New study expands on previous Ebola findings, launches new interactive data tool
Date: July 14, 2016
Source: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
Though the West African Ebola outbreak that began in 2013 is now under control, 23 countries remain environmentally suitable for animal-to-human transmission of the Ebola virus. Only seven of these countries have experienced cases of Ebola, leaving the remaining 16 countries potentially unaware of regions of suitability, and therefore underprepared for future outbreaks.
These findings come from a new study published in the journaleLife titled "Updates to the zoonotic niche map of Ebola virus disease." The paper was led by researchers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Only a handful of countries saw cases of Ebola before 2013, until Guinea unexpectedly reported an outbreak that led to more than 28,000 cases and 11,000 deaths across West Africa. The current eLife study provides an update on a study published in 2014 that created a zoonotic niche map used to define areas of environmental suitability for Ebola in response to the outbreak. This map identified regions where the virus could be transmitted from animals to humans. The updated map published today incorporates more species of bats likely capable of transmitting Ebola, as well as new reports of the virus.
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