OmniVira

Fruit bats as reservoirs of Ebola virus.

Eric M Leroy1 Brice Kumulungui Xavier Pourrut Pierre Rouquet Alexandre Hassanin Philippe Yaba André Délicat Janusz T Paweska Jean-Paul Gonzalez Robert Swanepoel
Affiliations 1 institutions
  1. Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville, BP 769 Franceville, Gabon. [email protected]
PMID16319873 DOI10.1038/438575a Year2005 Journal Nature Languageeng Publication statusActive
Active Last checked 2026-09-29 03:30:37 Source: NCBI PubMed

Abstract

The first recorded human outbreak of Ebola virus was in 1976, but the wild reservoir of this virus is still unknown. Here we test for Ebola in more than a thousand small vertebrates that were collected during Ebola outbreaks in humans and great apes between 2001 and 2003 in Gabon and the Republic of the Congo. We find evidence of asymptomatic infection by Ebola virus in three species of fruit bat, indicating that these animals may be acting as a reservoir for this deadly virus.

Supporting text Virus Host Location
Animals 1981 Antibodies, Viral 216 Ape Diseases 7 Chiroptera 376 Congo 8 Disease Outbreaks 174 Disease Reservoirs 149 Ebolavirus 32 Gabon 7 Gorilla gorilla 12 Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola 28 Humans 1455 Pan troglodytes 20 Seasons 48 Zoonoses 401

Evidence records

2 total
Zoonotic Surveillance
2 records · 2 evidence types
Evidence type Viral Detection
1 records
OVE11468 Viral Detection
Key finding

Ebola virus nucleic acid was detected in three species of fruit bats collected during outbreaks in Gabon and the Republic of the Congo.

Virus
Ebola virus
Host
flying foxes Pteropodidae Natural host
Location
Gabon Republic of the Congo
Supporting text

Here we test for Ebola in more than a thousand small vertebrates that were collected during Ebola outbreaks in humans and great apes between 2001 and 2003 in Gabon and the Republic of the Congo. We find evidence of asymptomatic infection by Ebola virus in three species of fruit bat.

Method
viral RNA detection | PCR
Sample type
fruit bat specimens
Geographic raw
Gabon | Republic of the Congo
Country inferred
GAB | COG
Evidence type Reservoir Ecology
1 records
OVE11469 Reservoir Ecology
Key finding

Fruit bats showed asymptomatic infection suggesting they may serve as a natural reservoir for Ebola virus in Gabon and the Republic of the Congo.

Virus
Ebola virus
Host
flying foxes Pteropodidae Natural host
Location
Gabon Republic of the Congo
Supporting text

We find evidence of asymptomatic infection by Ebola virus in three species of fruit bat, indicating that these animals may be acting as a reservoir for this deadly virus.

Method
field sampling | viral detection testing
Geographic raw
Gabon | Republic of the Congo
Country inferred
GAB | COG