MicrobiologyBytes

Earlier this month there was an outbreak of Marburg virus in Uganda. At the time, it appeared that the source of this particular infection was a Colobus monkey, which was caught and skinned by the two people who became sick. But researchers have never been able to pin down the natural reservoir of the deadly Margurg and Ebola viruses, which emerge from the jungles of Africa periodically to cause outbreaks of disease. Now researchers from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and Centre International de Recherches Medicales de Franceville in Gabon have tested more than 1,000 bats caught in caves in Gabon and DR Congo. They found that Marburg virus is common in only one species of fruit bat, the Egyptian fruit bat, Rousettus aegyptiacus. The Egyptian fruit bat is widely distributed across sub-Saharan Africa.
Marburg and Ebola viruses can cause large haemorrhagic fever (HF) outbreaks with high case fatality (80–90%) in humans and great apes. Identification of the natural reservoir of these viruses is one of the most important topics in this field and a fundamental key to understanding their natural history. Despite the discovery of this virus family almost 40 years ago, the search for the natural reservoir of these lethal pathogens remains an enigma despite numerous ecological studies. These Marburg virus-positive bats represent the first naturally infected non-primate animals identified. This report extends the known range of Marburg virus, implying that more areas are at risk for MHF outbreaks than previously realized and corresponds well with a recently published report in which three species of fruit bats were demonstrated to be likely reservoirs for the closely related Ebola virus.

Marburg Virus Infection Detected in a Common African Bat. PLoS ONE 2(8): e764

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This entry was posted on Friday, August 24th, 2007 at 7:55 am and is filed under Biology, Emerging disease, Environment, Health, Medicine, Microbiology, Science, Virology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.