Role of Wildlife in Emergence of Ebola Virus in Kaigbono (Likati), Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2017

Emerg Infect Dis. 2020 Sep;26(9):2205-2209. doi: 10.3201/eid2609.191552.

Abstract

After the 2017 Ebola virus (EBOV) outbreak in Likati, a district in northern Democratic Republic of the Congo, we sampled small mammals from the location where the primary case-patient presumably acquired the infection. None tested positive for EBOV RNA or antibodies against EBOV, highlighting the ongoing challenge in detecting animal reservoirs for EBOV.

Keywords: Democratic Republic of the Congo; Ebola virus; Ebola virus disease; Ebola virus infection; Eidolon helvum; Potamochoerus porcus; ecology; infectious disease reservoir; mammals; viral zoonoses; viruses; zoonoses.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Animals, Wild
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo / epidemiology
  • Disease Outbreaks
  • Ebolavirus* / genetics
  • Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola* / epidemiology
  • Humans