Is this tree the source of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa? Scientists believe ‘young boy playing near colony of infected bats’ sparked the crisis
The most likely cause of the deadly outbreak of Ebola in West Africa was a young boy playing near a colony of virus-infected bats nestled in a hollowed-out tree, scientists believe.
The two-year-old boy – described as the index case, or patient zero – became infected and was the first to die in his village in Meliandou, Guinea in December last year.
It is thought ‘patient zero’ was Emile Ouamouno, described as a playful toddler by his father Etienne.
Before his death, on December 6, 2013, Emile had been near a tree harbouring the free-tailed bats.
The toddler came down with a sky-high fever, began vomiting and passing black stools.
Scientists believe bats living in this hollowed-out tree in the village of Meliandou, Guinea could be the source of the Ebola epidemic that has rampaged through West Africa this year
A two-year-old boy, thought to be Emile Ouamouno, pictured being held by his father Etienne, is understood to be ‘patient zero’ – the first person infected with Ebola, sparking the current outbreak
The cause of the deadly outbreak of Ebola in West Africa was most likely a young boy playing near a colony of virus-infected free-tailed bats, scientists claim
It took four days for the disease to claim Emile’s life, and he passed away on December 6, 2013.
His sister Philomene fell ill on Christmas Day last year, and was dead before New Year.
Their mother followed, along with their grandmother, Etienne said earlier this year. The disease then spread to other members of the community before spreading to other parts of Guinea.
The disease was only recognised as Ebola in March, and in the summer it began to spread across international borders, infecting people in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria, before patients were diagnosed in Spain, US and UK.
The epidemic represents the largest ever-recorded Ebola outbreak, killing 7,800 people by December 17, 2014.
Fruit bats are the commonly suspected carriers of the Ebola virus and have been linked to previous outbreaks in Africa.
They are often hunted for food, but scientists say they are an unlikely source of infection.
This is because food-borne transmission would have affected adults before or at the same time as the two-year-old boy.
This suggested a source of infection unrelated to food – that the boy somehow came into contact with the insect-eating free-tailed bats.
Researchers from the Robert Koch-Institute in Berlin were part of a team which took part in a four-week field mission in Guinea in April 2014.
This was to examine human exposure to bats, to survey local wildlife and to capture and sample bats in Meliandou and in neighbouring forests.
However the village where the boy died was not located in the forest. Instead, the source of the infection was probably a large colony of free-tailed insectivorous bats occupying a hollow tree, they concluded.
Villagers reported that children often used to play in and around the tree and may have resulted in a massive exposure to the bats
Emile was from the village of Meliandou in Guinea, pictured. From there the disease spread to other parts of the country as well as neighbouring Sierra Leone and Liberia
Researcher Dr Fabian Leendertz said Ebola virus disease epidemics are transmitted to human populations either through contact with larger wildlife or by direct contact with bats.
Writing in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine he said: ‘We monitored the large mammal populations close to the index village Meliandou in south-eastern Guinea and found no evidence for a concurrent outbreak.’
Instead, a more plausible source of the outbreak was contact with bats rather than larger wildlife.
