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. 2016 Aug 5;12(8):e1005780.
doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1005780. eCollection 2016 Aug.

Ecological Contexts of Index Cases and Spillover Events of Different Ebolaviruses

Seth D Judson  1   2 , Robert Fischer  1 , Andrew Judson  3 , Vincent J Munster  1
Affiliations

Ecological Contexts of Index Cases and Spillover Events of Different Ebolaviruses

Seth D Judson et al. PLoS Pathog. .

Abstract

Ebola virus disease afflicts both human and animal populations and is caused by four ebolaviruses. These different ebolaviruses may have distinct reservoir hosts and ecological contexts that determine how, where, and when different ebolavirus spillover events occur. Understanding these virus-specific relationships is important for preventing transmission of ebolaviruses from wildlife to humans. We examine the ecological contexts surrounding 34 human index case infections of ebolaviruses from 1976-2014. Determining possible sources of spillover from wildlife, characterizing the environment of each event, and creating ecological niche models to estimate habitats suitable for spillover, we find that index case infections of two ebolaviruses, Ebola virus and Sudan virus, have occurred under different ecological contexts. The index cases of Ebola virus infection are more associated with tropical evergreen broadleaf forests and consuming bushmeat than the cases of Sudan virus. Given these differences, we emphasize caution when generalizing across different ebolaviruses and that location and virus-specific ecological knowledge will be essential to unravelling how human and animal behavior lead to the emergence of Ebola virus disease.

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Conflict of interest statement

AJ is an employee of a commercial company, Square Inc, that has no competing interests in research. This does not alter our adherence to all PLOS Pathogens policies on sharing data and materials.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Locations of ebolavirus index cases 1976–2014.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Suitable habitats for EBOV and SUDV spillovers events in mainland Africa.
MaxEnt models with a minimum training presence threshold were used to determine the habitat suitability for EBOV and SUDV based on spillover locations. A) Purple represents EBOV model, and white stars indicate EBOV spillover locations. B) Green represents SUDV model, and black stars indicate SUDV spillover locations. C) Overlap of EBOV and SUDV models. See Fig A in S1 Text for global habitat suitability.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Monthly rainfall and temperature in SUDV and EBOV index case locations.
The mean long-term monthly rainfall and temperature for the six SUDV spillover locations are depicted. For the twenty EBOV spillover locations, the mean rainfall and standard error of the mean are shown for locations that were in proximity to each other.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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