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Literature detail

The nexus between forest fragmentation in Africa and Ebola virus disease outbreaks.

Maria Cristina Rulli1 Monia Santini2 David T S Hayman3 Paolo D'Odorico4,5,6
Affiliations 6 institutions
  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy.
  2. Division on Impacts on Agriculture, Forests and Ecosystem Services, Fondazione Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici, Viterbo, Italy.
  3. Molecular Epidemiology and Public Health Laboratory (mEpiLab), Hopkirk Research Institute, Massey University, Private Bag 11 222, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand.
  4. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
  5. Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
  6. National Social Environmental Synthesis Center, University of Maryland, Annapolis, MD, USA.
PMID 28195145 2017 Sci Rep eng epublish
PubMed DOI Browse context

Article

Publication summary

Tropical forests are undergoing land use change in many regions of the world, including the African continent. Human populations living close to forest margins fragmented and disturbed by deforestation may be particularly exposed to zoonotic infections because of the higher likelihood for humans to be in contact with disease reservoirs. Quantitative analysis of the nexus between deforestation and the emergence of Ebola virus disease (EVD), however, is still missing. Here we use land cover change data in conjunction with EVD outbreak records to investigate the association between recent (2004-2014) outbreaks in West and Central Africa, and patterns of land use change in the region. We show how in these EVD outbreaks the index cases in humans (i.e. spillover from wildlife reservoirs) occurred mostly in hotspots of forest fragmentation.

Conservation of Natural Resources Disease Outbreaks Ebolavirus Forests Resin Cements Africa Geography Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola Humans Satellite Imagery Seasons Nexus

Structured evidence records

Evidence records

3 total
Outbreak Investigation 1 records
Outbreak Investigation Extraction confidence 0.85
Key finding

EVD index cases in humans were associated with forest fragmentation areas, indicating spillover from wildlife reservoirs.

Virus
EBOV
Location
West and Central Africa
Supporting text

Here we use land cover change data in conjunction with EVD outbreak records to investigate the association between recent (2004-2014) outbreaks in West and Central Africa, and patterns of land use change in the region. We show how in these EVD outbreaks the index cases in humans (i.e. spillover from wildlife reservoirs) occurred mostly in hotspots of forest fragmentation.

Method
land cover change data analysis; EVD outbreak records
Transmission direction
animal-to-human
Geographic raw
West and Central Africa
Outbreak setting
hotspots of forest fragmentation
Outbreak time
2004-2014
Reservoir Ecology 1 records
Reservoir Ecology Extraction confidence 0.90
Key finding

Ebola virus disease spillovers into humans occurred predominantly in areas of forest fragmentation in West and Central Africa, linking land use change to ecological interfaces with wildlife reservoirs.

Virus
EBOV
Host
Not specified
Location
West and Central Africa
Supporting text

We show how in these EVD outbreaks the index cases in humans (i.e. spillover from wildlife reservoirs) occurred mostly in hotspots of forest fragmentation.

Method
land cover change data analysis
Geographic raw
West and Central Africa
Spillover Event 1 records
Spillover Event Extraction confidence 0.95
Key finding

Index human cases of Ebola virus disease were attributed to spillover from wildlife reservoirs in fragmented forest regions of West and Central Africa between 2004 and 2014.

Virus
EBOV
Location
West and Central Africa
Supporting text

We show how in these EVD outbreaks the index cases in humans (i.e. spillover from wildlife reservoirs) occurred mostly in hotspots of forest fragmentation.

Method
land cover change analysis
Study design
outbreak investigation
Transmission direction
animal-to-human
Geographic raw
West and Central Africa