Ebola outbreaks stem from boys playing near bats

A 2-year-old boy was identified as 'zero patient' infected with Ebola virus. He is also the first victim to death from a serious infectious disease in a village in Guinea in late 2013.

The first patient, a boy described as "hyperactive" , was named Emile Ouamouno. Before being deprived of the life from the disease, she was seen playing near a tree, which was the shelter of the tailless bats.

Suddenly very high fever, vomiting and black stool diarrhea, the boy died on December 6, 2013, after only 4 days of falling ill. Following this loss, the family in turn witnessed the death of her sister Philomene, her mother and grandmother.

2-year-old boy Emile was recorded as the first Ebola infection in the current outbreak.(Photo: news24.org.uk)

According to News24, other mysterious deaths continue to appear in the village and surrounding areas. However, it was not until March 2014 that the culprit was officially recognized as the Ebola virus.

The outbreak marked the most terrible Ebola pandemic the world ever recorded when it quickly spread to Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria; then crossed the African border to Spain, the United States and the United Kingdom. More than 7,800 people globally have died.

In order to find solutions to the strong outbreak of epidemics as well as the circumstances that caused the first death, scientists at the Robert Koch Institute of Science in Germany directly went to the scene to examine the possibilities of contact. of people with bats, surveying native wildlife, catching and sampling bats in Meliandou village and neighboring forests.

The big tree hole where the tailless bats live is thought to be the source of the Ebola virus, causing the most terrible outbreak in history.(Photo: news24.org.uk)

According to scientists, fruit bats are often suspected of carrying the Ebola virus and are associated with previous outbreaks. This animal is also often hunted by African people. However, in this outbreak, it is not likely that this is the source of infection. Because if this is true, many adults may have been infected before or at the same time as 2-year-old Emile.

This argument leads to the possibility that the source of the infection has nothing to do with bat-derived food, which may be due to a 2-year-old boy, in some way interacting with a non-tail bat that feeds on live insects. in a big tree hole. This is where children in the village often gather to play, catch and play with animals.

A member of the research team, Dr. Fabian Leendertz said, Ebola virus can spread to people through contact with other wild animals or directly with bats. However, presented in the EMBO Molecular Medicine Journal, he said: 'We have monitored other mammals living near the Meliandou village, southeast of Guinea and found no evidence regarding the disease. raging '. According to Dr. Fabian, contact with bats seems to be the most reasonable cause for the current outbreak.