and experimental data have shown that this species can survive experimental infection. These analyses expand the range of possible Ebola virus sources to include insectivorous bats and reiterate the importance of broader sampling efforts for understanding Ebola virus ecology.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine and International Health, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Almudena
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marí Saéz
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Sabrina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany Centre for Biological Threats and Special Pathogens, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Kathrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nowak
authors.affiliation: Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, at Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lapeyre
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany Centre for Biological Threats and Special Pathogens, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Fee
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Ariane
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Düx
authors.affiliation: Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, at Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Hjalmar S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kühl
authors.affiliation: Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, at Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Moussa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaba
authors.affiliation: Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, at Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Sebastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Regnaut
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Merkel
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sachse
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Ulla
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Thiesen
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Villányi
authors.affiliation: Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, at Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boesch
authors.affiliation: Centre for Biological Threats and Special Pathogens, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Piotr W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Dabrowski
authors.affiliation: Centre for Biological Threats and Special Pathogens, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Aleksandar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Radonić
authors.affiliation: Centre for Biological Threats and Special Pathogens, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nitsche
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Siv Aina J
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Leendertz
authors.affiliation: Eidolon ekologi, Kållered, Sweden.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Petterson
authors.affiliation: Institute of Virology, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.affiliation: Institute of Virology, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Verena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Krähling
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire National d'Appui au Développement Agricole, Laboratoire Central de la Pathologie Animal, Bingerville, Côte d'Ivoire.
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Couacy-Hymann
authors.affiliation: Research Center for the Development and Teaching Hospital, Université Alassane Ouattara de Bouake, Bouake, Côte d'Ivoire.
authors.forename: Chantal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Akoua-Koffi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Experimental Ecology, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.affiliation: Centre for Biological Threats and Special Pathogens, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schaade
authors.affiliation: Department of Migration and Immuno-Ecology, Vogelwarte Radolfzell, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Radolfzell, Germany Zoological Institute, TU Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Jakob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fahr
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine and International Health, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Borchert
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Jan F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Gogarten
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Calvignac-Spencer
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany LeendertzF@rki.de.
authors.forename: Fabian H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Leendertz
mesh_terms: D000354:Africa, Western / Q000453:epidemiology; D000818:Animals; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000235:genetics / Q000821:virology*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000821:virology; D029043:Ebolavirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D019142:Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*
keywords: Ebola; West Africa; bat; wildlife; zoonosis