Deadly Ebola Virus Is Found in Liberian Bat, Researchers Say (nytimes.com)

Long a suspected source of the virus, bats had not been confirmed as carriers of the lethal disease before. The discovery could help scientists learn more about how the virus infects humans. From a report: For the first time, the type of deadly Ebola virus responsible for recent epidemics in West and Central Africa has been found in a bat, Liberian health officials announced on Thursday. Scientists have long suspected that bats were a natural host of Ebola and a source of some human infections, but until now they had not found any bats that harbored the epidemic species, known as Zaire ebolavirus. Although the bat was found in Liberia, the country has not had any human cases of Ebola since 2016, and the bat was not associated with any illness in people. The finding is preliminary and not yet ready for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, the usual venue for presenting scientific discoveries. Only 20 percent of the bat's genome has been studied, and research on it is continuing.

But because of its potential impact on public health, officials in Liberia wanted to share the information widely as soon as possible. "It's an incomplete study, a work in progress," said Simon J. Anthony, a virologist at Columbia University who has performed genetic analyses on samples from the infected bat. "It feels premature scientifically, but on the other hand, you have the public health aspect. We do have enough data to suggest to me that it is Ebola Zaire in this bat. We agree with our Liberian government partners that this information should be shared." Knowing which types of bat carry Ebola may help health officials prevent outbreaks by educating the public about how to prevent contact with the creatures, scientists said.

Comments

Other way round?

[Mikkeles]

Should one rather say that humans are a source of Ebola infections in bats?

Re:Other way round?

[Lucas123]

Nice try, Mr. Bat. But, we humans are not the ones living in caves, crapping on the floor and drinking blood.

Re:Other way round?

[Anonymous Coward]

Speak for yourself snowflake.

Re:Other way round?

[ShanghaiBill]

Should one rather say that humans are a source of Ebola infections in bats?

No. There is zero evidence that bats get ebola from humans. Ebola is not endemic in humans. There is currently a flare up in the DRC (a long way from Liberia) but usually there are zero people with ebola. Humans are not the natural host for ebola, and it does not transmit well from human to human. Most outbreaks die out quickly, in part because the virus kills its victims before it has a chance to spread.

Did anyone else read the headline as

[Anonymous Coward]

"Deadly ebola virus is found in Libertarian bat"?

Re:Did anyone else read the headline as

[tomhath]

Librarian Bat - the old lady who tells you to be quiet

Re:Did anyone else read the headline as

[Sneftel]

"Deadly ebola virus is found in Libertarian bat, which is nobody's responsibility but the bat's. Infectious diseases are a private matter, and the government has no right or responsibility to interfere."

Giving Bats a bad name, again

[damn_registrars]

If you read far enough into the article you'll find the bat that tested positive was a greater long-fingered bat. It's worth noting that these are nocturnal insectivores; they will do everything they can to avoid human contact. In fact the article mentions

People in many parts of the world eat bats, and may be infected while catching or preparing them for cooking. Hunters and cooks may not be able to tell one bat species from another.

In other words if the bats - and it should be stressed that only one tested positive out of five thousand tested bats - are a meaningful vector for Ebola, the best thing to do to prevent further infection would be to leave them alone.

Re:Giving Bats a bad name, again

[DigiShaman]

What if a bat has both ebola AND rabies? It swoops down and bites a monkey. That monkey turns into bushmeat and now you got a human infected from processing it for consumption.

Re:Giving Bats a bad name, again

[G00F]

I know you're being cheeky, but the rabies by itself is the real problem. And the problem for bats being seen as carriers of disease.

On a side note, the rabies cure, is really a race for anti bodies to get to the brain before rabies does. One rabies infects the brain it's game over.

It's also what limits legality of many pets, based off if there is a rabies vaccine recognized by states.

Re:Giving Bats a bad name, again

[DigiShaman]

On a whole, rabies is the larger issue. But damn, ebola spreads like wildfire once unleashed.

Then again, if people would stop touching and sleeping next to the dead, that would go a long away at preventing the spread. Yes, I'm blaming culture normalities in that part of the world for amplifying the spread of it

Re:Giving Bats a bad name, again

[damn_registrars]

the rabies by itself is the real problem. And the problem for bats being seen as carriers of disease.

Indeed population studies have shown that bats carry rabies at roughly the same rate as common squirrels. The difference is that a bat is more likely to be noticed in the day time (when more people are paying attention to animals), which is a time that rabid bats are more likely to be out and running around. Conversely squirrels are usually out doing normal squirrel things during daylight hours so the rabid ones are drowned out by the activity of the non-rabid ones during the daylight hours.

It's the century of the Anchovy

[nospam007]

No longer the century of the Fruitbat.

Bushmeat

[DatbeDank]

Safe to say Africa's Ebola problems would be solved if they would stop eating bushmeat and doing weird witchcraft stuff to bodies after death.

The weird witchcraft stuff also extends to AIDS.

Re:Bushmeat

[necro81]

Safe to say Africa's Ebola problems would be solved if they would stop eating bushmeat and doing weird witchcraft stuff to bodies after death.

The weird witchcraft stuff also extends to AIDS.

And safe to say the U.S. could solve its problems with diabetes if we stopped eating junkfood. And our problems with measles, pertussis, etc., if we stop doing weird anti-vax stuff.

Neither simplistic solution appears to extend to AIDS, however.

See, I can be a public health expert, too!

Re:Bushmeat

[ffkom]

And don't forget to mention that about 200 people less per day would die in the US if people just stopped eating opioids and other drugs for no good reason.

Attenuated Virus?

[Zorro]

Might be the source for the cure.

Either the bat has an attenuated virus or it has a defense.

Either way this might be the good news

Joining up the dots

[VeryFluffyBunny]

Just in case anyone needs reminding of 2 aspects of the recent Ebola epidemic, at the time of the outbreak:

1. Liberia's healthcare system had been decimated by neoliberal policies & only ~50 doctors were working in the entire country,
2. Liberia had been selling off land in secret deals with agricultural corporations so that they could cut huge palm oil plantations into the jungle where the Ebola-carrying bats live.

That pretty much amounts to a recipe for an epidemic. The people who suffered as a result? Liberians & anyone who tried to help them.

So who wants to blame farmers, labourers, & their families for the outbreak or make jokes at their expense? C'mon /., I know you can do it!