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Abstract

After the 2017 Ebola virus (EBOV) outbreak in Likati, a district in northern Democratic Republic of the Congo, we sampled small mammals from the location where the primary case-patient presumably acquired the infection. None tested positive for EBOV RNA or antibodies against EBOV, highlighting the ongoing challenge in detecting animal reservoirs for EBOV.

Keywords: Democratic Republic of the Congo; Ebola virus; Ebola virus disease; Ebola virus infection; Eidolon helvum; Potamochoerus porcus; ecology; infectious disease reservoir; mammals; viral zoonoses; viruses; zoonoses.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Locations of human Ebola virus (EBOV) outbreaks in Central Africa and capture site of potential wildlife reservoirs in study of role of wildlife in emergence of Ebola virus, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2017. A) Reported human EBOV outbreaks in central Africa. Diamonds indicate the approximate locations where each outbreak started. Outbreak year(s) are shown in brackets. Bas-Uele province is highlighted in dark gray. B) Overview of the area where the 2017 EBOV outbreak occurred (Likati Health Zone, Bas-Uele, Democratic Republic of the Congo). Black dots indicate villages and Eidolon helvum bat colony; red dots indicate sites where mammals were captured in this study. C) Study area at and around Kaigbono village, with most capture sites indicated.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Abundance distribution of mammal species tested for Ebola virus and Sudan virus RNA using quantitative RT-PCR and for antibodies against ebolaviruses using the Luminex assay (Luminex Corporation, https://www.luminexcorp.com), for the set of specimens sampled in and around Kaigbono (Likati Health Zone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 2017 that were determined to the species level. Each successfully tested environmental fecal sample is assumed to represent a single Eidolon helvum bat specimen (full descriptions available in Appendix Table). RT-PCR, reverse transcription PCR.
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