#TOURISMNEWS #EBOLA Clues to Ebola Lurk in 10 Million Zambian Cancer Bats At 4:50 a.m. at the Kasanka National Park in northern Zambia, tourists watch from a platform in a tree as the sound of millions of wings accompanies the sunrise. About 10 million straw-coloured fruit bats are returning from a night of feeding, some flying as far as 100 kilometres (62 miles) to feast on berries and figs. The animals may hold a clue to finding the cure for the Ebola disease that’s killed more than 8,000 people in west Africa in the biggest-ever outbreak, according to Aaron Mweene, professor at the University of Zambia’s veterinary medicine school. That outbreak, which is yet to be quelled, has been blamed on bats. Researchers including scientists from Japan’s Hokkaido University did a study that found a high prevalence of Ebola antibodies in the creatures that undertake the world’s second-largest mammal migration from the Democratic Republic of Congo to roost in Zambia, Mweene said. That indicates that they come into contact with the virus and are able to cure themselves. “The antibodies have been found in about 10percent of the animals; it’s a significant part of the total,” Frank Willems, ecologist at Kasanka, said in an interview in the park. “It might well be that specifically this species will form the clue to actually finding the cure for Ebola.” The bats migrate each year to roost in an evergreen Marsh Fig forest in Kasanka, 390 kilometres northeast of Lusaka, the capital. They arrive from October and stay until December, roosting in an area as small as a hectare (2.47 acres). During the day the average density in the forest is as much as 1,000 bats per square meter (11 square feet) as the bats, which have an 80-centimeter (31-inch) wingspan, seek protection in numbers from the raptors that eat them. Bats, Mice Their migration is only superseded by the annual movement of Mexican free-tailed bats from the U.S. to Mexico. Prior to the Hokkaido University research, the results of which have yet to be officially released, Ebola antibodies had only been found once in this species in a specimen captured in a roost in the Ghanaian capital of Accra in 2008, Janusz Paweska, who works at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in Johannesburg as head of its Centre for Zoonotic and Emerging Diseases, said in an e-mailed response to questions this month. Ayato Takada, head of the Hokkaido team, that did the study, declined to comment, saying the research will be available when published. Still, some scientists are sceptical. “With viruses like Ebola and Lassa, the virus and the host — such as bats and mice — are very well adapted to each other, having spent thousands of years together,” Ben Neuman, a virologist at the U.K.’s University of Reading, said in an interview. “Antibodies can help, but antibodies aren’t usually a solution by themselves for a virus.” Defence Mechanism Against Ebola Lassa fever, like Ebola, causes haemorrhaging. The Marburg virus is also closely related to Ebola. Already trials of experimental treatments using antibodies found in human survivors of the disease are under way in Guinea. Mweene has been doing research on the bats since 2005 and working with the researchers from Hokkaido University. “We cannot categorically say that the cure for the Ebola virus disease lies in the bats, but we could say that surely the bats possess certain characteristics that enable them to survive the infection,” Mweene said in an e-mailed response to questions. None of the bats, which weigh about 300 grams (10.6 ounces) each, were found to be infected with the actual virus. “They will pick up the virus; they just have a very effective defence mechanism against it,” Willems said. ‘Hunted Treasures’ To understand how the bats react to Ebola, scientists need to carry out experimental infections of the animals. Because the virus is so dangerous, they can only do this in the highest level of biosecurity containment laboratories, Mweene said. Africa only has one of these, the institute in Johannesburg, he said. “The mechanisms of Ebola and Marburg virus natural transmission cycles still remain one of the most hunted treasures in modern virology,” Paweska said. “Plans are in place to expand our current bat colonies for experimental infection studies, but also to intensify surveillance studies, including sampling of bats at targeted sites in South Africa and other African countries.”
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 12:27:01 +0000
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