Sierra Leone’s health ministry yesterday said a new species of Ebola virus has been detected in bats in the north of the country, which would bring the number of known species to six and be the first new one identified in more than a decade.
The new virus is named Bombali for the district it was found, and a health ministry official said it’s not known if the virus can be transmitted to people, though lab tests suggest that it has the potential to enter human cells, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported yesterday.
Virus found in 5 of 241 bats
According to a health ministry statement posted by the Sierra Leone Telegraph, a newspaper based in Sierra Leone, the virus was found as part of the PREDICT Ebola Host Research Project, which is funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The virus was found in 5 of 241 insect-eating bats tested and is distinct from all previously known Ebola viruses.
Peter Daszak, PhD, president of EcoHealth Alliance, which leads the PREDICT project, told Stat that the virus was found in Angolan freetail bats and though scientists weren’t able to isolate live virus from the samples, they identified enough viral RNA fragments to sequence a nearly complete genome.
He said a scientific paper describing the virus has been prepared and is still under embargo. He added that Sierra Leone’s government wanted to announce the finding to the local press to get ahead of rumors and launch an education campaign, Stat reported.
The government statement said studies are under way to assess if the virus can cause disease, and government officials and their research partners are engaging with local communities to share what is known about the new virus and how to live safely with bats.
First new Ebola virus since 2007
The last new species, Bundibugyo, was first identified in 2007 in Uganda as part of an outbreak investigation. The Ebola Zaire species was the cause of the outbreak in West Africa that sickened about 28,600 people, about 11,300 of them fatally, as well as a just-ended outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Of the five earlier known Ebola species, three have triggered outbreaks in Africa: Zaire, Bundibugyo, and Sudan. Tai Forest (formerly Cote d’Ivoire) has been identified in only one human case. The Ebola Reston species, found only in the Philippines, can cause asymptomatic infections in people but is deadly for non-human primates and can sicken pigs.
Learn more: New Ebola species identified in Sierra Leone
The Latest on: Ebola
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Ebola” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Ebola
- Creating the next wave of antibody therapies requires innovative collaborationon April 30, 2024 at 9:01 am
Aligning economic incentives with global health goals is not only a moral imperative but a practical necessity for economic security.
- Ebola's exponential growthon April 28, 2024 at 5:00 pm
The U.S. government’s Centers for Disease Control warned recently that we could have 1.4 million cases of Ebola by January. By Gwynne Dyer - Here are two good things about the Ebola virus. It is ...
- Improving public health communication in African epidemics: Lessons learned and future directionson April 26, 2024 at 10:20 am
Zika and other public health emergencies, effective communication of public health messages is crucial to control the spread of disease, maintain public trust, and encourage compliance with health ...
- Ebola Outbreak in West Africa, 2013-2014on April 24, 2024 at 5:00 pm
The Ebola virus disease outbreak now ravaging parts of West Africa is the largest on record. In fact, West Africa has seen more cases of the disease in 2014 than have been seen in all other ...
- Believed to be the source of Ebola, this Kenya cave could be ground zero for the next pandemicon April 22, 2024 at 6:54 pm
Located in Kenya's Mount Elgon National Park, the Kitum Cave was reportedly the origin point for the Ebola and Marburg viruses, of which the latter has been termed as 'epidemic-prone' by the World ...
- Joel Breman, Who Helped Stop an Ebola Outbreak in Africa, Dies at 87on April 22, 2024 at 4:11 pm
Part of a team flown in to fight the deadly virus in 1976, Dr. Breman also worked to stamp out tropical diseases like smallpox, malaria and Guinea worm.
- This Kenya Cave, Believed To Be Source Of Ebola, Could Cause Next Pandemicon April 22, 2024 at 9:11 am
The 600-foot-deep cave has been continuously dug and expanded by elephants, only to have disease-carrying bats make it their home.
- Retrospective genomic characterization of the 2020 Ebola outbreakon April 19, 2024 at 8:18 am
Epidemiology researchers are harnessing tools developed by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, to untangle the origins of the 2020 Ebola virus disease outbreak in ...
- Remembering Joel Breman, Ebola pioneer and beloved global health mentoron April 12, 2024 at 1:50 pm
Pioneering disease investigator and beloved global health mentor Joel Breman died on April 6 at the age of 87. Breman was part of the team that investigated the first known Ebola outbreak in 1976.
via Bing News
