Ebola Virus Outbreak among Wild Chimpanzees Living in a Rain Forest of Côte d'Ivoire

An outbreak of Ebola in nature is described for the first time. During a few weeks in November 1994, ∼25% of 43 members of a wild chimpanzee community disappeared or were found dead in the Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire. A retrospective cohort study was done on the chimpanzee community. Labor...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of infectious diseases 1999-02, Vol.179 (Supplement-1), p.S120-S126
Main Authors: Formenty, Pierre, Boesch, Christophe, Wyers, Monique, Steiner, Claudia, Donati, Franca, Dind, Frédéric, Walker, Francine, Le Guenno, Bernard
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Animals, Wild
Ape Diseases - epidemiology
Ape Diseases - mortality
Ape Diseases - transmission
Chimpanzees
Cohort Studies
Cote d'Ivoire - epidemiology
Disease Outbreaks - veterinary
Disease Reservoirs - veterinary
Ebola virus
Ecosystem
Epidemics
Epidemiologic Factors
Epidemiology and Surveillance
Female
Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola - epidemiology
Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola - transmission
Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola - veterinary
Infections
Liver - pathology
Male
Meats
Monkeys
Mortality
National parks
Predisposing factors
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors
Spleen - pathology
Viruses
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:An outbreak of Ebola in nature is described for the first time. During a few weeks in November 1994, ∼25% of 43 members of a wild chimpanzee community disappeared or were found dead in the Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire. A retrospective cohort study was done on the chimpanzee community. Laboratory procedures included histology, immunohistochemistry, bacteriology, and serology. Ebola-specific immunohistochemical staining was positive for autopsy tissue sections from 1 chimpanzee. Demographic, epidemiologic, and ecologic investigations were compatible with a point-source epidemic. Contact activities associated with a case (e.g., touching dead bodies or grooming) did not constitute significant risk factors, whereas consumption of meat did. The relative risk of meat consumption was 5.2 (95% confidence interval, 1.3–21.1). A similar outbreak occurred in November 1992 among the same community. A high mortality rate among apes tends to indicate that they are not the reservoir for the disease causing the illness. These points will have to be investigated by additional studies.
ISSN:0022-1899
1537-6613
DOI:10.1086/514296