Ebola virus is unlikely to become endemic in West Africa

Armand Sprecher; Heinz Feldmann; Lisa E Hensley; Gary Kobinger; Stuart T Nichol; Jim Strong; Michel Van Herp

doi:10.1038/nmicrobiol.2016.7

Ebola virus is unlikely to become endemic in West Africa

Nat Microbiol. 2016 Feb 24;1(3):16007. doi: 10.1038/nmicrobiol.2016.7.

Authors

Armand Sprecher¹, Heinz Feldmann², Lisa E Hensley³, Gary Kobinger⁴, Stuart T Nichol⁵, Jim Strong⁴, Michel Van Herp¹

Affiliations

¹ Médecins Sans Frontières, Rue Arbre Benit 46, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
² Laboratory of Virology, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 903 S 4th Street, Hamilton, Montana 59840, USA.
³ Integrated Research Facility Frederick Maryland, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, 8200 Research Plaza Way, Frederick, Maryland 21702, USA.
⁴ National Microbiology Laboratory, 1015 Arlington St., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
⁵ Viral Special Pathogens Branch, Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600, Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA.

Abstract

Concern over Ebola becoming endemic in West Africa has appeared in the medical and lay media. Routes of transmission, rates of viral evolution, suitability of humans as hosts and rarity of spillover events make this very unlikely. Without evidence that endemic Ebola is likely, ending epidemics should remain the focus.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Africa, Western / epidemiology
Animals
Disease Outbreaks
Ebolavirus
Endemic Diseases
Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / epidemiology*
Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / transmission
Humans