RedGage

According to, The World Health Organization (WHO), The Ebola Virus can be transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.  Fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are considered to be the natural host of the Ebola virus.

Apparently, The New York Times reports that, "For the first time, scientists have found evidence of the African Ebola virus in Asian fruit bats, suggesting that the virus is far more widespread around the world than had been previously known."

The UK's Guardian reports that, "Medical teams struggling to curb Ebola in west Africa have been discouraging bush meat consumption, believed to have caused the outbreak, but some rural communities dependent on the meat for protein are determined to continue their traditional hunting practices.

While meat from wild animals such as fruit bats, rodents and forest antelopes has largely disappeared from market stalls in main towns such as Guéckédou in southern Guinea – the epicenter of the disease, and the capital Conakry following campaigns to avoid contamination, it is still being eaten in remote villages despite the risks."

Now, the good thing about knowing that Fruit Bats are a major source of Ebola is that their antibodies can help predict major outbreaks with continued monitoring and tests in Fruit Bat Populations.