Article

Search for the Ebola virus reservoir in Kikwit, Democratic Republic of the Congo: reflections on a vertebrate collection.

Danish Pest Infestation Laboratory, Lyngby.
The Journal of Infectious Diseases (impact factor: 6.41). 03/1999; 179 Suppl 1:S155-63. DOI:10.1086/514299 pp.S155-63
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT A 3-month ecologic investigation was done to identify the reservoir of Ebola virus following the 1995 outbreak in Kikwit, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Efforts focused on the fields where the putative primary case had worked but included other habitats near Kikwit. Samples were collected from 3066 vertebrates and tested for the presence of antibodies to Ebola (subtype Zaire) virus: All tests were negative, and attempts to isolate Ebola virus were unsuccessful. The investigation was hampered by a lack of information beyond the daily activities of the primary case, a lack of information on Ebola virus ecology, which precluded the detailed study of select groups of animals, and sample-size limitations for rare species. The epidemiology of Ebola hemorrhagic fever suggests that humans have only intermittent contact with the virus, which complicates selection of target species. Further study of the epidemiology of human outbreaks to further define the environmental contact of primary cases would be of great value.

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Keywords

3-month ecologic investigation
 
antibodies
 
attempts
 
complicates selection
 
Congo
 
Democratic Republic
 
Ebola
 
Ebola hemorrhagic fever
 
Ebola virus
 
Ebola virus ecology
 
Efforts
 
environmental contact
 
great value
 
human outbreaks
 
putative primary case
 
rare species
 
sample-size limitations
 
Samples
 
subtype Zaire
 
target species